Gamers have more choices than ever when it comes to satisfying their fun needs. There are consoles, PC games, mobile games, web games and many in-between choices. It seems that the amount of choices isn't confusing for gamers, but helps in fueling the gaming industry.
According to Nielsen, total gaming time is up 7% in 2011. 56% own at least one current generation gaming console (such as Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) as of January 2012, up from 50% last year. Gamers increasingly play across multiple screens: 24% play on two or more of a console, a PC or a mobile / tablet device, up from 17% in 2009.
Where do gamers play? 65% of consoles are located in the living room. Nintendo Wii leads (75 percent) but Kinect for Microsoft Xbox 360 is helping to shift that platform toward communal spaces.
Not surprisingly, people buy a lot of their games online. E-commerce shopping trips for games are up 3 percent over last year, while other channels experienced declines.