Not your average gamer?
That's not the only gamer data that's a bit on the worrisome side:
"The study notes that half of gamers are between 18 and 49 years old, while 25 percent are 50 and older. The CDC also pointed out that of online gamers aged 8 to 34, nearly 12 percent showed multiple signs of addiction."
I wonder what signs those are? I wonder how many of us here at Anime Vice show some of those signs, whether it's for addiction to games or to anime? Another interesting tidbit is that women say they're looking more for a diversion from their normal lives while men are more likely to use gaming as "a reason to get together." Does that sound at all accurate for your style of gameplay?
Als-- we all knew the stereotypes about fat, socially awkward gamers. But are any of you surprised by the average age?
Thankfully I'm definitely not two of those things. Although not being American means I'm probably not part of the CDC's research bracket. Or concern.
I guess I should be happy that I am not what they consider an "average gamer" (i.e. Fat, aggressive, and depressed)....so what am i? :) Stupid smart people.
Heck, for all we know they could have taken the "signs of addiction" from the old people in the retirement home playing too much wii sports and wii fit. Or heck, let's look at the other side of the range: "from 8 to 34", ok, how many of you know of at least two kids aged between 8 and 15 that get whiny whenever they can't play a game they like?
The average FPS/RPG/RTS/MMO (any of those) kind of gamer I can assure you is still in the age range between 18 and 35.
Reaching out to people is hard :/
And besides, I don't put my mic in for people other than you guys, and I know a lot of gamers who are the same way. Especially console players who have an irrational fear of mics.
And it depends, as you said, on what they consider to be a "gamer." My parents both play solitaire and "shanghai' (that tile-matching game with mah-jongg tiles) on their computers almost every day. So if one of the determining questions is "How often do you play computer or console games" and they answer "daily," they may count.
Now, let's do a little bit of homework, kids. If you look at the source, you'll see that the quote that "25% of gamers are over 50" is from Wired-- NOT the study. If any of you kids actually looked at the study itself, you'd find that what the CDC says is this:
"Despite the preponderance of adults among video-game players (~50% aged 18-49 years, 25% aged >50)..."
If you went the extra mile and checked the footnotes, you'd see that this statistic comes from the Entertainment Software Association, which actually says that 26% of game-players are 50+, and the PEW Internet adults and gaming study, which defines "gamer" as "any respondent who reported playing games online and/or said he used any one or more of the following devices to play games: desktop or laptop computer, game console, cell phone, Blackberry, some other handheld organizer or a portable gaming device."
See, that's the cool thing about studies. They actually have to include this information. So instead of just yelling about it, you can actually check it out for yourself! ;) Maybe I should have included that info when I posted, too, but honestly, I didn't think it was necessary-- it's hard to filter through all of those footnotes. (The CDC's study has 51, for the record.) @_@
/sarcasm
If that's the definition, then its believable. Plus, she's right, the thing doesn't define how much they play. Their bracket could make up like.... 1% of the total play time, but as long as they "play" something...
Well, and it's not like they're totally wrong in wanting to use that statistic-- bear in mind two things:
1) This study is to look at the effect of gaming on those who play-- not just on hardcore gamers.
2) Wired is the one who used the term "gamers." The PEW study does occasionally use "gamers" as short hand but clearly defines it as I mentioned above, segregating their version from the colloquial uses of the word, but Wired is the only one who used the more general term "gamers" without clarification.
But ultimately the point I was trying to make still stands. (I realize what my next sentence says isn't so much CDC's fault but rather Wired's implications from it) The title of the articles implies the gamer stereotype is basically pathetic old guys who are unhealthy, etc.etc., and the usage of the term "gamer" in the research was faaaar too broad a definition.
but signs are playing more then 20 hours a week (Check)
Puting of work work and or chores to play (check, but rarely)
Skiping work or school to play
getting annoyed by every intruption, and thats all i know.