The accepted belief about "casual gamers" was that they played simpler games in short bursts, in between the other jobs that occupied their busy lives. This idea has always sounded a little off to anyone who has watched a parent sink the better part of an evening into endless games of Free Cell, and now there's a study that further challenges the preconcieved notions about so-called casual players.

Macromedia, operator of the Trymedia Network digital distribution platform for PC games, reported that 31 percent of casual gamers on its Trygames site play for more than two hours per session, and 37 percent of those observed play nine sessions per week.

Furthermore, two-thirds of the 789 study participants said that their gameplay sessions typically last at least an hour, and nearly three-fourths usually play at night. Over half play on the weekends.

Casual may mean you can pick it up and drop it whenever you want, but that doesn't mean people do. If anything, it can actually be worse than "normal" games, because the smaller and simpler a game is, the more likely it is to introduce that "just one more" mentality that keeps people playing until four in the morning.

Not all of the stats from the survey were a revelation, though. As expected, 65% of casual gamers are over the age of 35, and 71% of the audience is female. Also, puzzle games are still the favorite genre.

Source: Next Generation