Study: 51 percent of American kids under 8 have played a console game
We're not sure which is more telling, the fact that just over half of all American kids 8 or younger have played a console game, or the fact that our initial reaction to that statistic was, "Wait, that's all?" Seriously though, 51 percent of anything in any statistical analysis is a drastically massive majority, even when it comes to a combination as natural as kids and video games.
The study, published by the aptly named group Common Sense Media, claims that 51 percent of American children (8 or under) have played a console game at least once. Break that figure down further, and its research shows that 44 percent of kids aged 2 to 4 and 81 percent of children between 5 and 8 have spent time with a controller, with 36 percent of the latter group gaming at least once a week.
There's no denying that we live in a media-rich environment, and that technology is more pervasive now than ever, but we don't think these numbers are anything to worry about. The study claims that most kids are exposed to games before the age of 4, which is certainly true for the Joystiq staff, and we're about as sane and grounded a group of people as you're likely to find.
