Interpret
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Study says phone gaming on the rise, while PSP and DS 'stagnate'
The battle for mobile gaming supremacy rages on! While the traditional purveyors of mobile gaming, Nintendo and Sony, iterate with the 3DS and PSP2 respectively, newcomers like Apple, with its increasingly ubiquitous iOS offerings, Google, with its Android OS, and even Microsoft, with its recently launched Windows Phone 7 platform, offer a compelling (and, for now, more technologically powerful) alternative. And, if data from market research firm Interpret is to be believed, this alternative is waxing, while PSP and DS use wanes. "The proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market," Interpret's Courtney Johnson, manager of Research and Analysis, said in a press release announcing the firm's upcoming report. "Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites." To that end, Interpret's report –\-- which was based on a U.S. survey of 9,000 people -- found that 44 percent of the mobile gaming market, comprised of phone, DS, and PSP platforms, "plays games on phones." That's a 53.2-percent increase over last year, "while the proportion of those who play on the DS or PSP has fallen by 13 percent." Perhaps the most damning statistic included in the tease for the report is this: 27.2 percent of respondents said that they played games on their phones only, though they already own a DS or PSP. Joining the chorus of pundits sounding the death knell for traditional "standalone" handheld gaming platforms is Michael Pachter, who used his Pach Attack pulpit last week to say, "I think the ubiquity of the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market. I think the PSP was dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival." The unknown quantity in much of this debate: the as-yet-unannounced PlayStation Phone. Is Sony hedging its bets on the PSP2 platform by extending the life cycle of the PSP1 platform, converting it from a standalone device into an Android-compatible service? Place your bets in the comments below.
New study says Palm Pre second only to iPhone 3GS in mindshare
Market research firm Interpret recently made some discoveries about public perception of smartphones that should shock, surprise, and amaze you. The just released report, dubbed "Signature Smartphones: Gaining Mindshare in Order to Gain Market Share," reveals that despite being massively disadvantaged in the marketplace, Palm managed to nab a huge chunk of mindshare with the Pre -- in fact, the report suggests that the Pre is number two only to the iPhone 3GS in the metric. The study looks at the driving factors behind purchaser's decisions to buy a smartphone, narrowing down the list to three major components: belief that the phone is "smart," belief that the phone is "hip / cool," and belief that the phone will make them more productive. Rating a swath of phones (BlackBerry Curve and Storm, G1, iPhone), the report found that only the iPhone and Pre balanced the three factors in a way in which consumers felt the higher price tags were warranted. More to the point, only the Pre and the iPhone 3GS managed to strike that balance at all; offerings such as the two BlackBerrys were lopsided. There's not much more meat to the study, though it does shed some interesting light on just how Palm managed to squeeze its way back into the limelight (of course, it doesn't hurt to have a product that's actually kind of cool). Check out the whole PDF for yourself over at that read link. Disclosure: Engadget columnist Michael Gartenberg is an employee of Interpret, and worked on the study cited above.
Report: 25 million played music games in April, banjo sales at all-time low
You may not know this, but April is actually the biggest month of the year for banjo sales in the US. You see, the annual Jugband Jamboree takes place in April each year, across various states in the country, but nobody attended this year thanks to those darn Guitar Heroes, Rock Bands, and Singstars.A new report (via GI.biz) came up with the data, based on research done by firm Interpret. In fact, aside from the staggering 25 million US gamers that got down with one music game or another, data showed that these gamers purchased 67% more CDs than those who didn't enjoy rhythm-based games. In addition, 29% of these wannabe rockers actually downloaded or streamed a music video in the past three months (compared to the 15% that partook overall), and 45% listened to music via a social network (versus 32% overall). So, as much as celebrities like to bash these kinds of games, it's helping more folks get into music, which, to us, is a good thing.
New research looks at Blu-ray awareness across the globe
It's something we've all been wondering about, and now we've got the numbers to satisfy our curiosity. Interpret has surveyed groups from a variety of regions around the globe in order to see how high (or low) Blu-ray awareness is now that it stands alone as the sole next-generation HDM format. Unsurprisingly, the UK and US were tops in knowing what's what at 56- and 60-percent, respectively, while Japan checked in at 45-percent; both France and Germany notched percentages that were slightly lower at 49-percent and 30-percent. Also of note, data from the UK and Japan showed that consumers that already own HDM players were still purchasing standard-definition DVDs at a higher rate than HD DVDs / Blu-ray Discs, but the opposite was (just barely) true for the US. Nothing too earth-shattering here, but check out the read link if you're lusting after some fun figures to toss around at the water-cooler.[Via Audioholics, image courtesy of TheDigitalBits]
Study: Two out of three in U.S. play casual games
Anyone who keeps up with gaming news knows that casual games are the biggest thing since sorted gems. But man, if a new report is to be believed, casual gaming is more popular than even we thought.The report, from research firm Interpret, estimates that 145 million U.S. residents aged 12 to 65 played casual games in 2007. That's almost two-thirds of the roughly 222 million people in that age range. And just because they're casual games doesn't mean they're played casually -- the report estimates players spent an average of 5.1 hours per week on casual games in the fourth quarter of '07. That's nearly 740 million man hours spent playing casual games per week, outpacing activities like magazine and newspaper reading.Even though most of these gamers only play games on free sites like EA's Pogo, Interpret still estimates industry revenues of $400 to $700 million by 2010. That's a drop in the bucket compared to estimates of $40 billion in total industry revenues by that point, but if we were a small developer, we sure we wouldn't mind having a piece of it.[Picture credit]
NCTU's Vision One domesticated servant bot knows your face, follows enemies
Hopefully sooner rather than later, all these domesticated, master-serving robots will be able to handle even the most mundane of tasks for us without botching our reputations, like holding down the 9-5 for us while we tee it up. Until then, however, we'll have to be satisfied with a household bot that not only recognizes our face, understands hand gestures, and follows us around to see if we need help, but chases foes away too. A team of researchers at Hsinchu-based National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) has developed just the companion, and this motorized fellow (or dame, whichever you prefer) sports a unique "digital vision system" that gives it the ability to "not only to remember the master, but also recognize his or her gestures and offer services accordingly." Moreover, it can reportedly judge the person's current health condition by analyzing facial expressions, and can then proceed to fetch medicine, a telephone, or another person in the home to provide aid. Clearly designed to assist the elderly, which could have difficultly caring entirely for themselves, the NCTU Vision One can reportedly distinguish between intruders and family members, and it can even be set to chase away the baddies while taking pictures of him / her for future prosecution purposes. While we've no idea if this classroom invention will ever hit the production line, this thing is a kitchen sink away from being the whole enchilada, and the whole "chasing function" simply makes this a must-have if it eventually comes to market.[Via RobotGossip]
New info yields this: PS3 comes out waaaaay ahead of others
Now this is good news. Leave it to NextGen.biz to bring us the new information about estimates on console sales... and leave it to the information to indicate the PS3 coming out way, way on top. Los Angeles based Interpret conducted a study that said approximately 8.9 million people are prepared to pay the full price for the PS3. This is in comparison to the 5.7 million prepared to buy the Wii and a paltry 800,000 willing to pay for the XBox 360 (possibly because a lot of people already have it?). The details of the study are on NexGen's article... we won't cover the market research angle -- just report the findings.Interpret's CEO, Michael Dowling, had this to say in regards to the research conclusion: "Actual sales will be dictated by supply constraints, but if Sony had enough supply in the marketplace to fulfill demand, Microsoft would have a very difficult time at its current price point. What Microsoft is hoping for is the early lead helping to drive stronger installed base for them. It's certainly helped them over the short term." And does Microsoft not focus on the short-run more than the long-run? If it focused on the long-run, maybe it would take the time to make an OS that doesn't... well... suck.One last point of interest we all know by now, but it never hurts to keep hitting it home: "The research also found that despite all of the bells and whistles of PS3 and Xbox 360 with next generation DVD capabilities, online gaming and downloadable content, the key driver for consumers purchasing a new console was the games, especially exclusive games." Yes. It's so true... and Microsoft has been buying the hell out of exclusive deals to help out. Maybe they see this information as a threat (should they have looked into it a few months ago). Check out the report here. It's really interesting.
