The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association has just posted a great infographic on the state of video games in New Zealand and Australia and I thought I'd share with you. It makes for interesting reading.
Here are some of the statistics in the graphic, which was collated from the results of the Digital Australia & New Zealand 2012 survey held last year and posted on the association's website this month, that caught my eye:
- 93 per cent of households across New Zealand and Australia can be classified as gaming households.
- The average player is aged 32 and has been playing for 12 years.
- 73 per cent of gamers are aged over 18.
- 47 per cent of gamers are female.
- 67 per cent play a game for an hour or less in one sitting.
- 23 per cent of gamers download from an online store; 41 per cent like buying new boxed copies of games.
- 69 per cent of gamers enjoy playing with others.
- In 2011, the most popular genres were first-person shooters and action games, both with 19 per cent.
Bond University has been doing the Digital Australia survey for the past five years and decided to expand it to include New Zealand in the last two. That was a good idea. Apparently 800 New Zealand households took part in the survey and one of the highlights to come out of the Digital NZ survey from last year was that in 2010, 88.5 per cent of New Zealand households had a device for playing computer games. I'm sure that percentage has increased since then.
As you'd expect, I've got a few devices at my place for playing video games, stretching back to a Gamecube and a ZX Spectrum computer, but what about you? Are you a one console/one computer household, or do you have several platforms for playing video games at your place? Let's get a non-scientific survey going.
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47% of gamers are female? Does that mean chicks playing angry birds on their phones count as 'gamers'?
Our household has:
2 x computers 1 x xbox (not a 360) 1 x PS3 1 x Wii
and me and my partner have some games on both our phones.
47% Female and average age 32 are unexpected.
PC ,Wii, N64. Must say the 64 never loses its value
Been an avid xbox fan so naturally own a 360, PC (for strategy games) and pre ordered an OUYA through kickstarter :)
@ bOb #2
Yes, it does. "Gamers" is a very broad term. For me, I call someone a gamer if they play games for fun and entertainment rather than just passing time in a waiting room or stuck in traffic. If you have played Sing Star at a party with friends, that doesn't make you a gamer.
If you would rather play games than go out, you're a gamer. If you know what 'DotT' means, you're an old gamer. If you're too busy gaming to have ever had a sexual partner, you're a sad gamer.
Devices I own that still work, a C64, Gameboy, Sega Megadrive, Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360 and half a dozen PCs.
Why is it such a surprise to people that women like gaming too?
As a 38yr old woman, I'm the most active gamer in my house, which is home to one adult male and 2 adolescent ones. I log on regularly to play with a group of players, and on weekends, have been known to spend entire days online - When the kids started to need the computer to complete homework I created a savings fund for myself to buy a second (specifically for my gaming) computer.
The minority is a perceived, not an actual one. Having said that, my gaming characters are as androgynous as possible as there is a disturbing amount of misogyny out there.
Stats seem to stack up. Im 32, been playing games since Atari 2600 days and my wife enjoys a bit of Xbox/PS3 time but mostly games on her phone or the Nexus. Currently have PS3, PS2, 360, Nexus 7, HTC One X, iPhone 4 and i5 Viao Laptop which all get used for gaming at various times. Although I only really play on the PS3 (main console/gaming device of choice) a couple of days a week, once I start I am on for at least a few hours.
I'd be interested to see the split of preferred genres by gender. Because judging by my experiences with playing Star Craft, SWTOR and Diablo III online, they're dominated by males, many of who revel in objectifying women.
I am woman, watch me game!! 35yo who loves her XBOX 360 (have 2, the other one is for our girls...who love to game). Game of choice at the mo is ME3 multiplayer, it's nice to come across other females when playing :) Hubby has dual screen PC so he can play EVE (yes I know he only needs one but then he leaves my XBOX alone!), and has now set up the PS3 next to it for DUSTing...
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love the stats!! especially the 47% female one! Would never have guessed