Social games like Farmville are losing their grip on teen gamers

Everywhere you look, there seems to be a story about how traditional consoles are under threat from social gaming, and that the console market as we know it is all but doomed.

However, new research from Analyst firm Piper Jaffray reveals that attitudes towards social gaming are changing, with teen gamers giving more of their time to what many would deem to be 'traditional' console titles.

Piper Jaffray canvassed 7,700 high school students across the United States, and found that 17.4 percent had played a game on a social network (such as Facebook). The previous survey - taken in the spring - had the figure pegged at 25.3 percent. This would suggest that teenagers are losing interest in social gaming and are instead choosing to play games on their Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles.

While the news is positive for big-budget creators of console titles - and bodes well for Nintendo, with the Wii U launch on the horizon - the research also suggested that physical retail is on the wane, with 53.3 percent of teen players stating that they would be comfortable downloading a big-budget game directly to their console rather than purchasing it over the counter.

Even so, it would appear that the social gaming bubble is bursting. Are younger players finally realising that web-based games can't offer the same level of complexity and immersion as the latest home console blockbuster? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.

[source gamasutra.com]