Videogame Sales Hit Record High Thanks To Nintendo Wii

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 )

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Nintendo To Launch 'Wii TV'

The plan is to generate more of its revenues from content - and the advertising that goes with it. The service will be begin in Japan this spring but could be rolled out globally by the end of the year. Some 40 million households throughout the world have a Wii and almost half (18m) are connected to the internet. Broadcasts will be made exclusively for the Nintendo channel and will include cartoons, cookery programmes, brain-training quizzes and lifestyle shows. Most of the content will be free but Nintendo could make some programmes pay-per-view. Customers would be able to pay through the existing Wii Point payment system, that can already be used to pay for access to some games. Japanese television executives are thought to be worried about the possibility of the Wii becoming, as one called it, "the centre-piece of the living room".

( www.telegraph.co.uk )

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Wii To Offer Video On Demand

The Nintendo Wii will soon have a video on demand service, with the company confirming that it has tied up a deal with Japanese advertising firm Dentsu to develop the service. Scheduled to arrive in Japan next year, Nintendo is looking to follow its console rivals into the VOD market and is expected to roll the service out to other markets after gauging reactions in its home nation. "Nintendo and Dentsu shall use the environment surrounding the Wii so that living rooms with Wii-ready TVs would become more of a fun area for communication among families and friends," the firms said in a joint statement.

( www.techradar.com )

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