Posted Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 06:30 AM PST by Dick Ward
The numbers show that a whopping 50.5 percent of American homes own a system.
For all the stigma that comes with being a gamer, there sure are a lot of us out there. In fact, the Entertainment Software Association says that 50.5 percent of households own game consoles. Over half of America has a current-generation system hooked up to their TV - the survey didn't include handhelds.
As you might expect, the majority of those homes have a Nintendo Wii. The system is sitting in over 30 percent of households. 14 percent of homes have an Xbox 360 and 10 percent have a PlayStation 3. In all, there's around five percent that own at least two of the consoles. If you take those numbers and add people that game on smartphones and tablets, the number of gaming households hits 72 percent.
Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime says that the rise of mobile games is helping out the industry as a whole. Perhaps people start gaming on an iPhone and then decide to move up the ranks. Whatever the reason, Fils-Aime says that "Growth in one category isn't necessarily stealing from another," adding that "In the case of our industry at least, the rising tide is lifting all boats."
Source: Industry Gamers
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