DICE 2009: NPD says six million new gamers came to play last year

by Griffin McElroy { Feb 21st 2009 at 12:00PM }

The poor brains housed inside the skulls of the 2009 DICE Summit attendees were recently ravaged by an onslaught of gaming industry statistics -- though, really, if they willingly joined the audience of a speech being delivered by NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier, they probably knew what they were getting themselves into. Here were some of the highlights: According to the group's calculations, 58 percent of Americans ages 13 and up play video games, console-based online gaming increased by two percent over the past year and retail sales of PC games have declined by 50 percent over the past seven years.

However, here's the statistic that probably permeated the discussions of attendees as they left the conference hall: According to the NPD, last year saw nearly six million new gamers pick up their first controllers, a figure which lends itself to a retail market that is "very dominated by young people." The group's findings put digits to a familiar trend -- "the audience for some hardcore games is not as large as it is for more casual or family-friendly games," Frazier succinctly surmised. Seriously? We hadn't noticed.

Tags: anita-frazier, casual, dice-2009, family-friendly, npd

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rob Accomando @ Feb 21st 2009 12:04PM

why does the Guy look like he's taking a dump?

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Feb 21st 2009 12:08PM

He just realized he's playing Wii Music.

Alternatively, given the way he hold his WiiMote, he got first on Mario Kart, but proceeded to get butt-raped by the rubberband-AI.

Brucie_K @ Feb 21st 2009 12:10PM

When you turn his age, you'll be taking dumps at random moments too.

Brucie_K @ Feb 21st 2009 12:10PM

Also, diapers.

Bowser Rogozhin @ Feb 21st 2009 12:25PM

Just goes to show that the industry is dominated by children and parents, so the fact Sony are still chasing bloodlust gamer crowd with games such as MAG is all the more confusing. The house of Sony wasn't built on shooters, but on Singstar and DDR. They're abandoning the audience that built them strong.

J-Link @ Feb 21st 2009 12:37PM

I think you're right, especially since games like sing star helped the PS2 become the 'definative' console of the last gen, and made the playstation brand so big.

tmacairjordan87 @ Feb 21st 2009 12:32PM

If it means I get god of war 3 instead of a wii music clone, then I'm happy. Bad enough they cancelled a promising game like Eight Days for that piece of shit pet game with the eyetoy.

Hydrophobicfish @ Feb 21st 2009 12:35PM

Except that it was built almost entirely on Final Fantasy. FF7 was (close enough) to a launch title, and everyone had to have it, so they got a Playstation 1.

Then stuff like Metal Gear came out, then along came GTA...

The Playstation was built on hardcore franchises, not casual.

Bowser Rogozhin @ Feb 21st 2009 1:00PM

@the kid
Eight Days would have been trash, kid. Just like The Getaway and whatever it was that that sorry studio produced previously.

@Hydrophobicfish

"Except that it was built almost entirely on Final Fantasy. FF7 was (close enough) to a launch title, and everyone had to have it, so they got a Playstation 1."

PS1 launched in 1995.
FF7 launched in 1997.
FF7 is close enough to being a launch game.

Silly revisionism is silly. By the time stalwarts such as MGS and Final Fantasy came out, the PS1 was already well established in homes across Europe, America and Japan.

Games such as Crash, Tomb Raider and Fifa, the latter two promoted as PS1-only events, built the Playstation brand. It's as clear as day and anybody that actually remembers the times, rather than a woeful glance at a Wikipedia page, would actually agree with me. You could argue that MGS/FF solidified the PS1 grip, but that's an entirely different question, you feel me.

And don't start on that hardcore/casual shit. Just leave it out.

The Baron @ Feb 21st 2009 1:02PM

Although Spyro and Crash did a lot to lure my age group to the PS1. But they're both actually quite hardcore games underneath the cartoony sheen.

tmacairjordan87 @ Feb 21st 2009 1:07PM

"And don't start on that hardcore/casual shit. Just leave it out."

Funny coming from the KID who started it.

I dont care about the getaway cause it's always been a mediocre series, but Eight Days had tons of potential with one of the best animation/cover systems out there. It's just a shame they caved in to cater to the lowest common denominator. Leave the selling out to Nintendo.

Baby J Penn (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Feb 21st 2009 1:11PM

Bowser

The indusry isn't dominated by any one group of people. What the PS2 did that made it so successful was to have a machine that brought the casual and hardcore gamers together on one platform. No one has been able to do that thus far in this console cycle. The 360 is probably the closest machine to what the PS2 did.

If you go back and read the research article done by Nielsen you would see that the Wii audience is by far the youngest (pre-teen), the x-box audeince is the next oldest (teenagers) and the PS3 is by far the oldest (18-24). Besides, Sony has released a number of Sing Star games for the PS3 which MS has attempted to copy by releasing Lips. The problem with the PS3 isn't so much the games as it is the cost of entry in a global economic slowdown. With that said they certainly have a big time exclusive lineup ranging across all genres.

Mr Khan @ Feb 21st 2009 1:41PM

It was rather strange of Sony to throw their winning strategy out and try to imitate Microsoft, whom they crushed on a 5:1 basis last generation. For some reason they traded to debase themselves like Microsoft did and focus on the niche of the industry, instead of the full spectrum like they did with the PS2

It really doesn't make sense.

Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Feb 21st 2009 2:16PM

some of Sony's biggest exclusives during the PS1/PS2

Spyro
Jak (Before he went all emo in 3)
Crash Bandicooter
SingStar
Guitar Hero
Ratchet & Clank
Final Fantasy
God of War
Dance Dance Revolution
Metal Gear Solid
Grand Theft Auto

out all of those franchises, only 4 could be considered "Hardcore". The rest were used to attract kids and present a family friendly image.

Noshino @ Feb 21st 2009 3:56PM

"Just goes to show that the industry is dominated by children and parents, so the fact Sony are still chasing bloodlust gamer crowd with games such as MAG is all the more confusing. The house of Sony wasn't built on shooters, but on Singstar and DDR."

Sorry Sire, but that is bullshit.

PlayStation consoles have always had balance, it has never been all about the casual or all about the hardcore.

Just in the first year for the PS1 there were more than 4 critically acclaimed "hardcore" titles by Sony (developed or published) such as Arc the Lad, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, Philosoma, Beyond the Beyond, Rapid Reload, etc.

As for the PS2's first year, well, to begin with, they only developed/published one title on 2000, FantaVision, but then there was the second year...and well, I see most of those games being "hardcore" as well, but like I said, there were enough casual titles as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_published_by_Sony_Computer_Entertainment

So please, if you guys don't mind, would you mind telling me where the hell do you get the idea that Sony's main focus was always on "casual" games?

Moptimus

"out all of those franchises, only 4 could be considered "Hardcore". The rest were used to attract kids and present a family friendly image."

Many of those games came long after the consoles had been released, the hardcore games have always been what put the PlayStation consoles up front.

Bowser Rogozhin @ Feb 22nd 2009 5:42AM

Well first you need a grounded definition of what is and is not a hardcore game. As such a term is rather subjective, and groundless, it is impossible to debate the merits of what the PS1 stood for in that regard.

All I know is that with Sony, gone were the old templates of what constituted a gamer's game, if you will. Real platformers were out, third person action adventure types were in; 2D fighters were out, 3D fighters became the mainstay. You could call this evolution, or you could call this a dumbing down, I haven't the energy to think about that at this time. But it is impossible to deny that the previous difficulties and complexities of the 16bit generation (the arduous nature of Yoshi's Island compared to the ease of any Crash, the button bashing of a Soul Edge compared to the nuanced nature of Street Fighter 2) was eroded by the tide of 3D and 3D design. To play into the hands of those who love labels, you could say a casualisation of the marketplace had taken place. Everything, suddenly, got a little bit easier.

Philosoma, as you've just mentioned, is a perfect example. If I remember correctly, this was the game that couldn't decide whether it would be R-Type, Zaxxon or DonPachi, and it suffered for it. An ugly game with the most silliest camera angles I've ever seen in a shump, all for the benefit of showcasing wonderful 3D. 3D came at a cost, of course, and not just due to the drunk camera. Oh no. There was also awful level design which could never decide which series it wanted to rip-off; it was terribly short; and had tank controls. But my main point was that Philosoma was easy, oh so easy. It could be completed in one sitting, within 20-30 minutes. What's the point? No challenge, a multitude of powerups and health bonuses: the perfect game for our new casualised marketplace.

Twisted Metal and Warhawk are in the same boat, as was 95% of the original PS1 launch lineup, the welcome to a new dawn. This doesn't mean Sega and Nintendo were not complicit as well. 3D on all consoles, for the most part, killed off any worthy challenge in our hobby.

Professor Lario @ Feb 21st 2009 12:50PM

This is good news for gamers. The new ones may not love the ones we do, but as gaming gains further social acceptance it will be seen as a viable form of entertainment for all age groups.

DCD @ Feb 21st 2009 1:23PM

Wii, thanks you.

WINterfang @ Feb 21st 2009 1:24PM

That old man is creepy.

Baby J Penn (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Feb 21st 2009 1:26PM

I think he is trying to hard. Makes it look like he is on the toilet.

Mr Khan @ Feb 21st 2009 1:44PM

So that's 6 million in America alone, then. Good show. More money in the system will only make it stronger, and the smart developers are going to paint more stuff like Mario Kart Wii, stuff with the broadest possible brush strokes

mainstream success is finally coming to our little hobby

Joeshie @ Feb 21st 2009 2:23PM

Oh boy, more incentive for developers to release shitty knockoffs of preexisting media or really cheap/crappy mini-game collections.

I'm jumping for joy over here.

meist3r @ Feb 21st 2009 4:56PM

I don't know if it was intentional (given all the awesome innuendo pics I've seen here over time I guess it was) but both of those geezers are holding the Wiimote the wrong way (not because it's sideways, but because the D-Pad is on the right). That would make an awesome ironic statement about new "older" players wouldn't it?