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BREAKING NEWS: Lots Of Kids Play Video Games

by Matt Bertz on Oct 30, 2011 at 11:20 AM

The appropriately titled research group Common Sense Media reports that the majority of young children have played video games.

The research paper Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use In America, which is based on a survey of 1,384 parents with children ages 0 to 8 years old, reports that 51 percent of all 0- to 8-year-olds have played a console video game. Not bad for an entertainment medium that didn't exist 50 years ago. Breaking the data down further, 44 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds have played video games, as have 81 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds.

These kids are getting their start in video games early, with the average age of first use being 3 years, 11 months. Though children are exposed to video games at a young age, the report says gaming does not dominate their media diet just yet. Among 5- to 8-year-olds, only 17 percent play console video games at least once a day. Another 36 percent play them at least once a week.

You can read the report for yourself here.

I can't wait to read Common Sense Media's next report, which will hopefully determine once and for all whether or not Americans like pizza.

[Source: Gamasutra]