Gaming in the Media Blog

The Diffusion Group recently issued a press release about the Multimedia Future of Next Generation Consoles.

According to Diffusion Group:

[...] though 80% of game console households own a console capable of some form of DVD playback or online download, only 13% have used their game console for movie viewing purposes (some eight million U.S. households). Among this small segment, the vast majority (74%) use only DVD for movie viewing, while approximately one-fourth have also ventured online to purchase or rent a digital movie download.

“Today’s next-generation games consoles such as the Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 are true digital multimedia powerhouses,” said Dale Gilliam III, director of primary research and author of the report. “Yet very few of these devices are connected to the Internet and, even though these same platforms may feature a high-definition DVD playback system, very few consumers are using them for non-gaming media applications.”

Other key findings of TDG’s new report include the following:

• Approximately half of U.S. broadband households have at least one game console (GC) in the home with 15% having two or more game consoles;
• Among broadband households that own a game console, 52% have a console in their family or living room, compared to 24% with a GC in the second bedroom, and 21% with a GC in the den or game room;
• Though the majority (80%) own a console capable of playing DVDs, only 30% stated that they owned a console that it actually enabled DVD playback – a fact that demonstrates how poorly many consumers understand the capabilities of today’s game consoles and a major barrier to persuading consumers to start using these platforms for non-gaming media consumption.
• Among those that own a game console connected to the Internet, 42% have used their game console to watch watched an Internet-based movie on their TV.

I truly hope that console designers (*cough cough Microsoft and Sony cough*) pay attention to this study. I am one of the 13% that uses the movie viewing capabilities, and I felt that the DVD viewing feature was a good compliment to the PlayStation’s abilities.

But all of this extra fighting about capacity and Blu-Ray and HD? Not quite necessary.

As we can see from the success of the Wii, most people buy gaming consoles to play games - not to have an all in one machine. (Remember the lens read issues with the 1st and 2nd generation PS2s? Or Microsoft’s XBox 360 hardware failures? It may be better to keep game consoles and multimedia items separate, at least until they work out the tech bugs.)

The best part about gaming is the games - all the extras (storage space, processor speed, etc) are all second to that.

This will be a semi-regular feature post considering that gaming seems to be a convenient scapegoat for the many ills of society.

Here are the two most recent gems in the gaming gallery of the absurd.

Raging Gamers Addicted to MMORPGS!

In late June, Geeksugar posted a quick blurb about a push from some doctors to categorize video game behavior as a psychiatric disorder.

Geeksugar writes:

The group prepared a report for the American Medical Association’s annual policy meeting which is being held this week in Chicago and hopes to lobby for the disorder to be included in a widely used mental illness manual created and published by the American Psychiatric Association. The report says that 90 percent of American youth play video games and as many as 15 percent of them, which is more than 5 million kids, may be addicted.

According to the AP, that addiction translates into gamers yelling, ignoring their friends and family, not showering, not eating properly and letting their responsibilities and school work slide. The story also references a kid who went from being an “outgoing, academically gifted teen” to a “reclusive manipulator who flunked two 10th grade classes and spent several hours day and night playing World of Warcraft.”

The writers for Geeksugar called bullshit, and I totally agree - I mean, come on. Yes, video games can be addictive - but so is anything pleasurable. Food, sex, drugs (for some), cell phone texting, shuffling through your Ipod…are we going to label all those psychiatric disorders?

It seems to me that this is another way to push more medication.

No Taxation Without Virtual Representation!

I work in DC. I fork out almost a fourth of my take-home pay (not to mention 51% of my freelance money) in taxes, as well as paying 10% DC sales tax on everything I purchase. So when Slashdot posted about congress revisiting the virtual goods tax, I felt a little part of me die inside.

I’m hoping that Congress does not come to an agreement on any kind of virtual taxation. It’s bad enough they are allowing the RIAA to kill internet radio…now they want to tax my SecondLife purchases?

The brave new net world is starting to look a bit grim…

Uh-oh…something is up at Microsoft.

According to GameDailyBiz, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach - President of the Entertainment and Devices Division - has sold a whopping $6.2 Million dollars of Microsoft stock in the last few months.

GameDailyBiz explains:

According to a story in Dow Jones, the President of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, Robbie Bach, recently sold $6.2 million worth of company stock. This is notable because the company recently offered to extend warranties on all Xbox 360s to three years and take a $1.15 billion hit to its fourth-quarter earnings to account for the system failures.

“In the last couple of months, we started to see significant increases in repair requests … and significant attention from people,” said Robbie Bach during a conference call last week. “So we geared up to respond to that.”

A review with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Bach’s stock sales amounting to $6.2 million happened between May 2 and last Thursday’s announcement. The filings showed that the most recent sales happened between May 25 and May 30. The announcement made Microsoft’s stock drop only a little, roughly $0.50.

…

Ben Silverman, director of research at Indie Research, doesn’t think there’s any foul play involved, however. “It doesn’t necessarily mean [insiders] think that there will be a bad event; it could just be financial planning. But sometimes it just looks bad that an insider has sold stock,” said Silverman. “I’d give [Bach] the benefit of the doubt here, especially because the stock didn’t move very much [after last week's announcement].”

Okay, so it could have been a personal reason. Maybe he just needed six and a half million dollars for something: repayment of debts, purchasing a new home. But isn’t it just a little strange to see that kind of sale from the head of Entertainment & Devices?