NPD: 82 Percent of American Kids Say They're Gamers

Our very good friend from the NPD Group, David Riley, has just sent in some rather intriguing news, if you're between the ages of 2-17, then most likely you're a gamer.

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK – According to Kids and Gaming 2009, the most recent report from leading market research company, The NPD Group, among all kids in the U.S. ages 2-17, 82 percent, or 55.7 million, are current gamers. Of these gamers, 9.7 million are ages 2-5, representing the smallest segment, while 12.4 million are ages 9-11, and represent the largest segment.

At 10.6 hours per week, gamers ages 12-14 are spending the most time playing video games, with the time spent playing dropping off among older teens, ages 15-17. Teens 15-17 and females are the groups that are most likely to report spending less time gaming and playing online this year versus last year.

"The decline in teen usage of video games is likely due to diversifying, maturing interests, which translates into stiffer competition for their mind and wallet share," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "In addition to competition from other areas of the entertainment space, more school work, activities, and parent-imposed time limits on gaming are factors which the data suggests may be contributing to this dip in older teen engagement."

According to the report, across all age groups, kids use an average of 2.5 systems or devices for gaming, with kids ages 9-11 and 12-14 using the most (each about 3 system/devices on average). Gaming on non-traditional gaming devices such as cell phones and PDMPs becomes more popular as kids get older and peaks among older teens ages 15-17.

When it comes to online gaming, over half (51%) of kid gamers play games online, and are more inclined to be male, ages 9-14.

Methodology

The report is based on online survey responses from over 5,000 members of NPD’s online consumer panel ages 2-17 (respondents age 2-12 were captured via surrogate reporting). Respondents had to report that they currently, personally play video games on a PC/Mac, video game system or device used for gaming. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals age 2-17. The survey data is weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages 2 and older. Fieldwork was conducted from September 10-17, 2009.

12/03/09 David Riley (NPD GROUP)

Video Thirst: Uncharted 2 Eye o Indra

A trailer From Naughty Dog, featuring the new motion comic which is basically an animated comic book you watch like a movie. The characters move, there's a lot of 3D effects and cool panel transitions.

Quench your thirst now.

10/23/09 Ernice Gilbert

South African Gamers to Microsoft: Leave Japan, Come on Over

Being a gaming Journalist can be tough sometimes. You're constantly scouring the web, checking sources, shooting emails and making calls. It's a fast-pace news cycle, and we at Gamesthirst try to keep up. After all, you come for news, and we must deliver. Today is especially unique because while doing my normal news searching routine, I came across this website, which was reporting on a piece that we originally did. But what struck me, was the comments that I saw. Some users were complaining, expressing their disdain at the lack of support for their market. Others were less drastic, asking for only 10 percent of the amount Microsoft spends in Japan.

Going back to the original piece, we gave some numbers that displayed total life-to-date sales of four Xbox 360 Japan Exclusives, and later on, we updated the post to include Lost Odyssey. Even after the inclusion of Lost Odyssey, the total life-to-date sales did not reach 900,000 copies sold. Combined, the total is: 865,885, all of which at that point were exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox 360, and as you can see, with disappointing results. Having this data in their arsenal, the South African gamers were confused as to why would Microsoft keep beating a dead horse. In their opinion, SA would be a much better market to invest in while said market is still emerging.

We in the Americas, and Europe, get to enjoy Microsoft's revolutionary Online experience XBL, even if it comes at a price. The way they see it in SA is, they don't mind paying, just give the the darn service and support already. The South Africans contends, voicing that if Microsoft would just invest a fraction of what is being spent in Japan, then the company's long-term results could be extremely lucrative. With that I agree, but pulling out of Japan all together would be counter-productive. Let's look at the population of SA, it's 43,790,000 compared to Japan's 127,288,416. Add Japan's GDP which is $4.272 Trillion (purchasing power) then compare South Africa's $280 Billion (purchasing power), and the conclusion is clear. Microsoft should support SA now, and reap great benefits later; but even more important, is the market in the east. Japanese eat, sleep and drink games, Microsoft needs a strategy that works.

09/22/09 Ernice Gilbert