Study Finds That "Extreme Gamers" Play 48 Hours a Week 272
An anonymous reader writes "Think you're a big gamer? According to a new study from market research firm NPD Group, to be considered among the real hardcore you'll need to play an average of 48.5 hours a week — nearly seven hours a day. This group of gamers is, on average, '29 years old, and — perhaps surprisingly — one-third of them are female. They're more likely to play on consoles than on the PC, and on average they've purchased 24 titles in the past three months — a bill that could easily run over a thousand dollars. But dedicated though they may be, the Extreme Gamers are just a small minority: a mere 4% of the US's 174-million-strong gaming public. '"
24 games in the past 3 months? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have few friends (Score:2, Insightful)
I have a few friends that play games this much. On consoles. The thing is, however, that it doesnt make them good. Console players IME tend to have a lot less 'skill'; ie- twitch reflexes and battlefield awareness.
Moral of the story, play PC games if you want to have a challenge. Consoles are fun if you like games with stories.
Re:Only 48 Hours? (Score:5, Insightful)
>>Only 48 hours? Why thats only 7ish hours a day. Thats barely enough to run heroic instances.
Nice.
What's really sad is that the average American consumes 30 hours of TV and radio per week, but is considered perfectly normal. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051227/news_lz1n27list.html)
Oh, and the same people rotting their brains out watching American Idol are the people who claim gamers are wasting their time playing the games. I can't recall how many times I've been told by couch potatoes that "there's no way they'd be able to spend that much time in front of a computer every day". WTF do they think their flat screen is?? Sigh.
Re:Only 48 Hours? (Score:1, Insightful)
and what about all the time we spend at our stupid pointless jobs??
Re:Pfft yourself! (Score:4, Insightful)
Speaking as someone who has both spent many years of my life as as an isolated gamer type (and a couple of times had to go on anti-depressants), and also some periods of my life actually going out and doing things.. I have to say that if you put as much effort into real life as you do into gaming, you would get far greater rewards.
I'm not saying you can't also play games and chat online as these things are fun and definitely still have an element of sociability, but if you joined some kind of real life club or spent some time doing exercise to level up your real body instead of your avatar, you'd be feeling a lot better both mentally and physically (the two are very linked anyway.. simply being more fit really helps your mood and concentration levels), and more able to cope with the "real world" you seem to be so scared of.
Comment removed (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:174 million gaming public? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Pfft yourself! (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't mean to one up you, but I feel I should share a story from the top 1%.
Speaking as someone who has both spent many years of my life as as an isolated gamer type (and a couple of times had to go on anti-depressants), and also some periods of my life actually going out and doing things.. I have to say that if you put as much effort into real life as you do into gaming, you would get far greater rewards.
Interesting, that the two replies to this post of mine take up such a small circle of people.
You haven't 1'up'ed me. Our guild was in the top 1% of guilds and has consistently been there. Server firsts, few world firsts, but at the same time, I have spent time on mood stabilizers (I have bipolar disorder - check the sig). At the same time, I have been someone who has been into online gaming since the days of Ultima Online, and have worked for Epic Games with the development of Unreal Tournament, so I have been "in as much as can be" in games and games development - but having said that, I can't help but totally agree with the second poster's comment which I have quoted below this:
I'm not saying you can't also play games and chat online as these things are fun and definitely still have an element of sociability, but if you joined some kind of real life club or spent some time doing exercise to level up your real body instead of your avatar, you'd be feeling a lot better both mentally and physically (the two are very linked anyway.. simply being more fit really helps your mood and concentration levels), and more able to cope with the "real world" you seem to be so scared of.
While I have been pouring my efforts into both online gaming and my RL work (which is currently a Senior Performance Analyst for a multinational retailer) I have noticed that for every hour I spend honing my e-toon, I can spend the same effort at work and increase my salary. You know all the stuff you do in your guild/clan? That works in RL too. Get a job in an office. They appreciate that common sense just as much and they pay you a lot more than your guild can offer - and in dollars, not in gold.
As someone who has been through both sides of the spectrum, I can just say, games are meant for entertainment. Play them, have fun, but don't confuse entertainment with real life.
Re:Only 48 Hours? (Score:4, Insightful)