Study Shows Word Of Mouth Makes, Breaks Videogames

Thanks to GameSpot for their analysis of a new Zelos Group study on videogaming, in which it's calculated that "...over 70 percent of respondents say conversations with friends are the primary means for securing information on games." The study co-ordinator elaborates further, reporting that "...face-to-face conversations with friends is the primary source for information about games, with websites coming in second. Instant messaging among friends is probably the second most influential kind of word of mouth communication, and then online forums." However, he has this dire caveat: "Forums offer publishers the most direct influence over word of mouth outside of guerilla marketing techniques, but online forums are inherently full of noise: 'fanboy' rants and antisocial behavior foremost."

Comments

Re:Enter the Matrix

[nifboy]

that's easy; GameFAQs has well over 30 reviews of Enter the Matrix (and not just one-line "This game suxxors!" but reviews with some actual depth to them). It's a good measure of public opinion on a game, since the volunteer reviewers for any given game are more or less ordinary people (and the occasional importer) who might reccomend/complain about the game to their friends.

For those too lazy to actually look at the site, review scores for the PS2 version of Enter the Matrix typically are in the 7-9 range with 2-6's sparsely mixed in, and a handful of 10's. It's good but not great*.

*: Actual results may vary.

Re:Enter the Matrix

[jasoncart]

Will these do?

Worthplaying - Xb - 91%
Gamers Hell - PC - 86%
Ferrago - PS2 - 82%
Gamesradar - PS2 - 81%