Gaming set to become Britain's favourite pastime.

Tuesday 27th October 2009 - 11:00


Smart phones and social networks are gaming's future according to report plus PES 2010 tops the charts and Lego Universe PC screens



Britain has more online and console gamers than anywhere else in Europe, according to the 2009 UK National Gamers Survey. 73% of those questioned regularly play games, with many ranking gaming as their favourite pastime, ahead of surfing the internet and watching TV.

Young men between the ages of 13 and 19 spend on average 11 hours per week playing games, and boys as young as eight admit to gaming seven and a half hours a week. The findings from TNS and Gamesindustry.com demonstrate that gaming could soon start to replace the internet and TV as the country's favourite pastime, and has already overtaken reading newspapers and magazines. Even the historically smaller gaming segments are getting in on the act: 86% of girls play games and an astonishing 42% of people over the age of 50 say that they spend more time gaming than reading magazines.

Despite the downturn hitting Britain harder than many of its European neighbours, Brits are also the most likely to pay for games. While 10% of gamers in the Netherlands admit to regularly making illegal copies of popular console games, only 4% of Brits do the same.

The study also reveals that mobile phones and social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are the game platforms of the future, although they are yet to properly take hold in the UK, where only 11% of the gamers on social networks indicate that these are their primary gaming destinations - less than half that of the US. In the UK, the introduction of the iPhone and other smart phones pushed the mobile telephone as a gaming platform up to 20% in the last year, double the level achieved in other European countries.

One game that seems to be top of everyone's 'to-play' list is PES 2010. Konami's latest instalment of the long running football franchise has topped the latest all-format top 40 videogames charts knocking off the mighty FIFA 10 in the process. Forza Motorsport 3 hurtles into second place with another brand new entry whilst last week's number one (FIFA 10) finds itself languishing in bronze medal position - although many industry insiders predict a return to the top for FIFA 10 next week, such is the tradition for the game to sell consistently high numbers each week.

We round off with some brand new screens from Lego Universe, the first massively multiplayer online game for Lego fans, forthcoming on PC. The full-featured MMOG will be complete with character advancement, expansive social and community features, and promises to offer a child-safe alternative to other MMOGs on the market. As a player, you'll be able to customise your persona and interact in the universe as any character you choose, providing unique opportunities for players to expand and explore with their creations. There's no official word on a release date yet, but our spies suggest early 2010.