A new report into Kiwi video games has some key findings - including the fact that very few people like being called "gamers". Siobhan Keogh takes a look.
The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, which researches on and advocates for the games industry in Australia and New Zealand, has just released its Digital New Zealand report for 2016.
As in previous years, the report shatters stereotypes about who your 'typical' gamer is - at least in New Zealand.
The average gamer is now 34 years old, up from 33 last year - and it's fast approaching the overall median age of 37.4 years old. The average person has been playing games for 13 years. Video games are now played by 67 per cent of all New Zealanders, and 48 percent of gamers are female.
Think women only play casually? Think again. Just like men, women play 'in-depth' more than they play casually. While men play more games overall - 104 minutes per day compared to 72 minutes per day for women - both men and women spend about 20 minutes per day on casual gaming.
Men and women also report they play games for the same reasons - mostly for entertainment purposes, in the same way they watch TV or movies.
"What this means is that video games have become a mainstream activity in New Zealand, and they are a game-changer in the way New Zealanders consume digital and interactive media," says Bond University Professor Jeff Brand, who authored the study.
"Two thirds (67 per cent) of the population play, and video game devices are present in 98 per cent of New Zealand family homes."
While boys who play games significantly outnumber girls in their teenage years and 20s, women over 45 actually play more than men in the same age bracket, both casually and seriously.
If you're a man who still thinks finding a girlfriend who plays games is like finding a unicorn, your chances are better than that: 26 per cent of couples play games online together. That said, 76 per cent of people play games alone at least some of the time.
An info-graphic from Digital New Zealand's report/
Interestingly, most New Zealanders who play games don't refer to themselves as gamers.
Even though people play more 'in-depth' than casually, only 21 percent of the adult sample of Kiwis identified as a "gamer".
In fact, 30 per cent of those surveyed believed that the word gamer has negative connotations. This is likely due to a combination of factors, including the fact that gamers have historically been represented as nerdy children, and the fact that the gamer subculture has recently earned a reputation for harassment, discrimination and abuse in large part thanks to campaigns launched against women and minorities in the industry.
Fortunately, there's a bright side - while Kiwis might not think of themselves as gamers, they're not ignorant of the social benefits of games. Games are being used for educational purposes, and in business - 38 per cent of children surveyed have played games as part of their school curriculum, and 23 per cent of people surveyed reported having played games for work training.
People over 50 play games to combat ageing - not wrinkles so much as maintaining dexterity and keeping minds sharp. Nearly half of people surveyed even went so far as to suggest that video games could help to combat dementia.
In the past I've said that if you play games of any kind, you're a gamer. But when 67 percent of the population plays games, maybe the term is a bit silly even without the negative connotations - when everyone plays games, no one's really a gamer. They're just people.
