A new study by the Nielsen Company suggests that while new game sales are fluctuating during the recession, players are investing more time in the hobby while spending more on used games and rentals.

According to The Value Gamer: Play And Purchase Behaviour In A Recession, gamers claimed to be playing more hours per week and to have bought more used games between January and May 2009 than ever before. This amounts to two more hours and one more used game purchase compared to last year.

The increase in playing time is not limited to any one age group or gender, though males aged 18-24 show the largest with a year-over-year increase of up to 29 per cent during 2009. The largest increases for females occur within the 13-17 age group. This is interesting, notes Nielsen, because its historical analysis does not take into account handheld games, which are traditionally popular with younger girls.

“Primarily, we believe mainstream gamers are playing more of the broadly appealing games (i.e Wii Fit, Guitar Hero and Rock Band) pushing their hours of gameplay up,” said Michael Flamberg, director of client consulting. “The social aspects of these games have engaged them. We don’t believe hardcore gamers are driving up the usage averages we’ve observed. Second, gamers may be looking to stretch their entertainment dollar further through playing games they own more. The importance of value for them is evident in the findings on used game purchase.”

Reporting its best ever sales and earnings quarter for Q1 2009, retailer GameStop confirms a 31.9 per cent rise in used game sales year-over-year, with new games sales dropping by 2.8 per cent. This, believes Nielsen, has prompted other major US retailers to introduce used game kiosks. Market figures for game rentals were unavailable, though Nielsen points to the growth of catalogues at Blockbuster and GameFly as a sign of heightened interest.

Unfavourable title comparisons between this year’s crop and last year’s are partly blamed for the slump in new game sales. “This is a hit driven business,” says the report, “and there haven’t been as many hits.” Awareness of new titles, it adds, has dipped to lows not seen since 2007.