Girl Gamers Spend More Time Online Than Guys (Gasp!)
Time to rethink your stereotypes about gamers--or at least MMO players. Most of them aren't 14 year old boys. In fact, in a survey of Everquest II players, the average age of gamers was 31--and playing time actually increased with age. Women spent more hours online than men (29 to 25 hours/week), and the top women players spent more hours online than the top male players (57 to 51 hours/week). The only stereotype upheld is that women were more embarrassed about playing. They tended to underestimate the number of hours they spent on the game.
(It's not surprising, though, that women play a lot of MMOs. Like men, women like beating up monsters. Even more than men, women like the social and roleplaying aspects of massively multiplayer games. I've often thought MMOs are tailor-made for women. It would be more noteworthy to find that women play more Halo or Quake than men do).
The study upheld one other stereotype: Everquest = Evercrack. Over 50 hours per week? When do they work (never mind eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom, and check email)? Do you suppose these players ever get off their computer?
You can find the study here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=gal-gamers-geekier-than-guys-09-12-23
(It's not surprising, though, that women play a lot of MMOs. Like men, women like beating up monsters. Even more than men, women like the social and roleplaying aspects of massively multiplayer games. I've often thought MMOs are tailor-made for women. It would be more noteworthy to find that women play more Halo or Quake than men do).
The study upheld one other stereotype: Everquest = Evercrack. Over 50 hours per week? When do they work (never mind eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom, and check email)? Do you suppose these players ever get off their computer?
You can find the study here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=gal-gamers-geekier-than-guys-09-12-23