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Just an Online Minute... Web vs. PlayStation

For a while now, most marketers have thought of video games and the Internet as separate entities, but the time may be right to reconsider that position, according to a recent research study from Lucid Marketing.

Lucid says that based on a survey of about 600 self-identified gamers in April, roughly the same numbers of gamers play on their computers (74%) as PlayStation2 (77%). The typical gamer profile is 19-to-34-year old male, who has played video or PC games for 9 or more years, and averages 10+ hours of playing time per week.

What's encouraging is that the console aficionados are far from anti-web. First off, online stores capture more than 25% of gaming sales of those who prefer the console. What's more, this is a very loyal and interactive group. Lucid says that more than 75% of respondents indicated that they always or sometimes sign up for email communications from game publishers, with almost 60% saying they expect download updates and add-ons to their games. Additionally, more than 63% said that it was very important or somewhat important to play online against others.

It's not very clear where an advertiser might fit into the picture as more than half of the respondents didn't place importance on whether a product sponsored the playing site, but eCRM applications are many. More than 73% said that they would very interested or somewhat interested in having a way to email their opinions about games to publishers, while 80% were highly interested or somewhat interested in getting emails with advance game release dates, information and cheat codes.

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