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Report on Interactive Video Games: The New Generation of Gaming
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
In June 2007, we asked SmartGirls what they thought about Interactive Video Games. We had 147 respondents, 97% of who are girls, and most are between 10 and 14 years old. Almost 40% are the oldest in their family and 30% are the youngest. Middle child and only child came out about even with 20 saying they are the middle child and 19 saying they are an only child.
The majority reported being from the United States (60%). We also had:
1 from the Philippines
1 from Scotland
1 from Spain
2 from Bangladesh
2 from American Samoa
2 from Denmark
2 from Ireland
2 from the United Arab Emirates
4 from Australia
7 from England
11 from Canada
and 19 chose not to answer.
As for ethnic background, 1/3 of the SmartGirls said they are of European descent, 24% chose not to answer, 12% said Asian, 11% said African, 7% Latin American, 7% said they are multiracial, 5% said Native American, and 3% said they are of Pacific Islander descent.
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We wanted to get a general idea of what SmartGirls thought about interactive video games and how much they play them. We asked them to respond to the statement "I like interactive videogames." Most agreed or strongly agreed (60%) that they like interactive videogames and only 18% disagreed or strongly disagreed. The rest weren't sure (22%).
Respondents were pretty sure that boys and girls like video games equally. Sixty-eight (46%) said that girls and boys both like them equally, while 35 said girls were more likely to play and 44 said boys were more likely to play them.
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| How often do you play interactive video games? |
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| Most said that they play interactive video games rarely or never (43%), but 33% said they play sometimes, and 24% said they play always or often. |
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86 respondents (almost 60%) also reported that they thought interactive videogames were more fun than regular videogames.
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Unfortunately, Smartgirls agreed (at least 2/3 do) that violent videogames make people more aggressive in their everyday lives. Better be careful with them, then!
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| Do video games make people more aggressive? |
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Since almost half of our respondents said they rarely or never play interactive video games, we wanted to know why that was. It turns out that the most common reasons for not playing them is becuse SmartGirls either have no interest (30%), think they are too expensive (21%), that they don't look like fun (16%), or because SmartGirls think they aren't very good at them (16%).
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Thirty-one people said that they don't play video games because they are too expensive, but SmartGirls were pretty evenly split as to whether they are fairly priced or not.
SmartGirls seem to agree that $20-$30 or less is what they pay for games. 32% pay $20 or less and 20% pay $21-$30. (If you want to see how much this would be for you, go to http://money.cnn.com/data/currencies/ to convert prices from US dollars.)
For those who do buy video games, most by them online (22%), at a video game store (22%) or at a superstore like Wal-Mart (30%).
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| Are video games fairly priced? |
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We wanted to get an idea of what how challenging SmartGirls thought interactive vodeogames were, so we asked about the skills involved. Here's what we found:
According to SmartGirls, the skills most used in interactive videogames were quick decision making and manual dexterity (which is the ability to move your hands quickly). These are the same skills that users thought these video games help players develop.
3/4 of Smartgirls think that interactive video games help develop hand/eye coordination.
Most people thought that Dance Dance Revolution was the hardest, followed by Guitar Hero.
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Almost 50% said they thought that interactive video games were a good form of exercise, while 30% said they weren't, and 20% weren't sure.
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| Are interactive video games a good form of exercise? |
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We asked what you would rather play videogames than do. Here are the results:
Play sports got 35 votes
Go outside got 17 votes
Watch TV got 31 votes
Read got 26 votes
Hang out with friends got 9 votes
Sleep got 20 votes
Spend time with family got 13 votes
None of the above got 51 votes
So it looks video games are not keeping SmartGirls from doing other things.
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| What game console? |
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| It looks like the majority plays on either Wii, PlayStation, or xBox. |
About 46% said that they would play video games more often if they had interactive video games while 8% said that they would play them less often.
We asked who you were most likely to play video games with and here are the results:
Playing alone and playing with a friend were about tied at 48 responses and 43 responses (respectively). Playing with siblings and not playing at all also tied at 28 and 23, respectively. Only 5 people said that they play with other family members.
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Here are the results from our question "What is your favorite interactive video game?":
13 said Guitar Hero
46 said Dance Dance Revolution
22 said American Idol Karaoke
17 said Wii Sports
30 have never played interactive video games
19 said other
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| The best games involve: |
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| Here is what SmartGirls said was their favorite part about playing video games: |
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We asked respondents what their video game would be like if they could design one. Here's what they said:
It would be a series of games where you are in your dream job (doctor, teacher, etc.). Each would include setbacks such as difficult students, and rewards such as a raise. The game would leave out extensive gore, swearing or violence if such action is included in the real job, as this would be a game for children ages 8+, when they are old enough to rightly judge certain life decisions. Each game would have options such as people you work for, your clients, and the ability to save your "life," to continue your job another time. This would be a good lesson in working with different types of people, problem solving, and making good life desicions.
It would be a strategy game where you were working in a diner as a chef and you have to hurry to make the food and serve the customers. The customers would order different things and if you get two or more customers who want the same thing, you just have to make one of the meals and you get a bonus.
I would make a game where you could raise animals, talk to people, get married, have a baby, sort of like Harvest Moon, but you could go on vacation and carry your child.
A game where you could get the whole rockstar experience. You would get to sing and dance, pick your clothes, hair, make-up and such and most of all just have fun!
It would be a game where you were an animal. Cat, dog or bird, and you had to go through the life of a dog. Played up of course but you have to stay out of street fights and make friends in you neighborhood. Your friend would be able to come over and walk you!
To be honest, I've always wanted to play a game that's an adventure game, but you have to walk about or something for your character to move. It'd be really cool and it'd be a bit of excercise.
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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
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