42% of women and 37% of men own game consoles

[Underseer]

http://cheezburger.com/8582039552/video-game-news-more-us-women-own-consoles-than-men

Pew Research source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/...hip-2015/pi_2015-10-29_device-ownership_1-07/

The study does not say what percentage of those console owners play the consoles themselves, or bought the consoles for their kids, but clearly we are reaching (and perhaps even passed) gender parity in gaming.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

So, when I punch someone so hard in the nuts that their head pops off, I might actually be hitting a girl?

How gauche of me.

 

[Underseer]

I think now we understand why game developers are so interested in making games that are not exclusive to the male perspective.

I know a lot of anti-women gamers are up in arms about this change in gaming, but it's long past due if you ask me.

 

[Deepak]

"% of U.S. adults who own a portable gaming device console, e.g. PSP or Sega Genesis"

Lol wut?

 

[bilby]

"% of U.S. adults who own a portable gaming device console, e.g. PSP or Sega Genesis"

Lol wut?

I'm guessing lots of these sales are obsolete 16-bit consoles being sold to Grandmothers and Aunties who are convinced that they will make ideal birthday and Christmas presents for their grandchildren and/or nephews.

Either that, or these statistics demonstrate that women are less likely than men to throw out old electronic junk.

 

[Underseer]

"% of U.S. adults who own a portable gaming device console, e.g. PSP or Sega Genesis"

Lol wut?

I'm guessing lots of these sales are obsolete 16-bit consoles being sold to Grandmothers and Aunties who are convinced that they will make ideal birthday and Christmas presents for their grandchildren and/or nephews.

Either that, or these statistics demonstrate that women are less likely than men to throw out old electronic junk.

You and I are older. Among older people, gaming is strictly a guy thing, so I can understand why you don't want to let go of the idea that gaming is for men only.

 

[bilby]

I'm guessing lots of these sales are obsolete 16-bit consoles being sold to Grandmothers and Aunties who are convinced that they will make ideal birthday and Christmas presents for their grandchildren and/or nephews.

Either that, or these statistics demonstrate that women are less likely than men to throw out old electronic junk.

You and I are older. Among older people, gaming is strictly a guy thing, so I can understand why you don't want to let go of the idea that gaming is for men only.

I have no such illusions; but seriously, who other than a clueless auntie would buy a Sega Genesis? That thing was obsolete twenty years ago.

 

[bigfield]

I think now we understand why game developers are so interested in making games that are not exclusive to the male perspective.

I know a lot of anti-women gamers are up in arms about this change in gaming, but it's long past due if you ask me.

Sims 4 only came out last year.

It'll be at least another year before anyone makes another game for women.

 

[dystopian]

"% of U.S. adults who own a portable gaming device console, e.g. PSP or Sega Genesis"

Lol wut?

I'm guessing lots of these sales are obsolete 16-bit consoles being sold to Grandmothers and Aunties who are convinced that they will make ideal birthday and Christmas presents for their grandchildren and/or nephews.

That's not what he's lol wutting about. The Sega Genesis wasn't a portable system. They're confusing it either with the Sega Nomad or the Sega Gamegear.

Also, there are no 16-bit consoles being sold anymore other than emulator clones that hardly anybody has ever heard of and which aren't sold in western stores for grandmothers to buy. The last 16 bit portable system of note was the Neo Geo Pocket, discontinued in 2002. You can't even really get 32 bit portable consoles anymore now that the PSP has been discontinued. It would be even harder to buy a 16 bit home console unless you know what you're looking for and are specifically trying to find vintage consoles; 16 bit home consoles didn't last past 1995, when the 4th generation ended. We're in the 8th generation now. I could see an unsuspecting grandmother/aunt being duped into buying a 7th generation console like a PS3 or Xbox 360. But not a SNES or Genesis.

 

[purple_kathryn]

http://cheezburger.com/8582039552/video-game-news-more-us-women-own-consoles-than-men

Pew Research source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/...hip-2015/pi_2015-10-29_device-ownership_1-07/

The study does not say what percentage of those console owners play the consoles themselves, or bought the consoles for their kids, but clearly we are reaching (and perhaps even passed) gender parity in gaming.

If you've bought a console for a kid I don't think you really consider it to be yours, not sure how it was worded though.

I have a Nintendo DS but I haven't played it much. However I have a PC and I mostly play Warcraft

 

[Playball40]

Hell if I'm to include all the consoles and hand held devices I've bought for my kids.....let's see. Original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Cube, Sega, Playstation, Playstation 2, Wii and Wii U, Xbox, Xbox 360 - Gameboy, Gameboy advance, Gameboy XP, Sega Gamegear, DS (multiple), DSi, 3DS, 3DS large screen.

Of those, we still own the Super Nintendo (with a ton of games), Game Cube (several games), Wii and Wii U (too many games to mention), XBOX 360, DS, DSi, 3DS (etc) and we still have three Gameboy XPs (with many games).

Now, what do I play? Mario on DS and occasionally MarioKart on Wii.

My oldest daughter is into PC games (WoW). My younger daughters play both PC games and Nintendo games (they love Sims, Animal Crossing, Minecraft). Lately they have been getting games from some site associated with Game Grumps.

 

[thebeave]

http://cheezburger.com/8582039552/video-game-news-more-us-women-own-consoles-than-men

Pew Research source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/...hip-2015/pi_2015-10-29_device-ownership_1-07/

The study does not say what percentage of those console owners play the consoles themselves, or bought the consoles for their kids, but clearly we are reaching (and perhaps even passed) gender parity in gaming.

Not sure I understand what "gender parity" means in terms of owning a game console. Is there some sort of social injustice or problem that needs solving if one gender owns more game consoles than the other? Is the disparity because one gender is being mean and somehow holding back the other from buying consoles?

What about other devices? Say men own more power drills than women, or women own more sewing machines than men. Is there some sort of problem or sexist issue with this? Does everything have to be 50/50 between men and women? 'Splain, Lucy.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

http://cheezburger.com/8582039552/video-game-news-more-us-women-own-consoles-than-men

Pew Research source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/...hip-2015/pi_2015-10-29_device-ownership_1-07/

The study does not say what percentage of those console owners play the consoles themselves, or bought the consoles for their kids, but clearly we are reaching (and perhaps even passed) gender parity in gaming.

Not sure I understand what "gender parity" means in terms of owning a game console. Is there some sort of social injustice or problem that needs solving if one gender owns more game consoles than the other? Is the disparity because one gender is being mean and somehow holding back the other from buying consoles?

No, it has absolutely nothing to do with that. It has to do with things like how overt displays of sexism are now catering to a smaller portion of the potential market and how it's in the best interests of game designers to develop products which target a female audience as well as a male one.

 

[Deepak]

I'm guessing lots of these sales are obsolete 16-bit consoles being sold to Grandmothers and Aunties who are convinced that they will make ideal birthday and Christmas presents for their grandchildren and/or nephews.

That's not what he's lol wutting about. The Sega Genesis wasn't a portable system. They're confusing it either with the Sega Nomad or the Sega Gamegear.

Also, there are no 16-bit consoles being sold anymore other than emulator clones that hardly anybody has ever heard of and which aren't sold in western stores for grandmothers to buy. The last 16 bit portable system of note was the Neo Geo Pocket, discontinued in 2002. You can't even really get 32 bit portable consoles anymore now that the PSP has been discontinued. It would be even harder to buy a 16 bit home console unless you know what you're looking for and are specifically trying to find vintage consoles; 16 bit home consoles didn't last past 1995, when the 4th generation ended. We're in the 8th generation now. I could see an unsuspecting grandmother/aunt being duped into buying a 7th generation console like a PS3 or Xbox 360. But not a SNES or Genesis.

Exactly - and if a grandmother bought me a Genesis or SNES I'd be just as happy as when my own grandmother bought me an NES. In fact I still have my revision 2 Genesis and play it on occasion.

 

[thebeave]

Not sure I understand what "gender parity" means in terms of owning a game console. Is there some sort of social injustice or problem that needs solving if one gender owns more game consoles than the other? Is the disparity because one gender is being mean and somehow holding back the other from buying consoles?

No, it has absolutely nothing to do with that. It has to do with things like how overt displays of sexism are now catering to a smaller portion of the potential market and how it's in the best interests of game designers to develop products which target a female audience as well as a male one.

But the OP is about game consoles sold, not the games themselves. The game consoles are gender neutral, I assume.

 

[Terrell]

Games merely need to turn a profit. They're not a social justice project. If women like some games, that's fine, same if men like others. We shouldn't; however, be trying to decide what each group of gamers should like.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

No, it has absolutely nothing to do with that. It has to do with things like how overt displays of sexism are now catering to a smaller portion of the potential market and how it's in the best interests of game designers to develop products which target a female audience as well as a male one.

But the OP is about game consoles sold, not the games themselves. The game consoles are gender neutral, I assume.

But without the games, the console is an expensive paperweight. Nobody cares about the gender parity in paperweight ownership. It's what one does with the consoles that's important, not the fact of their existence.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Games merely need to turn a profit. They're not a social justice project. If women like some games, that's fine, same if men like others. We shouldn't; however, be trying to decide what each group of gamers should like.

That's exactly what gaming companies should be trying to decide. If they get that wrong, they either don't turn a profit or make much less in profits than they could because they're ignoring the market conditions. Shareholders in those companies have rights and the executives in them have a responsibility to maximize the ROI they receive.

 

[thebeave]

But the OP is about game consoles sold, not the games themselves. The game consoles are gender neutral, I assume.

But without the games, the console is an expensive paperweight. Nobody cares about the gender parity in paperweight ownership. It's what one does with the consoles that's important, not the fact of their existence.

Exactly. Which is my point and why the OP is somewhat meaningless. If you really want to see what's happening in gaming from a gender perspective, you should be looking at hours of games played. For all we know, the game consoles could mostly have been purchased by the mothers for their teen boys to play. If you were to blindly look at the purchases in my family when I was a kid, you might think my mom liked to play basketball, baseball and go fishing, when in fact, she has done none of those things. She bought that stuff for me and my little brother.

 

[Terrell]

Games merely need to turn a profit. They're not a social justice project. If women like some games, that's fine, same if men like others. We shouldn't; however, be trying to decide what each group of gamers should like.

That's exactly what gaming companies should be trying to decide. If they get that wrong, they either don't turn a profit or make much less in profits than they could because they're ignoring the market conditions. Shareholders in those companies have rights and the executives in them have a responsibility to maximize the ROI they receive.

Not sure I fully understand what you're saying. If you're saying that gaming companies should assess what the market demands and make games accordingly I agree.