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Study Finds That 'M'-Rated Games Sell Best
Gamasutra is reporting on information from a new research firm called Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, which has recently released a number of papers looking into trends in the gaming industry. One (perhaps surprising) finding: M-rated titles sell better than any other rating group. "The study, titled 'Console Intelligence Brief 2007' examines the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 since each consoles' release through June 1, 2007, and comprises some 219 retail and 187 downloadable games made available on the new platforms, examined by genre, ESRB rating, gross sales in the United States, MetaCritic scores, online functionalities, multiplayer capability and other core game features. Among the sample results made available, the study found that critics' favorite list and the blockbuster charts have a lot in common, with highly-rated titles selling up to five times better than titles with lower scoring reviews. Despite online connectivity being a marketing cornerstone for all new consoles, the study concluded that 45 percent of retail games are not utilizing it in any way -- 98 percent of Nintendo Wii games have no online functionality at all."
Perhaps the industry should open up a bit more to AO rated games. Maybe they'll be surprised as to the results. Video games are not a children only medium. If they came to the conclusion that parents should govern what games their children should play, then they'd be willing to market adult oriented media. Last I saw, the porn industry was still thriving.
If i wanted to hear bullshit, i'd go to church.
All pimply teenagers that want to be cool and need the latest gore and sex-laden game will buy those....
Are we still really propagating the falsehood that most gamers are "pimply teenagers"?
The gamer demographic is expanding beyond its core young male audience to include more women and older adults, and video games in general are becoming far more pervasive as the medium approaches mass market status, according to a Benchmark study released Thursday by Nielsen Entertainment's Interactive Group.
The results of the study may go along way toward diminishing the gamer geek stereotype. Among the more eye-opening statistics: nearly 40 percent of gamers are female, and nearly a quarter of gamers are over the age of 40.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000873991
Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out.
After looking over some information from the ESA, this really doesn't come as much of a surprise to me. They point out that the average age gamers is 33. Does it come as any surprise to anyone that a 'mature' audience might prefer 'mature' content? This isn't to say that all gamers in their twenties and thirties like blood, gore, and other things such that they'll buy any game that has them, but if we look at a lot of the most popular games, they deal with subject matters (warfare, the mafia, etc.) that have violent content in them in order to stay true to the subject matter and portray it more accurately. These people have the disposable income to purchase these games which are most suited to their interests.
Another factor is probably young children perceiving these games as 'mature' and that playing them will make them more grown-up. I don't know how much weight this theory holds, but I've heard it used before and don't find it as hard to accept. There might also be the allure of playing a game that you're 'not supposed to' play because it might be too much for you to handle. Curiosity has probably gotten more people to look at goatse (or something else described as incredibly sick), moreso than any actual attraction to such images. Of course, I don't think younger children have as much disposable income to puchase these games directly, but their parents probably do.
Everyone knows it's because us gamers are all violent killers who need our training to follow the orders of the internet hate machine.
Jack Thompson is gonna have a busy week spewing BS.
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
My wife says they should be rated IM for immature.
Added Pressly: "Oh, and by the way, milk is nothing but liquid meat."
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