IA9 is a new report from the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, providing data on some key metrics about Australian gamers and their habits. The
full report is now available, as is a
summarised version (both are PDF, sorry) which is worth a glance for some of its revelations, such as:
• 46% of gamers are female.
• The average age of an Australian gamer is 30 years.
• 63% of adults do not know that Australia has no R18+ for computer and
video games.
• 91% of adults (including gamers and non-gamers) say Australia should
have an R18+ classification for games.
• 17% of adults in game households admit to having pirated games in their
collections with nearly 10% of all games in Australian homes being illegal
copies.
It should be noted that these stats are from a sample pool of 1614 randomly selected households.
Posted 02:17pm 20/1/09
1 hour a week is a gamer? 3 Hours a night? People that play Hearts and Solitare at work, are they 'gamers' too?
Sample size isn't exactally what you would call large either.
Still, it's an interisting read however I dont think anything (re: R18+) would be effected by something like this.
Edit: Page 22 (Full report) Fig 16 shows how often 'Gamers' play games. The 11% that play Once a month (or less) shouldn't really be called 'Gamers.' Maybe their spouse/child is a gamer and they pick it up when bored.
last edited by Scooter at 14:17:29 20/Jan/09
Posted 02:18pm 20/1/09
It should also be noted that this randomly selected households are households who volunteer for this in order to win prices (and have signed up via the internet).
Aka, worthless.
last edited by nF at 14:18:33 20/Jan/09
Posted 02:34pm 20/1/09
? Would you have them publish in plain text or...
Posted 02:39pm 20/1/09
Posted 02:40pm 20/1/09
Just think, next time you call someone in TF2 a "spamming c***" theres a 51% chance your gran will be listening.
Posted 08:19pm 20/1/09
Posted 08:53pm 20/1/09
f*** yeah
Posted 01:59am 21/1/09
Posted 12:21pm 21/1/09
Posted 12:28pm 21/1/09
Too bad none are in css, ohh wait... Sam??? Sam????? lol.
Posted 12:50pm 21/1/09
Sample size is actually large in "research" terms. Not that it matters given what nF pointed out:
Posted 12:53pm 21/1/09
edit: oh, in the full report it says: "The survey was conducted in July 2008 by ACNielsen Australia in Sydney. The online survey used ACNielsen’s “Your Voice Panel” which draws from 80,000 Australian households with representation in every state and territory."
So I guess that coincides with that website. I dunno if I'd discount it just because they signed up for prizes though? Does that totally invalidate it?
Posted 01:14pm 21/1/09
playing gamespwning noobs to respond to a survey!Posted 01:21pm 21/1/09
(Emphasis mine.)
It mentions telephone survey, so I'm guessing the people in question were actually called, but that the people were selected from the Your Voice panel. Also, given the surveyors themselves cast doubt on a couple of the results (namely the piracy ones) I think theres a good chance the whole survey is broken. They are a bit brief on the methods they used.
The 2005 survey shows very different results, but they used very different methods.
Seems a bit odd to me that the average age of gamers increased by 6 years in 3 years.
Posted 01:30pm 21/1/09
It's not the fact there are prizes, it's the fact that the people answering the questions put their own hand up to answer the questions. Anytime people volunteer to participate in a study or survey it becomes worthless since the sample population is 'self selected' and creates a massive bias on the results.
For example someone who pirates a lot of games may not be as likely to volunteer to participate in such a survey. Also someone who plays a LOT of games may not have time to volunteer for such surveys. Heaps of little things like that.
Posted 01:41pm 21/1/09
Now either the demographics of gaming has changed massively in 3 years, or the surveys are now reflecting a massive sampling bias. I think the later is more likely.
Posted 02:06pm 21/1/09
Straight of the bat they are saying that their sampling is biased in some way. If it wasn't, a random selection of the 80,000 households would be a fine. Instead they have to select randomly from individual groups within the sample to meet their criteria (which presumably is to match BOS census data). Given its a survey technology related and the survey was taken with people of a certain tech ability, theres definately a sample bias there. They also don't mention this bias at all in their report.
Now I'm assuming theres a correlation between tech ability and gaming, but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't one between a 80 year old who can sign themselves up to an online survey and whether or not they have played Bejewelled in the last year.
With the sample they've used they've got a bias because of the base level of technical ability required. So the sample bias will be even more pronounced in the segments of the population with the least technical ability, aka over 60s. Theres also biases related to available spare time, someone who signs themselves up for a web survey is less likely to be a small business owner. They're less likely to be a single working mum.
So the survey itself is pretty useless imo. Though, its pretty clear the industry is pushing hard for R18+ ratings, and this sort of data helps their case.
Posted 02:34pm 21/1/09
I can't actually see any sort of statistical analysis on any of the data.
So, obviously there was some analysis, but it is strange that these analyses were not included (nor were any of the stats quoted). My guess is it's because of the report itself - it seems to be targeted towards people who will blindly accept whatever big numbers are thrust in front of them. I certainly wouldn't put too much faith in the facts and figures represented here.
Posted 02:53pm 21/1/09
Posted 03:28pm 21/1/09
Posted 03:54pm 21/1/09
BTW, sorry if it's in German for you (my computer is in German). For full effect you should understand 'Erforderlich' means compulsory ;-) 'Senden' means submit which is pretty obvious.
Posted 02:23pm 28/1/09
Sweet, I'm average...
Posted 03:03pm 28/1/09
Posted 03:41pm 28/1/09
weaksauce
Posted 04:51pm 28/1/09
You're a gamer if you know Red Alert isn't an RPG
Posted 08:02pm 28/1/09
Posted 10:36pm 28/1/09
Posted 10:54pm 28/1/09
Posted 09:28am 29/1/09
Here is the summary of results:
Posted 12:03pm 29/1/09
Ha didn't notice that.
You might not be a gamer but you're def. a nerd if you know this number 1010011010.
last edited by 3dee at 12:03:42 29/Jan/09
Posted 02:34pm 29/1/09
Interesting thought that. Though if you look at the increased versatility in gaming consoles over that period, it may suggest that older people have been lured by media and internet capabilities. Just a thought.