世論 What Japan Thinks

I haven’t looked at video games for a while, so I was glad to find this survey from goo Research on video game usage by children. Video games cover handhelds, TV-connected games and even PC-based gaming.

Demographics

Between the 25th of June and 13th of July 2007 1,165 elementary school children (or people claiming to be children) responded to a public questionnaire available on the Kids goo web site. The sample was 60.0% girls, 3.4% in first year of elementary school (ages six or seven), 5.0% in second year, 9.9% in third year, 20.3% in forth year, 26.9% in fifth year, and 34.6% in sixth year (ages eleven or twelve). Note that since this is a public internet-based survey there will definite sampling bias.

There’s so much great data in this survey! Q4SQ is perhaps my favourite; based on my casual observations, not surprisingly the DS totally dominates everything else. However, the other new portable, the PSP, is played less than the ancient Famicon and Super Famicon. I’m surprised that these two machines did so well; is this due to parents being cheap, to them having less worries about graphic violence in the older titles, not wanting to spoil the kids on photo-realism, or do kids really choose themselves to play these machines?

Note that this survey was conducted before the new PSP Slim sold quarter of a million units in one week.

Research results

Q1: Do you play video games? (Sample size=1,165)

Yes	80.0%
No (to Q10)	8.7%
Used to, but not now (to Q10)	11.3%

Q2: Where do you play video games? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

At home	94.9%
At friends’ homes	31.2%
At game arcade, shop games corner	14.1%
At child care facility, library, etc	2.6%
Other	5.2%

Q3: How many video games machines are there at your home? (Sample size=932)

One	16.5%
Two	17.0%
Three	17.8%
Four	13.3%
Five or more	34.4%
None	1.0%

Note that this will include siblings and parents’ machines, if applicable. Whether or not general purpose computers with games software is included is not stated.

Q4: What kinds of video games do you often play? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

Portable games (PSP, Nintendo DS, etc) (to SQ)	68.8%
PC-based single-player games	67.8%
Television-connected console games (to SQ)	47.5%
Online games	22.5%
Mobile phone games	16.4%
Game arcade or shop game corner	10.8%
Other	6.7%

Q4SQ: What kinds of video games machines do you often play on? (Sample size=764, console and portable gamers, multiple answer)

Nintendo DS	82.2%
Nintendo Gameboy Advance	39.8%
Sony PlayStation 1, 2 or 3	37.4%
Nintendo Wii	35.3%
Nintendo Gamecube	31.4%
Nintendo Gameboy, Gameboy Micro	19.8%
Nintendo 64	15.2%
Nintendo Super Famicon (SNES)	15.1%
Nintendo Famicon (NES)	11.9%
Sony PlayStation Portable	10.5%
Microsoft Xbox	5.8%
Sega Saturn	5.1%
Sega Dreamcast	4.8%
Other	16.4%

Q5: What kinds of video games do you like? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

	All	Boys	Girls
Character nurturing game	65.6%	54.8%	72.8%
Adventure, war, other role playing game	64.1%	71.9%	58.8%
Fighting, action game	38.4%	51.3%	29.8%
Sports game	37.0%	41.2%	34.2%
Brain training game	33.1%	25.9%	37.8%
Card, puzzle game	32.2%	23.5%	38.0%
Quiz game	25.4%	19.5%	29.4%
Drill, other learning game	18.7%	16.0%	20.4%
Other	9.2%	10.4%	8.4%
None in particular	2.4%	1.9%	2.7%

Q6: Do you have any rules at home regarding video game playing? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

Length of play	45.9%
Situation for being allowed to play, such as after finishing homework	30.7%
Time of play	19.5%
Place of play	9.6%
Kind of game	5.7%
No particular rules	34.6%
Other	3.5%

Other rules included having to take turns with friends and siblings, letting other siblings have priority, having to ask permission each time, not being allowed to take a portable to the park, having parents vet PC games before play, not being allowed to buy whatever title one want, and only being allowed to play on specific days.

Q7: How long do you play video games on school days? (Sample size=932)

	All	Boys	Girls
Up to 30 minutes	33.1%	25.1%	38.4%
Thirty minutes to one hour	29.2%	25.7%	31.5%
One to two hours	22.3%	26.5%	19.5%
Two to three hours	6.7%	9.4%	4.8%
More than three hours	8.8%	13.4%	5.7%

Q8: How long do you play video games on non-school days? (Sample size=932)

	All	Boys	Girls
Up to 30 minutes	16.5%	15.0%	17.6%
Thirty minutes to one hour	24.9%	19.3%	28.7%
One to two hours	25.5%	23.3%	27.1%
Two to three hours	13.1%	12.6%	13.4%
More than three hours	20.0%	30.0%	13.3%

Q9: Who do you most often play video games with at home? (Sample size=884, those who play games at home)

By myself	70.3%
With friends	9.1%
With brothers, sisters	16.4%
With parents, grandparents	2.8%
Other	1.5%

This finishes the questions for video game players.

Q10: Why do you not play video games? (Sample size=223, not games players, multiple answer)

Don’t have time for games	36.5%
Not interested in games	27.0%
Forbidden by parents	20.2%
Don’t own any games	15.5%
Other	16.7%

Other answers include that it’s bad for the eyes, have a machine, used to play but got bored or just didn’t get into it, because there’s so much to choose from one doesn’t know what’s best, and too tired after returning home from school to play.