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It also reveals that 70% of ‘family gamers’ believe
casual games provide educational benefits to their
children/grandchildren – with greatest benefits of gameplay
identified as learning, stress relief and hand-eye coordination.
In stark contrast to traditional
perceptions of computer gaming, parents/grandparents said casual
games helped them bond with their children/grandchildren (92%)
and mentioned the following casual game benefits for
children/grandchildren:
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68% cited Hand-eye
coordination/Manual dexterity
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60% cited Learning (pattern
recognition, resource allocation, spelling, etc.)
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51% cited Mental
workouts/Cognitive exercise
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48% cited Memory
strengthening
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44% cited Stress
relief/Relaxation
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37% cited Positive
affirmation/Confidence building
Among the nearly 7,500 adult
respondents who took part in the survey, nearly a third (31%)
indicated they had children or grandchildren under 18 who play
casual games in their home. And of these 2,298 ‘family gamers’,
80% play casual games with their children or grandchildren -
while 66% said they would welcome the use of such games in their
children’s or grandchildren’s schools.
Professor Mark Griffiths,
Professor of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University, UK
says: "Empirical research has consistently shown that in the
right context, computer- and videogames can have a positive
educational, psychological and therapeutic benefit to a large
range of different ages and sub-groups.”
“Casual games span generations
and genders in ways that traditional ‘hardcore’ video games
never have,” notes Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a New York-based
psychologist and author of Essentials of Smart Parenting. “This
universal appeal, and the ‘G-rated’ content of the games, makes
them a great activity in which the whole family can participate,
with each generation enjoying the games in different ways while
also enjoying the interaction with other family members.”
Almost half of respondents
indicated they had multiple children or grandchildren who played
the games in their home. Of these, 88% described the game-play
interaction between the children as at least partly cooperative,
with only 12% characterizing it as strictly competitive. “Casual
games seem to promote more of a cooperative ‘let's work on this
together’ type of atmosphere, as opposed to an aggressive,
interpersonal competitive environment,” observed Dr. Arinoldo.
On a related note, only 28% of adult family gamers indicated
they allowed their children or grandchildren to play so-called
“hardcore” video games.
Survey Methodology
This international research was conducted by Information
Solutions Group (ISG;
www.infosolutionsgroup.com ) for
PopCap Games. The results are based on online surveys completed
by 2,298 respondents randomly selected between 15th June 2007
and 29th June 2007.
September 2007 -
Peterborough UK Community Website
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