ESA finds that more women play games than teenage boys - Sensationalist Headlines

Recent study finds that broad demographics are larger than focused ones Their own data shows that a large minority of gamers are under 18 (29%), so of course the majority is going to be bigger when the gender split is almost equal. 48% of 71 is larger than 52% of 29.

[QUOTE=Aide;45773686]You're not a gamer if you using a tablet or phone.[/QUOTE] You are not a gamer if you play on a console you were never a gamer if you played during the atari era you are not a gamer if most of your crunch playing comes from the 3ds. Hear how silly all of those sound? The main difference between "hardcore" and non hardcore gamers is in the community attachment. The people we typically see as gamers tend to build communities from gaming - be it online or just a bunch of friends talking about the games. The really casual players tend to only see the games as passing some time or having fun. So yes, technically phone and tablet gamers tend to make the most of the more casual spectrum, but that doesn't stop them from gaming.

Gaming lacks a word to differentiate casual from more invested players. For example, anyone who drives a car is a driver, which includes people who commute to and from work, to people who haul cargo in trucks, to people who drive professionally around a race track. All of the above are drivers, but the last two have names for them: trucker and racer. So if you did a survey on drivers and find that say 50% of drivers are female, you can't say that 50% of truckers or racers are female.

Why the need for separation though? They're fucking playing a video game. Which makes them a 'gamer'.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45785666]Why the need for separation though? They're fucking playing a video game. Which makes them a 'gamer'.[/QUOTE] Because a trucker is very different from a commuter

[QUOTE=bdd458;45785666]Why the need for separation though? They're fucking playing a video game. Which makes them a 'gamer'.[/QUOTE] Because it's not a stereotype that men play casual games, it's hardcore games. This doesn't disprove the stereotype at all.

Can we stop considering mobile games video games soon? Mobile games and vidya are both games, of course, but they share almost nothing else in common. It's for the same reason that we wouldn't consider kids that played flash/web games in the mid 2000s to be PC gamers.

[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;45785723]Because a trucker is very different from a commuter[/QUOTE] That's a really terrible analogy. If you play any sort of video game, you're a fucking gamer. Get off your high elitist horse and just accept that yes, there are different sorts of games for different sorts of people on different sorts of platforms.

Mobile games should just be considered apps or something. According to this study, my mom and dad, who have actively given me shit for playing games throughout so much of my life, are also both gamers, because they like to play some 2048 every other evening on their browser tablet before sleep.

Do you play any sort of video game? (Y/N) If yes, congratulations you are a gamer.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45788234]That's a really terrible analogy. If you play any sort of video game, you're a fucking gamer. Get off your high elitist horse and just accept that yes, there are different sorts of games for different sorts of people on different sorts of platforms.[/QUOTE] ...few people here are "elitist" about being a gamer. I actively avoid it in my daily life actually. It's not about the label, it's about the public's perception of "gaming". The mindless, shallow, microtransaction infested mobile game market is on the same side of the fence as mindless "AAA" titles like Call of Duty. They prevent...[B]earth[/B] from ever actually taking video games as a medium for art and real entertainment (like movies and music) seriously.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45788234]That's a really terrible analogy. If you play any sort of video game, you're a fucking gamer. Get off your high elitist horse and just accept that yes, [b]there are different sorts of games for different sorts of people on different sorts of platforms.[/b][/QUOTE] That's exactly what I am saying. But to say Farmville has the same demographics as Call of Duty is completely wrong. The point is to find the percentage of female gamers in the latter category than the two combined. Because to say that 36% of all gamers are female means 36% of people who play Call of Duty are female is completely wrong.

Most of the entire first page is "It's skewing the results", "factor out the fake results", that sort of thing, so to deny that there's any elitism is silly. though I never specifically said you were either. [editline]24th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=KillerJaguar;45788319]That's exactly what I am saying. But to say Farmville has the same demographics as Call of Duty is completely wrong. The point is to find the percentage of female gamers in the latter category than the two combined. Because to say that 36% of all gamers are female means 36% of people who play Call of Duty are female is completely wrong.[/QUOTE] nobody is saying that though. not even this study.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45788336]nobody is saying that though. not even this study.[/QUOTE] You're implying it because you refuse to accept there are different levels of gaming

A cattle farmer and a farmer who grows potato crops are both still farmers.

I think games (and gamers)should be categorized in two groups: - games that people play to have fun - games people play when they are bored to past time It's a subtle, but very important difference if you think about it.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45788336]Most of the entire first page is "It's skewing the results", "factor out the fake results", that sort of thing, so to deny that there's any elitism is silly. though I never specifically said you were either.[/QUOTE] It's true that a basic percentage of people who play games isn't very valuable information since pretty much anyone who owns a (smart)phone will use it to play games. But the study looks pretty detailed so I don't really get why anyone would say that the results are 'skewed'.

[QUOTE=legolover122;45771987]Instead of "real vs fake" game percents or whatever, I want to see gender results based on hardcore games VS casual games, seeing as that's a little more objective than "smartphone or console."[/QUOTE] Define "hardcore" and "casual" games first. It is hard to make a difference because it all depends on the perspective and context of a person. I know that most games on mobile devices are just small time wasters with no complexity but there are still tons of games that require extensive time and personal investment. [editline]25th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Mbbird;45787713]Can we stop considering mobile games video games soon? Mobile games and vidya are both games, of course, but they share almost nothing else in common. It's for the same reason that we wouldn't consider kids that played flash/web games in the mid 2000s to be PC gamers.[/QUOTE] You are indeed a terrible poster.

If anything, this is bad since it shows that mobile games have a higher demographic, thus are worth more time to invest into making them. Candy of Duty soon.

[QUOTE=sam6420;45790510]The article talks about "stereotypical gamerzZ", but when your study includes something that is less of a game and more of a time killing chore (a large portion of mobile games), these people aren't exactly gamers and shouldn't be included. I'm not saying all tablet/phone peasants aren't gamers blah blah blah.. but Jim Jon Johnson who picks up his phone to plant his virtual opium plants and click on red rubies isn't a gamer and he isn't gaming, he's killing time because he's bored.[/QUOTE] They play video games, so yes they should be included.

[QUOTE=dgg;45774830]Casual gamers. (people that play casual games like puzzle, adventure and simulation games, Angry Birds and The Sims for example and doesn't want to play more challenging games) Gamers. (people that play games) Hardcore gamers. (People that mostly play challenging games and AAA titles, Call of Duty, Assasins Creed, Dark Souls and DotA2) Indie gamers. (people that only really care about indie games and their qualities, be it for the retro, the art or the experimentation) Obnoxious people (people that can't accept that gaming is a wider field than only the games they like and actually label themselves as any of the above in real life)[/QUOTE] Everyone's a gamer if you play any game. Being a "hardcore" or "casual gamer" (which are dumb labels imo) is defined by how committed/focused you play a game. Would you consider people who spend many many hours breaking world records in games like Tetris or Angry Bird casuals gamers just because the nature of the game?

[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;45785723]Because a trucker is very different from a commuter[/QUOTE] that's a really weird analogy that doesn't really fit games. someone may only play TF2 and the occasional AAA release and be a gamer, while there's someone else who plays weird and infinitely more complicated shit like dorf and be a gamer as well. is there a further distinction to separate these guys? do i have to take a survey to see what TYPE of gamer I am?' i'd rather just have people label themselves instead of being a victim of dumb arbitrary labeling for the sake of feeling superior

for once I agree with milkandcooki. what a day.

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;45808008]that's a really weird analogy that doesn't really fit games. someone may only play TF2 and the occasional AAA release and be a gamer, while there's someone else who plays weird and infinitely more complicated shit like dorf and be a gamer as well. is there a further distinction to separate these guys? do i have to take a survey to see what TYPE of gamer I am?' i'd rather just have people label themselves instead of being a victim of dumb arbitrary labeling for the sake of feeling superior[/QUOTE] The amount of time you invest determines if you're a gamer. I play TF2 and AAA games occasionally, but I don't play enough to consider myself a gamer. A trucker spends a lot more time driving and is much more invested in driving than a daily commuter. A person who spends hours min-maxxing Bejeweled is a gamer. A person who occasionally plays Call of Duty is someone who plays video games.

[QUOTE=bdd458;45788234]That's a really terrible analogy. If you play any sort of video game, you're a fucking gamer. Get off your high elitist horse and just accept that yes, there are [B]different sorts of games for different sorts of people on different sorts of platforms.[/B][/QUOTE] Isn't that exactly what he's doing though? He didn't say mobile games are bad, there's just a huge difference between the mobile market and the more invested console/PC market. [editline]27th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=milkandcooki;45808008]that's a really weird analogy that doesn't really fit games. someone may only play TF2 and the occasional AAA release and be a gamer, while there's someone else who plays weird and infinitely more complicated shit like dorf and be a gamer as well. is there a further distinction to separate these guys? do i have to take a survey to see what TYPE of gamer I am?' i'd rather just have people label themselves instead of being a victim of dumb arbitrary labeling for the sake of feeling superior[/QUOTE] You're all talking about superiority like that's the point - it isn't, it's just not useful to say "90% of the population plays games!", when there's a big difference between the casual and "hardcore" market, both economically and demographically.

This shouldn't be surprising even without the "angry birds factor". You're comparing a much larger age range to a much smaller age range. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more women in the former group than men in the latter group just due to sheer overall numbers. [QUOTE=itisjuly;45792588]If anything, this is bad since it shows that mobile games have a higher demographic, thus are worth more time to invest into making them. Candy of Duty soon.[/QUOTE] This does not lead to that conclusion very well. Most mobile games are either free or very cheap so profit per player there tends to be tiny. To demonstrate they're worth a bigger investment you need information on actual profits.