Study: About 1 in 7 North Americans still play 20th century systems

[The_Liquid_Laser]

I can tell that most people not in US or Canada don't realize the gaming market, and views on older systems, is significantly different here than it is in the rest of the world (except for maybe Japan).  Pong first became successful in 1972 in the US, while gaming first hit Europe in a major way with the PS1.  There is about 25 years of difference there.  (*Yes I realize Europe is a very diverse place, and some Europeans first experienced gaming through computers like the Spectrum ZX or consoles like the Sega MegaDrive, so this is a rough generalization.)  The point is that gaming is a lot younger in Europe as a whole than it is in the US and Canada.

The North American gaming history and market is most similar to Japan's.  Both regions started gaming in arcades and arcades were a major part of our gaming history.  Consoles have been around for a lot longer here, and North America has an extremely robust second hand market for used games.  It isn't just GameStop.  There are retro game stores and flea markets all over the place selling old systems and old games.  Cartridges also tend to be more durable than discs.  On top of that 2D gaming took a back seat to 3D gaming after Generation 5.  All of these things give plenty of reasons for people in North America to keep playing older systems.