I'm a little slow on the uptake these days -- hence the adorable giant tortoise. Doesn't he look so sincere? Romantic, even. Anyway, lately I see, hear, read or do things I want to talk about and queue 'em up, and then watch 'em get drilled down to the bottom of the list by the onslaught of other things I need to do first. Such is the case with this delicious tidbit, something I wrote up for Gamasutra earlier this month -- it's been a few weeks since it was news, and some of you have probably heard about it already anyway, but what the hell; patronize me. Sit patiently alongside my armchair and pat my pallid hand, smile into my unfocused, rheumy eyes and try not to stare at the clock while I ramble. I've got toffee on the table for you; boys love candy.Anyway, earlier this month those whirlwinds of survey goodness, the NPD Group, did themselves a little study on hardware awareness. They studied owners and "likely purchasers" of PS3s, Xbox 360s , PSPs and Nintendo DS (I find I refuse to say DSes) and found "significant gaps" in their awareness of the features their shiny new gadgets possessed.
PS3 users seem to be the dumbest. For example, 71% of those who either own or are planning to buy a PS3 said backward compatibility is important to them, but only 31% of PS3 owners know that feature exists.
I don't own a PS3, but I know the backward compatibility isn't perfect. Still -- 69% of people have their PS2 hooked up alongside their PS3 so they can still play their old games? Look out! Wire fire in the rec room, Grandma!
The majority of PS3 owners and prospective owners don't know that they can download content on the console, either. That's kind of an interesting one; in the ongoing Live-versus-PSN Internet spit-off, most people who identify themselves as gamers have pegged downloadables as a can't-do-without feature. So who is it, exactly, that's not even aware of it?
More highlights -- nearly half, or 47% of PSP owners and likely buyers don't know it can play music or movies. My favorite, though? 43% of DS owners do not know about the touch screen, 47% don't know about the dual screen, and 51% don't know about the stylus function. That one just blows my mind -- if you know what a Nintendo DS is, how do you not know, at least, that it has two screens? Come on!
I think the issue here is that that the survey didn't collect responses solely from people who own and use the hardware, but also from "likely purchasers" -- generally, these are people who respond that they are "likely" to buy one of these systems within the next six months. Though I haven't looked at the survey itself, I'm also wondering if the respondents were asked whether the hardware in question was purchased, or will be purchased, for themselves or for a child or friend. For example, Mommy knows Junior's birthday is three months away and she's probably planning to get him a game system, and she'll let the nice lady in the Target hardware department sort it out for her. Or Weekend Dad buys out the Circuit City in the hopes of winning points with his kid in the divorce, but has no idea what it is he actually bought.
Still, ignorance of purchases in such large numbers is a little startling, and it sheds a little light on why the head-scratching VIDYA GAEMS ARE INAPROPIT FOR CHILDRENS business keeps going on -- people buy games, either for their kids or for themselves, without knowing what they're getting, or why they even want it. Nice.
