NPD looks into kids and gaming

New report says PC dominates as game platform of choice for children from ages 2 to 17; amount of time spent gaming on the rise.

As much as the gaming industry tries to present itself as an entertainment realm for adults as well as children, there's no denying that a lot of kids play games. In fact, the industry-tracking NPD Group announced today that its latest report found that the amount of time kids spend playing games is on the rise across the board.

Of the nearly 3,500 children between the ages of 2 and 17 that the NPD surveyed, one-third responded that they are spending more time playing games than they did a year ago. As of press time, an NPD representative had not returned GameSpot's request for comment on how the habits of the remaining two-thirds had changed.

The report also found that PCs are the primary gaming platform for kids, with children starting to game on the system at age 6, and continuing through the age of 17, the longest stretch of time of any gaming system measured. According to the NPD, the "gaming lifecycle" begins with kid-focused systems.

As boys get older, they migrate to plug-and-play TV games, then previous-generation consoles and handhelds. At age 10, they move to cell-phone gaming and the current crop of systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. On the other hand, girls tend to leave gaming behind as they get older.

NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement that the switch from casual to core gamer happens between the ages of 6 and 8, which suggests that this span of time is "a critical age at which to capture the future gamers of the world."

The most punctuated jump in time spent gaming occurs in the switch from the 2-to-5 age bracket to 6-to-8, according to the NPD. It is then that weekly gaming hours surge 75 percent on the average, from four hours a week to seven hours. By the time kids hit the 12-to-17 bracket, game use has generally evened out at roughly 10 hours a week.

104 Comments

  • sieg6529

    Posted Oct 19, 2007 11:33 am PT

    sweet jeebus...don't get me wrong, I love games and have since I was little, but it seems like video games are just another way for parents to get out of parenting

  • Devvy01

    Posted Oct 19, 2007 6:50 am PT

    There are times when abit of calm down time is required playing games so like 10 hours a week isn't bad, its just when they spend 10 hours/day on it, its time to pull the plug.

  • hrah

    Posted Oct 18, 2007 10:40 am PT

    (hordaak
    BUT yeah, today, I still play games ALOT and i'm 34.)

    You made me remember when I was a kid, I too had the atari 2600vcs back in 1978 and I played that thing regularly but not as much as with today's consoles, then had the 5200 one of the most advanced consoles at the time,Great system almost no games kinda like the ps3 then came the NES craze which was the First console that I bought with my own money, then the snes,genesis,3DO (my big mistake) it's a 754 dls paperweight now, N64 which at the end I regret buying like the 3DO,then a ps1great system, xbox, and now 2 xbox360 psp and a very nice pc, all this time I never stopped playing games and probably never will, plan on buying the ps3 but not the 40 gb, I don't like half a system, gonna get the 80gb. but I do recall seeing my father playing with me in the 5200 era, and I'm 37.
    and it's true games keep you out of trouble, out of drugs,gangs, or whatever there is on the streets, Keep playing !!!.

  • fr33_loader

    Posted Oct 18, 2007 9:12 am PT

    Space-Q

    who's buying their 10 year old a cell phone? why? don't even say, "what about emergencies!" We somehow made it this far as a civilization without giving 10 yr olds access to cell phones.
    -----------------------------
    Knowing that my daughter is gonna be 10 minutes late because she is gonna drop-by at the library instead of worrying about her whereabouts, I'll gladly pay that $15 a month. And yeah, who needs microwave. Start that bonfire going.

  • MatrixSpidey92

    Posted Oct 18, 2007 7:21 am PT

    10 hours a week? more like 30 hours for me, Im a PC and console gamer. Xbox 360, New Extreme High End PC ready for Crysis, ( ) PS2, and Nintendo Wii

  • NuZZ01

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 11:36 pm PT

    When I said a 1000$ computer, that was lurking towards US $.
    However, My comp which I bought a year ago cost about 1600$.
    This is a AMD 4600, 8600GTS (New, was a 7600GS), 3gig ram etc. Ok this was a 1600$ comp. I know it is perfectly easy to put together a 1000$ comp about 6 months ago with decent performance!
    This is just the tower - no LCDs or mice and keyboards or sound systems.

    But that guy with the 4GB PC6400, Core 2 Duo E6750, 8800GTS 640MB - what the hell? What are you running 10 instances of NORTON in the background bottlenecking your CPU or some **** I could run Medieval 2 on highest with 20-40 FPS on a 7600GS!! AND YOU HAVE AN 8800GTS! Medieval must have a f*cked up engine, because with that system you can effectively run any PC game in existence on highest with ease! That is of coarse dis including crappy games with sh!tty engines, like the new quake or something like Supreme Commander where you CPU is doing more of the work. (or in SUPCOMS instance, it is doing MOST of the work, leading to a bottleneck)

  • Inverni

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 7:57 pm PT

    lol... 10 hours... I remember the little rip-out things from game manuals that asked you how long you played games per week and looking at the 25+ (or whatever it was) box and laughing to myself, wondering who has time for all those games. Apparently me, 7 or 8 years down the road. This week alone I have gotten over 25 hours in on PC alone, and it's been lousy because of all the English papers I'm doing.

  • -SlipSkull-

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:53 pm PT

    Okay...I can sort of agree with girls leaving gaming behind as they get older. Since I don't play games as much as I used to, and my older sis' doesn't either.

  • enoslives7

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 3:09 pm PT

    computers are great for downloading porn

  • stejmatty

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:49 pm PT

    gamefan, very true! iv been playing games since i was 12... Im 17 now, and i still enjoy the odd game of C&C and other classic games.

  • gamefan

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    It's our choice though. I love gaming and I'm not going to stop because 1. It's very fun and I enjoy myself.
    2. It's what I do on my spare time when I don't go out.
    3. I don't have many friends because they like to do things that get me in trouble.

    It's the alternative of staying out of trouble while enjoying myself and that shouldn't be considered wrong. For those educated ones who say video games make us have anti social behavor and violent behavor.......screw you and your phD.

  • hordaak

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:06 pm PT

    I started with the atari 2600 when I was 7 (yeah, i'm old). During that time, the graphics sucked, so we didnt spend as much hours on a game as kids today. We would go for high scores back then or "turning over" a game. That meant you reached the highest score, and the score would go back to "0". There was alot of competition to the atari, but most of those died out. Since the games were pretty simplistic, older kids and twenty somethings wouldnt be interested beyond just playing here and there. Therefore, "videogames" back then were for kids about 13 and younger. Then the systems started getting better...
    intellivision, vectrex (google that if you never heard of it. It kicks serious ass, even for todays standards), colecovision, atari 5200....then the market crashed for a year or two. Only in the arcades (yes, arcades which were all over the place back then) would you get good games for this period during the crash. THEN came the nintendo nes which just launched home videogames into orbit. BUT yeah, today, I still play games ALOT and i'm 34. All my friends play all the time. We have to juggle girlfriends, work, wives, kids and such into the mix, but NEVER in the history of the world have you had parents and their kids side by side playing with toys....think about it. did dads play GI joes with their kids in the 60's? did moms play with barbie dolls all day long????? What a weird time we live in.

  • MasterChief725

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:49 pm PT

    lol i agree, i blame Microsoft and Nintendo for such great gaming systems (xbox 360, wii, DS, windows XP) ! ITS NOT MY FAULT! I CANT KEEP AWAY!

  • Vong_Assassin

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    I blame Nintendo for creating an awesome machine...lol

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:39 pm PT

    i have been playing games since i was 4 xD, back then in 1990

  • Ek-Andy

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:23 pm PT

    I understand why many young children would enjoy playing massivly multiplayer online games alot. For one even if your paying a subscription its still cheaper than buying games to satisfy them at the rate they can go through them, and realisticly speaking young children probably dont spend that much on gaming. Secondly, they have alot of spare time so its quite possible for them to play these games for hours on end without running out of time to play them, which is really a requirement for MMOs. Thirdly online games are allways great when you first start playing them. Its like a whole new way of enjoying the games you thought your totally done with. Of course that wears off when you relise your sorounded by a bunch of jerks (how can i help it, its just my nature!).

  • Pudgieluv

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:15 pm PT

    Hey did u hear the ps3 is getting lost planter... O yeah!.. True story

  • KamuiFei

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 12:43 pm PT

    They'll report just about anything nowadays...At those ages, I had Atari, NES, Gameboy (original), Genesis, Sega CD/32X, SNES, GameGear, N64, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and currently PS3, X360 and Wii. Man those were alot of systems...but seriously I was building with Legos, riding my bike and playing sports with other kids more than video games. My first PC was around the time I had PS1/N64/Dreamcast era. I only played flash games on it hehe.

    Weird how times have changed, now 10 year olds have freakin cell phones...maybe even younger. Back in the day, we handed paper notes around the class to get a message across without the teacher knowing, not that whole texting thing. Now every kid I see thats around 8-12 years old have not just a cell phone but also a PSP or DS.

    Anyways, yea...kids play alot of games now. I haven't touched the 10 hours a week mark since I quit WoW, yet sometimes I'll probably go over 15 or 20 a week when I get a new game.

  • Hell-Fire21

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 12:41 pm PT

    Dang, what about the people aged 18-32 that play 14 hours a week? Are we getting brain damage? Lol

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 12:41 pm PT

    hmmm... interesting.

  • kyo_tetsuei

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 12:32 pm PT

    I'd say it's them damn Pokemon, but that's only half the story.

  • GrrrboyMC

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 11:43 am PT

    If only 1/3 of kids have indicated greater gaming usage, surely that means that the other 2/3 are playing games by the same amount or less???

    Doesn't this translate that overall kids are playing games less than they did last year, not more?

  • Space-Q

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 11:39 am PT

    "Nuzz, when was the PS3 ever 1000$?"

    maybe in other countries, I think it's around $1000 in Australia and NZ and around there.

  • Space-Q

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 11:28 am PT

    17 qualifies as kids?


    yep.


    I know a lot of 27 year olds that are still kids. 30 is the new 18

  • Space-Q

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 11:24 am PT

    10yr olds move onto cell phone games?

    who's buying their 10 year old a cell phone? why? don't even say, "what about emergencies!" We somehow made it this far as a civilization without giving 10 yr olds access to cell phones.

  • primalwanderer

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 10:29 am PT

    People who get a computer usually play internet games for free so younger people do tht but when you get older you tend to play more console stuff but with computer players i dont think it will last for lopng now as the sominate force because the main games are like wow because they are online with millions of people and console online games are getting more advanced soon like next gen (xbox720 maybe) youll be able to do tht on consoles then bi bi expensive pcs

  • ganon546

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 10:05 am PT

    lol, I doubt many 2 year olds are going to play Crysis or Hellgate: London.

  • blackace

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 9:24 am PT

    It was dying for awhile. PC profits had been falling off for about 10yrs prior to WoW being released. Since WoW was released PC gaming has finally made over $1 billion in gaming related sales. So PC gaming isn't dead. It's starting to get some rejuvilation finally.
    ______________________
    brianpoetzel And people try to convince me on a daily basis that PC gaming is dying. :-)

  • blackace

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 9:12 am PT

    Well, of course more kids are gaming on PC. There are like 20x's more PC in people homes then game consoles. These kids who are gaming on PC are doing this not only in their homes, but also in schools all over the world. Many of these kids parents can't afford to spend money on a game console, so kids use their PC's at school, libraries and other public places that allow free access. These kids 6-8 are not buying PC games however. Their parents are most likely buying educational games. With all these millions and millions of kids playing PC games you'd think that PC gaming would be a $20-$25 billion market right? Nope!! Not even close. PC game just finally broke the $1 billion figure this year, while Console Gaming makes over 12 billion a year. So while there are definitely more kids (and adults) playing games on the PC, they aren't purchasing many of the games they are playing.

  • foxhound_fox

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 8:47 am PT

    Squeets: PC gaming is as expensive as you want to make it. There is not set price like a console. That's the beauty about scaled games. Not everyone needs to max games... seeing as how compared to console abilities, medium settings is about all you need.

    I find it funny how people deny that PC gaming is popular. If there was no PC gaming, there would be no console gaming. Mostly all console games are developed on PC then optimized for console hardware. Seeing as how PC's are the only systems that can run programs developers use to make things for games.

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 8:21 am PT

    i put in as much as 6 hours a day some weeks other weeks i won't play at all, i binge play alot i beat halo 3 at 6 in the morning launch day, i beat episode 2 in one play session on launch day, episode 2 is longer and far better than halo3 witch is funny considering the length of developement for both orange box and halo3, oh and portal took me about 4 and a half hours to beat, TF2 is more fun than halo3 multiplayer but halo3 offers more possibilities like three guests playing split screen with you online, a good time. and more game modes but the level design isn't uniformally great and there is no ability to kick players who are messing up a game. like when a jerk is on your team but is playing for the other team and moves you mobile base to the other teams spawn piont so they can spam the flag and you loose in like 4 minutes. yeah as good as halo3 is i lacks alot of the flexibility and control that standard pc shooters have like vote kick or team auto balance when on team looses like half their players in the middle of a match it's gay like that so i still can't say that halo 3 has the best online of any game on the consoles with so much room for improvement.

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 8:14 am PT

    pc gaming will never die especially when the highest grosing game of all time is still WOW. so what are they gonna do now. pc is the greatest platform what do we get for it? bad ports and a hand full of the finest games on the market.

  • nihuna

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 7:58 am PT

    lol. I go to the library after University, ALL the damn computers are taken by annoying little kids playing Runescape. Seriously, grow up, get a job, and PLAY A REAL GAME.

  • swyg

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 7:00 am PT

    17 qualifies as kids?


    yep.

  • Doolum

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 6:53 am PT

    i spend at least 14 hrs per week,now if on that week i have a day off on that you can add an average of 5 more hrs.

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 6:43 am PT

    And people try to convince me on a daily basis that PC gaming is dying. :-)

  • MasterCorban

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 6:24 am PT

    @Nuzz: For your information when it first came out in the UK it was roughly $1000, even more in Europe, (ok if you bought it with a game, but who isnt going to do that!) 40Gb version PS3 roughly $600 now! (with no games). Plus like OremLK, my comp is not as good as your but has no problem with any game. I suggest a trip to a PC guy to help u sort out what you done wrong!

  • SkankinForFalco

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:52 am PT

    It's easy for kids to get sucked into Fantasy MMO's so I don't doubt that "majority" of kids are playing PC games as apposed to console's.

    Well that and convincing your dad to buy you a 50 dollar game is a lot easier then telling 'em to buy you a new PS3/360. Glad I have a Job.

  • Shtinky

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:37 am PT

    17 qualifies as kids?

  • GenericFanboy

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:27 am PT

    Most of those kids probably play Runescape lol!

  • OremLK

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:23 am PT

    @Squeets: You must've done something wrong when building your system, or have something wrong on the software end, because I have less of a computer than that and I have yet to encounter any game I can't max out the graphics settings on and run with silky smooth frame rates.

  • retrofraction12

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 5:03 am PT

    thats mainly true because people can't afford to keep their computers up to date so then the kids have to go to the systems

  • kbaily

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 4:38 am PT

    One reason kids play PC games is because parents don't want to buy a console. I mean why buy a console when you have a perfectly good computer to play games on but also not mentioned was the fact that the kids and parents are the main ones buying Wiis right now. I mean what parents is going to spend $400-$600 just so their kid can play Spongebob?

  • bluedevil64

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 4:01 am PT

    OH NOES!!!!1!!11!
    Better think about banning computers!!!

  • Squeets

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 3:43 am PT

    Nuzz, when was the PS3 ever 1000$... I got mine at launch and it was 600$... and a 1000$ computer will not max anything, I built my computer myself and it cost almost 1700$ and I can't even max some last generation games, I have 4GB PC6400, Core 2 Duo E6750, 8800GTS 640MB, and I can't even max some games such as Medieval 2 and newer games like World in Conflict...

  • NuZZ01

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 3:18 am PT

    It is true that you require better hardware etc. when buying more next gen releases for the pc...
    However, there is the fact that all console games are locked and fixed at a certain standard in graphics and processing that with the PC you can actually progress - if you have the money.

    For about $1000, the price the PS3 was awhile ago, you could buy a PC that could play mostly all high end high budget well developed game (Eg. Good game engine, Unreal etc.) on generally the highest settings.

    The thing is the PC is able to be used in many more ways, and is of course open to the MMOG genre of gaming and such.

    That reminds me... MMOs and little kids oddly works... Have you guys seen all the Asian mmos that come out with their anime happy chibby graphics? They actually have players so young as 3 on WOW. And that is WOW, if you look at the Asian games the masses in china and that play, where they practically live for the game - grinding all day in their spare time - then you can see how young kids might be inclined to play the games as their parents and siblings may introduce them, or be introduced as they advertise MMOs on TV in Asia...

    I still think there should be less child gamers though. Waist of resources better spent for adult gaming thank you very much . Not to mention all these screwed up age restrictions for consoles.

  • everson_rm

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:49 am PT

    mmmmm. in my case, atari, genesis, snes, psx and ps2 (I'm from a third world country, so those toy are expensive, them I could have only one VG from a generation, exept for the Genesis and snes). But I'm with my 4th "game pc"... so, for me I was a video game player them turn into a PC player... well, that's my case...

  • milnet

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:46 am PT

    I started on the ZX Specturm, moved to C64, then NES, Megadrive / Genesis, PS1. Then I started working so from there I got PS2, GameCube, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. I play PC games as well but lately only consoles because for every new game out you have to buy new hardware which gets way to expensive. Games run smoothly on consoles so don't need to upgrade them all the time.

  • IrishSJ23

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 2:24 am PT

    Wow ra devil. Go buy an N64 with Ocarina of Time and buy Metal Gear Solid 3 for your PS2.

  • Ra-Devil

    Posted Oct 17, 2007 1:17 am PT

    In order of purchase: NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, Sega Saturn, PSX, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox, PS2, GameCube, Xbox 360.

    Yeah, I'm a gamer. I pretty much owned them all, except the really early ones like Atari and such, but I have played them. N64 was crap, so I didn't buy it, but I enjoyed all the others greatly... well, except my PS2. That was more of a dust collector. I didn't really find anything interesting for it I wanted to buy that wasn't similar to something I had on the Xbox. PS3 is too expensive, and the Wii doesn't have any good games out right now.

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