Video Games Entice 4 Out of 10 Americans

05/17/2006

Americans love to play games, online and off.

Americans love to play games, online and off.

According to a new Associated Press-AOL Games Poll, 40% of Americans play computer or video games.

Of the respondents who said they do play computer or video games, 45% said they play online.

More male respondents (45%) than female (35%) said they play computer or video games. There is also a difference in the social aspect of the way men and women play games online. Men are more likely to play with other people (32% vs. 23% of women), while more women say they prefer to play by themselves (69% vs. 59% of men).

In a somewhat counter-intuitive finding, however, the AP-AOL Games Poll showed that urban game players are more likely to play on the Internet than suburbanites. The poll found 52% of gamers in cities play games online, compared to 41% of gamers who live in the suburbs and 43% of gamers in rural areas.

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The poll also found that more time spent gaming means less television viewing. Since 41% of all gamers play at least 3-4 hours a week, including 10% who play at least 10 hours a week, they simply have less time for TV.

Some 30% of gamers watch less that five hours of TV a week. Considering that the average American household has at least one TV set on for over seven hours a day, that is not much.

"The findings continue to affirm that gaming is a social experience that hits the full spectrum of consumers: males, females, young and old," said Ralph Rivera of AOL Games.

Source: emarketer.com
May 17,2006