Are You Making Up Part of the Gaming Population?

Are You Making Up Part of the Gaming Population?

According to a new survey by the Entertainment Software Association, almost half of the people who are gaming in the US – whether that’s online, on a console or on a mobile phone – are female. Apparently 59% of the US population games at one level or another, and 48% of those gamers are women.

Does that sound like you? Have you bought a gaming console that isn’t really for the kids’ benefit – it’s actually there for your own entertainment? According to the 2014 report on gaming habits by the Entertainment Software Association, 50% of the frequent purchaser of video games in the US are women. However, cynics amongst us might well ask, aren’t they just the moms buying games for their kids? Sure, there may be more women playing Grand Theft Auto than there used to be, but really, how many of us have the time to sit and play video games for hours on end.

Certainly one area where women are doing a lot more gaming is on the mobile. We all have a smartphone these days and these nifty little devices are capable of doing so much more than handling our communications with the outside world. Of course we all use them to send SMS messages and to call our mom, sister, brother, partner in life, whenever we want, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When you’ve got something in your pocket that can give you access to the web, and is capable of supporting thousands of different gaming apps, it’s not surprising that we gradually all begin to use these devices to their fullest potential.

You can even play casino games via sites such as bgo, Genting casino or Roxy Palace on your mobile. While you might think playing a game like Candy Crush is pretty pointless, a game where you can win cold, hard cash might make more sense. If you click here to play slots at bgo.com, for example, you’ll see that many of the slots games can be played on your mobile as well as on the website, so they’re ideal for whiling a few minutes’ waiting time. One of the best things about slots is that they’re so easy to play; you can’t influence the outcome, you can only decide how much to bet, how many lines to play and how often to press Spin. And if you don’t like the idea of betting real money to play these kinds of casino games, you can often play for free at many of the casino sites or on social media versions of the games. Games like this can be great for those moments when you just want to unwind and be entertained.

In the report by the Entertainment Software Association, female gamers over the age of 18 now make up a significantly bigger part of the gaming population (36%) than males aged 18 or under (17%). And the number of women over the age of 50 who game also increased by 32% between 2012 and 2013. It makes a lot of sense that there will be more women gaming than there used to be; as long as you talk about it in the widest sense. We women are known for our multi-tasking, after all. We don’t need to sit down and dedicate an hour to a game. We can prepare dinner while playing a few rounds of roulette on our mobile, or pick our favourite slot to play while waiting for our child to come out of school, or play Words with Friends while waiting for the doctor to call our name in the waiting room. Playing games that require five minutes of our time are more likely to be popular than those that take longer – like many of the console or pc games do.

Surveys like those released by the Entertainment Software Association make for interesting reading, but the reality is that though more of us women may be gaming more often, it’s unlikely we’re becoming those stereotypical gamers who put gaming at the top of their life agenda, and forget to do other things in life such as take care of our personal hygiene and eat healthily! It’s far more likely that it’s just one of many things we women choose do with our spare time.