Women outnumber men in online games

Medic · Post by **Medic** » 2006-10-26 02:11pm

I've always said online's where it's at.

Women outnumber men in online games, survey finds
By Candace Lombardi, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
While male video gamers still outnumber women 2 to 1, women have the edge in online games, a survey has found.

Of the 117 million active gamers in the U.S., 56 percent play games online. Sixty-four percent of those online gamers are female, according to results of the survey, released by Nielsen Entertainment on Thursday.

The survey defined active gamers as those who are 13 years or older, own at least one game device, and play at least one hour of video games a week. Game devices include game consoles, personal computers and handhelds. Nielsen surveyed 2,200 active gamers online in July.

"The expansion of next-generation hardware and technology in the marketplace is simultaneously delivering new ecosystems of social exchange, interactive entertainment, media experiences and advertising models," Emily Della Maggiora, a senior vice president of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, said in a statement.

The survey found that while the casual game segment is growing, casual gamers tend to jump from one free demo to another with little sense of brand loyalty. While banner advertising provides a good revenue stream for the online game providers, gaining brand loyalty and getting people to spend money for subscriptions or downloads will be the key to growing the market, Nielsen researchers found.

Currently, casual gamers spend $9 a month on games. Those playing multiplayer online role-playing games spend an average of $26 a month, while Microsoft Xbox 360 gamers spend $35 a month, the survey found.

Among game console owners, the majority own more than one device or platform--including PCs--for playing video games. Fifty-nine percent own a Sony PlayStation 2. Microsoft was next, with 33 percent owning an Xbox. (Fifteen percent of all active gamers own an Xbox 360, while about 8 percent of active gamers own both an Xbox and an Xbox 360.) Nintendo's GameCube came in third at 30 percent.

Active gamers played an average of 14 hours a week on game consoles and 17 hours on handheld devices like the PlayStation Portable, according to the survey.

Twenty-four percent of active gamers also played on cell phones. Personal computers, however, dominated as the platform of choice.

Sixty-four percent of those who regularly played video games, played on PC-based systems. Just two years ago, according to the Nielsen report, many game industry analysts wondered whether computers would be able to compete with game consoles and handhelds. //edited emphasis; mine, hooah Playing video games is also becoming more of a contact sport--sort of. The average gamer spends five hours a week playing games with other people online, while teen gamers spend up to seven hours a week.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-10-26 02:25pm

Role-playing games are more suitable to women because of the character-based growth element. Rebecca likes to play The Sims, but you couldn't make her play Command and Conquer or Rome Total War or Unreal Tournament if you chained her to the keyboard.

Ar-Adunakhor · Post by **Ar-Adunakhor** » 2006-10-26 02:48pm

I personally would prefer to see the number of hours played by males vs. females. That would be a far more representative sample of the people you are likely to encounter online than these results are.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2006-10-26 02:52pm

Darth Wong wrote:Role-playing games are more suitable to women because of the character-based growth element. Rebecca likes to play The Sims, but you couldn't make her play Command and Conquer or Rome Total War or Unreal Tournament if you chained her to the keyboard.

My wife plays the Sims, and plays light RPGs like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon; she'll even give some platformers a try if they're entertaining enough. She tried to play Guild Wars but her interest in such games wanes quickly.

That said, I'll bet a platinum doubloon that the cause of these statistics isn't commercial games, but those millions of 'freeware gaming' sites out there like miniclip that have popular 5-and-ten-minute flash games on them.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2006-10-26 03:04pm

I think Lagmonster is on to something. My mother, who has no interest in commercial video games, loves those little and simple puzzle games. She finds them relaxing.

Meanwhile, I generally play speed chess to relax.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2006-10-26 04:13pm

Rosie and my sister are completely addicted to pogo.com, while I have no interest. (I have zero interest in any online games, really.)

What concerns me, is that both of their computers have suffered slow-downs recently; I'm wondering if pogo.com is infected with spyware or other crap.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2006-10-26 06:41pm

I know a lot of females also like online games for the social aspect. Games like Everquest and Ultima Online have a sizable female following, since there's a lot of group interaction (Partying up for quests, etc)

There's a good lack of females who play FPSes though

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-10-26 07:58pm

This is something I noticed a lot when I played MUD's.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-10-26 08:00pm

Is this some broad definition of 'online game', like Second Life and stuff? I guess if you include the people who use Everquest as a chat client...

Erik von Nein · Post by **Erik von Nein** » 2006-10-26 08:32pm

I do believe the last time this story was posted (or, at least, the last time a survey showing this was posted) the reason why there was such a difference was because a lot of those women where playing Yahoo! free games, online gambling-esque games or other, simliar games. The biggest group withing the female online gaming community where house wives, or women who happen to find themselves with free time during the middle of the day.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2006-10-26 09:35pm

Lord Poe wrote:Rosie and my sister are completely addicted to pogo.com, while I have no interest. (I have zero interest in any online games, really.)

What concerns me, is that both of their computers have suffered slow-downs recently; I'm wondering if pogo.com is infected with spyware or other crap.

Yes, Pogo has some nasty malware assosciated, I used to game there allt he time but stopped after my Malware detectiosn went up like 100% after visiting Pogo over times I didn't

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-10-26 11:54pm

Exonerate wrote:There's a good lack of females who play FPSes though

I think that part of the problem is that girls might be more susceptible to motion sickness when playing FPSes. I'm just speaking anecdotally here, but in my experience, more girls feel queasy with a first person view than guys, so that might stop even girl gamers from playing FPSes.

ROAR!!!!! says GOJIRA!!!!!

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-10-27 02:06am

Lusankya wrote:
I think that part of the problem is that girls might be more susceptible to motion sickness when playing FPSes. I'm just speaking anecdotally here, but in my experience, more girls feel queasy with a first person view than guys, so that might stop even girl gamers from playing FPSes.

That sounds like nonsense.
Isn't that just a matter of getting used to? Just keep at it until you get use to it, and then you can play longer without feeling sick. I remember feeling sick after playing Morrowind for an hour straight at first, but after a few more sessions, I kinda got used to it. Same with GTA which had a wobbly camera.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2006-10-27 02:09am

I'll echo the "girls like free online puzzle games" angle. My mother and girlfriend all over that kinda stuff.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-10-27 02:16am

Ravencrow wrote:
Lusankya wrote:
I think that part of the problem is that girls might be more susceptible to motion sickness when playing FPSes. I'm just speaking anecdotally here, but in my experience, more girls feel queasy with a first person view than guys, so that might stop even girl gamers from playing FPSes.

That sounds like nonsense.
Isn't that just a matter of getting used to? Just keep at it until you get use to it, and then you can play longer without feeling sick. I remember feeling sick after playing Morrowind for an hour straight at first, but after a few more sessions, I kinda got used to it. Same with GTA which had a wobbly camera.

I've attempted on a few occasions to get into first person games, but they always make me ill after about 5 minutes. The problem goes away immediately when I move back to 3rd person, regardless of "wobbly cameras".

Then of course, there's the question of why you'd keep on doing something if it made you feel sick. I'm quite willing to accept that guys are more willing to ignore feeling sick because they're masochists or something.

ROAR!!!!! says GOJIRA!!!!!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-10-27 02:22am

Ravencrow wrote:
Lusankya wrote:I think that part of the problem is that girls might be more susceptible to motion sickness when playing FPSes. I'm just speaking anecdotally here, but in my experience, more girls feel queasy with a first person view than guys, so that might stop even girl gamers from playing FPSes.
That sounds like nonsense.
Isn't that just a matter of getting used to? Just keep at it until you get use to it, and then you can play longer without feeling sick. I remember feeling sick after playing Morrowind for an hour straight at first, but after a few more sessions, I kinda got used to it. Same with GTA which had a wobbly camera.

I think there's something more to it than that. I played FPS games for countless hours in university and then shortly after graduating. I even played Halo when it first came out, until I beat the game a few times. And then, for reasons which are totally unknown to me, I developed a motion sickness reaction to FPS games. Now, I can't play an FPS game for long periods of time without feeling ill.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-10-27 02:39am

And then, for reasons which are totally unknown to me, I developed a motion sickness reaction to FPS games. Now, I can't play an FPS game for long periods of time without feeling ill.

They say time is the fire in which we burn ....

You're getting old mate

Seriously I'd hate it if I couldn't play FPS' anymore. Prey would probably make some want to throw up, what with it's weird variable gravity puzzles and similar shenanigans.

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-10-27 06:15am

I did a quick search on pubmed which revealed some research done on susceptibility to motion sickness with menstrual cycles, but there doesn't seem to be any final conclusions. (Thisand this.)

And came across one abstract on aging and motion sickness susceptibilty in squirrel monkeys. Not much of a conclusion there either considering only 10 monkeys were tested.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-10-27 06:26am

Why is it necessarily to do with the menstrual cycle? It could simply be due to differences in the brain or ear canal.

ROAR!!!!! says GOJIRA!!!!!

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-10-27 06:43am

Regardless, everything I found on google supported the idea that women are more susceptible to motion sickness than men, and the reason behind it isn't really relevant to the fact that it is the case.

(sorry for the double post)

ROAR!!!!! says GOJRIA!!!!!

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-27 07:21am

Vympel wrote:They say time is the fire in which we burn ....

Completely off-topic, but I always loved that line.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2006-10-27 07:53am

Vympel wrote:
And then, for reasons which are totally unknown to me, I developed a motion sickness reaction to FPS games. Now, I can't play an FPS game for long periods of time without feeling ill.
They say time is the fire in which we burn ....
You're getting old mate

Mike isn't speaking idly. I used to play hours of Duke Nukem 3D, Dark Forces, and DOOM back when they were the hottest things since sex. But for a while now I can't look at those grainy old wobble-fests without needing to lie down very soon afterwards. I don't seem to have a similar problem with, say, Battlefield 2142 - it seems to be limited to FPS games in which you're limited to narrow corridors and small environments, whereas wide-open games like Tribes 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, etc. don't cause me to react the same way.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-10-27 12:15pm

Stofsk wrote:
Vympel wrote:They say time is the fire in which we burn ....
Completely off-topic, but I always loved that line.

Good ol' Malcolm MacDowell. He used to live just down the road from me, anyhoo...

My mum is the only one that uses my bro's Game Boy Color now and always for Tetris. If she's waiting for dinner to cook, watching a TV show partially or generally bored, she'll be on that. She's a Tetris goddess. I'm considering getting Tetris DS for her to try on my DS Lite one day, so long as I get the console back afterwards.

I also don't see why people would use MMORPGs as chat clients and only as them when there are 3D avatar oriented chatrooms out there anyway.

Tolya · Post by **Tolya** » 2006-10-27 05:58pm

During my girlfriend's and mine holidays in Greece we were playing a game of Tetris on my Siemens SX1 mobile during long trips on a bus (it was a sightseeing trip through most of the continental Greece and a part of the peninsula).

I must say that it was me that discovered the method of quickly raking up points by switching the game to the highest level. But when it came to execution, she totally owned me. We did compete to a certain point, but she owned my ass every time I made a new highscore. Up to a point where I couldn't keep up anymore.

I still have the highscore stored on my mobile. Hers is 2688 points and mine is 1914 - and I managed to get as high about a year afterwards.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2006-10-27 09:52pm

Lagmonster wrote:
Vympel wrote:
And then, for reasons which are totally unknown to me, I developed a motion sickness reaction to FPS games. Now, I can't play an FPS game for long periods of time without feeling ill.
They say time is the fire in which we burn ....
You're getting old mate
Mike isn't speaking idly. I used to play hours of Duke Nukem 3D, Dark Forces, and DOOM back when they were the hottest things since sex. But for a while now I can't look at those grainy old wobble-fests without needing to lie down very soon afterwards. I don't seem to have a similar problem with, say, Battlefield 2142 - it seems to be limited to FPS games in which you're limited to narrow corridors and small environments, whereas wide-open games like Tribes 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, etc. don't cause me to react the same way.

I'm the same way myself. Medal of Honor and BF, with better detailed models and background don't affect me at all but make me play CS, Jedi Knights, or System Shock and I feel like my mind is being ripped apart. I also notice that the speed you're walking/running in CS or SS is much faster than in games like MoH so that may very well be where the motion sickness comes from.