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66% of casual gamers are over the age of 50

by rawmeatcowboy
04 October 2006
GN 1.0 / 2.0

PopCap Games (Zuma, Bejeweled) conducted a survey of 2,191 random gamers that was aimed at finding out the age of the casual gamer. When the results of the poll are factored into total numbers of casual gamers, we find that 47% of casual gamers are over the age of 50, while 19% are over 60.

“I am in my fifties and I use casual word and puzzle games on the computer as well as recommending them to my patients. I find that these types of games are wonderful as a stress management tool, while at the same time providing excellent cognitive exercise. While they may not choose ‘entertainment’ as the primary reason for playing, it seems reasonable to assume that older players of these games are likely to recognize the benefits of cognitive exercise more readily than younger consumers. When you’re 65 or 70 and you play a game of Bookworm or Bejeweled, you’re more likely to identify improvements in your mental acuity that might go unnoticed by younger people.” - Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Stony Brook NY-based psychologist

We have seen how well the casual gaming approach has been working for Nintendo via their Touch Generations series. It will be very interesting to see how this approach works with the Wii being a much more physical system.

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