Survey: 97% of kids play Video Games

SSJ3 Trunks | September 16, 2008 | News | PC Playstation 2 Company Misc

Its no joke that many kids play Video Games. Well, a recent survey says that 97 out of 100 kids play video games. Somehow, its not surprising when video games are selling Millions and Millions per release. %99 percent of boys 12-17 play video games and %94 of girls play video games ages 12-17.

If the ever-increasing sales numbers of the industry aren't enough of an indicator, a new survey reported on by the Associated Press has revealed many of the former stigmas associated with videogames and the people who play them no longer hold true, especially with young people. Conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project from November 2007 through February 2008, the survey combined the telephone responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,102 young people, ages 12 to 17, and their parents. The results were a bit surprising, even to us.

The findings revealed that 99% of young boys play videogames compared to 94% of girls, with race or income level making little difference. Surprisingly, 7% of homes surveyed didn't have a computer but had a game console. Additionally, it was found that 80% of respondents have diverse interests and play five or more different game genres, the most common of which were racing, puzzles, sports, and action. Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, solitaire, and Dance Dance Revolution were found to be the favorites among respondents.

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Comments

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tallteen86 | September 16, 2008

THAT much? I doubt it.

Even if it is just in the US or North America, some families can't afford to get these consoles/devices.

I suppose if you include free online games (like on sites like miniclip), it seems more likely, but still....97% is an awful high figure >_>

Plausible though, so long as you restrict it to North America/USA or something....
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  Gutter_Tech | September 17, 2008
  
  last time i checked sega genesis is a console and i saw one at a thrift store that worked and came with 10+ games for 20 bucks. older consoles still count as consoles.
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    Final Blade | September 18, 2008
    
    _{What does Genesis console have to do with anything?}
    - 1 thumbs!
      Tiger of Wu | September 18, 2008
      
      I think the point Gutter Tech was making is that money isn't as much of a factor as tallteen implied, as a lot of poor families buy older consoles, he just used an extreme example.
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Twisted | September 16, 2008

I didn't think it was that many people, I knew it was a lot.

Plus to get that study correct, they'd have to do every kid in the world. And there are people that can't afford video games. Wonder who they surveyed.
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Shadow_Knight | September 16, 2008

Well, not me.

Maybe they surveyed the sales of games. I do not know.

Yeah, I can be counted as about 0.000000000000000000001% of that 97%.
1 thumbs!
Koloth | September 17, 2008

Did you guys not read the article? They include solitaire. Once you include solitaire you might as well make the number 100%.

On top of that you clearly can't restrict it to purely console games. There just aren't enough consoles out there.
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  tallteen86 | September 18, 2008
  
  I noticed they included some of the freebie MS games, but how many kids play 'boring, adult-type' games like that (well, I did, so I'll shut up now lol)?
  
  I think using sites like Miniclip (as I said), would probably make the numbers rise to the 97% figure.
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Big Willie | September 17, 2008

I went through a string of links to get back to the original case study and I gotta say I think the way they conducted this survey was a little up in the air. It was a questionnaire they did over the phone. I think that the survey would be a little skewed because I think people with phones or people who have the time to answer the phone (ie not working) would be more inclined to have a high enough income to support gaming habits. I'd look over it more, but I'm at work. Here's the link:

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/263/report_display.asp
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SSJ3 Trunks | September 18, 2008

I saw this on CNN last night. I was like, "cool".
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KingX2 | September 26, 2008

94% of girls aged 12-17? Yeah RIGHT. Maybe they play them like once in a great while, but it's not like they play them on a regualr basis and go buy them while shopping.
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Breezy | October 12, 2008

I'm a girl, and I play video games. I also have a life. It is possible. Hard, but possible.

And about the statistics, I'm not surprised really, it's a big world out there.
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  KingX2 | October 14, 2008
  
  Yeah, I can see that, but 94%? I can't beleive it.