"Extreme Gamers" spend an average of 45 hours a week playing videogames and have purchased 24 titles in the previous three months*, according to Games Segmentation 2008, the report from the NPD Group, MarketingCharts writes.

The NPD report provides analysis of seven gamer segments, defined by ownership, usage, and frequency. It identifies the videogame platforms and genres, as well as retailers that appeal to various gamer segments.

Of the 174 million gamers who play games on PC/Mac or videogame systems, 3 percent are Extreme Gamers, 9 percent are Avid PC Gamers, 17 percent are Console Gamers, 14 percent Online PC Gamers, 15 percent are Offline PC Gamers, 22 percent are Young Heavy Gamers and 20 percent are Secondary Gamers.

The Extreme and Young Heavy Gamers over-index on every videogame system, with the Extreme Gamer showing a strong preference for PS3 and 360 and the Young Heavy showing a strong preference for portables.

Additional findings:

• With over 38 million gamers, Young Heavy Gamers is the largest and one of the heaviest gaming groups in the US.
• Given their size and heavy gaming characteristics, Young Heavy Gamers typically make up at least one-third of any system's owners and tend to gravitate toward portable platforms.
• For Nintendo DS (NDS) and PlayStation Portable (PSP), six out of every 10 owners are Young Heavy Gamers.
• Console Gamers is the second largest segment of the owner base of any system, with the exception of the NDS and PSP.
• According to the report, while the PC is used more than any single console for gaming, Console Gamers, Young Heavy Gamers, and Extreme Gamers are more likely to use consoles than a PC to play videogames.

"Although Extreme Gamers are heavily involved with the industry, they represent a small portion of the potential market for any new game that comes to market," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, the NPD Group. "In order to promote continued growth, we must better understand all of the gaming segments."

MarketingCharts has more findings from the study.

*This study was conducted in January 2008; therefore, questions that refer to consumer behavior in the past three months include the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays.