More than 190 million people in the U.S. play video games for at least an hour each week, according to Essential Facts, an annual report on the U.S. video game industry, which also found that 61% of Americans between the ages of 5 and 90 have picked up a controller to play a game.
Stanley Pierre Louis, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said playing video games is one of the most important forms of entertainment.
“What we’ve seen consistently over the last 30 years is that people love video games, it’s a major pastime in their lives and will continue to be their favorite pastime,” he told Missourinet.
The average player is 36 years old, and the average adult player has been playing for 17 years, according to the report.
“This year we found that 46 percent of gamers are women,” he explained, “and we’ve found that among the older demographic, people continue to play games into maturity. When we first did this survey of people over 50 in 1999, 9 percent said they played games. Now that number is 29 percent.”
According to the report, most Americans believe that video games bring them pleasure, provide mental stimulation and relieve stress.
“We know that playing games can improve your intelligence,” says Pierre-Louis, “and some research has shown that gaming can slow the progression of dementia. So we know that gaming has a positive impact on the health of a wide range of people.”
Click here to see the report.
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