Study Debunks Gamer Stereotypes

Ars Technica reports on a recent study by Ipsos MediaCT which evaluated gamers with respect to a large variety of social parameters. Among their findings: "55 percent of gamers polled were married, 48 percent have kids, and new gamers — those who have started playing videogames in the past two years — are 32 years old on average." Also, "In terms of hard dollars, the average gaming household income ($79,000) is notably higher than that of nongaming households ($54,000), but the value of the gamer as a marketing target can be seen in a variety of ways. 39 percent of gamers said that friends and family rely upon them to stay up-to-date about the latest technology." The press release for the study is available at IGN.

Re:This creates more questions (bad study)

[Dunbal]

Where's the data from?

      Since my wife is the market research manager for Latin America for a 'Fortune 500' company, I am quite familiar with Ipsos [ipsos-na.com]. They do all sorts of market research, and are among the best in their field. Of course without seeing the actual design of the study neither she nor I can comment on how accurate the information is, but knowing how this company works I assume they are not pulling numbers out of their backsides. They usually don't, unlike other market research firms I could mention.

Re:This creates more questions (bad study)

[Drasil]

I'm 35 and an avid (Linux) gamer. I don't go into game shops because: they don't sell Linux games, they don't sell the kinds of games I like, they try and sell me stuff I don't want, they are full of annoying kids (often that includes the staff). Come to think of it I don't think many of my game playing friends go into those shops either.

Re:This honestly makes sense

[phanboy_iv]

I go back even farther. Genesis games can be had for peanuts. And they are far more complex than this Guitar Hero business that my roommates spend large quantities of money on.