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Today in Games Research: Gamers Get Social, Nintendo to Triumph
Today's dive through the headlines brings up two interesting pieces of research. First up, a study from Nottingham Trent University reports that gamers are extremely social. This comes as no surprise to me -- I regularly host LAN parties. In costume. And even I still have friends.The study polled 1000 gamers from around the world and dug up all kinds of interesting facts and figures...
- More than 30 percent of participants found themselves attracted to another player.
- 40 percent choose to discuss sensitive issues with online friends rather than their real-life friends.
- One in five participants believed that MMORPGs had a negative effect on their relationships if their partner was not a player, while more than two-thirds felt they had a positive effect on their relationships with those who did play.
- Females were significantly more likely than males to be attracted to other players, and were far more likely to go on to date them.
- Most females gave 'therapeutic refreshment' as their main reason for playing, whereas most males stated 'curiosity, astonishment and interest' as reasons.
- Roughly one third of gamers reported they could be 'more themselves' in the game than in real life.
30% of survey participants were attracted to other players online.
So, if you're looking for the hook-ups, I suggest that you start mackin' on your WoW homies. Just be sure to judge people for themselves, and not by the hawtness of their avatar -- if that was the case, I'd hit on my entire Lineage II guild. The complete report will be published in CyberPsychology and Behavior, but you can read more findings.
In other news, French research firm ReportLinker has released an extensive study of the videogame market. A (very) brief summary is available online, and that's where I spotted this little gem:
As a fallout of the changing scenario, it is likely that by the year 2008, video game console market will be evenly divided between the Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony consoles, with Nintendo taking the lead beyond 2008.Having not read the voluminous report in its entirety, I can't vouch for how accurate their findings might be or how they came to that particular conclusion. I will point out that every month new analysis seems to prematurely crown the winner of this generation of consoles, and it's always shifting. Just a couple of months ago analysts predicted the PS3 would ultimately emerge victorious. In my opinion, this holiday will probably define the rest of the race: all three systems have gotten a chance to strut their stuff. Is the Wii a fad? Can Microsoft maintain momentum? Can Sony shift into high gear? Personally I think no, yes, and maybe. But this will be the defining year.
-Fargo
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