U.S. Patent 2,455,992 was given to Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1948 for the Cathode Ray Amusement Device or as we would call it today, the first video game. Their game was a missile simulator based on missiles from World War II, unfortunately it was too expensive to even be marketable and only a few models were ever produced. Since 1948 the video game industry has taken off, 65 percent of U.S. households own at least one gaming console. 138 million Sony Playstation 2 units have been sold, the highest amount for any console so far.
But who are the people buying all of these video games? When I used to think of a gamer I pictured a nerdy male teenager, however according to a recent study the average gamer is 32 years old and two out of every five gamers are females. It makes sense that more females are playing video games nowadays. With new games like Wii Sports, many people can play and all players are able to get off the couch and have some type of exercise. Even my mom has Wii Fit so she can stay in shape without having to go to the gym (and she has a good time playing it).
Only time will tell if video game developers will continue to market their product toward women with games that appeal to females but if the trend of games like Wii Sports continues we may see more and more female gamers every year.
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