We talk a lot about the next generation of video game consoles, but for many people, the new way to play games is already here. According to smart device analytics service Flurry(via The Guardian), 67 percent of all tablet usage in the U.S. is dedicated to games.
Games are by far the most used type of tablet app, distantly trailed by social networking at 10 percent and entertainment at 9. Games also dominate smartphone usage with 39 percent of screen time, with social networking following up at 24 percent and utilities at 17. Flurry reports that consumers spend 71 percent more of their time using games on tablets than they spend doing the same on smartphones.
Tablets are also reaching out to areas games typically have more trouble breaching: two-thirds of tablet users are over the age of 25 and 49 percent are female, compared to three-quarters of smartphone users who are 34 or younger and 56 percent of whom are male.
It's also important to consider that tablets are used most frequently from 7 to 10 p.m., AKA prime-time entertainment hours. "This would indicate that as Apple and Google enter the living room with connected TV initiatives, game consoles made by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would experience the greatest competition," Flurry said.
Apple reported it has sold more than 100 million iPads in two and a half years, not including the soon-to-be-released 4th-gen version and iPad Mini. And with new competitors landing from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, it looks like a new generation of gaming has already begun.
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