Women Continue to Be Overlooked as Gamers

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Interpret, a leading entertainment, media and technology market research firm, today released its Interpretations report, "Games and Girls: Video Gaming's Ignored Audience," which finds that the large female gaming market is more nuanced than its casual-centric reputation suggests, and that opportunities to profitably meet the needs of women and girls with games tailored to their preferences are underutilized.

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The report examines the changing demographics of the female gamer and how, despite widespread interest in gaming among women and established market representation (50% overall), marketing efforts have largely ignored the group. According to Interpret's New Media Measure™ syndicated study, console use among female gamers has increased significantly in the past two years – and not just for the Wii. In fact, 21% of women gamers now use an Xbox 360 and 16% a PS3, up from 17% and 12%, respectively, in 2009. Furthermore, women demonstrate increasing but under-acknowledged variety in genre preference – 44% prefer genres other than Casual, Exercise, and Music/Rhythm.

"Women not only exhibit different gaming behaviors than men, but also express attitudes about gaming that are dissimilar to those of their male counterparts," said Courtney Johnson, Interpret analyst. "For instance, they are much more likely to prefer to play solo than men, and play games for less competitive and more narrative- and character-driven reasons. It remains to be seen whether developers and marketers will effectively invest in understanding and exploiting the undertapped female gaming market."

Click here for more information about this report.

New Media Measure™ is Interpret LLC's proprietary, quarterly survey of media behaviors, attitudes and product consumption. Designed to keep pace with the evolving media landscape, New Media Measure™ supplies the means to better measure and keep track of fast-changing consumer behaviors. New Media Measure™ surveys 9,000 consumers aged 12-65, representative of the U.S. population and weighted to U.S. Census. Data collected includes: demographics, psychographics, brand consumption, traditional media consumption, online and social networking, mobile phone, video gaming, and digital entertainment. Data is available via Interface, a web-accessible, interactive analysis tool, through Intrend, quarterly trend reports, and through Interpretations, monthly whitepapers written by Interpret analysts.

About Interpret LLC

Interpret is the leading cross-media market research firm. The company applies proprietary, cutting-edge methodologies and extensive category knowledge to help clients plan, test, and measure business strategies in the fast-evolving media landscape. Interpret's unique combination of syndicated measurement products and custom market research services provides a common language across media for the key stakeholders of the digital age.   www.interpretllc.com.

SOURCE Interpret