Another interesting statistic comes from the average age of a gamer in the UK: 33 years old. On top of that, 42 percent of UK game players have children. This ties into another nice statistic, which shows 81 percent of parents across Europe admitting that they often enjoy games with their children.
It would seem the landscape is changing across Europe, for the better. Gaming is looking to be viewed in more and more of a favorable light. Now, if only we could get some of that over here in the United States. Because, here, if you play games, you must be a child.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-29-2008 @ 4:20PM
Char6296 said...
So, the UK is the most well known European country and our flag is at the back. Why!? Still, this shows that Europe is better than America at video games... which is ironic, because we get them later, and glitched, and English is left with American slang and spellings (apart from Hotel Dusk, despite being set in America.).
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5-29-2008 @ 4:34PM
jgoreham said...
That's a bit bold, to say that the UK is the 'best known' EU country. What's your quantifier?
I've found being an Euro gamer to be really educational, coming here from North America (a territory that gets it pretty good, gaming wise). It seems that region/territory is becoming less important with the rise of online shopping (in devices like the DS that are region free, anyway- I know I didn't have the energy to think about bringing my North American consoles with me to England. What if they blew up when I plugged them in? Which adapter would I need? Sod it, portables all the way!).
5-29-2008 @ 4:47PM
RossGough said...
yeah that's a full on thing to say.. hah.
but i'm chuffed at the news, and hope it stays this way.
we could be getting the games sooner than elsewhere and other things in relation.
Recently, EU has been noticed to be quite fond of their games, and have a bit more focus on the area.
Also, i'm trying to start my career in games soon, which is awesome if it picks up even more money nowadays.
It all makes me happy when EU is noticed in the game scene, especially UK :)
5-29-2008 @ 4:48PM
Char6296 said...
I think I phrased it wrong. Well, we were definitely the most global, having an empire that spanned the globe and all. We even ruled America! But they overthrew us and our English wooden houses and Queen's English and tea. (I hate that stereotype)
5-29-2008 @ 5:14PM
Nigeria said...
Hey, kids. Char is showing us a great example of Little Englander syndrome. Can we have a round of applause, please!
5-29-2008 @ 5:43PM
Char6296 said...
Sorry for being overly patriotic... and I'm not xenophobic. I suppose I am a bit ignorant to Europe, so... sorry, rest of Europe! Still, what is the most well known European country? France?
5-29-2008 @ 8:34PM
BlackDS said...
I know the British are the most observed people in the world.
There are more video cameras watching the average Brit than anywhere else in the world.
A dubious distinction.
THEY are watching you Char 6296 ...
Peace.
5-29-2008 @ 11:59PM
Waffala said...
When I think of Europe I think of Franc, Italy and Germany.. then Italy and Switzerland and other countries names start to flow through my head, but in my mind I see the French, Italian and German Flags.
5-31-2008 @ 11:41AM
Lord Bowser said...
Leave Char alone!
5-31-2008 @ 12:54PM
Char6296 said...
Thank you, Wise and Merciful Lord Bowser!
6-01-2008 @ 5:18AM
Mertruve said...
If you look from the other side, your flag is on the front. Duh.
6-01-2008 @ 7:26AM
Char6296 said...
Huh, never thought of it that way. Thanks.
5-29-2008 @ 5:08PM
Demotruk said...
We recently became the worlds most powerful economy. It's probably due to a combination of this, and the fact that Europe loves non-games more than America(thus favouring the new Nintendo consoles).
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5-29-2008 @ 5:49PM
Bebuzzu said...
Maybe it is because patriot idiots get regularly shut down and beaten with a stick. Us Italians had an empire that makes your British thingy look like tinker toys. But I forgive you.
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5-29-2008 @ 6:07PM
jgoreham said...
@Char: Well, why not France? Or Italy, or Germany, or Switzerland, or whoever else is in the EU? Europe generally has given us a wide variety of things and our lives are better for it, including but certainly not limited to England. (hope you don't mind a bit of a ribbing, I'm not trying to be mean spirited or anything- I just think it's important for those of us in English speaking countries to remember that there's loads of other first world countries that are amazing places that have contributed to modern life too! We have a lot of privilidge living in the western countries we do and we all need to keep that in mind)
To keep this relevant to gaming, I'd just like to say that I don't like the European game cases for DS games (though the multi-lingual manuals are quite interesting- I thought we Canadians had it bad enough with English and French!). My shelf of games isn't neat anymore from the mish-mashing of different sized cases :(
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5-29-2008 @ 6:17PM
Char6296 said...
I can see why you're angry, so the ribbing is really understandable. Sorry for being... a Little Englander, to quote Nigeria. Then again, we are one of the ones who caused the Iraqi war, so we didn't do much helping there. The rest of Europe is a lot... cleaner in terms of war and such.
Also, I want to say that this may mean that we get stuff before America more often, so yay!
5-29-2008 @ 6:26PM
chispito said...
I didn't read it. Is this compared to all of NA or just the US?
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5-29-2008 @ 7:12PM
ZekeSulastin said...
Not to be too much of a buzzkill, but in Europe, don't games cost something like twice what they cost in the US due to the craptastic method of price conversion (why, 50 USD = 50 Euros amirite?) ....
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5-31-2008 @ 4:32AM
Ihar `Philips` Filipau said...
+10
I think the "bubble" would end soon when US economy recovers.
[Disclaimer: I live in Germany]
5-29-2008 @ 8:02PM
Crazylink said...
It makes sense that they spend more. Games cost a lot more over there.
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