chicks and old folks the new driving force in gaming

LA based "intelligence group" (??) IBISWorld has released a report claiming that 38 percent of US gamers are women (up 5% in the last five years), the average player is 35 years old, and 24 percent of gamers are over 50. Love it! I think it's a great testament to how awesome video gaming really is - it isn't something that you only like when you're an idiot young person (unlike, for example, drinking yourself stupid and bragging about it). The report attributes most of these new-market growths to "interactive group games" such as the Sims, new Wii titles (see photo above - old people and especially old chicks love the Wii!), and games specifically targeted at younger girls, like Dora the Explorer and Bratz titles.

I agree with some out there though that this info hardly seems like anything groundbreaking. The remaining issue seems to be the persistent desire by gaming companies to score the next holy grail of guy gaming like Madden and other EA sports franchises, war games and other more narrowly marketed titles. I agree with blogger Matt Peckham at PC World:

"Question is, will the gaming press -- still largely composed of writers who think about an action-RPG like Too Human as a sprawling event, but a puzzle game like Bejeweled with over 10 million copies sold as just some daftly amusing little time sink -- get off its duff and step up to cover in proportion these other demographics as well?"