My son who is an addict showed me this article. I refuse to believe it. It must have flawed methodology. ******* New Data Shatters Video Game Player Stereotypes Tuesday January 11, 9:28 am ET Gamers Regularly Involved in Community, Church, and Athletics WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 2005--New research released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) shatters myths about the profile of typical American video game players, revealing that they regularly volunteer, exercise, and attend religious services. According to a survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, computer and video game players spend more than three times the amount of time exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, reading, or engaging in religious, creative, and cultural activities than they do playing video games. In total, gamers spend 23.4 hours per week on these activities, compared to 6.8 hours per week playing games. Avid gamers -- those who play games 11 or more hours per week -- spend 34.5 hours per week on the activities mentioned above. "Gamers are everywhere and they're everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "Indeed, those who continue to portray the game population as single-minded loafers are living in their own fantasy world." Equally striking at a time when anti-video game groups are attempting to blame games for contributing to obesity, the Hart research found that 79 percent of all game players report exercising or playing sports at an average of 20 hours a month. "Obesity is a serious national problem with no easy answers," said Lowenstein. "But it is good to know that so many gamers exercise and are involved in sports, and that their love for games has not made them sedentary." Detailed survey findings are as follows: Forty-five percent of gamers volunteer at an average 5.4 hours per month. Sixty-one percent of game players engage in some type of religious activity for several hours each month. Ninety-three percent of game players read books or daily newspapers, while sixty-two percent often attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater. Fifty percent spend time painting, writing, or playing an instrument. Ninety-four percent follow news and current events, and 78 percent report that they vote in most of the elections for which they are eligible. The poll was conducted in September, 2004, for the ESA by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., and surveyed a random national sample of 802 adults. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2003, and billions more in export sales of American-made entertainment software. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, business and consumer research, government relations and First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com. link
I think I spend about 7 hours/week on this board now kids these days rather stay inside and play videogames then go out and light bugs on fire
man.....I can't say how many hours I spend on this board. Especially now when I am not working or currently in school. (christmas break) Sad....I can tell you how many and what days in the last week were slow days on the board. I know I have been spending too much time on it when I am refreshing the homepage waiting for a new post. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH This was my 8,000 post! Well.....you should be proud to have this achievment made in your thread.
Yep, about a fourth of the day sounds about right for me too. Half of my classes are in computer labs, so often I go to class and log back onto the BBS.
I just did a buzzworthy topic on this subject at my work at a team meeting. It had some interesting data that I collected. The gaming industry is HUGE and has become part of mainstream America. Most of the article I read attribute it to the "Nintendo and Atari generation" becoming adults but not giving up video games. Some interesting tidbits I dug up. 1. the video game industry made more money in 2003 than the motion picture industry for the first time ever and has had double digit percentage growth every year for the last 20 years. 2. the video game industry has revitalized some of the consumer PC market as gamers grow older, have jobs, thus more cash...they want bigger and better PCs often outstripping the averages. 3. the average gamer in 1988 was something like 11 years old, and the average gamer in 2003 is in their 20s 4. girls and women playing video games is the fastest growing segment of the market, from about 8% of the market in 1988 to something like 25% of the market in 2003. Basically, all the kids that grew up on Atari and Nintendo have jobs now and spend a bunch of money on games and play them, even though they have spouses, kids, jobs, churches, houses and all that good stuff.
After reading this, it does seem to make sense, or at least with myself and some of my friends. I'm in HS sports, which usually means 2-3 hours a day of some sort of athletic task. I also do some stuff for my school occasionally. Two of my other friends that are "gamers" also seem to demonstrate this "normal activity." One of them does a lot of religious activities, plays in a band ( or tries), and does a variety of althletic things (wrestling; skateboarding; paintball; attempting to do a backflip off a ledge for a dollar but landing on his back, coughing up blood; etc). My other friend plays a lot of basketball when he can and is also into paintball, going to several tournaments when he can. The only bad thing about the
Ow..crap. I accidently hit something on my keyboard, and my post got posted before I was done. Sorry about this double post. Basically, I was going to go on and say that the only bad thing is that some of the tasks are pretty general. I do a lot of reading, but only if that includes reading text in video games or reading off of the internet. I'm sure my friends are the same way. About the game industry, it is getting pretty big. The PS2 just shipped 80 million units, and if this console generation stays on pace, the GC, Xbox, PS2, and DC can combine for like 172 million units worldwide by the end of the cycle. Plus, games like GTA and Halo are selling like crazy. With the numbers they put up, I don't see how all those people are just hardcore gamers that sit inside their room all day. Stupid keyboard. Guess I should spend more time leveling up my keyboard skills. I could end up with a plus 5 in the Clutch BBS if I keep it up.
