The Entertainment Software Association of America posted their 2011 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry today, and while nothing in it seemed essential to me, there were a few interesting nuggets of information: 1.) The average game player is 37 years old
I'm sure that despite this, the stereotype of the sedentary, lonely-but-trash-talking teenager will prevail.
2.) Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (37%) than boys age 17 or younger (13%)
Seriously - this stat surprised me. I guess when I think about games, I'm guilty of not taking into consideration casual games.
3.) Starcraft Battle Chest is the 20th Best Selling Computer Game of 2010
This package was originally released in 1999! (Thanks, to my friend Richard for pointing this out). The fact that it is still one of the best selling pieces of entertainment says a lot about how good this game is. Quality gameplay goes a lot more than flashy graphics, I guess.
4.) Parents See Positive impact of Computer and Video Games
I've been an advocate for the positive benefits of video games for a long, long time (seriously - I wrote that post in 2007!). However, I never thought that parents would see things the same way. I'd like to see these stats compared to how parents see television in their household. Are video and computer games seen more positively? My guess is yes.
Grab the whole report for yourself here. Props to Joystiq for pointing it out.
-Parker