eSJayBee
10-29-2004, 06:30 AM
Kids prefer video games over TV, toys
source (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/10/27/media.videogames.reut/index.html)
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Teenagers deem video games a more meaningful form of entertainment than television, executives said Tuesday at the What Teens Want conference in Beverly Hills. And the medium is appealing more and more to younger kids, too.
"Video games are so mainstream it's beside the point to convince you that they are mainstream," said Jonathan Simpson-Bint, president of gaming magazine publisher Future Network USA.
Boys aged five to 12 spend more time with video games than they do with traditional toys, said Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music/audio at Electronic Arts, the world's No. 1 video game maker.
Schnur also said that 55 percent of teenage gamers learned of a new music act through a game. "All artists want to be in video games," he said. No wonder, when one considers that in a popular game like "Madden NFL 2004," a song might be heard 600 million times. "More than any song is heard on the radio."
Schnur showed a video montage of the artists who have worked with EA recently, including Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Green Day.
As panel discussions on this topic usually do, the conversation turned to how the industry might better court women. Female gamers are largely online gamers, and they skew a bit older than their male counterparts, who mostly like console games, said Michael Dowling, general manager of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment.
Also, women "cycle out of games," while men stay interested longer, sometimes spending more money on them as they get older. Women are mostly drawn to "social" games, he said, like "The Sims."
The panel was nearly in agreement that women should be hired more often to develop games, until Jordan Mechner, creator of "Prince of Persia," a game that's soon to be a movie, reminded folks that "Sims" was created by a man.
"The sex of the developer is not the issue," he said. The challenge is in getting companies to risk capital in the development of a game they know won't appeal much to their core audience of young males.
Scott Sorensen, director of marketing at Dragon Optical, a maker of goggles and sunglasses, said it's critical that one knows what teenagers are thinking about, and that takes time and effort.
"As you get older, you tend to forget what young people like to do," he said, explaining that his weekends are spent hanging out with 18-year-olds, professional athletes and up-and-coming bands. "That's what I do. Every weekend. I stay involved."
source (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/10/27/media.videogames.reut/index.html)
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Teenagers deem video games a more meaningful form of entertainment than television, executives said Tuesday at the What Teens Want conference in Beverly Hills. And the medium is appealing more and more to younger kids, too.
"Video games are so mainstream it's beside the point to convince you that they are mainstream," said Jonathan Simpson-Bint, president of gaming magazine publisher Future Network USA.
Boys aged five to 12 spend more time with video games than they do with traditional toys, said Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music/audio at Electronic Arts, the world's No. 1 video game maker.
Schnur also said that 55 percent of teenage gamers learned of a new music act through a game. "All artists want to be in video games," he said. No wonder, when one considers that in a popular game like "Madden NFL 2004," a song might be heard 600 million times. "More than any song is heard on the radio."
Schnur showed a video montage of the artists who have worked with EA recently, including Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Green Day.
As panel discussions on this topic usually do, the conversation turned to how the industry might better court women. Female gamers are largely online gamers, and they skew a bit older than their male counterparts, who mostly like console games, said Michael Dowling, general manager of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment.
Also, women "cycle out of games," while men stay interested longer, sometimes spending more money on them as they get older. Women are mostly drawn to "social" games, he said, like "The Sims."
The panel was nearly in agreement that women should be hired more often to develop games, until Jordan Mechner, creator of "Prince of Persia," a game that's soon to be a movie, reminded folks that "Sims" was created by a man.
"The sex of the developer is not the issue," he said. The challenge is in getting companies to risk capital in the development of a game they know won't appeal much to their core audience of young males.
Scott Sorensen, director of marketing at Dragon Optical, a maker of goggles and sunglasses, said it's critical that one knows what teenagers are thinking about, and that takes time and effort.
"As you get older, you tend to forget what young people like to do," he said, explaining that his weekends are spent hanging out with 18-year-olds, professional athletes and up-and-coming bands. "That's what I do. Every weekend. I stay involved."