Analyst: The PlayStation 3 Could Dominate The Holidays

[Kenny]

MikeB said:

@ Kenny

According to for instance Nielsen Media Research is especially popular amongst boys aged 6 -11 and women aged 25 - 34.

With regard to the kids this is not a surprise, according to Nintendo the GameCube was far more dominated by kids. Similar average age does not per se mean the demographics are similar.

For example if you have one console which is especially popular amongst people aging 24-34 with the average age 28. And you have another console which is popular amongst 6-12 year olds as well as 70+ year olds, with the average age 28 but very few people actually being in ther 20s or 30s, you will run into trouble designing a game geared towards the average age group.

So, if I'm not mistaken, you believe that the average age distribution actually represents the middle ground between two extremes of the old and the young, meaning a bipolar distribution with few people who are actually 28.  However, a careful look at Nielsen's chart eliminates that possibility: The 55+ category for Wii owners account for 1.4% and 8.8% of playtime for the male and female groups, respectively.  This is certainly higher than the PS360's proportions (0.3%/1.5% for 360 and 1.0%/5.1% for PS3), but they are by no means even close to the size needed to create the bipolar distribution that you're suggesting.