Here’s another research report that’ll win a Darwin Award; according to a recent report from the NPD Group, hardcore gamers buy the most games.
They polled over 11,000 gamers aged 6 to 44 and created a list of six demographics that illustrate how U.S. gamers buy and play video games.
1. "Heavy Gamers", or known as the hardcore gamers, make up 2% of the U.S. gaming public and own an average of 2.8 consoles and 1.9 portables. Yet this group plays the most number of hours per week — 39.3 hours, mainly on the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, and buys the most number of games per month — 4.5 games.
2. "Casual Kid Gamers", or known as the children gamers, are aged 6 to 12 and own an average of 1 console and 0.5 portables. This group plays the least number of hours per week — 3.6 hours, mainly on the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance, and buys the least number of games per month — 0.8 games.
3. "Mass Market Gamers", or known as the generic gamers, make up 15% of the U.S. gaming public and own an average of 1.8 consoles. This group plays 8.9 hours each week, mainly on the PlayStation 2 and PC and buys 2 games per month.
4."Avid Console Gamers", or known as the console gamers, make up 20% of the U.S. gaming public and own an average of 1.6 consoles and 0.8 portables. This group plays 10.7 hours per week and buys 1.9 games per month.
5. "Secondary Gamers", or known as the ‘yeah, I play games from time to time’ gamers, make up 22% of the U.S. gaming public. This group plays 6.5 hours per week, mainly on PC or Mac, and ties for buying the least number of games per month — 0.8 games.
6. "Avid PC Gamers", or known as the PC gamers, make up 33% of the U.S. gaming public. This group plays 13.6 hours per week, mainly on PC or Mac, and buys 1.4 games per month.
Other small details note that Heavy Gamers are the most likely to buy games via digital download but Avid PC Gamers have the highest number of gamers who bought games by digital download. 3 out of 5 Heavy Gamers buy game content via microtransactions and 83% of Heavy Gamers play games online, followed by 74% of Avid PC Gamers.
So which gaming demographic do you fit in? Even though I play more gaming hours, I reckon I fit in the Avid PC Gamers, since PC is where I do all my gaming.
[Via GameSpot]
