Nielsen Wire » Halo

Who Won The Battle For Gamers’ Hearts At E3?

Nielsen Wire — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:46:27 +0000

Since the end of E3, a major gaming industry conference, many have speculated about which titles generated the most hype (and consumer interest) out of the gate. In terms of online buzz volume, several newly announced titles grabbed the lion’s share of attention with New Super Mario Brothers Wii leading the pack with 4.6 percent of E3 buzz. But looking at gamer sentiment in Nielsen’s Video Game Tracking survey shows that Halo ODST and God of War III lead in consumer purchase interest as of last week.

The table below shows total positive purchase interest (definitely or probably interested in buying the title) for games that garnered at least 30 percent on this metric and will be released at least a month from now. For most of these twelve titles, either a trailer was released or gameplay was demoed in some form at E3. But interestingly, there were not massive spikes in consumer interest in purchasing these titles from pre- to post-E3. Most moved up or down 1-2 percent at most, which is well within the margin of error. In other words, games that already tugged at gamers’ hearts held on.

Title	1 Week post-E3 (June 7-June 14)
Halo ODST (9/22/09)	53%
God of War III (March 2010)	49%
Wii Sports Resort (7/28/09)	45%
Guitar Hero 5 (9/1/09)	42%
Final Fantasy XIII (April 2010)	37%
Madden 2010 (8/14/09)	35%
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (12/1/09)	34%
Assassins Creed 2 (11/17/09)	32%
Need for Speed: Shift (9/22/09)	32%
Need for Speed: Nitro (10/17/09)	32%
NCAA Football 10 (7/14/09)	32%
Beatles Rock Band (9/8/09)	30%
Source: The Nielsen Company

Resident Evil, Metallica, Halo Lead In Video Game Name Recognition

Nielsen Wire — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:21:42 +0000

Resident Evil 5 maintained its lead as the top title in unaided consumer awareness, as 10.6% of respondents cited the game in Nielsen’s latest weekly Video Game Tracking survey. Buzz around the game has remained strong, even three weeks after its March 13 release. Guitar Hero: Metallica moved up two spots to take second place at 7.7%, likely due to its March 29 release date and the rock band’s Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction. The recently released Halo offshoot, Halo Wars, took third with 7.1% of respondents identifying the title. Wii Fit jumped five spots up to 7th on this week’s list and Grand Theft Auto IV jumped six spots up to 10th. Despite the fact that both GTA and Wii Fit are coming up on one year since release, the staying power remains strong for both brands.

Top Games In Unaided Recall
Rank	Title	Unaided Awareness
1	Resident Evil 5	10.60%
2	Guitar Hero: Metallica	7.70%
3	Halo Wars	7.10%
4	Killzone 2	4.70%
5	The Godfather II	4.30%
6	Wanted: Weapons of Fate	4.00%
7	Wii Fit	3.90%
8	Call of Duty: World at War	3.60%
9	Street Fighter IV	3.50%
10	Grand Theft Auto IV	3.00%
Source: Nielsen Games

Online Buzz for Resident Evil 5 And Metallica’s Guitar Hero

“Grand Theft Auto” Fans Show Strong Brand Loyalty

admin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:13:35 +0000

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 also reveal that gamers familiar with previous titles in the “Grand Theft Auto” series were exceptionally likely to purchase the new version. Of those who bought “GTA IV,” 79% said they had played or owned a previous version of the game.

Read the full white paper.

Read coverage of the study in The Hollywood Reporter and on GameSpot.com.