The first yearly market report by the Casual Games Association sites that men are just as likely to play casual video games as women, they just won’t admit it. While women will pay for casual titles, men are more likely to try to find them for free or cracked.
“Everyone always thought that casual games were something that only appeal to women,” Jessica Tams, managing director of the association, said in an interview. “We have always been obsessed about making games for women.”
Apparently although women account for three of four casual game sales the actual percentage of people playing casual games is an even split between the sexes. According to the survey, the reason male usage of casual games aren’t reflected by statistics is that men who are traditionally fans of realistic “hardcore” games are reluctant to admit they like to play “simpler games involving shiny gems or lines of colored balls”.
“It was really shocking for everybody. We knew these guys were playing these games,” Tams said. “But the hardcore gamer who is playing ‘Halo’ with his buddies isn’t going to brag that he just beat the next level of ‘Zuma’.”
Game developers have been pouring money into developing casual games aimed at women. This study could point them in a more neutral direction.
Then again, how accurate is this study anyway? According to this study men are thieves and liars too. What age groups were surveyed? What kind of numbers were crunched? I’d like to see some figures before I give credence to any study based on a survey when such surveys can be manipulated to prove just about anything.
via Reuters
7 Comments to Men are Closet Casual Gamers
by: weclock
On November 2, 2007 at 11:24 am
Are you kidding me, I talk about Planet Puzzle Leage all the time.
by: William
On November 2, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I’m a casual gamer at times and not in the closet anymore lol. Sometimes it’s a nice break from serious games.
by: LaChandra
On November 2, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I think maybe men are getting into it because you can play games like Zuma for money. Like you pay a buck to have a 5 person tournament and the winner gets maybe 3-4 dollars. They also have stiffer stakes where you can win like hundreds of dollars, but you have to be really good.
by: weclock
On November 2, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Nah, I think we play them because they’re addictive, fun, and test yo skillz.
by: LaChandra
On November 2, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I was kinda giving some guys an out who are not comfortable admitting that they play. It’s like a man wearing pink. Not all are comfortable doing it but some look damn good wearing it.
by: EyeKhan
On November 4, 2007 at 1:03 am
I have to agree with William and weclock, sometimes serious games get too serious and a break in the action is needed to realign the thought process.
My closet addiction is Chuzzle. I work in a mechanical engineering department and you would not believe how well this game mellows me out after an equation filled day.
by: weclock
On November 4, 2007 at 9:52 am
Anybody who isn’t comfortable wearing pink, ought to hang themselves.
I wear pink.