Microsoft recently commisioned a report from Sperling’s BestPlaces, in order to find out the best cities in America for video gaming. The metrics that were used include: “number of video game systems owned per household…number of games purchased, number of game rentals, and frequency of online gameplay via Xbox Live or Windows games, among other factors.”

Given the relatively high geek factor in the area, and the fact that two of the three current video game console producers have their headquarters in the Seattle-Bellevue-Redmond area, this isn’t a particularly surprising result. But “best video gaming city” doesn’t seem like it would be a particularly good tourist draw; if anything, one would think this would detract people from coming. Also, with Xbox Live such a strong component of the survey, this would seem to make almost any city with decent broadband a good place to get your game on.

There certainly doesn’t seem to be a correlation between best gaming city and the Sperling “Best Places to Live” list; Seattle scores a dismal 88th on that list, with only Atlanta sharing a top ten spot on both lists. Seattle also scores really high on the “Most Stressful Cities” list. While Tacoma takes the top spot, Seattle is no slouch at number 11 on that list. Maybe the stress levels encourage playing a little more Grand Theft Auto than other cities. Shockingly, Seattle is ranked 5th on the list for best cities for dating, and 5th on the health list as well. Perhaps that speaks to how much Seattleites need those stress breaks, and how much they enjoy their recreation.

At any rate, the full list and press release is after the jump.

REDMOND, Wash.—May 2, 2006—Seattle, known for coffee, grunge rock music and airplanes, now has a new crown. Microsoft Corp. and Sperling’s BestPlaces today bestowed on the title of top video gaming city in the United States. Seattle edged out larger metropolitan areas the center of the interactive entertainment such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as universe for both console and Microsoft® Windows®-based PC gaming in a survey analyzing select consumer behaviors in the gaming industry.

“The large amount of games played on Xbox Live® and the high number of video games owned put Seattle at the top of list, but clearly the survey confirms that games are sweeping the U.S.,” said Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling’s BestPlaces.

Sperling commissioned the survey based on the number of video game systems owned per household — Xbox 360™, Xbox®, Window-based PCs, PlayStation 2 and GameCube — number of games purchased, number of game rentals, and frequency of online gameplay via Xbox Live or Windows games, among other factors.

The top 15 U.S. gaming cities are as follows:

1. Seattle
2. Minneapolis
3. Atlanta
4. Detroit
5. Phoenix
6. Washington, DC
7. St. Louis
8. Boston
9. San Diego
10. Philadelphia
11. Chicago
12. Dallas
13. Houston
14. San Francisco
15. New York

The video game industry is growing in popularity among all age groups and both genders. The average age of a gamer is 30, and 19 percent of gamers are older than 50. Men currently dominate the industry; however, the gap is closing, with approximately 55 percent of players being male and approximately 43 percent female.*