In a recent report from the NPD Group suggests that there are around 35 million “core gamers” in the United States alone. Interestingly the company only defines “core gamers” as those that play five hours or more on Microsoft or Sony consoles, PC, or Mac, and plays certain genres. So presumably Nintendo gamers have been ignored. The NPD Group says there are around 34 million core games, who spend 22 hours a week on average on video games.
“Core gamers are really the lifeblood of the industry, spending tremendous amounts of time on their hobby of choice,” said NPD analyst Liam Callahan. “With the new console generation off to a great start, we can expect the amount of time spent gaming to increase as more core gamers adopt them.”
Cool
That’s not a bad number although “core gamers” is definitely a subjective term. I’d consider myself to be one of them, but many others would as well I suppose. Either way, good for Super America!!
What 5 hours a day ??? Get a girlfriend !!!!
>_> I don’t always play 5 hours a day. I’d say closer to 3-4, but definitely over 5 during Summer and Christmas break. As for getting a gf…..maybe next year
Gf are overrated -_- and expensive.
I play closer to 5 hours a month. But I also don’t have a GF, because they are too needy and I don’t need to worry about stuff like that. College is most important of all!
I guess your hand comes a lot cheaper. ;)
At that rate, it’s like you spend more time on this site than actually playing games…
Why?
Playing several hours a day doesn’t eliminate the possibility of having a girlfriend. I wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend to play videogames with all day long, actually, it would be a pretty rad thing to find someone who is as interested in video games as yourself. Being a dedicated gamer =/= never finding a significant other.
I’m single too and I also love video games! Want to be friends? ;)
How cute (:
You didn’t answer my question. O_o
Hey im gay an single too ;)
I’ll be your friend. Just don’t tell Commander. Shh!!!!
I’m a hardcore gamer that plays hours upon hours of a video game when I actually play one, but it hasn’t stopped me from getting married & having a kid. It’s nice to see the stereotyping of gamers, geeks, & nerds is still alive & well today.
well it’s NPD after all!!!!!
I play 95% Nintendo games but probably spend 20+ hours a week playing them. I spend the majority of my disposable income on gaming. Why don’t I count? Well, other than the fact that I’m British, but why wouldn’t an American version of me count?!
Biases.
Apparently even the NPD has it in for Nintendo & Nintendo gamers.
And then there are the billions of casual smartphone users that say gaming is a waste of time and or gamers have no life…
And then there are millions of gamers that don’t give a shit what filthy, uneducated casuals have to say about their hobby.
I love how ”casuals” expect us to go out and get drunk and shit. Fuck them and their stupid definition of life.
Hell yeah! Besides, a gamer can get drunk just as easily at home. XD
Does playing Monkey Island count?
Yes. Monkey Island always counts! Now quick, look over there, a three-headed monkey! (This message approved by Governor Marley.)
that number is down from last year.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/217688/NPD_report_suggests_core_gamer_population_is_dropping_in_the_US.php
It’s weird that they count “Mac” gaming but nothing that includes Nintendo
Ok, I don’t normally post comments, but why is this posted on this website? You specifically said this estimate DOESN’T count Nintendo, so why is it on My Nintendo News?
Nintendo gamers seem to have been excluded from a figure that clearly should have included them.
Maybe there just isn’t a way to count the gameplay time put in, or Ninty refuses to give out the information. Hopefully its the latter, I would be glad knowing that Ninty doesn’t give out our information all willy nilly.
NPD surveyed 7900 gamers and purposely excluded Nintendo gamers. And made estimation from the survey results.
Nintendo games apperently aren’t consider core gamers.
“The report comes from a survey of more than 7,900 core gamers ages 9 and up conducted in March. The research firm defined “core gamer” as anyone who plays five hours or more on Microsoft or Sony consoles, PC, or Mac, and plays in certain genres (action, adventure, fighting, flight, MMOs, racing, real-time strategy, RPGs, shooters, or sports games) on those platforms.”
I guess i’m not a core gamer then. I play about two hours a day and half the time i’m playing Nintendo games :)
It doesn’t matter if you are a core gamer or not. Do you enjoy games? If you do, then that’s all you need to be a gamer. Nintendo games are games too.
I was obviously going by their dumb logic :P
5 hrs? Pshhhhhhh my Wii registers cca 7-11 hrs DAILY. And what was that? a Macintosh you say? An Apple Macintosh? Gimme a break
well 90% of them are late in buying consoles………..
also……they didn’t include Nintendo……….how dare they.
How the heck is the company that created the concept of “Core Gamer” not included? I have been a core gamer since 1985 and I choose to spend my 20 -25 gaming hours each week playing Nintendo (and 3DO) exclusively!
Times change. We’re not in the 1980s anymore, and Nintendo is most definitely not what it used to be. But either way, the definition of what a core gamer really is varies by person.
Ehrm. Nintendo did not create the concept of core gaming.
Before the concept of an in-game story was introduced to the masses with the advent of the NES, the idea of a “Core Gamer” didn’t really exist. I suppose you could count arcade junkies and PC text adventure game players if you wanted, because that’s all that really existed out there for “Core Gamers” before the NES. After the NES revolutionized the gaming market and hooked a generation on video games in the home, an entire contingent of newly minted “Gamers” would begin spending inordinate amounts of time playing the latest Mario, Zelda, Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy game. This evolved with the passing of time into more complex games and gaming systems, thereby broadening and deepening the “Core Gamer” base. Therefor I contend that Nintendo did usher in the Concept of “Core Gamer” in a way that the games of the preceding narrative lacking Atari systems never could.
With a post like this, sage is definitely a suitable word for your name.
how is that the group of core gamers? they probably meant “hardcore”
How many core gamers that have a nintendo system do NOT own at least 1 of the other systems. Even if they counted Nintendo the number would change due to this question
Something is not quite right here:
According to wikipedia there are roughly 2 million men in each age-group. If all the men between 15 and 32 were “core gamers” that would be 34 million core gamers!
If only half of the men were “core gamers” it would be half of all men between 15 and 50!
If a core gamer is someone who plays any game for 3 hours a day we can imagine women playing solitaire, Sims and other mostly non-FPS games on the laptop. As smartphones are not included, Candy Crush is not included in the “core games”.
34 million are half of the population, men and women, between 15 and 32.
I was hoping it would be larger than that, but considering that gaming is still a niche hobby, that’s not bad.
They just based That on GTA numbers didn’t they…
Playing casual games like GTA, CoD, FIFA or Assassin’s Creed don’t make you a “core gamer”!
Since when GTA became “casual”? COD is casual since many underaged twats with dumbass parents play that shit camping 24/7. Assassin’s Creed has become another COD copycat so like COD, AC is now casual too. FIFA is for sports nerds and EA drones taking their BS like fools. XP Hell anyone can pivk up a controller and play sports game without knowing much of the rules so casual right there.
GTA is the very essence of casual. I know many people who only bought that game, perhaps along with other casual games like CoD and FIFA in the past year. If these aren’t casual gamers then who are? And if casual games aren’t defined by the number of casuals playing them then how are they defined?
The mistake you’re making is assuming that there’s anything wrong with casual games. I’ve played some great ones.
actually yes it does… neither are these games casual games.. that’s games like angry birds or farmville.. stuff you don’t really pay much time or attention to.. stuff you play on the busride home
core.. as the name implies… is the biggest group of gamers.. those are the people who invest some more of their time into games and enjoy a spectrum of genres instead of only playing once in a while and mostly the same game
most of the money can be made by catering to core games which is why most games are nowadays considered core games
what NPD is talking about here is more in the direction of “hardcore”
22 hours a week is a considerable amount of time.. most people who spend that much time on games probably wouldn’t be just considered core anymore
Going by your definition where you define core gamers as “the biggest group of gamers”, core and casual gamers are the same. The biggest group of gamers are your Angry Birds and FarmVille players.
not the ones who only play occassionally
a core gamer also playing angry birds doesn’t turn him into a casual gamer
and all 34 million already got a 3DS… :3
Or dumbass 34 million fanboys buying COD +DLCs every 11 months.
Off to a great start? Wii U and Xbox One failing is a great start??? PS4 is the only 8th Gen console doing good.
PS4 is only selling through specs hype which is stupid. Buying $400 console that offers nothing but crap like Knack and Second Son which isn’t as great as the other titles before it either. Same can be said for Xbox One but only 4 million fanboy idiots buying that Kinect forced, 1080p-less DRV just for Titanfall, an overpriced, single-player-less COD knockoff that offers no originality like its counterpart whatsoever. And now that Microsoft is launching a cheaper X1 without Kinect and removing Pay Wall, I have one thing to say to those 4 million ding dongs who got cheated..twice: I fucking told you so. :3
Wii U,..well let’s just say that being a fan since NEW days, I can’t help but wonder WTF Iwata is thinking and doing all this time by releasing a new console and just did nothing with it.
I’m going to get on a soap box….even with two kids…a wife, a full time job, I am a core gamer and play mostly on Nintendo systems with flashes on Xbox…I don’t have a one yet but have a U, 3DS and a 360…the Nintendo systems get most of the love…maybe cause …hell I think that comment made me more mad than it should have…I’ll take those punks on in any game they want…my whatever amount of time I spend playing games which is not a large amount anymore I’ll rock their world
And only most of those core gamers only buy such BS spams like COD and say its still original and fun.
Core gamers my ass.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!! Look at the babies wondering why their toy didn’t make it on the list. Only babies care for the babyU LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! Iwata promised the failed gimmickU would appeal to core gamers and less focused on just casuals like the Wii fad did which soccer moms bought in hoards and their babies got bored of after an hour LOLOLOLOLOL
Ironically, Wii U appeals to no one. Not even the babies want it as they moved on to their mom’s tablet LOLOLOL the only ones still buying it are the ones who were dropped at birth
Looks like your going to taste delicious. The stupid you have shows you’re rip for a full course meal. :)
Haven’t seen you on here in awhile, kid. Still calling Nintendo gamers babies, eh? Sad considering you sound like the biggest baby of all. No matter. You’re just a troll. It’s made obvious with that LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL crap you like to do.
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Bender, you should get some maintenance done on yourself. You keep saying 0 & 1