世論 What Japan Thinks

Round about the time of the release of the Nintendo DS there was a lot of buzz about the new demographics they were reaching, in particular how the range of brain training software was selling well in the older market segment. To see what the situation is these says, goo Research, in conjuction with AllAbout Japan, surveyed the “Mrs” demographic about their use of digital items and game machines.

Demographics

Over the 17th and 18th of December 2007 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The “Mrs” demographic was married women between the ages of 50 and 69, with 33.9% aged between 50 and 54, 33.9% between 55 and 59, and 32.2% in their sixties.

I remember once trying to tempt my mother into gaming with The Hobbit on the Sinclair Spectrum, but I can’t say it was much of a success at all. However, the brain training games would be fun for her, perhaps, or even if they weren’t I could play them instead…

Demographics

Q1: Which of the following items do you have at home? (Sample size=1,076, multiple answer)

Printer	94.1%
Compact digital camera	85.1%
Desktop computer	73.5%
Notebook computer	70.7%
DVD player, recorder	49.4%
Scanner	47.4%
Game machine	41.3%
Hard disk recorder	28.7%
Digital audio player	25.7%
Photo printer	14.5%
Digital SLR camera	11.7%
None of the above	0.1%

A photo printer is a stand-alone printer that requires no PC to print out digital camera photographs.

Q2: How often do you use these digital items from Q1? (Sample size=various)

	Often	Sometimes	Occasionally	Not much	Never
Printer N=1,012	21.1%	52.2%	15.3%	8.0%	3.5%
Hard disk recorder N=309	20.7%	43.0%	18.1%	13.3%	4.9%
Digital camera N=916	13.5%	47.8%	18.9%	14.4%	5.4%
DVD player N=532	18.4%	42.5%	21.4%	13.0%	4.7%
Photo printer N=156	18.6%	38.5%	23.1%	11.5%	8.3%
Scanner N=510	14.1%	38.8%	23.7%	13.9%	9.4%
Digital audio player N=276	14.9%	32.3%	26.1%	15.6%	11.2%
Game machine N=444	12.4%	33.6%	23.4%	15.3%	15.3%
Digital SLR N=126	7.9%	27.0%	27.0%	20.6%	17.5%

Q3: What kinds of game machine do you have? (Sample size=444, multiple answer)

Nintendo DS	65.5%
PlayStation (any model)	61.5%
Super Famicon (SNES)	36.5%
Famicon (NES)	28.2%
GameBoy (including Micro)	25.5%
GameBoy advance	17.8%
Wii	17.6%
PlayStation Portable (PSP)	14.2%
Nintendo 64	12.8%
Sega Saturn	5.0%
Xbox	4.5%
Dreamcast	4.5%
Other	2.9%

Q4: Wih whom do you play on these game machines? (Sample size=444, multiple answer)

By myself	47.5%
With children	25.2%
With husband	8.8%
With grandchildren	6.5%
With children’s parents	1.1%
With other relatives	1.1%
With friends	1.1%
Other	0.0%
Don’t play on it	32.4%

Q5: Which genres of games, software do you currently use? (Sample size=139, multiple answer)

Study game (brain training, English, kanji, etc)	55.7%
Puzzle, board game	41.7%
Simulation (role playing, pet care, business)	25.7%
Sports, training (tennis, yoga, etc)	16.3%
Adventure game	15.3%
Sports, training (facial muscles, eye training, etc)	15.0%
Action, shooting	13.3%
Food, cooking, recipe	10.7%
Budgeting	5.7%
Travel guide	4.0%
Fortune telling	2.3%
Other	3.3%

Q6: Which genres of games, software would you want to use in the future? (Sample size=1,076, multiple answer)

Study game (brain training, English, kanji, etc)	36.1%
Sports, training (facial muscles, eye training, etc)	33.1%
Sports, training (tennis, yoga, etc)	27.2%
Puzzle, board game	18.9%
Food, cooking, recipe	18.8%
Budgeting	17.1%
Travel guide	13.9%
Fortune telling	6.3%
Simulation (role playing, pet care, business)	5.0%
Adventure game	2.3%
Action, shooting	2.2%
Other	0.6%
Don’t think I want to play games	32.4%