Video Game Platform Brand Moments in Social Media Report : April 11- May 5 2010

Game Consoles Social Market Share
This report is intended to give a look into the the & of social market share the various gaming
consoles own, to assist in identifying what the sentiment is regarding those consoles is, to
pinpoint where these conversations are taking place, and what the subjects are revolving
those brands. This study deals with solely brand moments from April 11 – May 5 2010.

April 11 - May 5th 2010: Facebook, Micromedia, Blogs, Forums, Media Sharing Sites, New Releases: ryan@ryanpaulthompson.com

Game Console Brand Moments Trends
PS3 and Playstation 3 holds the lead in online conversation.
The 360 and Xbox 360 are on a steady decline.
Conversation regarding consoles spike on Tuesdays.
Biggest drops in conversations occurs on Fridays, and continues through the weekend.


Volume of Console Brand Moments
The PS3 brand holds the largest share of voice in digital/social.
The Wii’s voice is suprisingly in third place despite it’s lead in sales, probably due to the demographic
of Wii users not matching up to the demographics up social participants.


PS3 Word Cloud
Overall, positive sentiment in regards to the PS3 online
Video usage is a sizable topic.
Positive emotions consist of great, better, best, free, super.
Price is now a minor topic of contention, but still a topic.


Xbox 360 Word Cloud
Overall, positive sentiment in regards to the PS3 online
Game titles are mentioned within the cloud: Modern Warfare and Halo are prominent.
“Currently Playing” is another hot topic, gamer are sharing their status.
Positive sentiment is also conveyed.


Wii Word Cloud
Wii is 3rd in digital market share, despite being world market leader.
It’s image of a “party” and family machine persists.
Auctions regarding of the Wii are still prevalent.
The most discussed titles are Mario and Wii Fit.


PS2 Word Cloud
PS2 still has an online presence in the voices of the consumer.
Positive sentiments, with words of love and and great being associated with it.
PS3, 360, Wii, and other brands are strongly voiced alongside PS2.


Takeaways
Overall, there is a very positive sentiment regarding all of the current gen consoles.
Volume of solely “brand moments” does not equal volume of sales.
Mentions of game titles in association would help give an even more accurate picture of the shape of the
consumers’ voice.
Video and online capabilities are important topics in both current and last gen systems.


PS3 Conversation via
Media Distribution Type
Micromedia dominates in media distribution for the PS3.
Blogs and Forums follow a close second and third.
Facebook does not play as heavy a role in terms of volume towards brand moments.


Xbox 360 Conversation via
Micromedia dominates in terms of media distribution.
Blogs play a bigger role than forum replies, which reflects a different user mentality than PS3.
Videos also play a much more significant role.


Wii Conversation via
Blogs and Micromedia play an almost evenly strong role.
Facebook is a much stronger platform than in comparison to the other console brands, perhaps due to the
Wii's core demographic and the growing number of 35-55 year old female demographic of Facebook.


PS2 Conversation via
Most brand moments happen on blogs.
Forums are the second biggest platform of brand moments.
Micromedia places a distant third.


Takeaways
User-generated content and opinion, and independently run outlets, play an extremely huge role in
terms of consumer opinion and market share regarding console brands.

Despite having a much larger user base, facebook does not play as significant a role in regards to brand
moments of consoles, specifically with the PS3 and 360. This however could greatly shift when game
titles are thrown into the study.

Online play is desired for ALL consoles.


Trending of Console Online Gaming
Brand Moments
Valleys and peaks correlate with brand moments of the gaming consoles themselves
Tuesdays are still the primary peak days, correlating with when most new game releases are.


Console Online Gaming -
Volume of Brand Moments
XBL completely dwarfs the number of PSN brand moments


Console Online Gaming -
Volume of Brand Moments
Although the Wii itself does not have an integrated gaming network, online gaming seems to
be an important issue for nearly 12% of Wii gamers.


XBL Word Cloud
Xbox Live players frequently update their status via social platforms
Modern Warfare, Halo, NBA 2k10, and arcade are the most popular topics.
Netflix and video are also popular topics and potential selling points.
“Unlocked” is a dominant term that is shared, and continues to push achievements.


PSN Word Cloud
Final Fantasy plays a large role in the online conversation regarding PSN.
Squall, Cloud, and FFIX are all popular topics.
Overall positive sentiment with words such as “great”, “best”, and ‘good”.
The PSN store itself is actually discusssed as well.


Wii “online” Word Cloud
The IPod and IPad actually show up in conversations regarding the Wii
and it’s online capabilities.
The Wii is the only console to have a game designer associated with it in digital conversation.
Also the only console to have a brand mascot in association with it’s brand moments.


Takeaways
XBL is doing it right.
Achievement updates being posted on micromedia and other platforms is doing well for XBL.
A sizable portion of the market share want the Wii to be able to go online.
Some online games have become as identifiable with a console as first party titles, and assist in
promoting the market share of the consoles themeselves.


XBL Conversation via
Blogs and Forum replies play a much smaller role than with their console counterparts.
Micromedia plays a significant role due to system integration.


PSN Conversation via
Lack of tighter (& simpler) integration with MicroMedia services creates less brand moments.
Forum Replies and Micromedia swap their places in terms of significance (vs. how they are
positioned with console brand moments) due to this.


Wii “online” Conversation via
Again, like the PS3, the role MicroMedia plays in regard to brand moments diminishes,
perhaps due to lack of console integration.


Takeaways
Micromedia plays a heavy role in social market shares amidst the consoles.
Social intergration within games and consoles will improve to take advantage of this.
Community management should not be overlooked, as forums are another platforms where
brand moments are frequently occuring, and are great opportunities for consumer retention
and adoption.


Volume of Mobile
Gaming Brand Moments
Despite being last in the market, the PSP garners the most brand moments.
This may partly be due to piracy.
This is also due to the demographic of those using PSPs, and the likelihood of those
individuals being content creators on social platforms.


Volume of Mobile Gaming Brand
Moments: Apple’s Invasion
The IPhone and IPad play a significant role in mobile gaming.
Conversation only already dictates that consumers view it as a viable gaming platform.
In a short time, the IPad, already has a larger market share than the DSi and DSi XL, in terms
of brand moments in conversations online.


PSP Word Cloud
Users are avidly discussing watching movies
Piracy is an issue with “convert” and “converters” and “downloading” as topics


DS Word Cloud
Piracy is an issue with discussions regarding “burned games”.
Pokemon, Mario, and oddly enough, Earthworm Jim are the discussed titles.
Users are discussing the photo capabilities of the DSi and Wiiware.


IPhone Word Cloud
The Iphone is frequently mention with other words that aren’t truly gaming related
Apps, video, and touch features are touted in conjunction with the gaming feature.
Oddly, xbox comes up as a frequent term, but not Sony, or the Wii. This may be do to the
rivalry between Microsoft and Apple.


IPad Word Cloud
The IPad is already being brought up and compared to Nintendo products.
It’s frequently being touted for it’s features in conjunction with gaming being discussed.
Very positive sentiments, with words such as “great”, “best”, and “right” being used.


Takeaways
The PSP has a disproportionately large voice vs the other mobile gaming platforms.
However it's brand moments are often in relation to video, music, and piracy.
Piracy is an issue for all of the gaming platforms.
The Iphone and the Ipad are already deemed as mobile gaming platforms by the public.


PSP Conversation via
Blogs are the dominant media distribution platform
Micromedia platforms such as Twitter are secondary as a conversation platform
Forums place third


DS Conversation via
Forums replies place third


DSi Conversation via


DSi XL Conversation via


IPhone Conversation via


IPad Conversation via


Takeaways
Blogs consistently contained the higest volume of brand moments in regards to mobile gaming
platforms.
Micromedia and forums replies placed second and third, respectively.
Blogger support and communications play a key role in managing these brands, and in
keeping the consumer happy.
Blogs communication should also continue to assist in patrolling piracy.


Word Cloud of Conversations
by Top Influencers
Gaming Blogs are very popular with influencers and digital market share
Machinima is very favorable with content creators and consumers
Slickdeals is a surprise, and shows the value couponing and discounts to game brands
Twitter plays a serious role in creating influencers.


Top Influencers Across Various Media
Distribution Platforms
A brief look at some of the top influencers across the various media distribution platforms.
These include blogs, forums, facebook, youtube, flickr, micromedia, mainstream news, and
images.


Summary of Top Influencers on Twitter
Web celebrities, web sites, and brands manage to have the most influence on Twitter
There how is still room for “twitterlebrities” as individuals such as AgentM, GuyKawasaki,
joesebok have grown considerably through Twitter.


Top Influencers in Regards
to Media Sharing
Media sharing plays a very underestimated role in determining market share
Cost for video content can be considerable, but so are the gains in term of market share
Cost for image content is very minimal, and lower the bars of entry for participation


Top Influencers in regards to Blogging
Couponing plays a significant role (slickdeals.net is ranked 100 on a scale of 1-100)
The mainstream media also plays a much bigger role than expected in area
Pr and press releases do make in impact in regards to blogging.


Top Influencers
in regards to Forums/Replies
Halo Reach, Bad Company 2, Madden, and Monster Hunter Tri are the only games to make
this list, as users identify these games heavily with their game console brands.


Takeaways
Blogs and micromedia play an extremely heavy role in social market share of gaming brands.
User generated content is EXTREMELY prevalent. From videos, to articles, to tweets, to
pictures, most of the content regarding the gaming consoles is user generated.
Couponing is a segment not being tapped efficiently. It has a large voice, and reflects not just
the natural inclination to “get the best deal”, but also reflects that gamers are online, are
intelligent enough to search for the best price, and are not timid about making their purchases
online.
Community management needs to play a much larger role in customer retention and
acquisition. Gamers are extremely alive in forums and message boards, and it would be in the
best interests of gamers, publishers, and developers, to have more community/social media
managers being a part of those conversations.


Video Game Platform Brand Moments in Social Media Report : April 11- May 5 2010

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Video Game Platform Brand Moments in Social Media Report : April 11- May 5 2010