It's what many parents have suspected all along. Online video games are far more popular among young male Internet users than among young females -- and it's a global phenomenon. An Ipsos-Reid survey of young people in 16 countries worldwide -- The Face of the Web: Youth -- has revealed that 63 per cent of boys aged between 12 and 17 have tried online games, compared to just 34 per cent of girls. Among those aged 18 to 24, some 47 per cent of males and 25 per cent of females have played online Internet video games; another 13 per cent said they intended to.
In the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Japan the percentage of young people who have tried Web-based games ranged from 27 per cent (in the UK) to 20 per cent (in Japan). These percentages should swell to at least 50 per cent of online youth within the next year in western Europe, the study noted.
But even with the possibility of players doubling in number in certain parts of Europe, these markets won't come close to those in Asia. Ipsos-Reid found that in China and South Korea, eight in 10 young Internet users will have been initiated into the world of online games by 2002.