CGW's Report on Gaming in America

A few days ago, Computer Gaming World let out the results of a major study called "Computer Gaming in America." As the premier magazine about and for PC gamers, it should know. The study, the first of its kind, takes a look at who is gaming, what games they're playing, and what their attitudes are about playing computer games. Why would Computer Gaming World want to take on such a massive task of getting into the minds and joysticks of gamers? Dale Strang, publisher of Computer Gaming World, explains, "We are constantly asked questions by game companies about the size, segmentation, demographics, and psychographics of the computer gaming market. This study is the first of its kind that truly provides those answers."

So who are gamers? Here's the quick list:

· The vast majority of households with computers have games installed (32 million out of 41 million households) · Gamers are divided into two segments: casual gamers and core gamers · Core gamers, while only representing 14 percent of the population, account for 52 percent of game sales volume

So where do you fit in? Casual gamers (about 86 percent of the gaming population or 21 million people) are basically casual gamers and infrequent game buyers. In fact, even though this is the larger of the two groups, they make up for less than half the sales. This group buys only about 3.4 games a year on average. Popular games among this group include board/family games, card games, and some adventure games. Also, this group is seen as the advice seekers, meaning that they are more likely to act on the recommendations of others when deciding on their game purchases.

Core gamers make up about 14 percent or 4.5 million gamers and buy about 24 games per year on average. In numbers, this makes out to roughly 52 percent of spending in the gaming category and a whopping $810 million of the total $1.4 billion in 1996 gaming sales. Core gamers consider themselves experts and prefer games that require more knowledge and commitment like adventure, action, and role-playing titles. The core folk are also avid Internet gurus in which 40 percent of them play online games. They are also more likely to give advice or recommendations to the casual users.

CGW also found that core gamers had an average of 42 games in their libraries whereas casual gamers had about 15 on average.

The second half of the study focused on describing gamers' attitudes in general. Basically, gamers describe themselves as ones who like to work hard, play hard, and play competitively. Although gamers are on their computers a hefty portion of the week, they don't consider themselves loners, geeks, or nerds. Core gamers (85 percent of them anyway) described themselves as easily offended. Interestingly, 78 percent of core gamers are more likely to view gaming as life, as 14 percent said that they use games to blow off steam. Casual gamers view themselves as being helpful, self-sufficient, and more communicative than core gamers.

Now you know that you're not the only one with this wonderful addiction known as gaming.