A recent NPD group report gave a detailed demograph of 11,638 gamers aged between 6 to 44. The reports have shown that hardcore gamers are the biggest spenders, which is exactly unexpedted. What will surprise most though is the percentage of purchases and population of each majority group that the company split the consumers into.

NPD decided to group each gamer into one of six categories: Avid PC Gamers, Secondary Gamers, Avid Console Gamers, Mass Market Gamers, Casual Kid Gamers, and Heavy Gamers.

The avid PC gamers are those who average at least 13.6 hours per week primarily on a PC or Macintosh. These guys are the biggest of the group and consists of 33% of the population. Their average purchases per quarter? A disappointing 1.4 games.

Next up we have the Secondary Gamers which clock in around 6.5 hours of gaming on mostly a PC or a Mac. A third of these people also own the PlayStation 2. They make-up 22 percent of the US gaming population, the second largest group, and yet buy an average of only 0.8 games each quarter.

Among the console gamers, the largest by far are the so called Avid Console Gamers with a population of 20%. These individuals log in about 10.7 hours a week of gaming time on one console. They possess an average of 1.6 consoles and 0.8 portables. They are also the second biggest spenders, buying an average of 1.9 games per quarter.

The Mass Market Gamers have the second highest population in the console population with 15%. They average around 8.9 hours a week and boast of a higher console ownership than the Avid Console Gamers at 1.8%.

At fifth, we have the Casual Kid Gamers composed of children aged 6-12. They have at least one console with at least half of them owning a portable game system. It has been established that this group primarily owns the PS2 and Game Boy Advance. These kids average 3.6 hours per week and have an average of 0.8 game purchases per quarter.

Finally, we have the Heavy Gamers or, what's colloquially known as the Hardcore Gamers. This elite group of only 2% of the population play a whopping 39.3 hours on their systems. They own an average of 2.8 consoles and 1.9 portables. The majority of the systems that these people own are the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Their average games per quarter? 13.1 games. That factors in to almost four and a half games a month, a little over one per week.

NPD Analyst Anita Frazier spoke about the hardcore gaming group saying that while they are the focus of the gaming industry, they are not the ones who will be driving the growth of the gaming industry.

Heavy gamers have always been a focal segment for the games industry because they're so deeply invested in gaming.The potential for industry growth lies with the other, larger groups, and getting them increasingly involved in gaming over time.