I'm curious about how those numbers break down by type of game. 3 hours of casual phone gaming, e.g. playing Candy Crush while waiting in line, feels different from 3 hours of sitting in front of dedicated console/computer.

It's analogous to saying X% of adults read 3 hours per week, outside of work. Reading hacker news for 3 hours is different from reading US Weekly is different from reading a novel, etc.

I'm not passing judgement on any of those activities or saying any aren't worthwhile or whatevs. I'm just saying the broad category of "video games" or "reading" is so vague as to be almost useless. The consumers have different motivations and desires.

Sorry if this is addressed in TFA; I only skimmed it.

Edit: Also, an opinion question: I play the NY Times crossword puzzle on my phone; would that be considered playing a video game? I wouldn't categorize it that way, but I don't have a logical reason when I really think about it.

I'm jealous. Every time I try a game, I totally suck at it. Even the easy difficulty is not easy enough anymore. Nowadays, I only enjoy puzzle games if anything at all.

Totally sucking at something is the first step on the road to being pretty okay at something.

That's strange. Gamers have been complaining that games have been getting easier over time, to the point that 'normal' difficulty on many games (especially heavily marketed ones) is too easy.

There's the key: Gamers have been complaining, not normal people. When I used to be a gamer (meaning I didn't have anything else to do with my life than get better at games), I could literally spend hundreds of hours mastering a single game. When you're at that level, games seem easy. Now, I casually will pick up a game once every three months or so and play, and for some games unless it's the easiest difficulty level, I get my ass kicked. Online (vs. "gamers")? Forget it. I totally get the "difficulty inflation" that's happening.

I'm finding that games seem more like work than they used to. Hard isn't the right word; grinding, is more like it.

On the topic of puzzle games, you might enjoy The Witness: http://the-witness.net

The Witness is possibly my favourite game of last year. A truly wonderful experience. Hugely recommended to anyone who likes puzzle games. (Also in that category: Portal, Portal 2 and Antichamber)

I have enjoyed it and can recommend it everyone else. It was an epic journey.

The first time you tried anything, you probably were pretty bad at it, but with perseverance and engagement, I assume you've gotten pretty good at a lot of things. I used to be very bad at a lot of genres of game and have gotten much better through conscious effort.

Maybe you haven't found the right game. Seems some people are just more talented at gaming - like others are at, e.g. dancing, and honestly I wish I was better at the latter than the former.

Same here, a few hours a week at most. It's nice to drop into an immersive, interactive world now and then and it feels more engaging than most movies.

Currently trying to avoid a "High Chaos" rating in Dishonored 2...

Ack, I really need to pick that one up. Been too busy, but the original was a classic.

It's more of the same really except you have a choice of characters. I loved the original as well and I'm enjoying this one a lot.