Tech Shout!

Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR), a research firm that conducts studies on new interactive entertainment has just released data which shows the success of the next-generation video game consoles- Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii- till date.

For EEDAR study which has been named ‘Console Intelligence Brief 2007’, factors such as the significance of online functionalities as well as other market factors like the correlation between game review scores and retail success.

The Console Intelligence Brief 2007 examines the range of new business opportunities available for developers and publishers that the latest generation of game console hardware has created.

For instance, connectivity to the Internet using these very consoles has opened up meaningful social interactions with other players in the world. On the whole, this tends to increase audience, brand strength and game longevity for game titles that have online features

According to Geoffrey Zatkin, COO, EEDAR, “n the increasingly expensive and risk adverse publishing environment, understanding the market and a better knowledge of the features that resonate with your customers can help game makers use their creativity to develop titles with blockbuster sales potential.”

“EEDAR’s mission is to help publishers and developers make informed decisions about how to build games and market them. We stress hard facts and ease of readability in all our reports and services; good data means nothing if you can’t understand it,” he added.

The EEDAR study analyzed around 219 retail and 187 downloadable games that have been made available on the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles. In particular, factors such as genre, ESRB rating, gross sales in the US, metacritic scores, online functionalities, multiplayer capability and other core game features.

Some of the findings of the EEDAR Console Intelligence Brief 2007 study include:

Despite online connectivity being a big marketing aspect for these new consoles, 45% of retail games are not utilizing it in any way. 98% of Nintendo Wii games have no online functionality at all.

Mature rated titles, comprising 10% of all US retail games examined, have both the highest average Metacritic scores and the highest average gross sales in the United States. This is despite not being offered for sale at some major retailers.

Games which achieved a Metacritic score above 90 grossed sales up to 531% more than the industry average, but were less than 2% of all titles released.

The Action genre is the most prevalent in the market at 24% of all available titles, through the Shooter genre has the highest gross sales.

The Nintendo Wii released more than twice the number of retail and downloadable game titles than either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 during the first 7 months each platform’s launch.