Gamers are also impacting the box office and music purchases, says the study.
Ziff Davis Media's Annual Survey of Videogame Trends Finds That Almost Two-Thirds of U.S. Households Plays Digital Games
SONOMA, Calif., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Ziff Davis Media's videogame survey, "Target the Gaming Life: Digital Gaming in America 2003," 63 percent of U.S. households play digital games -- an indication that they're becoming more mainstream and a major entertainment form. Additionally, the annual survey study reveals that digital games now are played in 68.5 million homes. This research was presented today at the seventh annual Ziff Davis Media Electronic Gaming Summit, held in Sonoma, Calif.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and cellular phones are also becoming an attractive form with over 14% of U.S. households now using these technologies to play their videogames. Over 9.5 million people report playing games on their PDAs, and 8 million use their mobile phones for video gaming.
Online Gaming
Moreover, online gaming is becoming increasingly popular, as 66 percent say that the Internet is their platform of choice. These users spend 12 hours online each week. Eight percent of online gamers cite Sony's PlayStation 2 as their platform of choice, while four percent use Microsoft's Xbox "The study tells us that whether at home or on the go, videogames are increasing in popularity as a primary form of entertainment," says Lee Uniacke, publisher of the Ziff Davis Game Group. "This year's research proves that gamers are becoming more mainstream. They're significant consumers of motion pictures and music and are having a broad impact on those activities."
Impact on Motion Pictures
The research also reveals that video gamers go to the movies twice a month on average, and 60 percent see films during their first two weeks of theatrical distribution. Among core gamers -- those purchasing at least 18 games yearly -- 77 percent have watched movie trailers online.
Moreover, 89 percent of core gamers are fans of action and adventure movies. Films such as "The Matrix," "X-Men," "Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars" rank among their favorite films.
Respondents ranked their familiarity and willingness to purchase the next game sequels as:
- Zelda (ranked 7th last year)
- Grand Theft Auto (2)
- Final Fantasy (8)
- Mario (1)
- Mortal Kombat (10)
- Donkey Kong (4)
- Resident Evil (13)
- Lord of the Rings (n.a.)
- Frogger (17)
- Tomb Raider/L.C. (15/19)?)
Impact on Music Purchases
The research suggests that gaming influences music purchases. Forty-nine percent of core gamers and 32 percent of general gamers say they have discovered a new band in a video game, prompting 34 and 21 percent of respective gamers to purchase the band's CDs after hearing their songs in games.
Among gamers, the five favorite artists are Eminem, 50 Cent, Linkin Park, Creed and Match Box 20.
Thirty-three percent of core gamers and 23 percent of general gamers say they would be more likely to buy a videogame if it has a good sound track. Nearly 13 percent have purchased videogame sound tracks.
Ziff Davis Game Group projects that PlayStation 2 will maintain its dominance among the three major gaming platforms, increasing to 25.9 million units sold by June 2004, compared with 18 million through June 2003. Xbox is expected to increase to 10.4 million units, up from 5.5 million in 12 months. Nintendo's GameCube should reach 8.2 million units by June 2004, an increase from 4.1 million a year earlier. (June 2003 base figures are from The NPD Group.)
