ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Could video games be among the next waves for adult? Various industry observers and insiders have wondered about that for years, but even those actively working in the electronic gaming space remain at a loss about how to create the quintessential combination of action, adventure and sex that will generate a profitable following. Part of the problem: Games are notoriously expensive to create, and they’re equally notoriously popular as targets of content piracy. Even in adult’s massive financial network — or maybe especially in adult — game creation is difficult to justify on a return-on-investment scale.A recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project may hold a glimmer of hope for the medium, though. According to a resulting white paper, while the number of adults who play video games pales in comparison to the number of teens who play (97-percent), more than half of American adults play at least occasionally. Four out of five young adults play at least once in a while, and about one in five adults of all ages play every day or almost every day.

Sadly, the study didn’t investigate what kinds of games — first-person shooters, role-playing, interactive story, etc. — people play, but it did reveal a number of other encouraging data bits. For example, 81-percent of respondents 18-29 years of age play games, implying the supply of future gamers grows with each generation. In addition men, the most voracious consumers of adult content, are more likely to play than women, and the broad patterns in gaming uptake are consistent across income levels and residential zones (urban, suburban and rural).

A person’s education level is another predictor of video game play. Some 57-percent of respondents with at least some college education play games, a figure Pew researchers called “significantly more” than high school graduates (51-percent) and those who have less than a high school education (40-percent). Current students who are 18 or older also are avid players. Notably, 76-percent of students (82-percent of full-time and 69-percent of part-time students) reported playing games, compared with 49-percent of non-students.

One standout data bit: Internet users are significantly more likely to play games than those who are not online. Fully three-quarters of adults in the survey reported using the internet, and 64-percent of internet users play games. By comparison, just 20-percent of non-internet users play games.

Another hopeful piece of information: Older respondents who play games are more avid players. Older gamers, particularly seniors, tend to play games more frequently. More than one-third of gamers 65 and older said they play games every day or almost every day, compared with 19-percent of adults aged 50-64, 20-percent of adults aged 30-49 and 20-percent of adults aged 18-29. Senior gamers may play more frequently because they have more time to play than younger gamers, as 77-percent of senior gamers reported being retired.

Of the devices that can be used to play video games, computers are the most popular. Fully 38-percent of adults reported playing games on desktop or laptop computers. Only 28-percent said they play on game consoles like Xbox, PlayStation or Wii; 18-percent said they play on a cell phone, Blackberry or other handheld communicator or organizer, and 13-percent reported playing on portable gaming devices like PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS or Gameboy. Among teens (a whopping 89-percent), the most popular gaming devices are consoles.

Most surprising was the revelation that online games have only a modest place in the world of gaming, at least where adults are concerned. Slightly less than one quarter of all adults play games online, whereas 79-percent of teens enjoy online games. This — and the indication that online gamers play much more frequently than their offline-gaming counterparts — may bode well for the future, but in the present downloads and DVDs rule.

Despite the dedication of those who play massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) such as World of Warcraft — 89-percent reported playing at least several times a week — MMOGs and virtual worlds have yet to really catch on as a certifiable phenomenon. Just 2-percent of gamers reported ever visiting a virtual world or MMOG.