Do you play online games? Well, here’s an interesting survey by MyVoice on the online gaming behavior of Japanese.

This survey was conducted on February 01st to 05th, and it surveyed 15,447 members through an internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 2% in their teens, 16% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 28% in their forties, and 17% in their fifties.

Q1: How interested are you in online games? (Sample size=15,447)

Really interested	6.1%
Quite interested	20.7%
Can’t say either way	12.4%
Not very interested	26.5%
Not interested at all	34.3%

Q2: On what sort of device do you usually play online games? (Sample size=15,447, multiple answer)

Windows PC	27.3%
Portable games machine	14.5%
Home console	12.9%
Mobile phone	9.9%
Macintosh	1.1%
Other	0.4%
Don’t play online games (to Q8)	59.9%

Q3: For how long have you been playing online games? (Sample size=online gamers)

Less than a year	23.7%
One to two years	16.9%
Two to three years	15.6%
Three to four years	8.4%
Four to five years	5.3%
Five or more years	18.5%
No answer	11.6%

Q4: About how often do you play online games? (Sample size=online gamers)

Almost every day	11.3%
Four to six days a week	7.5%
Two or three days a week	13.1%
Once a week	16.9%
Less than that	39.1%
No answer	12.1%

Q5: About how much do you spend per month playing online games? (Sample size=online gamers)

Play free games only	66.3%
Up to 999 yen	11.5%
1,000 to 1,999 yen	5.1%
2,000 to 2,999 yen	2.4%
3,000 to 4,999 yen	1.5%
5,000 to 9,999 yen	0.8%
10,000 to 29,999 yen	0.4%
30,000 to 49,999 yen	0.0%
50,000 to 99,999 yen	0.1%
100,000 yen or more	0.0%
No answer	11.8%

Q6: What kinds of online games do you play? (Sample size=online gamers)

Puzzle game	36.1%
Table game	34.6%
Card game	28.2%
Action game	11.3%
Simulation game	10.7%
Sports game	9.6%
Shooting game	4.5%
Race game	3.9%
War game	3.2%
Other	10.8%
No answer	12.6%

Q7: What caused you to get started playing online games? (Sample size=online gamers, multiple answers)

Saw it on an internet game site	38.8%
Friends, family recommended it	23.3%
Saw internet advertisement	10.7%
Software came with PC, mobile device	9.9%
Game I wanted to play had online element	8.2%
Saw family members playing it	6.7%
Saw an internet word-of-mouth site	4.8%
Saw a television advertisement	3.5%
Saw a magazine column	1.8%
Saw it on television news or other program	1.5%
Saw an advertisement in a magazine	1.0%
Saw a newspaper column	0.6%
Saw an advertisement in train, station, etc	0.5%
Saw a newspaper advertisement	0.4%
Saw it on a flyer being passed out on the street	0.2%
Other	3.4%
Can’t remember	7.7%
No answer	12.5%

Q8: What image do you have of online games? (Sample size=15,447, multiple answer)

Geekish	25.6%
Easy to get into	23.1%
Expensive to play	21.6%
For young people	20.8%
Lots of bad-mannered players	17,2%
Fun intercourse between players	14.5%
Complicated instructions and difficult to understand	13.4%
Lots of trouble between players	13.2%
Can design my own avatar	11.4%
Lots of system trouble	10.1%
Beautiful graphics	7.8%
Insufficient user support	6.6%
Lots of things to do so won’t get bored	6.4%
Difficult to register	6.2%
None of the above	14.9%
No answer	3.6%

Source: WhatJapanThinks

Summary: Seems like Japanese are not so into online gaming. In addition, about 66% of them who play online games only play free games. I’m wondering if language is a major barrier to Japanese playing online games since alot of paid online games such as WoW are in English. I’m also guessing Japanese games prefer then consoles and portable gaming machines more.