Encinitas, Calif. - Today's kids are playing games on consoles, computers, portables, and online more than ever before. “Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls are Playing Today” is a new report series launched by M2 Research.
Key findings from the report include:
1. Social Networking: Social Networking is increasingly prevalent in children's lives. Facebook is now the favorite website among tween (8-11) boys and teen (12-15) girls.
2. Key Demographic and "Sweet Spot": Online games dominate for boys and girls ages 8-11. 91% of tween boys and 93% of tween girls play games online.
3. Nintendo Dominates Handheld Gaming Space: But thanks largely to the iPad and iPhone, Apple is becoming a significant player especially with girls.
4. Portable Platform Discrepancy: Sony's PSP has the largest gender discrepancy. 70% of teen girls play games on the PSP compared to 44% of teen boys.
5. Strong Videogame Franchises: Franchises continue to flourish at the top of the "Favorites" list for boys and girls. The videogame franchise girls prefer is the Mario Series, with 20% of girls picking it as their favorite. Boys prefer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 36% of teen boys picking it as their favorite game.
"We have found kids tend to play a wide variety of games, and their favorite games and gaming sites change often." explains Louise Curcio, M2 Research Analyst. "There are opportunities for companies, and we believe the kids market has been overlooked."
Lead author for this report, Louise Curcio, has extensive experience in consumer marketing and children's gaming. Contributing authors, Wanda Meloni and Billy Pidgeon, have both been tracking videogames, online gaming, and development technologies for many years.
The “Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls are Playing Today” report has over 80 gaming charts and outlines key trends and companies. Survey data is collected from over 5,000 kids across the United States. M2 Research has formed a strategic partnership with KidSay to create this ongoing report series, which will be released twice per year.