ADVERGAMING NEWS

Entertainment Software Association Facts  www.theesa.com

• -69% of Americans heads of households play computer or video games
• -The average game player is 33
• -58% of online gamers are male, 42% are female
• -Women 18+ are a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys under 18 (23%)
• -42% of Americans purchased or plan to purchase one or more games in 2006.

• -Online games are forecast to have 105 million players in 2005. (source: Jupiter Media Metrix)
• -50% of recipients play an ADVERGAME for an average of 25 minutes
• -90% of players, who receive a challenge from a friend, play the game and respond back with their score or statistics
• -According to the Entertainment Software Assn., 42% of gamers say they play online games one or more hours a week." - Wikipedia

"...According to a new AP-AOL Games poll, 40 percent of American adults play games on a computer or a console.  Men, younger adults and minorities were most likely to play those games. Among those who describe themselves as gamers, 45 percent play over the Internet...Online gamers also spent more time playing those games. Forty-two percent of online gamers said they spent at least four hours playing games during an average week, compared with 26 percent of those who don't play online.  About one in six online gamers play more than 10 hours a week..." Newsweek 5/8/06

"Branded gaming developed on the Internet, where so-called casual games -- usually small and simple arcade or logic games --have become commonplace on the sites of car and candy manufacturers. Known as "advergames," they attracted US$83.6-million in spending in 2004, a figure expected to grow to US$312.2- million by 2009, according to research analysis firm Yankee Group." -- National Post 1/29/06

"...The aim for advertisers is clear: games are booming among a surprisingly wide audience. More than 50 percent of the players are 35 or older...females are increasingly active, particularly online... In a recent U.S. Association of National Advertisers survey, 9 percent of companies said they had advertised via videogames in the past year, and 13 percent plan to in the future..." Newsweek, 1/31/05

"As long as the game delivers a fun pay off, consumers consider it a relevant and valid cultural experience. In recent brand-impact studies, associating a brand with the fun of gaming is known to lift brand metrics such as brand awareness, message association and purchase intent. After playing a game, consumers are more likely to remember  not just the brand or product itself, but to associate specific brand attributes with it. Wikipedia

Aaron Ruby, co-author of "Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution", stated in the 12/28/05 issue of Newsweek that "When we started the book, the industry was already huge, but it was not mainstream. Now there are commercials for videogames during "The Daily Show".... The culture is ready. The average gamer age is now 30, a far cry from the stereotype of the 14- to 18-year-old boy in his room."

...19 percent of all computer and console gamers are over the age of 50, says the Entertainment Software Association, the industry's trade group. They play a variety of games -- from laid-back, relaxing fare such as solitaire and mah-jongg, to first-person shooters... Washington Post 12/3/05

"...Big recent studies including one in November by Mediaedge:cia and another...by Nielsen Entertainment and gamemaker Activision show relevant, well-integrated in-game ads to be remarkably persuasive among 18- to 34-year-old males, a group marketers have found to be elusive of late.  'The consumer is no longer sitting in front of the TV set, and brands have to be more innovative in terms of engaging that consumer,' says Claire Rosenzweig, executive director of the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA), a nonprofit research and educational organization. 'What you see is an incredible rise in experiential marketing, and 'advergaming' can be included in that branded experience...'" CBS News 1/26/06

" ...September's video game sales jumped by a whopping 38 percent compared with the year-ago period, according to data from the NPD Group, a market research company. Year-to-date, the industry is up 11 percent and there are no signs of slowing down, according to video game analyst Anita Frazier, who added that a record year for the industry 'is a given.' Total video game sales were $777 million for the month, up from $563 million in September of last year..." -- Associated Press 10/13/06

"...The Federation of American Scientists...declared Tuesday that video games can redefine education....the group called for federal research into how the addictive pizazz of video games can be converted into serious learning tools for schools. The theory is that games teach skills that employers want: analytical thinking, team building, multitasking and problem-solving under duress. Unlike humans, the games never lose patience. And they are second nature to many kids..." -- Associated Press 10/18/06

"... A startlingly high 70 percent said they favored in-game product placements. 'Gamers said that they prefer real products because it makes games more realistic,' said Michael Dowling, general manager at Nielsen Interactive Entertainment. 'Advertisements and products are endemic to their worlds and gamers can be distracted by generic visuals.' So it's come to this: The better the game fantasy, the more real it needs to be. And for today's gamers, it's not real unless there's advertising."  MSNBC 8/25/04

"According to the Electronic Software Association, 38 percent of all game players are women over 18. And what's more, they represent a much larger portion of the game-playing population than boys under 17...casual, typically Web-based games like 'Bejeweled,' 'Tetris,' 'Zuma' and 'Diner Dash,' are enormously popular with women aged 35 and over. In fact, the majority of casual gamers, 60 percent, are women. What's the appeal of these games for women, many of which are busy moms, most with full-time jobs? Mainly, it's the ease-of-use: Casual games also don't require hours of commitment, so it is easy to feel satisfied by just short bursts of gameplay." -- MSNBC 11/15/06

According to Patricia McDonough, senior vice president of Nielsen Media Research, internet use passed newspaper reading this year in terms of daily media usage by Americans (TV remains first, with radio second). - Associated Press 12/15/06

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