Statistics from the videogame industry released at the recently concluded E3 trade show demonstrate that the audience for videogames is a lot more mature than industry critics like Attorney General John Ashcroft realize.  Although there is little published research to verify the extent of it, a common conception in the pop culture products industry is that videogames and many pop culture products appeal to the same demographic groups and compete for a share of the same entertainment dollars.  The new figures released at E3 and published in Video Business will do nothing to dampen that speculation since the demographics of the videogame audience will appear eerily familiar to most pop culture retailers.  First of all, the people who play console videogames (Nintendo, PS2, Dreamcast, etc.) are overwhelmingly (3 to 1) male, and, older than you might expect, 57% of the most frequent console gamers are over 18.  When it comes to world of computer games 70% of frequent players are over 18 and a whopping 40% are over 35.

 

Unlike some other pop culture categories, the videogame companies are under direct political assault.  Just last March in the wake of the San Diego school shootings, Attorney General Ashcroft decried videogames that 'literally teach' kids how to shoot.   Video Business quoted industry lobbyist Doug Lowenstein of the Digital Software Association as saying, 'the stereotype that (video)games are only played by teenage boys' is the key problem for the industry.  He told Video Business, 'If I could change one thing, I would get rid of that stereotype.'  It should be interesting to see if the videogame industry, with its considerable financial resources, can change the public's perception of who plays these games, especially since the public's perception of comic book readers, anime cartoon viewers, and toy collectors are equally wrongheaded and potentially just as much of a problem (see 'Oops, It Happened Again' and 'Toys For Adults').