Over 90% of 8-11 year olds play online games

91 of boys and 93 per cent of girls aged 8 to 11 are now playing online games such as Club Penguin, according to a new report by analyst M2 Research.

Less surprisingly, Facebook was named the favourite website of that age group, as well as for girls aged 12-15.

The DS range came out kind of the handhelds for the so-called 'tween' demographic, but nonetheless some 17 per cent of girls gamed on the PSP. The same was true of 44 per cent of males.

Nintendo also came out strong in terms of franchise awareness, with 20 per cent of females claiming Mario games were their favourites.

However, Call of Duty: Modern Ware, despite being an M-rated title, attracted the preference of 36 per cent of teenage males.

M2's take-home point from the survey was that the games industry might be neglecting a potentially lucrative sector.

Said the firm's Louise Curcio, "We have found kids tend to play a wide variety of games, and their favorite games and gaming sites change often. There are opportunities for companies, and we believe the kids market has been overlooked."

The survey was based on responses from 5000 American children.

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