Sep
16
2008

97% of U.S. teens play video games

posted by nikki at 3:09 pm.

  • Bookmark & Share
  • Comments (0)

Some interesting new today, the Pew Internet & American Life Project just released the results of the first-ever national survey of youth and video games in the U.S.

First some background.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project run by the Pew Research Center, a “nonprofit fact tank that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world”, according to their website. They are nonpartisan and take no position on policy issues, though the Pew Charitable Trusts from which they draw support, funds both advocacy and non-advocacy groups.

The survey was performed using a 16 page questionnaire with questions for the both the teenagers and their accompanying parent. The statistical data consists of information gathered nationally between Nov. 1 2007 and Feb. 5 2008 from 1102 youths aged 12-17.

The report is 75 pages long, and if you’d like to read it in it’s entirety, you can download the full report (PDF) here

So what did they find out? Well, here’s some numbers.

  • 97% of those surveyed play some kind of video game. This includes console, PC, web, handheld, and cell games.
  • 99% of the males survey, and 94% of the females surveyed play video games
  • 80% of those who play games play five or more different genres
  • 82% of those who play games, play games on their own, but 71% of this group also play games with others.
  • 86% play games on a console

So what were the most popular genres? The top ten:

  1. Racing
  2. Puzzle
  3. Sports
  4. Action (in which they include GTA)
  5. Adventure
  6. Rhythm
  7. Strategy
  8. Simulation
  9. Fighting
  10. First Person Shooters

I was actually a little surprised (probably more than I should have been, now that I think about it) at this list, 1) to see that the FPS genre only just barely made the top ten, and 2) to see that RPGs and MMOs didn’t make the top ten (they came in at 11 and 13, respectively). In retrospect, though, is it really that surprising that games targeted more at older gamers (firmly at older gamers in the case of FPSs) don’t rank as highly for teens?

Furthermore, the survey determined that gaming is not only often a social experience, but also that gamers who take part in social interaction related to games tend to be more civically and politically engaged.

On the parental side of things,:

  • 32% of teens who play games responded that at least one of their favorite games was rated M or higher
  • 72% of parents check the rating before allowing their children to play a game, and only 46% say they sometimes stop their child from playing, and 13% say games have a negative influence on their children (though to be fair, 19% reported the opposite effect).

There is more to the report… much, much more, so I would suggest giving it a read if you have the time (and the inclination to ready some very dry statistics). Some things to keep in mind while reading, though… 1) the survey focuses exclusively on minors aged 12 to 17, and 2) it’s a survey of who’s playing what, with some relations to civics… not, for example, the effects of playing violent games on behavior, a comprehensive study we’re still largely waiting on.

Nikki Blight: is still trying to find that damn princess... when she's not writing fresh code for the217.com.

Comments

There are no comments yet. Be the first to comment on this post...


Add your comment