Kids spend more time playing video games than watching TV?

by Blake Snow { Jan 17th 2007 at 9:25PM }

A new consumer research survey suggests that kids ages 2 to 14 are more likely to engage in video games than any other form of media. Even more than TV? Yes, according to the report via GameDaily:

"There's so much focus on the elusive 18-34 male demographic in the video game industry that some companies may be overlooking another important segment of the population: kids. According to Kids & Digital Content, a new study from The NPD Group ... an overwhelming majority (93 percent) of kids play games on a computer, cell phone, video game console or portable or digital music player. This was way ahead of the second highest activity reported, listening to music, which garnered 52 percent."

An unspecified number of online surveys were completed by a "nationally representative" sample of mothers with children for the data. So does this mean some mothers are plopping their kids in front of video games more so than the good 'ole TV? Not exactly. The study cites "cell phone gaming" -- which we all know isn't really gaming -- as the most popular platform for said games. Still, all those GBAs aren't being sold for nothin' (not that we don't loves us some GBA gaming).

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

kevin0502 @ Jan 17th 2007 9:31PM

at least there is Interaction, but who cares, wait, I do, no i don;t, or maybe, no I don't

shirizaki @ Jan 17th 2007 9:34PM

But....you play games ON a TV. Maybe portables, but then they count those as screens. Maybe they're counting consoles games as not TVs?

Either way, we're using our brains, which is a plus. And developing hand eye coordination.

DAVE @ Jan 17th 2007 10:02PM

Video games don't develop people's hand eye coordination. Playing sports like baseball, basketball, and football develop hand eye coordination. The only video game console that actually does develop hand eye coordination is probably the wii.

Richard @ Jan 17th 2007 9:59PM

The headline's screwed up. Having a larger portion of kids that play video games versus other mediums like TV, doesn't necessarily mean any of them spend more time playing video games than watching TV or whatever. The 93% of kids playing games might only do it on average for a half hour a day, whereas the 52% that listen to music could do it for an average of a few hours a day.

JSK @ Jan 18th 2007 12:11AM

Actually #4...

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=3684503,

http://news.digitaltrends.com/article7760.html

schlomo @ Jan 17th 2007 11:01PM

when the hell did 2 to 14 year old start getting cell phones and buying games for them? damn I didn't even get one 'till I started college.

Neebs @ Jan 17th 2007 11:11PM

I was discussing this in school. The media completely overblows the TV thing. Most of the time, my friends are out doing stuff, or playng video games.

FuzzyPickles @ Jan 17th 2007 11:53PM

I watched hardly any TV when I was a kid because I was either playing outside or playing videogames. My mom bought my little sister a DS when it was obvious my sister watches too much TV because her accent/dialect/enunciation didn't reflect a Queens accent at all... pronouncing "orange" with a long O and pronouncing marry the same as Mary--two things NO native New Yorkers (anyone she would converse with IRL) do, even those who don't have strong accents. On the other hand, I probably watched not enough TV as a kid, because I sound like Joe Pesci.

DSK123 @ Jan 18th 2007 12:24AM

Someone's a Schumacher fan... (Kid on the right)

DAVE @ Jan 18th 2007 11:36AM

#8, those articles are about reflexes, not hand eye coordination. There's a difference.

Ciaran @ Jan 18th 2007 3:02PM

I definitely play video games more than I watch TV. We only have "Freeview" digital television (about 40 channels) and there's rarely anything interesting on TV (shopping channels and those really crap phone in game show channels make up a huge proportion of those channels as well as two of those channels almost entirely composed of Friends re-runs - I'm not joking)
So far this year, only Big Brother and the news has caught my eye for a few minutes here and there. Video games are much much better. For example, on most week nights, many of the channels are showing awful soaps such as Hollyoaks, Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale etc. but these shows are mostly watched by the older population.

So my life (when I'm not at school, work or with friends etc.) consists of computer games and internet.

GoldenS1104 @ Jan 18th 2007 3:56PM

The video game industry really does need to target kids. They are an untapped resource. My childhood consisted of only video games, especially with friends. If one of my friends didn't have a video game console, I never went to their house, he came to myhouse.