Since they only do the survey once a year it is not immediate nor does it need to be. People change gradually, not overnight. I actually find the change of average age of two years to be surprising over a one year period.

I have not seen it used here before which is surprising since this is a site about the video game industry and very interested in the future directions of game development. Since this is obviously a major study made for and funded by a large group of video game developers, it should have a significant impact in their future plans.

The best way to place it into context would be to check trends from year to year.

 The statement offer a minimum of detailed definitions and extra information. I can only sugggest that you follow the link and read it for yourself.

i think if this just was ps3 and 360, then 98% of gamers would of been male

 I would think somewhat less than that since certainly females, as you may have noticed, tend to be a diverse and complex group and I am sure that there is a significant number who like the FPS and such. Still, in my oprinion the PS3 and XBox 360 libraries show a deplorable lack of serious effort to reach out to a wider population. Certainly less than the PS2 did.

If the Wii has been so succesful courting females, older and younger gamers and lapsed gamers it has to be said that  in part they had nowhere else to go since the HD consoles by and large turned their backs on them.

There would be more males but let's not exagerate.

@ Grampy

What's with the Pretty Woman clip?

@ outlawauron

I thought it was all too obvious. After showing statistics that there are a lot more older gamers than is usually supposed and then the infamous quote from Sony that they weren't interested in them; I couldn't resist one of my favorite scenes where she returns to the shop where she was snubbed and reminds them of the penalty in business for turning your back on potential customers.

Well I think the comparision is a bit a strech.

We aren't trying to cater to this group versus we don't want hookers in our store. I get it now, but it's still kinda a tough one to convince.

Not quite. There was no intent to judge. At my age, I have made enough mistakes and choices, good and bad to take away any inclination to judge others. I have also learned that the choices we make have consequences.

Any console or game developer has the right to choose their target audience, just as any shop keeper makes choices. Any time a business turns their back on anyone, they have to accept the consequences of that decision. Sony, more than even Microsoft made it quite clear that they had little interest in the very young, the very old or women. Since the report makes it quite clear that means they basically pissed away about half the potential market. If they are disappointed with their sales, pehaps they may want to consider what that market share means.

I t also explains why game reviewers are continually surprised at the stupid casual games that sell so much more than they expected. If anyone is wondering why Wii Fit sold 14.5 M copies despite a premium price and the almost  universal scorn of the hardcore gamers and gaming press. It did because it was perfectly targeted towards women 18 and over; a group almost totally neglected by anything on the HD consoles despite the fact that they make up 1/3 of the market. "Big mistake, really big mistake, HUGE."

I understand your point.

But I don't get where you get your Wii Fit hate from. Wii Fit got great reviews from the so called 'snobcore man children'. The average is an 8/10 over at Gamerankings right now which I think is a pretty good score. I wouldn't call that scorn. It was rated fairly because it gets the games goal across quite well.

Oh yes, I think more than fair. A truely innovative, possibly revolutionary game that sold more copies than any game this generation except for Wii Sports and Wii Play (which we're told don't actually count) despite carrying a price tag twice normal got a whopping Metascore of 80. And that only  thanks to the foreign language and never heard of before reviews (with one exception- Game Pro) that scored it above 90 to help the average.

That puts it just a little below MAJOR IMPORTANT IMMORTAL CLASSICS like POKER SMASH (x360) and ROCKSTAR PRESENTS TABLE TENNIS (X360) or HOT SHOT GOLF: OUT OF BOUNDS (PS3) or who can forget PIXELJUNK MONSTER ENCORE (PS3). Can't imagine any reason here to think that reviews are anything but fair and balanced.