I was a little shocked to hear the number of female gamers has increased - only because I have a total of two female friends who play video games - but hearing kids are taking to the console at a younger age didn't surprise me much. The most avid gamer I know is my boyfriend's 11-year-old niece who can rock Dance Dance Revolution like Janet Jackson.
A study by the NPD Group found that on average, children begin using electronic devices at 6.7 years old, down swiftly from 8.1 years in 2005. The study also found that portable game consoles (like the PSP or Nintendo DS) are the most likely devices children play on, with 39 percent of those surveyed owning one. Console hardware pulled a slightly lower adoption rate among children, at 29 percent.
The report, which was titled "Kids and Consumer Electronics Trends III,” also found that televisions and desktop computers were the sources of the earliest electronics exposer in children, often starting at age 4 or 5 years old.
Napo Shop
Azzedine Alaia
Psssy
my sister started playing videogames and touching the computer at 5! I wasn't even allowed to watch TV alone when I was five. They're getting ahead so fast.
1I didn't start playing until I was 13. Of course that was on an Atari 2600.
2My husband and I actually bought both of my nephews Gameboys when they turned 6 and they love them! As for me? I think I got a Gameboy when I turned 11 or so! But I'd played stuff like Reader Rabbit and Treasure Mountain on the computer long before that!
3Yeah dude, my friend came over yesterday and I set her 5 year-old up at the Wii, he played for hours. My 2-year-old already can navigate Noggin.com like a pro, uses the mouse and clicks and everything,,.that might be genetic though...his Daddys a programmer...
4My 3 and 5 year old both play the Wii - though their time is very limited. Sometimes I think they are too young, but compared to my friends kids mine are barely on.
5My son started playing on the computer before he was 2, and now he's 4 and he can totally kick by butt in any Wii Sport game. It's really sad, actually!
However, we limit the amount of time he can play each day. 1 hour per day on weekdays and 2 hours per day on weekend days. And it is a privilege, so it is the first thing we take away when he needs discipline.
6I remember desperately wanting a Nintendo in grade school. That age would've been the norm years ago had our parents not kept saying no.
7diddo that. my nephew starting chewing on controllers as soon as he could crawl, just copying his big brother, now at 7, he can kick my ass at ANY game. a lil scary! i didn't start playing till the fifth grade!
8I wonder when I first started playing...I know the first console I played on was a Nintendo...the first one I ever had of my very own was a SNES..or actually maybe it was my Gameboy, hmm
ah memories
9i read a study recently which states that exposing kids to tv (and, presumably -- my leap here -- video games) from birth to age about 3yrs is a major contributor to their developing add and adhd. this is because the biggest spurts in brain development occurs during the period from 0mos to 3yrs and tv patterns can screw up that development. curiously, letting them watch tv between 3yrs to 5yrs may enhance their learning abilities.
10sorry, one other thing. surgeons who play video games (forget how many hours per week) are better, more efficient cutters. so for anything requiring manual dexterity (surgery, guiding the needle in breast aspirations, etc.), i'm adding one more question to the list i ask my doctors: do you play video games?
11This isn't suprising, my brother was a total Nintendo Head at age 5 and with him, I held my own. Though, Duckhunt is no Halo2, so I dunno. Maybe I should be.
12yeah, my nephew is maybe 4 and can use the computer and internet really well and also lots of online games. kind of scary, i think!
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