Survey finds smartphones and tablets have surpassed Nintendo as entry point to gaming
No, it's the children who are wrong.
The Magid Games Team is a group of industry experts who have conducted a number of surveys over the years related to video games. Their latest examines trends in gaming amongst players of different ages, and it indicates that Nintendo is no longer the foremost entry point for kids into the world of games.
According to the survey, around 37% of kids aged 10-15 played their first video game via a smartphone device, while only around 20% did so with a Nintendo system. In contrast, 34% of people aged 25-34 had their first game experiences on a Nintendo system, and only 9% on a mobile device.
According to Josh Fortey of Magid Games Team, this statistic shouldn’t be too surprising. Talking to VentureBeat, he said, “It makes sense that Nintendo has lost ground to smartphones and tablets because it shares a pretty similar positioning as to why people get into games — and that is convenience. You’ll see that those who choose Nintendo as their primary device and those who choose mobile as their primary device, it’s because it is the easiest and quickest to pick up.”
With the proliferation of games on mobile devices, it certainly does make sense that more and more young people will discover them that way. Of course, they might also be discovering games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Pokemon GO, so it seems like a win/win for Nintendo. Click here to read about the other insights gleaned from the original survey.
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socar
4M agoComplete bogus. As if the switch sales don't imply kids being a major target.
kingbroly
4M agoThis is clearly due to Bad Babysitting.
atomictoasteryo
4M agoEntry point. I feel like that would be most people first experience now since people need a phone before a console.
mereel
4M agoCompletely understandable as smartphones are ubiquitous and the games are free/cheap. These aren’t real games anyway, and the gamer kids will soon move to consoles or dedicated handhelds.
What’s more concerning to me is that for today’s 10-12 year olds, they are more likely to be introduced to gaming on a Playstation than a Nintendo?! What is wrong with this world?
tendonin
4M agoThe real crisis is that children have so much smartphone access at all. Though having less refined tastes in games isn’t the main concern there.
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