From Overdos3.com

The NPD Group (you know, the guys who release the console sales lists I keep talking about on the podcast) released a study that said that “nearly two out of three Americans (63 percent) have played a video game in the past six months. While that level of penetration does not begin to compete with music listening, which is nearly universal (94 percent), it exceeds the percentage of U.S. consumers who report going out to the movies (53 percent), during that same time period.”

Gaming websites like Kotaku were quick to declare this a victory for the videogame industry… even if their articles did not elaborate as much on their opinions of what the study actually means.

While I hate to be the one to poo-poo the worth of this study, I do want to point out that this study only shows the results of the comparison between games and movie theaters. What is not factored in are the sales of DVDs and the number of other streams of revenue for the movie industry that contribute to the overall number of people watching movies.

In this study games benefit from the inclusion of digital download numbers and free-to-play game populations- one of the biggest divider between the movie industry and the games industry. If you read my first post on this site, then you may just remember that a big problem the videogame industry has is that games have to make their money within the first few months while movies have the sales of DVDs to boost their bottom line into perpetuity.

This study was also over the last six months… which means that it conveniently leaves out the busy summer blockbuster season.

Again, I am not trying to throw crap all over this report. I do, however, think that it is important for the videogame industry to not get too pleased with itself. This is a good number for the industry, but it must also be understood what this study really means, not just what it implies.

By the way, the study also mentions that 94 percent of people listened to music. That is a great number for the music industry, but I am pretty sure if you were to conduct the whole study on those terms then the number of people who have watched a movie would have been closer to 94 percent than 53 percent. I also think that if game publishers took a longer term strategy with their products then we may see more titles like Mario Kart or Wii Fit, that seem to be permanent fixtures on the top of videogame sales charts.

This study is a bit misleading, but it is still an interesting read. I really think it does more to remind people about the NPD Group than it does to inform us of any actual trends taking place.



References

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090520.html

http://kotaku.com/5263535/more-ameri...-to-the-movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ITe-Zk0M4w

Looks only fun with friends. Online multiplayer is also new.
At the end "You Win!", rofl!

I have a wireless-G router right now and want to know if it will work okay in my new house. It's a 2 story house and the router will be located on the second floor with my 360/ps3 on the first. Besides having to go down stairs there are no walls or doors blocking the router to the consoles (not sure if that matters) and it's probably about 75-100 feet away. Do you guys think a G router will do the trick? If not will an N router be sufficient?

I really like the first Geometry Wars (Sum should know, I whooped his arse in it!). I downloaded the trial for the new one and saw a bunch of new game types. Have any of you played these other game types? How are they? Is this Geo Wars worth buying if you own the first one?

As announced some time ago here are my thoughts on the new PSP in my own cheesy-humour style. I only meant to write a quick review but somehow it ended up about 500 words so here we go...

Review on
SONY PSP 3000 series

It was earlier this week and with a release date two days later then expected that I came to lay my eager hands on a new Slim&Lite PSP-model 3003 - the newest model in a series of consoles by the name of Playstation Portable or PSP for those who prefer abbreviations. The two-hour charge time gave me an excuse to read the instructions before I got carried away and by golly they were boring but they did explain the off/hold/on switch that would otherwise have baffled even the likes of myself.

The first port-of-call is the brighter screen, which is immediately noticeable, although that may be because the screen is one of the first things one looks at after switching a games console on, one may also notice that this does make the console a lot easier to use and in terms of being eco-friendly the console is saved via the use of improved equipment elsewhere in the machine. This is followed by the well placed controls and the headphone socket that's easily reached at the bottom of the machine (presuming it's not upside-down like I held it initially). The built-in microphone however seems to be very well hidden, unless it's integrated into the analog stick I can't find it anywhere. The console itself is lightweight and a nice size for large jacket pockets while being big enough not to slip through thin fingers. The smoothly shaped case fits into the insides of hands with ease, it also comes in two different colours.

Gameplay is occasionally disturbed by the noisy drive but except from that it runs smoothly and is much improved from some older handheld consoles. There are no exclusive games as yet but the good news is that any existing PSP game will work on this model. The 4.3' screen can display a fair 24bit colour depth and the stereo sound quality is very good.

All of the features one would expect from a modern games console are present here including a wireless LAN capability, room for an attachable camera, up to 4GB removable storage media and a huge array of system options like the ever annoying/useful parental controls and the option to read the UMD's automatically allowing you to keep one in the drive without worry that it'll start itself up at any moment. Another clever option is the ability to change the background colour on the console's main menu, it can even be set to change by itself every month.

Overall to ask if this console is worth buying, well if you're new to the PSP or your old one looks like mechanical mashed potato wrapped around a set of headphones then this is a nice machine and makes a good handheld console, however if you have a working PSP it's hardly worth the £150+ for a new model boasting on the box an enhanced screen and a built-in microphone.

Console overall : 7.5/10





Who else has a new model and what are your opinions?

hi im new here. i am trying to buy either xbox 360 elite or a ps3. i don't know which one to go for. does anybody have any suggestions?? which one do u have ? and why did u choose it?