Kotaku
Perhaps dissected was a little much, but the "Interactive Australia 2007" report comes close, breaking down everything you need to know about the Australian public's gaming habits.
If stats and raw, unadulterated demographics are your thing, hit the jump for the report's highlights, which cover everything from the non-media activities of gamers to what most people do when they finish a game.
- 79% of Australian households have a device for playing computer and video games.
- The average age of Australian gamers is 28 years.
- Interactive games are attracting new players. 41% of gamers are female. 8% are seniors.
- Parents and children are increasingly playing together. 35% of gamers are parents.
- 61% of gamers play for up to an hour at one time.
- Playing computer games does not compete with non-media and outdoor leisure activities. Instead it competes with other media such as TV, film and music.
- Parents in game households say the positive aspects of game play are more than just enjoyment and happiness. 73% say games help their children learn about technology, 68% say games help their children learn maths, 64% say games help children learn to plan.
- 70% of games classified by the OFLC in 2006 were rated G or PG.
- 62% of Australians in game households say the classification of a game has no influence on their buying decision
Broadband penetration decreased steadily with age. Game households were 12% more likely than non-game households to have broadband.
- Playing online games ranks 10th among the list of activities Australians identify as their common uses of the internet. Email, web browsing, banking and paying bills are the top uses.
In a perfect world, this would be the kind of stuff discussed on current affairs shows and talkback radio when the topic of gaming came up.
Interactive Australia 2007 [IEEA]
Comments
In a perfect world this kind of analysis certianly would replace all that scaremongering.
Pressumably the report is based on responses to a questionaire. Judging by the front cover the whole project (ie. including the framing of the questions) has been designed to put a positive spin on gaming in Australia.
Still, it makes a nice change.
71% were disappointed that the PS3 did not ship with the "boomerang" controller, and 63% complained that a dingo had eaten their Wii's.
Ha ha haaa! Australia.
Seriously though, Aussies are good, smart people with a rich and varied culture. They're just sort of goofy, and I find that massively endearing.
62% of Australians in game households say the classification of a game has no influence on their buying decision
And in Australia, games are reviewed by the government censorship office in exactly the same way as films and books are.
Which is what some conservative Americans think will be the magical solution to the whole "kids playing violent video games" problem. (Hint: It won't!)
These statistics are never discussed in any of the traditional media in Australia.
I find it really difficult to believe that broadband penetration is only 12% more likely in gaming households though. That's a clear cut case of the people answering the survey (parents) not having a clue as to what their kids do on the computer.
[And hemlock, that is seriously funny!]
Those results are actually even more positive than I anticipated. You would expect some spin, given that the study is sponsored by the IEAA, but there are some really interesting facts there to quote the next time someone starts ranting about the evils of gaming.
As r1nce said, it is interesting that broadband penetration among "game households" is only 12% higher than average.
The overall rate of broadband penetration in Australia is around 18% (as of the last years' OECD survey). This means that only 20% of gamers in Australia have broadband.
I wonder how this will affect the next-gen consoles (with their focus on online gaming) when they become more mainstream here.
Well, 79% coverage of game related devices is pretty sweeping, so maybe the 12% in the broadband likeliness simply means that Australians are tech-saavy future-thinkers who already had broadband subscriptions...
...and who use silly words like wallaby and didgeridoo.
Where's the number that shows Australians are more likely to resort to piracy than other PAL or NTSC Regions. I see a lot of Aussies in those waters and I'm curious about how it stands.
We resort to piracy so much (not me though. no, seriously) because we have such easy access to it. For just a cheap plane trip or holiday, we can be in South-East Asia, buying pirated games or dvds. And if they don't work? Oh well, they cost about $5 AUD.
And I'd like to point out the facts about the %70 percent G or PG game ratings, and the fact that parents will look at the content rather than the rating. Is this not enough proof to the bloody Office of Film and Literature Classification that we, as a nation, will be able to accept games that have R18+ ratings, and not blow up the world like some Americans have? (no offense, but you don't here the media going on about the problems as much here as you do there. Although, there ARE still people idiotic enough to watch Today Tonight or A Current Affairs) Come OFLC, give us some credit...
The methodology seems a bit strange:
"The study is based on a national random sample of 1,606 Australian households who responded to more than 75 questions and over 300 data points in a 15-minute online survey run by ACNielsen Surveys Australia in late September 2006."
So how did the 5% of the 1268 "game" households (63 households) who do not have internet access complete the survey?
An online survey is surely skewed heavily towards gamers.
I'm all for a positive portrayal of Aussie gamers, but the results of this survey seem to be too easy to shoot down.
I don't quite feel dissected yet, afterall, this is only a statistic...
Still, i agree that classifications don't matter. I played Mortal Kombat 3 (genesis) at the age of 6 ^_^
And YES, video games DO make you smart!
Start a discussion:
Login with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?