The Wii maybe grabbing all the headlines, and rightly so–it’s fun, social, and popular. But take heed, it’s the hardcore gamers that continue to carry this industry.
The NPD Group reports that “Heavy Gamers”–just 2% of the total gaming population–buy more games than any other gaming group. This hardcore crowd comes from about 191 million total gamers, which means they are just 3.8 million strong. Yet these “Heavy Gamers” purchased the most titles (13.1 in the past 3 months), which is 8 times more than the average in the second closest group (”Avid Gamers”).
Sony and Microsoft are looking to reach into their pockets with souped-up games for the pricey PlayStation and XBox consoles, respectively. At the reformed E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles next week, the highly anticipated Halo 3 will be debuted, along with Lair for the PS3 and Mass Effect for the XBox. At about $50 a pop, these games aren’t cheap, but millions of fans will line up to pay.
Some might be there with their parents, though. While the average gamer is considered to be about 33 years old these days, the “Heavy Gamer” group skews quite a bit younger at 6-17, NPD reports. But they also tend to play more on the PC than any console. This means we haven’t seen anything yet. Get ready, the real gaming wave is still ahead…
[via GameDaily BIZ and WSJ]
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