One third of adults spend ten hours or more a week playing a console or PC games, compared to just 11% of teens, according to results from a new study released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The study found that the PC dominates the adult gaming world, while teenagers spend more time using game consoles. For households owning a PC and a console, 58% consider the console to be their primary gaming platform, with only 25% of adult gamers who own a portable game device having used it in the past six months compared to 77% of teens.
Behavioural differences emerge between older and younger gamers, with 64% of adults playing mostly by themselves, and 55% playing online.
In contrast, teenagers were found to be five times as likely to engage in multiplayer gaming with their consoles, especially teenage girls.
The CEA claim that female gamers outnumber males in the 25-34 age category, with the group containing the largest concentration among overall female gamers, at 29%.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Steve Koenig, CEA’s senior manager, said: “The fact that adults are racking up more gaming hours than teens is startling, but there are several associated findings that shed light on this.
“Interestingly, a greater percentage of 12-14 year olds spend more time gaming than older teens aged 15-17. Older teens simply may not have the free time for extra hours of gaming or they could be gaming on wireless handsets since 81% of teens own or use a wireless phone.”
Gaming is increasing in popularity within the older generation, with a recent study from Peter D.Hart Research Associates showing that 35% of US parents play computer or video games (see Gaming Increases In Older Generation).
Although one-fifth of parents surveyed were found to play games on consoles, computer gaming was found to be more prevalent, with 34% of the 35% gaming on PCs and 44% of the 35% using both computers and consoles.
The games industry as a whole is expected to enjoy strong growth over the coming years, with Kagen Research forecasting US game sales to increase to $16 billion by 2007, up from $10 billion in 2004, a rise of 16% (see Gaming Revenues To Rise 5.3% In 2005).
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