Mike Bantick
Monday, 27 October 2008 16:53
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 4
The latest Bond University Interactive Austraila 2009 study has been released today, among the findings; increasingly playing video games is the norm in society.
Last year’s Interactive Australia survey showed just how smashed gaming stereotypes are becoming. In 2007 the average age of a gamer was 28 years old and increasingly female, flying in the face of the image of a typical gamer as young boys.
Interactive Australia 2009 (IA9) has been released, and if anything is true, it is that the gamer stereotype is become even further from the truth.
Produced by Jeffrey Brand, Phd, Jull Borchard, MCom and Kym Holms, BCom, LLB (Hons). The IA9 survey out of The Centre of New Media Research at the Gold Coast based Bond University looked at the leisure habits of some 1614 Australian households.
Highlights of the study show the shifting trends in both electronic interactive entertainment and the people involved.
Much of the trends have continued from the 2007 survey, with once again the average age of a ‘gamer’ (those that answered the straight forward question with a yes) has climbed even closer to the average Australian age of 36.
The average gamer age is now 30 years old, comparing to the average non-gamer age of 40 years old. This narrows the survey gap by 10 years from a survey conducted three years ago.
It is also relevant to note that nearly all young Australians (95 percent of those aged 6 to 10 years old) and the majority of older Australians (52 percent of those aged greater than 51 ) considered themselves gamers.
A similar homogenisation has occurred in the gender split of gamers, with female gamers making up 46 percent of the electronically amused. This figure is a whopping 5 percent up on last years report.
For other IA9 findings click on to page 2.
