NPD study: Hardcore gamers spend more on other media

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 11th 2008 at 10:00PM }

NPD's latest report, Entertainment Trends in America, reveals that hardcore gamers spent most of their entertainment budgets on non-gaming things. GameDaily reports that of the 10,000 US consumer sample, the data showed that in the last six months 58% of hardcore gamers (defined as someone who plays daily or several times a week) bought a DVD, 46% purchased a CD, and only 43% purchased a game for a console.

The NPD data also shows that consumer spending on music fell 10% and DVD revenues remained flat in the last year; similar data was recently reported in the UK. The most dramatic shift was a 41% increase in retail spending among teens in gaming and a 45% drop in music sales. But, just like the UK data, NPD doesn't have access to systems like iTunes or Xbox Live, which would further complicate the reported data.

Tags: data, npd, retail, sales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

RichardNixon @ Mar 11th 2008 10:07PM

DVDs are $20..

Games are $60 , sometimes $70.

I really do hate these "studies"

Roto13 @ Mar 11th 2008 10:30PM

Not to mention that games last longer so you don't need as many to get as much entertainment value out of them.

JerJerBinks @ Mar 11th 2008 11:15PM

I would also like to point out that hard-core gamers generally do not buy shitty games. We do our research and find the best games, buy them, and generally play them for a long period of time. During that cycle I certainly buy more movie and cds while waiting for the next round of good games come out.

Its sad how many pure shit games have come out recently. Too many Conflict:Bad Shooters and Turning Point: Recycled Ideas hitting the shelves. Who would buy this shit? I think I'll have to hold out for Dark Sector, Viking:BfA, and Rainbow Six 2 and hope that they reap good reviews. Heck at this point I am contemplating a Wii just to play some good games, and by some I mean just the Nintendo IPs.

pnJunkie @ Mar 12th 2008 11:20AM

How is Rainbow Six 2 NOT a recycled idea?

Deck @ Mar 11th 2008 10:10PM

According to the results... it doesn't really mean that they spend more on something other than gaming.

Considering the evaluation of that sixth month period, sure maybe a higher % bought a DVD instead of a game but... a new DVD is $20. A new game, is $60. To me, that would surely show that even if less amount of people bought a game, they are spending MORE.

Also, I am not sure of their definition of a "hardcore" gamer. In my opinion, any hardcore gamer surely is going to buy more than 1 game in a sixth month time span. At that rate of 2 games per year, I would say that's hardly "hardcore" per say.

RichardNixon @ Mar 11th 2008 10:16PM

I also never really heard of a hardcore gamer "buying" DVDs.

elmersglue @ Mar 11th 2008 10:29PM

@richardnixon

hahahaha, soo true. +1

player66 @ Mar 11th 2008 10:13PM

I stopped buying DVDs over four years ago. Netflix, baby!!!

Sircolby45 @ Mar 11th 2008 10:23PM

Wow...that was a completely pointless and likely highly inaccurate study.

J Arcane @ Mar 19th 2008 12:54PM

So basically par for the course for the NPD then?

schuyler @ Mar 11th 2008 10:29PM

well ive bought somthing like 5 new games in the last month, havent bought a dvd since september and have never bought a cd in my life

wootman @ Mar 11th 2008 10:32PM

who buys games anymore?
:D

Anticrawl @ Mar 11th 2008 10:34PM

I'm pretty sure your "hardcore gamer" doesn't "buy" music or DVDs unless they are giving a gift.

konajinx @ Mar 11th 2008 10:35PM

I fall right in here. I love my gaming, but with over 3000 CDs, god knows how many DVDs, etc., the games occupy the least amount of my entertainment collection.

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 11th 2008 11:57PM

3000 CD's? what's that like? im 20 years old and i doubt i've bought more than 30 CD's in my lifetime. music isnt good enough now days for me to justify paying. $12 for an 18 track CD with maybe 3 good tracks on it? count me out.

i know piracy is wrong but dammit, when somebody puts out good music i do pay for it.

Zoesch @ Mar 12th 2008 1:48AM

It's not a hard number to reach, my CD collection stands prod at just over 4000 CD's including promos, singles and CD's sent to me by other engineers or the bands themselves. And that's after selling the stuff I don't like.

On the other hand, I don't really hold on to games once I've beat them and rarely purchase DVD's (Unless it's box sets or movies I want to watch more than once) opting for renting instead.

konajinx @ Mar 12th 2008 3:38PM

Well kid, I'm 35...got my first CD player when I was 16 and have been collecting ever since. SOme of 'em have gotten sold over the years, but I still buy, and as a music/games/DVD critic, I get lots sent to me from labels for free as well (though to be honest, probably about 95% of those either get sold or thrown out), so that's how I got up to 3000-plus CDs. Don't even get me started on the boxes full of cassettes and all my LPs back at my dad's house.

konajinx @ Mar 12th 2008 3:39PM

eugene @ Mar 11th 2008 10:36PM

latest NPD study findings:
Hardcore gamers not likely to spend money on proper furniture.

Jesse @ Mar 11th 2008 10:36PM

I bought my PS3 about 6 months ago... I have subscriptions to both gamefly and netflix, however, i still buy games pretty often. I typically buy 2 new games a month and I have over 60 movies on blu-ray.

Looking at all this though, I think the problem with the survey is this, movies you can watch and in 2 hours they are finished, games are much longer. I mean of all my games I own, I've only beaten about half of them, some I have only played for 10 minutes because something else came along. On the other hand, games like Warhawk and COD4 have consumed most of my playtime.

dsub @ Mar 11th 2008 10:38PM

Not sure who the studied, but either way as some of the others said, this study is stupid. Movies sell anywhere from $5.99 for the Steven Seagal bargain bin flicks to $20 for new releases. Games are $60+. So, the correct conclusion from this study would be that hard core gamers purchase movies more frequently than games, but don't necessarily spend more money on them.

I don't buy movies anymore since I signed up for Netflix. There's no reason to. Netflix has 1000 times the selection of any retail store, and they send you movies basically overnight.

dsub @ Mar 11th 2008 10:39PM

The statistic that I find shocking is that more purchased a music CD. With as much huffing and puffing as the music industry makes about piracy killing sales, you'd think no one buys CD's anymore. In all honesty, I don't remember the last time I bought a CD.

Slayer @ Mar 11th 2008 10:38PM

I have several hundred movies. 250+ on DVD and about 300+ on VHS

duggie @ Mar 11th 2008 10:57PM

That picture of DVD reminds me of this: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38626

baby sea tuna @ Mar 12th 2008 8:36AM

Envy? Bad Boys? I-Spy?

Truer words, my friend.

samfish @ Mar 11th 2008 11:32PM

Personally, I read a lot more than I play games.

I also hardy ever buy DVDs or CDs anymore, too. I buy maybe 2 CDs a year now, at best, and maybe one or two DVDs a year, too...usually box sets. For all my other DVD needs, I just use NetFlix+HandBrake.

I bought a lot of games last year, though. I'm determined to not buy as many this year, as I hardly could find time to play most of them. Since I bought a DS in January, I've basically failed already, but as far as consoles go, I think I've only bought Brawl so far this year.
...someday I'll buy No More Heroes...someday...

flameofdoom666 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:07AM

Get it! Its fantasic! Support great third party games, and we shall get moreee!

KM @ Mar 11th 2008 11:34PM

Wait...what's a DVD?

Seriously though, I only own about 6 DVD's. I don't watch movies too often, and if I do, it's most likely on TV or On Demand. Though I do own quite an extensive CD collection. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like to actually physically own them, especially since iTunes has all the DRM, and other services, you lose the songs after you stop paying the subscription.

That's just my $0.02.

Matthew @ Mar 12th 2008 12:09AM

There's more good movies than good games, plus a mediocre movie don't set you back $60.

flameofdoom666 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:09AM

Movies have also been around for a lot longer.

John Mactavish @ Mar 12th 2008 12:13AM

only 43% purchased a game for a console.

Because there are no good games out yet...Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is all they need

waynski1457 @ Mar 12th 2008 12:14AM

i know i fit in right here. altho instead of movies, i buy lots of television and anime dvd's. but i havent bought music in years.

warlock7 @ Mar 12th 2008 1:44AM

I've never heard of a "hardcore gamer" being defined in the terms presented here. I was always under the assumption that being a hardcore gamer was shown by not only amount of time spent playing, but certainly the number of games purchased/played enters into it too.

flameofdoom666 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:10AM

I agree- this study is flawed.

Noshino @ Mar 12th 2008 3:05AM

ugh man, last DVD I bought was Superbad...the only 2 other movies that have made me get up and go buy them were Accepted and Old School...

Other than that, the rest of the DVD Collection are anime boxsets (Just for the box art, its the Otaku way to get the series from the internet, I loves my fan subbed versions...)

NESv1 @ Mar 12th 2008 3:06AM

LOL I find this funny. I only buy the occasional DVD or BluRay if a really good movie comes out as thus. Otherwise my extra money is just spent on (you guessed it) GAMES!

wipsaunders @ Mar 12th 2008 3:14AM

I'm pretty sure you're interpreting the study the wrong way. It's "gamers buy other media more frequently than games", not "spend more on." And as other posters have mentioned, the huge differences in price and time commitment make it pretty clear why.

brandon @ Mar 12th 2008 3:34AM

This is true to me, unlike most people i don't pirate movies, i have over 500 dvds (not including TV sets), tv sets i have over 50 not including full sets (IE Alias full set, buffy full set, x-files full set, angel full set, oc full set, northern exposure full set) besides those i have over 50-60 tv sets (sopranos, shield, lost, dexter, prison break, deadwood etc) and over 100 HDDVD/BLURAYS

i spend almost every extra penny i have on DVDS and rarely by games yet i am a hardcore gamer, the most games i actually buy are older nes/snes/atari/dreamcast/sega/ps1 etc, i rarely buy 360/ps3 games because of netflix, although i do own about 20 360 games and 2 ps3 games (lol yes.. 2, what can i say nothing is out on ps3 iw ant)

LemonJoose @ Mar 12th 2008 5:06AM

NPD research is a farking joke. Their definition of "hardcore" gamer includes people who play Scrabulous a few times a week on Facebook, or who play free Flash games on the internet during their lunch break. If NPD ever did research on "hardcore" music fans, their definition would probably include people who listen to the radio in their car while driving to work. That's not hardcore, and in fact it is the very definition of casual.

Mills and Boom @ Mar 12th 2008 5:55AM

Well that isn't right for me. I don't buy films much (can't stand Hollywood or indie films that try to be "thuper duper indie", read Juno). And my fave TV shows only account for 1 or 2 DVD box sets a year.

Music is cheap since I use iTunes for individual tracks or just get the albums off friends or family to rip.

I don't buy many games either (only the best ones) but the cost comes in much more than other media! But not hardware. I've spent my body weight on a MacBook Air, iPhone, 2 iPod touches, a new car, camera...

James Lockwood @ Mar 12th 2008 5:57AM

Surely it's Hardcore, as opposed to 'Hard core' gamers?

P.S. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8702785815

t_m @ Mar 12th 2008 6:54AM

NPD seems to be becoming totally irrelevant as more and more sales become online only. They need to get figures from iTunes, Steam Etc.. or they are gonna be out of business soon.

As it is, this data is useless.

PS/ I do wish games came at DVD prices with DVD type lengths though.

baby sea tuna @ Mar 12th 2008 8:41AM

I started buying CDs on occasion, to offset the feelings of guilt I got from stealing music...but when I realized that places like Best Buy are still charging $14 bucks a pop (for something that's basically all profit for everyone except the artists) I think I'm going to have to go back to my "fuck the music industry" stance.

Either that, or just start buying vinyl again...

PojoMofo @ Mar 12th 2008 10:02AM

My Grandma plays spades with her friends every night on her computer. I should ask her if she got a call from GameDaily.

flameofdoom666 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:15AM

In the last 5 years, I bought 5 dvd's and 1 boxset. The boxet was The Legend of Zelda- for nostalgic value- and the movies were Mario Bros, Final Fantasy Advent children- (and the matrix's). Everything I buy is related to games. I buy so many games a year. Maybe up to 30? I have a DS, PSP, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, GC, N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GB- so I buy gamesi w ant for any system that I have.

To me, I am a hardcore gamer- and when I see the definition in that article, it makes me wonder who considers themself a hardcore gamer as well.

Mills and Boom @ Mar 12th 2008 10:25AM

Do you still buy games for your NES? Emulation doesn't cut it for me (which I think is a "hardcore" side effect) so I purchase a few gems when I spot them.

Kirby's Adventure is fookin sweet but everyone knows that. £5 sealed. I wet myself.

Ryan @ Mar 12th 2008 12:56PM

Their definition of hardcore gamers must be pretty loose. I can't imagine that many hardcore gamers (generally pretty tech-savvy people) actually buy CDs anymore. Most probably don't even buy DVDs anymore...

ZippyDSMlee @ Mar 12th 2008 2:16PM

Maybe because new games are beign raped for the drooling masses and not made for real gamers.

I still buy PSX/DC/saturn games, and emulation is frocking SWEET,save states,image filtering, speed toggles, much better than that VC or live limited EMU crap.