NPD revises gaming-survey stats

Yesterday, the NPD Group released some nuggets of information gleaned from its 2008 report on online gaming. The industry-watching firm placed special emphasis on one figure when it headlined a press release with the news that, "an all-time high of 72 percent of the US population reports that they play games."

Now it turns out that figure isn't really accurate. An NPD representative contacted media outlets to clarify its previous report, saying that the 72 percent figure applies only to the US population between the ages of 6 and 44. The reported figures for the amount of respondents who play online games--42 percent, up from 40 percent for the year prior--also applies only to the 6-44 age bracket.

In the original press release, the NPD stated that its data was based on the online-survey results of 20,240 consumer-panel members assessing the gaming habits of people aged 2 and older. In today's clarification, the actual percentage of gamers among that age group is listed as 59 percent. Among those gamers, 56 percent of them play online.