Hispanics comprise a growing 15% of today’s American moviegoers and amounted to over 128 million of U.S. box office admissions in 2008. Latinos not only represent an opportunity to positively impact overall box office success, but they are an influential segment with the power to build brand awareness.

The much anticipated X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits movie theatres this weekend, marking the fourth installment in the running series of X-Men movies. The theatrical debut coincides with the release of the video game based on the movie, just as was done in 2006 with the third movie X-Men: The Last Stand. While the box office comparison between the two movies is yet to be determined, if gamer anticipation is any indication, things are looking up for the franchise’s game based on Nielsen’s weekly Video Game Tracking survey.

Brandon Eshman, Nielsen Online
According to the old saying “content is king,” right? But what if a combination of content and convenience are ultimately what attract consumers? It’s no secret that media today comes in many easy-to-access formats: video, music, TV, podcasts, etc., at the palm of our hand. Consumers have the ultimate choice in what they view and when they choose to view (or participate with) the content. The convergence of traditional viewing habits and the web is inevitable, as evidenced by the popularity of Hulu, …

Following Nielsen Online’s BuzzMetrics recognition as an “industry leader” in the “The Forrester Wave: Listening Platforms, Q1 2009,” Pete Blackshaw, executive vice-president of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services, discussed the factors that drive success when it comes to listening.

Forrester’s report is available for download via Nielsen Online.
Read the full press release.

Ads in video games may be more effective than previously assumed, Mediaweek reported Monday. 
According to a new study by Nielsen Games, more than one-third (36%) of gamers bought, talked about, or sought information about a product after seeing it advertised in a video game.
Coke, Nike, Burger King, Axe, Pepsi, and Pontiac were cited by respondents as the most-recalled brands. 
Of the 534 active video game players surveyed by Nielsen, 11% purchased a brand advertised in a game or sought more information about it, 19% talked about a brand after seeing an in-game ad, …

Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV” is one of the strongest brands in recent video game history, according to a new study by Nielsen.
In general, awareness of the “Grand Theft Auto” brand is significant, compared with games such as Microsoft’s “Halo 3,” Konami’s “Metal Gear Solid 4,” and Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL 08,” Nielsen found. 
Of the 6,000 video gamers surveyed, 23% entered “GTA IV,” unaided by survey questions and prompts, as a game they were thinking about.  Only “Halo 3″ had a higher level of unaided brand awareness (32%). 
The results …