Tom Pirovano, Director, Industry Insights
There’s been some buzz in the news recently about Toys “R” Us acquiring FAO Schwartz. I’m confused by some of the perceived pessimism regarding toy retailers struggling to keep pace with mass merchandisers. From my “food guy” perspective, Toys “R” Us and FAO Schwartz have some very strong brand equity that has the potential to be leveraged in several creative ways. Here are a few opportunities I’d love to see Toys “R” Us pursue if they haven’t already been tested or discussed.

First, change the focus from …

Anticipation surrounds this year’s E3, one of the largest video game expos, which kicks off this week in Los Angeles. Not only have Sony and Microsoft hinted at major hardware-related announcements, but also details related to upcoming software releases are expected to emerge. Video game enthusiasts started heavily discussing their expectations for E3 several months ago online. This traditionally vocal group of consumers is especially engaged in this year’s E3 – buzz for the month prior to the 2009 expo is up 31% over the comparable time period for E3 …

EA will release The Sims 3 on June 2nd, marking a new chapter for this immensely popular life simulation franchise. As EA begins its marketing push, the title appears quite healthy based on a variety of metrics. Fully 72% of female PC gamers and 64% of male PC gamers were aware of The Sims 3 in Nielsen’s most recent Video Game Tracking survey. Furthermore, 43% of females are definitely or probably interested in buying the title compared to 28% for males.
This high level of interest and gender disparity is to …

Electronic Arts enters into fitness gaming this week with the release of EA Sports Active for the Nintendo Wii. The game features a range of fitness activities plus mini-games that focus on specific sports like in-line skating and basketball. Generally,  EA Sports is a brand synonymous with male-skewing sports franchises like Madden, but as apparent from the box art, the title is being marketed more to women. So how do men and women compare in terms of key purchase metrics for the title?
Based on Nielsen Video Game Tracking data from …

Nielsen Games released its March 2009 data for top console usage and PC game titles with Playstation 2 and the role-playing game World Of Warcraft again topping their respective lists.

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.

With several high profile games released in the past few months, chalk one up for Halo Wars.  According to Nielsen’s weekly Video Game Tracking survey, the title generated the highest definite purchase interest among games in the week of their release for any title released through April 18 this year. In the week leading up to its March 3rd release in the US, 23 percent of gamers had strong purchase interest for the real-time strategy off-shoot of the immensely popular Halo trilogy. It narrowly beat Resident Evil 5 which garnered …

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 …

Video games are attracting more people than ever.  Traditionally the realm of younger males, gaming has grown increasingly popular among women, older players and other demographic groups.  And while the weak economy has had an effect on many forms of entertainment, video games have shown an amazing resilience, with sales of both gaming consoles and games continuing to show healthy growth.  These are just a few of the findings of a new comprehensive report on PC game and video game console usage from Nielsen Games.
In addition to gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox, PC …

Nielsen Games released its January 2009 data for top console usage and PC game titles with Playstation 2 and the role-playing game World Of Warcraft topping their respective lists.
Top Game Consoles January 2009

Rank
Console
Usage
Minutes %

1
PlayStation 2
23.7

2
Wii
20.7

3
Xbox 360
18.2

4
PlayStation 3
9.0

5
Xbox
7.9

6
GameCube
3.3

7
Other
17.2

Source: Nielsen Games – GamePlay Metrics™
Usage Minutes % is the percent of all measured console minutes
“Other” consists of any other console systems found in the home

Top  10 PC Game Titles January 2009

Rank
Title
Publisher
Share
Avg. Min
Per Week
TMP%

1
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
12.090
649
46.560

2
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
Ubisoft
0.978
732
4.403

3
Second Life
Linden Lab
1.488
520
3.589

4
Warcraft III: …