Gamers don't use consoles as DVD players [Update]

A new research report by The Diffusion Group has found that only a small percentage of console owners actually use the inherent DVD playback capabilities of their PS2s and Xbox 360s.

According to the report, 80% of console owners have DVD playback options on at least one of their systems, but a staggering 70% didn't even realize that the feature was available. The report concludes that despite the best efforts of companies like Microsoft and Sony, consumers are still using video game consoles to play games, and rarely use them for non-gaming purposes.

For the Xbox 360 and PS2, this may be due in large part to the prolificacy of standalone DVD players, but that's not the case with the Playstation 3. Earlier this week, we reported that PS3 sales make up the bulk of Blu-ray disc players in homes, with less than 100,000 standalone players sold thus far in North America. If PS3 owners aren't using their systems to watch movies, or even aware that the option exists, that spells bad news for Sony's shiny blue format.

Update: We received a tip that clued us in to some inaccuracies in our original source for this post, specifically relating to Blu-ray discs. Though the report does bring up Sony's Playstation 3, the research only covers consoles with DVD playback, meaning that the numbers do not reflect Blu-ray sales or the PS3, contrary to our original assumptions.