In America, according to the Denizens of Digitivity survey by JWT. Over 1.000 people were surveyed on September 7 to 11. Of which 44% of the female respondents and 39% of the male respondents said they had a games console.
The slight pinch of salt here is that the survey was online, so open to all sorts of creative fun. Which is not unknown.
However, taken at face value, this represents the seismic shift in gaming demography over the last 2 years which has been measured and reported on elsewhere. It certainly moves the industry further away from the old (or current if you are the Daily Mail or Fox News) preconception that video games are for adolescent boys.
What is behind this is the dawning realisation that interactive entertainment can be for normal people of all ages and both sexes. And the Nintendo Wii. In fact as gaming develops to become as everyday as watching television I can see the women pulling out and maintaining a genuine lead over men in game playing. And I don’t mean FPS games here! The fact is that women are more sociable and whilst gaming is already a social activity it will grow to be even more of one.
I do hope that this news is seen by every single executive in the gaming industry. It is not just the Daily Mail that has ignorant notions about the industry.
So is this being a sexist dinosaur? Or are the women taking over gaming like they have most other things? Post your thoughts.