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Nielsen To Begin Tracking Game Play
Gamespot is reporting that Nielsen is now going to be tracking game play statistics. The same 10,000 sample households that dictate what succeeds and fails in the television world will also have their game playing habits recorded by the company. From the article: "The rating system will monitor the goings-on of game consoles, including next-generation models such as Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. Data will include which games are played most frequently, along with corresponding information about the demographics of the players. The video-game rating system is also intended to offer insight into what television and Internet trends the players follow. Called GamePlay Metrics, it will be the first project to come out of Nielsen's new Wireless and Interactive Services Division, which itself launched today."
Just what we need, the least reliable statistics company in the world to start tracking game popularity. The Neilsen corporation: Enemy of good television in the United States.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
Pretty soon there won't be anything we do that isn't in a database somewhere to be used by someone who wants to sell us something or influence us in some way. The only problem with this as I can see it is that it will result in the same thing the TV ratings did which is to cause the producers of games/tv to shift the focus from producing something good or innovative to focusing on producing things that were popular in the past. I suppose from a marketing standpoint that might be a good thing but I'd rather see new and interesting games being produced rather than copies of old successful ones. ;-)
Tetris version 137 - the ultimate ultimate tetris game.. wheeeeee.
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Oh, yeah those stupid folk to use Nielson ranks to judge the rates for TV ads. I'm sorry, but in todays environment, everygame that has a multi-player on-line component could also have a builtin "Nielson rating". I've always disliked the results of the Nielson ratings. Of course, the Nielson folks really couldn't understand that today instead of using only 10K people as a base line, it is possible to use devices like Tivo, PSP, downloadable ads, and any on-line game to track the viewing/playing habits of millions.
See subject,
This is a setup to selling in game advertisements. Once they get a demographic they have a defined audience and can start finding paths and selling spots.
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As a new company, it's hard to know if we can really trust Nielson to aggregate all the data properly. I don't know if such a big step is justified. A better idea would be to use a tried and true ratings provider like Nielsen or something.
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Is it just me or is this laugable un-important. It doesn't matter how *long* you play the game (even glossing over the different play lengths of games) so long as you buy it. The same applies to consoles. It really doesn't matter HOW MUCH you play the darn thing it just matters that you are shelling out the money for it. The only *possible* thing Nielson's could really help with is for side interest purposes (demographics) and for in-game advertising. Overall greed is going to win out on the "How much does it sell" side of the arguement I bet.
It's not like TV where you have to know who's actually watching to determine if the show is successful or not. The game sales charts tell you that.
Nielsen Media Research to be exact
At least with Nielson, it's opt in/voluntary. Not like MS's WGA or Sony/BMG rootkit (as in DEFAULT opt in).
Just don't agree to be in the Neison "solution" when asked.
Don't blame Neilson for what the mindless public wants. (yes, I have once participated in Neilson, and once declined-both in the 1980's FWIW)
The only difference now is accepting their spyware on your PC instead of a "diary", something Windows users are already used to. (yeah- mod me flamebait...I repair PC's for a living and most of my work is to cleanup malware infested Windows Pc's!- You won't get a rise out of me- I know better!)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
...this must be the "how many different ways can people misspell 'Nielsen'?" thread.
"GAME OVER"
"Ha ha!"
This is quite an insightful concept. It certainly answers my original question "What need does the game industry need to gather 'popular' game information, when they can simply go by 'games sold'?" How much does it cost to get those annoying advertisements out of games? The only justification I can think of is to give the games some kind of realism, like sporting events.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, xbox360, high end windows systems, high end mac systems, game fees and more?
Did i wake up in backwards land today? Or did the Nielsen company not get the same memo that every other company apparently received that says when they refer to next-generation consoles in a press release they're supposed to mention only the PS3 and the XBox 360 and pretend that the Wii doesn't even exist?
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
My parents did the ratings bit a few months ago. They still do the diary. I'm sure it is much the same since the 1980s, but they may have added the page for VCR/DVR recordings since then...
Actually, it probably is a good idea to stop watching TV. However, I think Slashdot is my new TV. Old habits die hard.
MajorNelson.com already does something like this, although it's just for 360 games that are played while connected to Live!
x -Live-Activity-for-week-of-10-9.aspx
http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2006/10/14/Xbo
I wouldn't be surprised if Sony and Nintendo offered something similar once their platforms launch, which makes me wonder what the point of this all is...
As an earlier poster noted, this is probably aimed more at helping companies produce in-game ads for future titles, rather than really tracking what people play. Although, IMHO, in-game ads for real products add a level of realism to the games, as long as they're realistically place - i.e. something on a television in the background, billboards with real products as you drive through cities, etc...
What I don't need is Mr. Kool-Aid busting through the wall of my safehouse in GTA 4, though. "Oh YEAH!"
-TheBaron2
... Our reports find that the most time spent in game is for World of Warcraft. Apperently this is a popular game. Note: Insert more advertisements on the backs of player clothing and on the rumps of Animals they can ride.
-- We find that the most Loaded game is sims 2 with the nudity patch. This is loaded 2 or 3 times a time, and usually played for no more than 1 or 2 minutes. Note: Try and figure out this strange gamer phenomenon.
--The most played game by troubled youths is Grand Theft Auto.
Final Note:
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Send Jack Thompson a fruitcake for the few millions he gave us to come up with this total bogus and not-proveable report.
Your Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii will all sit there like lumps on your network, sending whatever they like back and forth to the mothership (yes, I know you have a linux firewall. Most don't.) Nintendo and MS have even touted this as a feature. It makes me a little nervous. If your X360 decided to start telling MS about not just how much time you're playing games, but what movies, which music you are listening to? It is a 'pseudo media PC' after all. Nintendo will obviously only be able to track gameplaying (does the Wii play DVDs?). X360 and PS3, if they are used to play ripped music, show photos, watch downloaded episodes etc could provide a pretty rich set of stats on your habits.
You know what the annoying thing about this is - they could have all my stats if they wanted, just not associated with my name. Really I would not care about anonymous collection of media habits. Hell if it keeps a tampon ad out of my copy of DragonFireMasterKiller VIII or whatever, I'm all for it. But the bastards want my name and my habits, and that I have a problem with.
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Why would game makers care what their ratings are? They don't get their money through viewership, they get their money by selling games. Retail profits are the only thing that matters to them business-wise. And if they wanted to track in-game advertising, they're more than capible of doing it themselves instead of paying Neilsen. see: Battlefield 2142
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