More play on mobile, less on consoles

BANGALOE,INDIA: Gone are the days when PCs or consoles were popular destinations for gaming. Increasingly, smartphones are become the popular gadgets to play games.

Mobile gaming company MocoSpace revealed that 46 per cent of those surveyed said they are spending more time playing mobile games this year, and only 26 pc said they are spending more time gaming on their consoles. Only 23% said they are playing more games on their PCs.

The  survey involved over 15,000 gamers in their network of 25 million gamers to ask them about their gaming habits.

Interestingly, the majority of mobile gaming is done at home, out of all the different places people could be gaming. “The fact that people are gaming on their mobile phones at home, often sitting a few feet away from their controller, shows that mobile is capable of grabbing and holding their interest. This data makes it clear that mobile is a viable alternative to console and PC gaming,” said Justin Siegel, CEO of MocoSpace.

The MocoSpace report also reveals that mobile gamers are nearly as devoted to game play as console gamers; 21 pc reported that they spend at least an hour playing every day on their mobile phone, while 24 pc spend at least an hour on console gaming, on average. The high engagement levels on mobile indicate that mobile devices can carry as much allure as consoles. Also, as smartphone penetration continues to grow, options for mobile gaming will become even more user-friendly. According to Nielsen’s Mobile Media Report for the third quarter of 2011, 44 pc of all phones in use in the U.S. are now smartphones — an increase of 13 pc from the same time last year.

Of all demographics, women over age 30 consistently showed more interest in mobile gaming than any others. 27 pc of women over 30 conveyed that they spend more than three hours playing games on their mobile phones every day; this is double the percentage of men on average, as well as that of females from ages 12-29.

Of course, the survey was taken from the mobile gaming company's user base, which might well skew it in favor of mobile games.