Nearly two-thirds of U.S. broadband households with a next-gen game console have connected it to Internet

Multimedia content, such as Netflix streaming services, and popular games with online components, such as Call of Duty and Madden NFL, are driving households to connect their game consoles and creating a new foundation for future growth in online video, according to international research firm Parks Associates. The firm’s new report Connected Game Console Update finds 64% of U.S. broadband households with an Internet-connectable game console have it hooked to the Internet, a major increase from 2007, when only 25% had their next-gen console connected.

“PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have higher connectivity rates among the current generation of consoles, showing the power of multimedia offerings and popular game franchises in getting gamers online," said Pietro Macchiarella, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Despite the Wii's built-in wireless capabilities, it has been less successful in getting users online due to less compelling online games and multimedia content. However, with its large installed base, it still is a significant player in this market.”

Parks Associates forecasts households will connect more than 260 million game consoles worldwide to the Internet by 2015. Broadband connectivity enables new business models for game consoles and positions them as hubs for all household entertainment services, according to Macchiarella. Both Microsoft and Sony are now leading providers of premium Internet video content and derive a large share of their gaming revenues from their digital video outlets.

“Location and high penetration of game consoles make them ideal devices for distributing digital content,” he said. “Our Digital Media Evolution II found 65% of U.S. broadband households with a game console have it in their living rooms, where they loathe adding another black box. Therefore, consoles are the perfect Trojan horses in the competition for content distribution. There have been recent speculations Microsoft wants to create a new TV service on Xbox 360 by aggregating content from multiple sources. While these are still rumors, the reality is that the aggregation of premium content on consoles has already been happening for some time and is posing a larger threat to TV service providers.”

Parks Associates’ Connected Game Console Update focuses on several key growth areas in the connected console space, including online gaming, content distribution, subscriptions and microtransactions, virtual worlds and avatars, and Gaming 2.0, a new online gaming category which includes cloud-based gaming, user-generated content, gamer social networks, and single-player games requiring online connectivity to play. For more information, visit www.parksassociates.com or contact [email protected], 972-490-1113.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

Next: Exponential growth in smartphone, tablet and connected TV sales to create opportunities and challenges for CE brands
Previous: Parks Associates forecasts sales of Internet-connectable TV devices soaring to 350 million by 2015

Be the first to leave a comment.

Have a comment? Login or create an account to start a discussion.