I Want My Jenny McCarthy

You'd never guess it, but it turns out that if gamers could have absolutely anyone playing alongside them at their console or PC, it would be Jenny McCarthy.

This is just one of the fascinating factoids found in a new mail survey from the Zandl Group. The study, conducted on behalf of Wizards of the Coast, surveyed 105 males between the ages of 12 and 29 and revealed that over half surveyed believe they're spending more time playing games (video, board, and card) than previous generations. As might be expected from a report done for Wizards, collectible cards apparently show the largest increase in popularity.

Poker was cited as the most popular traditional card game, with Magic: The Gathering showing up as the most popular adventure card game. More than half the males surveyed said they thought it was cool to play games well on multiple platforms, and in fact stated that people should play on different platforms to be good at games.

More than 80 percent considered games mental sports, and 70 percent preferred challenging and competitive ones to escape from the daily grind. Eighty-two percent used games as a way to socialize with others.

Some other interesting findings showed that 45 percent of the respondents would rather play games than watch TV, and favorite games include Dungeons & Dragons (RPG), NBA Jam (video game), Quake (online game), Myst (CD-ROM game), and Rage Racer (virtual reality game).

The Zandl Group asked which celebrities guys wanted to play with. By far the biggest request was Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy, Jim Carrey, and Dennis Rodman were listed for Dungeons & Dragons, while Bart Simpson, Rodman, and Carrey were listed for NBA Jam. For Myst, McCarthy, Bill Gates, Rodman, and Howard Stern made up the top four, and McCarthy, Carrey, and Jackie Chan were cited for Rage Racer.