"Gaming by the Numbers" is an occasional series examining the statistics that make up our gaming lives.

Number of hours it takes to become an expert at a specific task, according to Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers: 10,000

Number of hours the average American boy spends playing video games between ages 8 and 18, according to a 2007 Harris Interactive study: 9,776¹

Number of hours an average American child spends in grade school: 12,960²

Total man-hours spent playing Halo 3 online through March 2, 2009: 561,987,039

Estimated man-hours required to build the Burj Dubai skyscraper: 22,000,000

Hours the average World of Warcraft player spent playing the game in 2008: 581.5

Hours the average identity theft victim spends clearing their name: 600

Average amount of time the average Super Smash Bros. Brawl owner has spent playing the game: 65.7

Number of hours of community service rapper Akon recieved as punishment for throwing a teenage fan off a stage: 65 

Number of hours of flight time needed to get a private pilot's license in the US: 40

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Footnotes:

1 - Ages 8-12:  16 hours/week * 52 weeks * 5 years = 4,160 hours
13-18: 18 hours/week * 52 weeks * 6 years = 5,616 hours
4,160+5,616= 9,776

2 - Grades 1- 12: 6 hours/day * 180 school days/year * 12 years