Global Game Sales Overtake DVD/Blu-Ray

In 2008 worldwide videogame revenue exceeded DVD and Blu-Ray revenue

According to market research company Media Control GfK International, global packaged media commodities amassed sales of some $61 billion in 2008. Games represent 53 percent of that figure, with DVD and Blu-ray sales responsible for 47 percent. The research group expects that distance to grow, with games representing 57 percent in 2009. It was also reported that global sales of videogame software has risen an encouraging 20 percent in 2008, reaching $32 billion, while DVD and Blu Ray Sales had dropped six percent for the year, falling at $29.8 billion. It is thought that the biggest contributing factors to the steady increase in game sales was Nintendo’s Wii, while home movie media is being curbed by the transition from DVD to Blu-Ray. Combined global sales of all packaged media commodities climbed six percent overall, yet Media Control GfK had higher expectations, foreseeing a rise of twelve percent. The jump in global game sales was also two percent short of projections. The global economic downturn was said to be a factor in these missed targets.

Home vs. Live: Who Offers Brands the Best Opportunity?

With the launch of Home, now both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have an arena for brand marketers to reach gamers independent of in-game advertising or integration opportunities. Already, brands are setting up virtual stores and events in the Playstation Home environment, and the new update of the Xbox Live "Experience" has made the XBL environment more marketer-friendly, with the advent of premium themes and branded destinations.

When it comes to reaching gamers, the XBL environment is in most cases the better choice for brand marketers. Although in both environments users generally have to seek out branded content, offerings available on XBL allow brands to take over a user's interface without disrupting the user experience, and without competing with the actual games for users' time and attention.

The branded theme, gamers pics and destination page Sprite put together for this year's Sprite Slam Dunk Competition is a great example. Once users apply the branded theme, they (and any friends they invite over to play) are exposed to the brand every time they power up their 360. In contrast, the branded experiences on Home's Red Bull Air Race, for example, while potentially more engaging puts the brand in direct competition for gamers' time with full-length PS3 games, which is a difficult fight to win.

Home's problematic user experience has been a major challenge for Sony so far. The online community has been enormously critical of the initial launch. Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins has suggested that users would "get the sense that this is a place in which no interesting thing could ever happen," and that's a relatively restrained example of the gamer-rage expressed over its launch.

For marketers who want to get involved in games, user experience is critical. You can't create an entertaining and worthwhile branded destination inside an experience that's fundamentally broken, as many users suggest Playstation Home is... For these reasons, I think Microsoft is definitely winning the brand war right now!

Don't Get Left Out of the Game!

A new NPD survey titled "Kids & Gaming" found that kids of all ages in the United States are spending more time playing video games today than they did one year ago. According to the NPD Group, this trend is especially the case for online games. According to the report, PCs are the dominant platform for kids playing games in all age groups. The survey also found that the average child starts to use a PC for gaming by the age of 6 continuing on to age 17, making it the platform used for kids' gaming for the most years.The study analyzed the dynamics of kids ages 2 to 17 in the video gaming space in the hopes of providing insight into system ownership and use, distribution of time, genres, sources of information for finding out about new games, purchase dynamics, parental involvement, and more.

According to the report, the average child's gaming lifecycle starts with kid-oriented systems, moves into PCs for gaming, and continues with Plug & Play and the more established gaming systems. Then, at about age 10, cell phone gaming begins, and the gaming lifecycle culminates with Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, and the three next-generation consoles, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

The survey found that half of all kid gamers are "light users," clocking five hours a week or less, with the other half of the respondents comprised of medium, heavy or "super" users, at 6 to 16 more hours per week. The survey also found that more boys play video game consoles, while girls are more likely to play on PCs, cell phones and kid-oriented gaming products. Additionally, the report indicates that girls seem to "fall off the gaming wagon" later in life, while more boys move on from kid-focused gaming into console use.

Other statistics in the report focused on online games; kids ages 2 to 17 play games online 39 percent of the time, with the average time spent playing online statistically higher among females, kids 15 to 17, and the "super users", at least until the girls get older and their rate of play begins to decline.

Moreover, the survey found that 91 percent of online gaming among kids ages 2 to 17 is free; of the 9 percent that pay to play, these kids are more likely to hail from higher income households. In addition, the likelihood of a child to pay for games increases along with the child's age and time spent on gaming. According to NPD when kids get to the 6 to 8 year-old age range, we see them turn into more serious gamers. Not only does the amount of time they spend playing games increase the most dramatically, but they migrate from using ‘kid’ systems to using more portable and console systems as well. This appears to be a critical age at which to capture the future gamers of the world.

All in all, these statistics prove that gaming is possibly the stickiest media for kids today, representing an unmatched opportunity for brands to reach their target audience to appropriate messaging and play time. So I say... It's time to start playing!