PMS Clan Frags For Alienware

Now that women make up 40 percent of the gaming public I have put myself on notice: write more stories about women and gaming, or get choked by an electric cord. Since I’m not a sadomasochist, I’ll go with option A. The PMS Clan, a pro gaming super gamer group made up entirely of women, will be representing gaming PC maker Alienware at several upcoming events.

Alienware will sponsor the clan, who will in turn use the Alienware Area-51 m9750 at several events including the Dell Extreme Gaming Tour, Quakecon, BlizzCon and Penny Arcade Expo. Those with enough guts can try and take these ladies on, but I wouldn’t recommend it.. This marks the company’s first-ever sponsorship of a competitive gaming team.

Women Love Video Games, Says ESA Survey

We say DUH. According to survey results released by the ESA, 40 percent of gamers in the United States are women. The survey also found that 65 percent of American households play computer and video games and 38 percent of American homes have a video game console.

Want more? The average game player is 35 years old; one out of four gamers are over age 50; Women age 18 or older represent greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent); and, 41 percent of Americans expect to purchase one or more games this year. The survey results are catalyst for companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Ubisoft to create more games that cater to this demographic.

The new research also shows how involved parents are in the way their children buy, rent and play games, with 94 percent of parents present when games are purchased or rented; 88 percent “always” or “sometimes” monitoring the games their children play; and 63 percent holding the believe that games are a positive part of their children’s lives.

The survey, “The 2008 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry,” also includes statistics on the top selling titles and genres of 2007, provided by The NPD Group. Based on unit sales, 85 percent of the games sold last year were rated “Everyone (E),” “Everyone 10+ (E10+)” or “Teen (T).” While only 15 percent of the games sold in 2007 were rated “Mature (M).”

Fascinating stuff.

PSU Girls Love Games

Duh. That’’s what you are thinking, I know, but bear with me a second. The Daily Collegian, an online newspaper by students for students of Penn State University, says that more college-age women are playing videogames than ever before. An online survey, which polled 1,000 college students, showed that about two-thirds of students (82 percent men, 59 percent women) spent approximately six hours a week playing videogames. The survey was conducted by Anderson Analytics. The upswing in women playing games is being attributed to the Nintendo Wii, with 15 percent of the 59 percent of women who played videogames saying they most desired a Wii. Fifty-seven percent of gamers surveyed also expressed a desire to see more gender-neutral games like Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, Sonic, etc.

The survey is only interesting because it supports data on national trends in gaming among new age groups and gender. Some of this is due in part to the Wii’’s social gaming aspects, but many other game experiences like Rock Band are having the same affect. The audience for games is expanding and changing — women of all ages are not the Pogo and Slingo-playing slaves that the media and marketing departments have portrayed them to be.