CESA Report Summarizes Japanese Gaming Public

A new report from the Japanese trade organization CESA (Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association), summarized in Famitsu magazine and translated by U.S. consumer site GameSpot, has revealed some surprising statistics about mainstream gamers in Japan. 1,043 ordinary Japanese citizens were interviewed for the report, with 31.9 percent admitting to playing games regularly. 37.7 percent said they had played games regularly in the past but no longer do so, 16 percent said they had only played a few times and 14.1 percent claimed they had never played a game at all. When asked if they had any current interest in playing video games, only 12.7 percent said they were already actively interested, 43 percent said they would be given a sufficiently interesting game, 27.6 percent said they were unlikely to be interested and 16.1 said they had no desire to play games whatsoever. A similar survey was also conducted with 1,107 attendees of the 2004 Tokyo Game Show, where an expectedly high percentage of 32.1 interviewees said they played video games every day. 25.8 percent said they played every two to three days, and 13.3 percent every four to five days. 13.3 percent played around once a week, 6.6 percent two to three times a month and 8.9 percent less than once a month. Other independent research by CESA claims that 92 percent of Internet users in Japan have broadband connections. In 2004 Japan was estimated to have 79.5 million Internet users, around 62 percent of the total population. A significant 48 percent claim to have played online games at some point, falling to 12.1 percent for subscription based titles. The most popular platform (where multiple answers were allowed) for online gaming was the PC with 90.1 percent, followed by the PlayStation 2 at 19.4 percent, the GameCube at 3.3 percent (primarily Phantasy Star Online and Homeland), the Xbox at 2.6 percent and the Dreamcast at 1.8 percent.