With all due respect, you, sir, and ils411 are both trolls. This is a thread with video game research data from Japan yet somehow it turns into an RPG fanboy flamewar. Just as a quick FYI, FFXIII isn't out yet therefore simple math tells us that some>none or many>few if you want to discuss minor titles. Move along now and find a JRPG thread to post in and comment on the statistics in the OP if you have one.

ah, but you forget that you mentioned this

"Interesting Tidbit:

RPGs are at the top of the food chain illustrating all the angst over SO4, lol"

thus, making our comments on jrpg practicaly valid :P

plus, "some>none or many>few ", is relative. for example, bob has a 10 hectar mansion while ted has 10 houses with lot area of 100m^2. so bob's 1 mansion>ted's 10 houses. or bob has a bar of 24k gold while ted has 100 bars of fools gold. bob's 1 24k bar of gold>ted's 100 bars of fools gold.

hence our saying ffxiii>all other rpgs combined. its not the quantity but the quality. and final fantasy is on the top of the food chain. even if what your saying is true that the game has been in decline, its still THE jrpg to look out for.

but with respect to your OP:

the sample population was from 1,165 elementary school children (or people claiming to be children). this alone would already make the survey bias to the nintendo ds and the wii. lets face it, nintendo did the right thing this gen and focused on the casual gamers and the children.  they tried to go back to their roots and it paid of for them. sony and microsof on the other hand are trying to focus on the other end of the spectrum and are appealing to young adults.

we also see the nintendo famicom (short for family computer) which i find really amusing. where i live,you can still actually buy nintendo famicom ripoffs. plus, you dont have to buy a single game. old nes games are actually built into the system. there are around 99 games included plus lite gun. i bought one 5 years ago coz it was really cheap, probably around 10US$. and my god, did i have some laughts playing duck hunt and battle city.

and lastly, i think this whole survey is bogus. the survey says that 36.5% of children have NO TIME to play games. wtf? your a kid, what the hell could they be doing other than playing? studying? working? (heaven forbid). chores? watching tv? (well, if you have time to watch tv then you have time to play games). but on the down side that this survey is legit, i pitty these children who have no time to play games.

ah, but who said anything that i'm not going to buy an x360? i may prefer sony and the ps3 and i may hate microsoft and their fucking monopolizeing ass but that doesnt mean i'm going to deny myself of the games on the x360. i just need to let my purchase of my ps3 blow over for a couple of months or so. coz if i try buying an x360 anytime soon the wifes gona have my ass.

ummm, no. last gen, the top rpg game was a final fantasy game, final fantasy x. last last gen, the top rpg game was again, a final fantasy game, final fantasy vii. and this gen, final fantasy will again get top honors in final fantasy xiii. history will again repeat itself

The first is way to old , and it cant be called a research . I wonder what the answes would be now that the PSP got a popularity boost in Japan :D

I feel sorry for the Dreamcast...it deserved better sales....

But then, when you name a console Dreamcast, your just asking for trouble. They might as well have called it 'the big bag of love' or something

At least I can answer this one. The survey is Japanese ergo, these are Japanese childeren. Apart from having the lowest amount of holidays in the first world, Japanese childeren are usually enrolled in in a variety of clubs like sports or art.

I will not look for sources but anyone remembering the "I am an American school teacher in Japan" blogs will know it's true.