Astute market researchers at The NPD Group have discovered information nobody could have seen coming: kids really love video games, and the amount of kids playing them is growing yearly.
A startling 91 percent of 2-to-17-year-olds in the U.S. play some type of video game regularly said the firm. Kids are also gaming much earlier. The youngest set, 2-to-5-year-olds, saw the largest increase in new gamers by adding 17 percentage points since 2009.
Chalking up the lion's share of the increases to mobile gaming, the NPD revealed that the number of kids playing on their smart phones grew from 8 percent in 2009 to 38 percent total this year. However, that figure still fell a little short of what dedicated handheld gaming devices enjoy: 45 percent, up from 38 percent.
Unconventional mobile gaming garnered mixed results overall. While the firm found free and paid apps offered in both Android and iOS marketplaces helped boost the total number of gamers, actual spending remains overwhelmingly dedicated to physical media.
"In the past 3 months, kids and their parents spent more than five times as much on physical games as they did on mobile gaming apps for smartphones and other app-capable devices," said the company.
That focus on retail spending by kids and their parents made a big splash this year said Anita Frazier, industry analyst at The NPD Group. "Year-to-date through August 2011, kids comprised 44 percent of new physical software dollar sales, representing a vitally important consumer segment for the games industry," she said.
Last week, Frazier and company predicted overall static consumer electronics spending this holiday season. The gaming segment - both hardware and software - is expected to decline 2 percent as shoppers focus more on DVDs and books. (via The NPD Group)
