Video Games Becoming Social/Family Activity, says NPD

According to the latest NPD report, 63 percent of the U.S. now plays video games and most prefer to play as a family or as a group.

The NPD Group's new report, Expanding the Games Market, has taken a look at the various gaming attitudes among different gamer demographics. The online survey, which polled over 5,000 members of NPD's online consumer panel in October, found that heavier gamers are more inclined to play alone, but both heavy and light gamers "are equally inclined to enjoy playing games as a family, group or as a party activity, and both groups value gaming as a way to bring their families closer together." Most gamers ages 15-65 also cited stress relief as an important reason to play.

NPD found that gaming is becoming more prevalent in the U.S. as well, with 63 percent of the population playing some kind of video game (whether console, portable, PC, cell phones and iPods, or "kid-oriented systems"). 30 percent said that they are spending more time gaming this year than last year too; however, another 30 percent said they're actually spending less time and nearly 40 percent said they are spending about the same amount of time.

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