Topic: Teens Still Controlling Game Market

[WindyMan]

Well, looks like a bunch of those things they say about Nintendo aren't stereotypes anymore.

Teenagers Continue to Drive the Video Game Market

Independent Survey from Zanthus Identifies Latest Trends in Online and Offline Video Gaming

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2003--Zanthus, a leading market research-based consulting company, today unveiled the results of its second Future2Future survey, which focused on the video gaming market. According to the independent consumer survey, 92 percent of today's youth own and play video games. The Web-based survey, conducted by the Portland, Ore. research company, was designed to determine the latest trends in the video gaming market and gauge consumer demand for future advancements.  

The survey was based on responses from 498 U.S. gamers, aged 14 to 26 years old, plus two separate focus groups of hardcore gamers divided into one group of 14 to 18 years old and another aged 19 to 26.  

Highlights of the survey results include the following:  

• Heavy gamers tend to be males between 14 and 17-years-old who describe themselves as innovators or early-adopters when it comes to purchasing video and/or computer game hardware and software. They represent about 25% of youth gamers. Most (55 percent) have played video and/or computer games for 10 or more years and, on average, spend about 23 hours per week playing games.

  
  

• Light gamers tend to be older females, between the ages of 18 to 26, who largely fall into the late majority or laggard categories. They have played video and/or computer games, on average, for about six years and spend about eight hours per week on this activity.

  
  

• Teen and young adult gamers are satisfied with the current state of the video game market, rating the video game market, on average a 7 out of 10; however, only about two-in-five youth gamers (39 percent) gave a score between '8' and '10' on this scale, suggesting that there's substantial room for improvement.

  
  

• Youth gamers most appreciate the high-quality graphics featured in today's games. When asked about positive market trends, graphics, in some form, was mentioned the most.

  
  

• The growing variety of games ranked as the second highest positive trend; however, the variety for male gamers was clearly higher than for female respondents as 'lack of variety' by the older, female gamers still ranked near the top of the list of gamers' complaints.

  
  

• Early teens are still more likely to own a GameCube than mid-teens or young adults; however, younger gamers in Zanthus' focus groups proclaimed they would never purchase a Nintendo GameCube because they considered it "geared for little kids." This group uniformly regarded the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms as "more grown-up."

  
  

• Online gaming holds substantial appeal among youth gamers, but so far, few have pursued the option with any seriousness. Only 5 percent of the youth gamers surveyed currently subscribe to an online game that requires a monthly fee; however, 21 percent reported an interest in subscribing in the future.

  
  

• A substantial portion of youth gamers expressed an interest in potential future services. Sixty-one percent expressed interested in video-on-demand via a console and cable TV connection, and another 23 percent expressed an interest in a pay-to-play game service over the Internet.

  "Our survey results clearly show that the youth gamers driving this market are most interested in higher quality games and greater variety," said David Edwards, CEO and founder of Zanthus. "Those companies that tap into youth gamers' desire for different types of games and capitalize on the demand for online gaming will be best suited for long-term success."  

Highlights of the "BigBamBoom: The Future of Video Games" survey is available on Zanthus' Future2Future Web site at www.f2fresearch.com. Full survey results are available only to subscribers of Zanthus' Future2Future research program.

[Berto2K]

Not sure if it says it on the source site or not, but how many of those kids bought their own versus their parents buying the system for them. The kids may be under the parents ignorance or presumptions also.

[Grey Ninja]

Just says what I have been saying for years.  The GameCube isn't kiddy, it's just the little kids who think so.  Regardless of who Nintendo is targetting, they have my support, and I am 21 years old.  

[The Omen]

 Kids calling a system too kiddie...LOL.  I guess they think they're cool if they like the big bad systems.  And this survey was only 498 people!  Whats up with that>?  Give me a survey of 500,000 and i'll put some value on it.

[CitizenKaine]

I think it's probably obvious to all of us that image is most important to children. From my own observations it seems to peak around 14 or 15. (No offense to our younger compatriots, If you're on these forums and not a troll then you've already, in my eyes, proved that you are more mature then most your age.)  It doesnt surprise me in the least that youd see more 17 year and up gamecube owners.  People choose their consoles for different reasons.  As for myself, Ive got my cube, and when I can afford one Ill get an XBox (Live makes me drool. )  Of course the cube was my first choice mainly for the games.  If not for the games its just a hunk of plastic on a shelf, regardless of how popular a hunk of plastic it may be.

Kaine

[JoeSmashBro]

"Early teens are still more likely to own a GameCube than mid-teens or young adults; however, younger gamers in Zanthus' focus groups proclaimed they would never purchase a Nintendo GameCube because they considered it "geared for little kids." This group uniformly regarded the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms as "more grown-up." "

This statement really confuses me. Young teens are the ones who buy GameCube but yet they are the ones who would never purchase a GCN?? I don't understand. Isn't that self-contradicting??

[MikeHrusecky]

I believe what they're suggesting is that there is a weakness in the Cube's own target market.

All things being equal, the GameCube skews young, but that's not to say it's the system of choice for the yung'ns on the whole. That's my take anyway.

You guys would be surprised how well the results of 500 pollees would extrapolate to, say, 500,000 as someone suggested. You don't need that many. The results in percentile would remain in the same ballpark.

However, in general it's hard for me to put much weight into this survey and company in general. I'd trust IDSA studies much more.

[BlackGriffen]

"The Web-based survey,"

Sample skewed, survey almost worthless, next. The people you'll find on the net, willing to take a game survey, will tend to be young "hard core" gamers. To find out about casual gamers, they should conduct the survey in malls and game stores, with the understanding that the game store data will be skewed (hard core gamers will tend to visit more frequently).

BlackGriffen

[Djunknown]

* The growing variety of games ranked as the second highest positive trend; however, the variety for male gamers was clearly higher than for female respondents as 'lack of variety' by the older, female gamers still ranked near the top of the list of gamers' complaints.

Simply put, despite all the Advances (pun intended) made in the industry, its still a Boy's Club. The question is then: What do women want in games? More Animal Crossing/Sims? Naked men? A female poster child who isn't known for her rack? We're all ears.

This group uniformly regarded the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms as "more grown-up."
Chances are this is because these children (I'm assuming) can't buy their own consoles yet. And as always, children can't wait to grow up and (normal) teenagers want to back away from "childish" things. Smoking a cigeratte, getting drunk, watching porno is what these damn kids want to do. But like their ever so patient parents "Its just a phase."

Or there's the young gaming intellectual who knows the truth, but gets slammed by his peers because they can't get past  "kiddie" graphics (Wind Waker) and can't understand why gameplay is more important than Silicon Boobs (BMX XXX)

Only 5 percent of the youth gamers surveyed currently subscribe to an online game that requires a monthly fee; however, 21 percent reported an interest in subscribing in the future.

Again, money, money, money. If they were working, they'd jumped at it. And aside from XboX live, there's no real organization to online gaming in general (Phantasy Star and Everquest for the PS2 have their own dedicated networks.) Sega has extended their hand to help those who want to send their games online (Check the news Archives), but it seems no one's biting.

[Perfect Cell]

Early teens are still more likely to own a GameCube than mid-teens or young adults; however, younger gamers in Zanthus' focus groups proclaimed they would never purchase a Nintendo GameCube because they considered it "geared for little kids." This group uniformly regarded the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms as "more grown-up."


Exactly what Steve Kent said, Too Kiddy for the Old groups, not Old enough for the kiddies, Nintendo is between a rock and a hard place.

I also disagree with Rick, its something that Nintendo can work to change this generation, if Nintendo continues to wait for the next generation and the next they wont win this. Nintendo made a legitimate attempt in 02, Resident Evil, Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness. There is no reason why they cant just improve their adult geared games while continuing their family friendly games. Nintendo CAN have their cake and eat it too.

[Ian Sane]

First of all I don't buy this survey as fact.  498 is too small of a sample.  Games that sell 100,000 copies are often considered low selling titles.  Therefore the opinion of only 500 gamers doesn't make a difference in what games sell and what games don't.

However this survey brings up an interesting point.  If Nintendo's target market doesn't want Nintendo style games should Nintendo continue to market to them.  If kids want to play games like GTA then the PS2 and Xbox are targetting the same market as Nintendo aren't they?  And if what's cool is the most important thing to Nintendo's target market then Nintendo doesn't have a chance with that market.  So perhaps Nintendo should target a different market.  Do you know what market is growing and isn't being targetted in any serious way?  Gamers in the late 20s-30s market who have more mature tastes and want games that are truly mature.  Gamers are growing up and that doesn't just mean that kids who grew up with games are becoming young adults.  Those who started gaming in the 70s when the industry first began are older too and for the most part more mature.  Right now this market isn't too big but it's growing.  21 year olds are going to be 31 in ten years.  Their tastes are going to change in that time and they're likely not going to be as interested in games that exploit violence and sex.  They're going to want to buy a different type of game: one that has truly mature and serious content with engaging and deep gameplay to back it up.  Shooting people in GTA isn't going to be as interesting to them.

Now Nintendo has already started to market to this demographic with titles like Eternal Darkness.  There is nothing on the PS2 or Xbox that is as mature and sophisticated as that title.  Metroid Prime also is very mature and serious without being exploitive.  If Nintendo makes a real effort to continue targetting that demographic now they can potentially get a good foothold in a growing market that Sony and Microsoft have not fully catered to.  If Nintendo can't be cool then maybe they should target gamers who don't care about being cool.  They've already started though they might not even realize it yet.  Several Gamecube owners are adults.  This market also ties in well with their current crop of "kiddy" titles as many of these older gamers will have young children.

[NarmaK]

Nintendo is smart, they are thinkin bout the future.  get the kids on nintendo now and in 10 years nintendo rules the world.

[jasongst]

What this demonstrates is that the bandwagon male insecurity issues that exist on a small scale, say, at school, also exist on a large scale. The same way guys (and by guys I mean any male in Junior High or beyond) use every means possible to accentuate their manliness--cars with bigass stereos, lewd remarks about "the ladies", chats about the latest episode of "The Man Show"--so will they consider their manliness when they choose their videogame system. This has been true ever since the Genesis, back when they were enticing people with their superious lineup of sports games.

That being said I think having the best sports lineup is the key to winning over that older demographic. Sports games attract the beer drinkers, the Deer Hunter fans, and the boys who want to be like them. As much as we all want to think it's the purple console, or the cutesy Nintendo games, it's not. Consider the original Playstation. The name itself conjures insanely kiddie images. When it was released it was going up against a nearly identical system, the Saturn, which had a more mature name, a BLACK console color (instead of the Nintendo-ish gray of the PS), not to mention the SEGA brand. But what happened? Somehow Sony became the sports king, and now they are THE king, sales-wise.

[Ocarina Blue]

I fit into this group that has been targeted in this survey (15 year old male), and I wouldn't consider buying any other console than a Gamecube. None of my friends or peers I argue about video games with complain about the Cube's 'kiddy' games, and seem to care much more about gameplay than graphics.  

[Michael8983]

The way I see it, Nintendo appeals to the kiddies and the TRULY mature crowd who don't care about image - college students, for instance. I realize that's weird to think of college students as being mature and in a lot of ways they're not but, the point is, most college students are past the age of caring what others think of them and will play a game just because it's fun and don't give a damn whether it's "kiddy", "mature", or whatever. Games like Mario Kart and Smash Bros are huge hits on college campuses. It's just the group in between the kiddies and the truly mature crowd that is the problem. Mostly highschool kids who are basically posers who rebel against anything they perceive as "kiddy" and are always out to prove their maturity and, in the process, end up acting more immature than the kiddies.
If the only way Nintendo can compete with Sony or even MS is by somehow winning over these types, then I don't think it's worth it. Making a few "M" rated games won't make any difference. Nintendo would have to sacrifice everything that makes it great in order to win over that crowd, and even that might not do it.
I'd rather Nintendo be a company I can respect and be in second or even third-place than have to sacrifice its integrity for the sake of the poser crowd.
The day when all these highschool students who currently think the Gamecube is kiddy and aren't willing to touch it with a ten-foot pole suddenly change their minds and think Nintendo is "cool" is the day Nintendo has done something very, VERY wrong. It's the day I will abandon Nintendo without hesitation and root for its demise. I just hope that day never comes.
Sometimes you have to choose between integrity and popularity and I really hope Nintendo makes the right decision.

What Nintendo really needs to do is accept it will never have the poser crowd and work on getting the people it does appeal to because, unfortunately, the majority of them haven't bought a Gamecube yet. Nintendo's biggest problem isn't Sony or MS. It's the economy IMO. The economy is bad in America and worse in Japan. Parents just aren't willing to buy Gamecubes for their kids no matter how much their kids may want one. They're buying GBAs for them instead because the system and games are cheaper. A lot of the older Nintendo fans who tend to be very casual gamers also aren't buying Gamecubes because they're just not in a position to spend money on luxury items at a time like this. I really think dropping the price of the console to $99 by the end of the year could make all the difference. Hopefully the economy will get better too, but I'm not counting on it. I think the key to the Gamecube's success is it being sold for as cheap as possible.  

[GaimeGuy]

A-fecking-men, Ian.  See, the thing is,  the ONLY people who think Nintendo is kiddie are the 13-17 year old insecure idiots.  Really,  every other gamer chooses the system they like the most.  I have noticed a LOT of people around 18-25 playing GC since it came out.  These people grew up w/ the Atari, NES, Genesis and SNES, went through the teen phase thing w/ the PSX, and then when PS2, GC, and X-box come out, they're at an age where they've finally realized that it doesn't matter what's cool, just what is fun to play.  Ok,  maybe that sounds a little too "innocent"  What I'm trying to say is, the  13-17 year old age group is made up of insecure people.  Nothing can be done to change their thick-headed opinions, so  why bother with them?  Instead, make games like Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, and RE,  games that WILL appeal to  people in the 18+ age group, which is where the  teens of today end up in.   Everyone ends up  maturing,sooner or later.  Itj ust takes time.

[GaimeGuy]

A-fecking-men, Ian.  See, the thing is,  the ONLY people who think Nintendo is kiddie are the 13-17 year old insecure idiots.  Really,  every other gamer chooses the system they like the most.  I have noticed a LOT of people around 18-25 playing GC since it came out.  These people grew up w/ the Atari, NES, Genesis and SNES, went through the teen phase thing w/ the PSX, and then when PS2, GC, and X-box come out, they're at an age where they've finally realized that it doesn't matter what's cool, just what is fun to play.  Ok,  maybe that sounds a little too "innocent"  What I'm trying to say is, the  13-17 year old age group is made up of insecure people.  Nothing can be done to change their thick-headed opinions, so  why bother with them?  Instead, make games like Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, and RE,  games that WILL appeal to  people in the 18+ age group, which is where the  teens of today end up in.   Everyone ends up  maturing,sooner or later.  Itj ust takes time.

[vitaflo]

In my experience while the GC skews younger, it also slightly skews older as well.  Once you get over age 22 or so (think out of school) people tend to not care about label's as much and just want what's most fun.

Of course in college and high school (especially high school) there's the peer pressure to fit in and be "cool".  We all know that it's BS, but the extent to what kids do to fit in is amazing (and pretty sad really).  And when you have a product the kids think is "kiddie", the kids won't touch it with a ten foot pole.

As the average age of gamers continues to get older and older (and by older I mean aproaching a mean age of 30, not 18), it can only help Nintendo, but it seems that Nintendo still has an image problem it really needs to take care of if it wants to become popular with today's "target market".

Then again, I'm just a 27 year old gamer who wonders why people describe games as "mature" when most of them are really just "juvenile".

[SilverBack1138]

EVERYONE READ THIS.

I used to work for a market research firm back in high school and I must say that you shouldn't always trust something like this.  This is just a sample, which isn't reliable.  There are so many factors that could affect the results.  There are many says in which a sample may be corrupted, in other words, focus groups sampling and surveys are only a couple of steps above guessing.  I wouldn't really on it.

I do agree with the PGC staff about how the younger teens are so much more impressionable.  Many kids always try to be with the "in" crowd.  One thing I've learned from mainstream society, image is a huge factor in many things and that totally affects how things in the market place succeed.  I'm a huge Nintendo fan and I must say that I like their stuff because it has so much to offer and has so much substance.  Don't get me wrong, there other systems are great too.  I also have a PS2 and I love it.  It just seems that many casual gamers are avoiding Nintendo because of how it's portrayed.  IMO, it's the best console.  I find that most of the avid gamers are Nintendo players.  I like I've said before, don't be discouraged by this, it's just a couple of steps above guessing.

[Nik Jam]

They need more sponsors. Not ones for teens, not ones for adults, but KID sponsors that TELL the kids what Nintendo REALLY is.

One example could be Cartoon Network's Toonami, a kid block that has done well for Toonami in the past, especcialy for Mario Sunshine. I could imagine TOM stepping up and saying what he thinks of the state of Nintendo, of course that might turn some people off... but gotta take that chance. I think they should try something like that, with anything.

[Mode 7]

Survey: Blah blah blah.
PGC and friends: A bunch of correct stuff.

Me: I concur, but while they're all playing crap with "M" and "T" on it, then that just leaves more Nintendo Quality Seals of Approval for me.  

Besides, Alex Roivas has way more provokative animation than the girls of BMX XXX, and she's just wandering around reading a book.  

[jasongst]

You can't deny Nintendo is missing a certain type of gamer with the Gamecube though. And I don't think it's bound by age, which is why you'll see 15 year olds that feel the same way 25 year olds do. (I meant to change my other post to say "mature image" instead of "older demographic".) What people commonly refer to as "mature" should more accurately be stated as "masculine". These guys want masculine games, and I think sports are the backbone of that. Sports gamers have little reason to buy a Gamecube, especially with Sega Sports dropping their support.

I don't think it's all Nintendo's fault this happened. They haven't been getting as many ports as the XBox (World Series Baseball comes to mind), and none of the developers had online features for GC last year, even though they probably had development modems at their disposal. But then again Nintendo hasn't done much to change the sports image ever since their first effort with that basketball game. If they want to make themselves a sports machine it looks like they're going to have to make the games themselves, and make them good, like Sega did back with the Genesis. But with three consoles competing, and the other two kicking your butt sports-wise, things don't look promising for a Nintendo sports campaign.

[Berny]

Oh, where to begin... Ok. First of all I agree that there are some SERIOUS insecurity issues with teen males not looking manly enough, and so naturally they dont want to buy a PURPLE-possibly THE most effeminite color in existance-video gaming system with "kiddie" games like that stupid cel-shaded kid in the green tunic. Seriously you'd have to be a total [insert "lockerroom" derrogetory comment here] if you bought a Gamecube. But...wait....I own a Gamecube.... Yet I am a 16 year old male (who by the way owns a PURPLE Cube. I like it. It's different than black. That's all you get with xbox and ps2. black. although I think Sony is making a pink PS2. Is being different becoming a trend?)
  And as for the Gamecube being kiddie, that is possibly one of the BIGGEST dissillusion in the video game industry. To anyone that bashes my poor little "kiddie" Cube, I ask them if they've ever heard of say....the now EXCLUSIVE RE series. Or if Eternal Darkness is Mature enough. There's enough blood and gore in those games to keep Dracula happy for a year. And then there's the smash hit Metroid Prime. Calling the Cube kiddie is absurd. Not only is Nintendo NOT kiddie, but they are becoming more mature without games like the crass GTA. That game is despicable. It has no point (other than running people over), it has no story (other than picking up hookers), and it has no value (except that now our youth can steal a car in 5 min. or less with only a coat hangar and a pair of plyers).
OK I guess I'm done ranting for now.

[Sjalesho]

Nintendo "geared for little kids"? How wrong can they be!

Watch these marketing posters:
http://www.nintendo-europe.com/gameboyadvancesp/style/download/1024x768/gbasp_wallpaper11.jpg

http://www.nintendo-europe.com/gameboyadvancesp/style/download/1024x768/gbasp_wallpaper10.jpg

http://www.nintendo-europe.com/gameboyadvancesp/style/download/1024x768/gbasp_wallpaper4.jpg

[Chris150]

LOL at those ads Sjalesho. Especially the first one.