14 DAY TRIAL // The Diffusion Group, a research and consulting firm, has released data showing that by 2012, at least 190 million households all over the world would have a current generation gaming console. Their main use will be playing games, but there will be a lot of people who will only use them for media consumption and for social activities.
The Diffusion Group also says that 80% of the consoles will be connected to the Internet and that 75% of those connected, which is 60% of the overall number, will be used a few times each week to download and then to watch various video features.
Colin Dixon, one of the authors of the report, stated for Gamasutra that “Microsoft and Sony know that today's console gamers are perfectly suited for new TV offerings. The segment is dominated by males between the ages of 18 and 35 - a prized advertising demographic - with little sense of loyalty to their 'local' cable or telephone company. They are also heavy viewers of online video and quite comfortable spending money for online digital media.”
At the moment, though, the best selling home gaming console is the Nintendo Wii, which has no capability to stream or to play video content. The Wii, which is praised by consumers for its innovative control scheme and overall accessibility, sold more than 2 million units in November, more than the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony together.
The hardware of the Wii will not allow Nintendo to add a video service so, by 2012, we might see Nintendo unveil and sell a new console, a Wii 2, which could be on par with the other home console as far as video capabilities go.
The New Xbox Experience, introduced in November, offers Xbox 360 users Netflix services, while the PlayStation 3 has integrated Blu-ray capabilities.