Portable gaming on the rise with US youngsters

NPD has revealed that portable gaming has risen 8 percent since 2005 among children aged 4 to 14, with 44 percent of US youngsters owning a handheld gaming device.

According to its latest Kids & Consumer Electronics report, NPD  found that 65 percent of US households also own a console, and thanks to the owners of portables, accessory sales are up due to 50 percent of handheld users having purchased extras for the systems.

NPD reports that more children were given used devices than new compared to last year, with kids being the primary recipient of 37 percent of hardware unit sales for the month ending March 2010.

"Kids represent a big market for the industry and the future purchase intent figures show that game systems are one of the top consumer electronic devices that households are planning to purchase in the next year," said NPD's Anita Frazier.

"A higher percentage of households are also downloading content specifically intended for a child in this age group than they did last year which points to the digital evolution of the industry as well, and the fact that kids are engaged with this method of content acquisition."

Kids rule, adults drool - we reckon.

Via IndustryGamers.