According to research from Deloitte, the consultancy firm, a quarter of households owned the market-leading Nintendo Wii console. People spent an average 6.6 hours a week playing games on a computer, phone or a console. A further 24 per cent intended to buy a Wii in the next year. Jolyon Barker, head of technology at Deloitte said: "Gaming has been traditionally frowned upon by parents. However it is now considered "family time" for many people aged between 26 and 42. Although interest declines after the age of 40 this could change as a generation of gamers grows up." The research, which surveyed 2,023 people online, highlighted that 39 per cent of that age group had played on a games console in the past six months, compared with 51 per cent of 14-to-25-year-olds.
More than half said their preferred method of gaming was a console, over a computer or mobile device. Separate sales figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said the fastest-growing sector in 2008 was computer games, which saw unit sales grow 17 per cent to 82.8m units spearheaded by the popularity of console games (up 28 per cent to 74.3m units) which the body attributed to the success of Nintendo's Wii platform. Elspa, the games publishers' association, says the UK gaming market, including hardware and accessories, is now worth £4.03bn. Michael Rawlinson, managing director of Elspa, said: "In the past people played board games and now you have families sitting around their console, creating a community feel. People with no previous experience are playing games like Wii Fit as if were the most natural thing.
"Playing video games is no longer a solitary thing. The percentage of games that you play on your own is in decline. Nintendo Wii, PS3, XBox360 all have interconnectivity with the internet so people have the opportunity of playing games with people all over the world," he added. Games sales for the Nintendo Wii sold 20.1m units in 2008, up 153 per cent on 2007. Wii software revenues increased 112 per cent to £481m, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 earned £443m, up 38 per cent. Sony's PlayStation 3 generated £334m in software sales, an increase of 115 per cent, in its first full year on the market, according to Elspa. ( www.telegraph.co.uk )
Nintendo launched today a new communications tool – Wii Speak which is an accessory to the Wii Speak Channel. This launch will aid Nintendo in creating a new social gaming experience. Also today comes the launch of new Wii game, Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City which will be one of the games which will highlight the full potential of Wii Speak – this comes bundled with the game. This new service will enable users to speak directly through their Wii console to other users using the free-to-use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The Wii Speak device can be placed either on top of the TV set or in the middle of the room – this means that you can converse will a whole room of people at once, should you wish to of course. Launching simultaneously with the Wii Speak application is the Wii Speak Channel which will act as a portal to allow up to four different locations to connect, chat and share images and texts anywhere in the world at no extra cost. ( www.theinquirer.net )
At Nintendo's Media Summit last week, we talked to the company's Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Charlie Scibetta, about a number of topics, including the competition Apple's iPhone is bringing to the handheld gaming industry, written by ds.kombo.
The representatives of the multinational corporation based in Kyoto
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