AfterDawn: News

Kids accounted for 24 percent of games industry sales in H1 2009

The NPD Group followed up its recent sales figures for the U.S. games industry in the month of August with a new study titled "Kids & Cross-Entertainment Behaviors." It suggests that a way for the games industry to recover from a recent slump in sales would be to increase targeting of the 12-and-under demographic. In the first half of 2009, kids of 12 and under accounted for 24 percent of games industry sales.

Households with kids in the age group account for 45 percent of total industry sales. The study notes that 57 percent of kids aged between 2 and 12 play games, while 62 percent use a computer.



"According to the US Census Bureau, there are 53.4 million [kids] ages 12 and under in the US, accounting for 17 percent of the population," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said as part of the study. "Yet for many industries, games included, they account for a much larger portion of total sales."

Frazier also noted that the "Tween" demographic is a good target, with 75 percent in the age group playing games regularly.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 13 Sep 2009 19:34

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• 20 comments

• KillerBug

  "Frazier went on to note that the "tween" demographic is a particularly exploitable demographic"
  
  This guy wants to exploit tweens...something about that sounds very wrong.

  14.9.2009 00:46 #1

• Dela

  Originally posted by KillerBug: "Frazier went on to note that the "tween" demographic is a particularly exploitable demographic"
  
  This guy wants to exploit tweens...something about that sounds very wrong.lmao..... errr..... i better change that to something that sounds less creepy ;-)
  
  Hmm.. I never edited it... and it doesn't seem to say what you quoted... maybe someone elses edited it or you just made it up as a joke? lol i don't remember if I wrote that.

  14.9.2009 00:50 #2

• ZippyDSM

  And M games account for 24% of profits...strange that
  /B
  
  The really sad thing is we wont be seeing a 15+ level in the teen range of the ESRB anytime soon because the teen demo is the best demo to arse rape....

  14.9.2009 03:02 #3

• DXR88

  12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.

  14.9.2009 04:12 #4

• KillerBug

  The quote was from the original post of this news over at gamespot:
  http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217342.html
  
  It is a direct quote.

  14.9.2009 05:05 #5

• pphoenix

  i hate sales and marketing people with a passion, they are void of a soul & manipulate everyone for financial gain, scum.
  
  they are lower that scum, so they are going to implement the tried & tested "nag factor" then!
  
  THE CORPORATION 11/23 Basic Training
  
  Bill Hicks on Marketing

  14.9.2009 05:11 #6

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by KillerBug: The quote was from the original post of this news over at gamespot:
  http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217342.html
  
  It is a direct quote.It's game spot, do you think they can afford unique articles?

  14.9.2009 05:12 #7

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Originally posted by KillerBug: The quote was from the original post of this news over at gamespot:
  http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217342.html
  
  It is a direct quote.It's game spot, do you think they can afford unique articles?I figure they are a bit like afterdawn...getting suckers (like us) to make all their content for them.
  

  Current System: Windows 7 RC1, DFI M2RS, ATI 3870HD, Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600, Athlon 9950, 6GB Corsair DDR2, 3TB RAID 5, 750GB Raid-1, 500GB RAID-1, 640GB RAID-0 Boot, 3ware 9690SA, Adaptec 2610SA, Adaptec 1430SA, Intel Gigabit NIC (PCI), LG 20X Lightscribe DVDR, Coolmax 1200w Power Supply, Logitech G15(first edition), Logitech G5(Second Edition), modified dell poweredge 1800 server case.
  Overall configuration: Perfect chair, two 22" widescreens overhead, Logitech 5.1 Audio

  14.9.2009 05:42 #8

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Originally posted by KillerBug: The quote was from the original post of this news over at gamespot:
  http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217342.html
  
  It is a direct quote.It's game spot, do you think they can afford unique articles?I figure they are a bit like afterdawn...getting suckers (like us) to make all their content for them.
  Well both have their ups and downs, I just wish they linked more sources and where more upfront on direct qautes and such.
  
  Frankly I am not a grammar nazi nor do I care if a article is 100% unique, if I bother to comment I have to kinda like the site enough to give a rats ass. AD is my main news/tech site with ars tech for the more wordy complicated tech sector drivel with game politics filling out the number 2 spot above it since I go their daily and like the people and Denis himself. I might hit up joystiq randomly but there's not really more beyond that.
  

  Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy!
  Ah modern gaming its like modern film only the watering down of fiction and characters is replaced with shallow and watered down mechanics, gimmicks and shiny-er "people".
  http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

  14.9.2009 05:48 #9

• GryphB

  Did they actually expect the majority of videogamers to be adults?

  14.9.2009 06:24 #10

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by GryphB: Did they actually expect the majority of videogamers to be adults?
  The majority are I would wager, at least 15-3X I mean come on there's not much difference in maturity levels till after guys get over themselves after 40 something :P

  14.9.2009 06:26 #11

• glassd

  Originally posted by DXR88: 12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.Doom?

  14.9.2009 10:34 #12

• DXR88

  Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: 12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.Doom?folks, i do believe we have are selfs a winner.

  14.9.2009 13:57 #13

• glassd

  Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: 12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.Doom?folks, i do believe we have are selfs a winner.Was that for God Mode or the B.F.G.?

  14.9.2009 14:40 #14

• canuckerz

  God no, as if the whole casual gaming scene hasn't done enough harm.

  14.9.2009 23:50 #15

• KillerBug

  Sounds like we have a Jonas Brothers game on the way...to take advantage of the tweens...those marketing execs love to take advantage of tweens!

  15.9.2009 03:34 #16

• DXR88

  Quote:Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: 12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.Doom?folks, i do believe we have are selfs a winner.Was that for God Mode or the B.F.G.?Its a secret ;)
  

  Powered By
  
  

  15.9.2009 14:34 #17

• glassd

  Quote:Quote:Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: 12 and under are more entertained with older platforms like the NES. i often find they have trouble with the button placement or button commands used in sophisticated games.
  
  like up,downright,right+punch.
  
  and the memorization of IDDQD and the game it belongs too.Doom?folks, i do believe we have are selfs a winner.Was that for God Mode or the B.F.G.?Its a secret ;)If i remember right, IDDQD = Delegrisive Mode and BFG = Big F Gun
  Oh, the days of floopy disk.

  15.9.2009 16:04 #18

• inagasake

  Originally posted by canuckerz: God no, as if the whole casual gaming scene hasn't done enough harm.I hate how the industry transformed the definition of "casual gaming"/"casual gamer". My definition of a casual gamer is someone who plays games casually. Back in the day, a "casual gamer" would be someone who played Halo, MGS, Madden, etc. casually. As in someone who doesn't devote a lot of time to video games. And I'd say that I often fall in that category because there were long stretches where I either didn't have much interest in gaming and focused on other hobbies. Or I just don`t have the time to devote much time for them. But nowadays "casual gaming" is associated with mini-games. And that's just dumb. Those kind of games should be called something else because not all casual gamers play just Wiisports, Wiifit and Carnival Games.
  
  And I definitely wouldn't want to call myself a "hardcore gamer" either because in my personal experience, many hardcore gamers tend to take games too seriously and try to sap the fun out of games for other people. For eg. pulling off special moves in fighting games can be tricky for me so I appreciate that there is an easy specials stick in Blazblue. So I can just focus on strategy and less reflex-intensive stuff for now instead of worrying about pulling off a long input sequence within a short period of time (outside of ranked matches). After I get all the basics and strategy down, then I'll move on to the advanced inputs. But yet 2D fighting veterans complain that this option shouldn't have been included, even though you can always turn it off online/offline and it's banned for ranked matches online. I don't understand why hardcore gamers feel the need to exclude novices so much and take away their fun. So as long as hardcores have the opportunity for convenient competitive play online, local or in arcades with people at similar skill levels, why do they care so much about non-experts enjoying the same games they like? They complain about so-called `casual games` hitting the market but yet they don`t want non-hardcores playing their `hardcore games` (even though this will mean that more of these games get made). They want their cake and to eat it too. Not gonna happen. If you are going to want more costly HD video games to be developed, you`re going to have to live with developers taking money from non-hardcore gamers.

  20.9.2009 11:00 #19

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by canuckerz: God no, as if the whole casual gaming scene hasn't done enough harm.I hate how the industry transformed the definition of "casual gaming"/"casual gamer". My definition of a casual gamer is someone who plays games casually. Back in the day, a "casual gamer" would be someone who played Halo, MGS, Madden, etc. casually. As in someone who doesn't devote a lot of time to video games. And I'd say that I often fall in that category because there were long stretches where I either didn't have much interest in gaming and focused on other hobbies. Or I just don`t have the time to devote much time for them. But nowadays "casual gaming" is associated with mini-games. And that's just dumb. Those kind of games should be called something else because not all casual gamers play just Wiisports, Wiifit and Carnival Games.
  
  And I definitely wouldn't want to call myself a "hardcore gamer" either because in my personal experience, many hardcore gamers tend to take games too seriously and try to sap the fun out of games for other people. For eg. pulling off special moves in fighting games can be tricky for me so I appreciate that there is an easy specials stick in Blazblue. So I can just focus on strategy and less reflex-intensive stuff for now instead of worrying about pulling off a long input sequence within a short period of time (outside of ranked matches). After I get all the basics and strategy down, then I'll move on to the advanced inputs. But yet 2D fighting veterans complain that this option shouldn't have been included, even though you can always turn it off online/offline and it's banned for ranked matches online. I don't understand why hardcore gamers feel the need to exclude novices so much and take away their fun. So as long as hardcores have the opportunity for convenient competitive play online, local or in arcades with people at similar skill levels, why do they care so much about non-experts enjoying the same games they like? They complain about so-called `casual games` hitting the market but yet they don`t want non-hardcores playing their `hardcore games` (even though this will mean that more of these games get made). They want their cake and to eat it too. Not gonna happen. If you are going to want more costly HD video games to be developed, you`re going to have to live with developers taking money from non-hardcore gamers.Mmmm casual was always ...well...casual, meaning they played less than anyone else. Now adays hard core gamers are the fools that are distracted by shiny things and brands.... while casuals still don;t game alot but there's just 5 tiems as many of them than there was.

  20.9.2009 16:18 #20