Nielsen research on how U.S. households spend their money on entertainment shows purchase habits differ for those classified as game consumers.  Industry Gamers reports on the findings.  Nielsen data shows that for all U.S. households about five percent of entertainment spending goes towards videogames.  The figure nearly doubles to 9.3 percent for households classified as game consumers, which Nielsen estimates as making up 24 percent of all U.S. homes.  For other types of entertainment, Nielsen found purchase habits for gamer households are similar to all households for activities such as dining out, spending in non-media hobbies, going to the movies, or spending on mobile entertainment.  But habits diverged when it came to buying entertainment media.  The firm found game households spent significantly less on cable and satellite TV packages as well as print.  In turn, game consumers open up their wallets more readily for buying or renting movies, buying music, spending on sports activities, and purchasing entertainment through the internet or on-demand services.  Industry Gamers says Nielsen s report cited game households as valuable, tech-savvy entertainment consumers.”  The news outlet has a chart of hard data from the report.  Read more at Industry Gamers {link no longer active}.