Online Gamers More Physically Fit Than Average?
from the wonders-never-cease dept
It's been a good week for video gamers and a bad week for stereotypes of video gamers, apparently. Earlier we wrote about a study talking about how video gamers were actually quite social, and now a new study suggests that online gamers are more physically fit than your average American (perhaps not saying much). No one seems to think that there's a causal relationship here, as it may just be that video gamers tend to be wealthier and more educated -- who also tend to be in better shape. There's also the issue that this appears to be based on self-reported stats, which may not be that accurate. Still, it appears that studies are starting to chip away at the stereotype of the overweight, social loner video gamer.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: fit, health, video gamers, video gaming
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Not sure I get it
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Re: Not sure I get it
With the health food, better living and eating habits being thrown everywhere from the "experts" its bound to get in the heads of moms and even teens and 20somethings.
i myself am a 20something and i play videogames regularly (Halo 3, rock band, and rpg games on ps3) i have always been quite thin all my life but my freshman 15 hit me hard.
with my gaming i now have developed a work out ratio of work out time to play time. of course i could buy wii fit and be done with it. but that would be the easy way out.
i don't really like it when someone asks "whats the point of that?" information is information and i enjoy learning. learning enables me to grow, and it seems that asking whats the point only states "why am i learning this what purpose does this serve"
Thats the mentality of a medical student (or so the past article states) that you just want to learn enough in life to get through it.
i want to learn EVERYTHING!
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Re: Not sure I get it
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I look like
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Re: I look like
I'm so sorry for you...
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Well
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Re: Well
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If there's one things MMO's are good it it's repeating the same actions over and over and over. Running around back and forth back and forth. So...
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Darn, I guess I spent all that money setting up www.overweight.socialloner.videogamer.com for nothing!
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Age factor
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Re: Age factor
Isn't it also a fact that the video gaming population is on the young end of the spectrum? I know that the market is expanding, age-wise, but it is still heavily weighted toward young males
Always be warey of well known facts, they have a tendancy to be wrong. I have heard studies putting the average age of the Australian gamer at 28 with something like 80% over 18. Also apparently 8% seniors I believe. Now I know this is Australia not the US but I still think it would be similar. Unless by young you mean 28 years old?
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This just in!
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Re: This just in!
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@Potato Head
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Re: @Potato Head
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games or food
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Re: games or food
That would make them malnurished and perhaps skinny and gaunt, not fit.
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Hmm.
Not that this says anything about true statistics though... Haha. Anyway, arrrr, ye be sailing in dangerous waters if ye is not healthy, aye. (...Talk like a pirate day. :))
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Re: Hmm.
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Offline gamers
"[S]ince the research only studied one multiplayer online game, its conclusions may not be true for single-player console games. "They involve very different psychologies," he says."
Online gamers are paragons of fitness. But those single-player console gamers, well...they're just a bunch of fat loner slobs.
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Re:
I find that the MMO player has the same age spread as the average Halo player.
Unless you want to include seven year old girls playing with their Nintendogs as "gamers"
Most avid gamers now run the gamut of middle-high school to mid-thirties, and I have seen no difference between those who play MMOs and those who don't. I personally fall into the latter group, but have associations with many WoW players and the like.
Again, this is based on my experience, but I don't see how randomly assuming a different age variance counts as an attempt to invalidate the data.
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Self-reported = not accurate?
Their first clue is that 99% of the gamers surveyed were either 17-year old girls with DD-sized breasts and anime eyes, or 25 year old men with blonde hair, blue eyes, and 11-inch penises.
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New Study . . .
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Overweight?
I workout 4-5 times a week, often more... sometimes twice a day. I eat super healthy - frontload carbs, lots of salads, lean protein and nothing but good carbs except on splurge weekends - and even then I don't go wild... usually. I hold down a great I/S job paying above average for my area. On evenings and weekends, I'm a DJ/Magician/Hypnotist. Plus... I have a girlfriend.
I play FPS and MMORPGs depending on my mood.
I don't think the sterotype is accurate anymore.
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Re: Overweight?
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Yes and No
On the other hand, I can tell you that when I'm playing a FPS online, that I am seriously jacked up and my brain is definitely operating in a high energy state - which I would imagine burns a lot of calories. As a kid I could get away with it, but as an adult, if I still play these games (I occasionally get into one) I have to stop playing at about 10:00 if I want to get to bed by midnight.
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Ya know . . .
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Re: Ya know . . .
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On Line Gamers Not Poor.
These same people fit into that richer well educated social group that eats better, sees a doctor when they need, and spends time at the gym.
Ergo, generally better off as wells as better off physically.
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That is just sad. Also, with an avegage bmi of 25.2 that still places them in the overweight range.
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- Old, fat, short gamer.
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Re:
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my avatar and me
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Re: my avatar and me
hehe clever
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this is true
both me and my gf play games (me a fewe more hours aday then her) but we are both well able to run a few miles if need be and go out for walks once or twice a week. i think for the most part online gamers not being able to pause and walk away and get a pizza and keep playing keeps them from eatting all the time due to the game being 10 or 20 or 30 people or more playing. also it being online they end up talking and hanging out online with more people then you could see in a day being more social
the online gamer isnt that geek market it use to be a few years ago now any one with a xbox 360 or ps3 with high speed more then likely plays online if not all the time they spend some time online with friends. come to think about it i cant think of any one i know from 17-35 that doesn't have a xbox or ps3 or a gaming computer. i have a few friends in real life that play ps3 cod a few times aweek with each other online. i have a few teachers at my collage that play cod, orange box, halo games online with students even.
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It's mainstream now
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