A study conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association concludes that adults spend more time playing computer and video games than kids. The results are part of the CEA’s 2006 Gaming Technology Study, which surveyed adults online and teens by telephone interviews.
About one-third of adult gamers spend 10 hours or more per week playing games on consoles or their computer, compared to only about 11 percent of teens, said the CEA. What’s more, the majority of adult gamers — 64 percent — play console games by themselves, and about 55 percent play online. Teens, meanwhile, are much more likely to play online using consoles, especially teenage girls.
Other studies have shown that computer and video gaming is an increasingly adult phenomenon, so that’s not a major revelation. What’s interesting about the CEA’s study is that it shows that adults actually spend more time gaming than kids do.
The study showed that younger teens, ages 12 to 14 years old, spent more time gaming than older teens, ages 15 to 17. CEA’s senior manager, industry analysis Steve Koenig attributes this difference to a lack of free time among older teens and their gravitation towards wireless handsets and mobile phones.
Computers still dominate the adult game market, according to the report, while consoles dominate the teen game market. For households with both a computer and a console, 58 percent of those polled said they consider the console to be their primary gaming platform.
25 percent of those adults polled have purchased consumer electronics devices specifically to enhance their gaming experience, according to the research. The most common accessories include performance AV cables, displays, furniture and receivers. Fifteen percent of adult computer gamers and 19 percent of adult console gamers also said they’d consider paying to have a dedicated gaming room installed in their home.
The CEA is the organization that holds the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. They study involved 1,767 adults and 500 teens.