NEWS: Study Shows Video Gaming is Increasingly a Social Experience

News/Social Networks/Webculture/Gamers
Found on: biz.yahoo.com

Nielsen Entertainment today released its third annual Active Gamer Benchmark Study, which shows that the social elements of video games are becoming an increasingly important part of the overall gaming experience. The research found that among the roughly 117 million Active Gamers in the U.S. in 2006, more than half (56%) play games online, and that 64% of all online gamers are women.

Moreover, while gaming has conventionally been thought of as a solitary experience, the new study reveals that Active Gamers spend upwards of 5 hours a week playing games socially, led by teenagers who are socially involved in gaming about 7 hours per week.