Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected - Kotaku Comments

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

Ultrasinc — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:21:33 MST

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!

Ultrasinc

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

BjornBednarek — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:38:32 MST

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.

BjornBednarek

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

telstratouchfone — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:58:10 MST

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...

telstratouchfone

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

cokpendejo — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:15:19 MST

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.

cokpendejo

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

nemyhlovecraft — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:09:15 MST

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.

nemyhlovecraft

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

Marlor — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:25:17 MST

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.

Marlor

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

Marlor — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:19:15 MST

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.

Marlor

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

r1nce — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:17:07 MST

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!]

r1nce

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

Korgmeister — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:15:37 MST

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!)

Korgmeister

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

hemlock_martini — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:13:44 MST

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.

hemlock_martini

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

hemlock_martini — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:10:09 MST

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.

hemlock_martini

Australian Gamers Studied, Examined, Dissected

AddedFibre — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:54:38 MST

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.

AddedFibre