-- In the months leading up to Halo 3's release, there was a positive
correlation between Halo 3's and Xbox 360's discussion levels -- as Halo
3's discussion increased, so too did the Xbox 360's engagement with the
casual community.
-- Sentiment for the Xbox 360 also improved, indicating that gamers who
were previously unsure about purchasing the console, are more convinced
that it's a worthy purchase.
-- Sentiment in the casual community for both Halo 3 and Guitar Hero 3
was very positive, with an average of 3.9 and 4.0, respectively.
-- Although Guitar Hero 3 has the advantage of generating traction on
casual gaming sites, Halo 3 still managed to generate a greater amount of
discussion among casual communities. In August and September 2007, Halo
3's casual discussion more than doubled discussion volume around Guitar
Hero 3.
The BrandIntel "Halo 3 Report" provides research, marketing, communications
and customer relationship management executives with actionable information
to support decision-making through a better understanding of consumer usage
behavior, as well as industry trends and influences. The report highlights
the video games and manufacturers that have generated the most positive
discussion and sentiment in online consumer communities such as blogs,
discussion forums and other social media sites on the Internet. For this
report, BrandIntel tracked more than 78,000 raw search results on the
Internet and refined those results through technological filters and human
analysis to utilize only the highest quality data -- totaling more than
5,600 consumer mentions on Halo 3 and Guitar Hero 3. This report follows
BrandIntel's September 2007 "Top Video Games Consoles Report," which found
that although Xbox 360 held the top spot with hardcore gamers, Nintendo Wii
had the highest intent to purchase scores and appeals to a broader consumer
base due to its price, innovation and ease of use.
"As seen with the success of the Nintendo Wii, gaming manufacturers are
beginning to understand the importance of engaging a casual gaming
audience, as this group can be a vital demographic in driving sales and new
market opportunities," said Alan Dean, vice president of Business
Innovation at BrandIntel. "Once gaming manufacturers begin to see the sales
results that the casual gaming community can deliver, particularly after
the 2007 holiday season, I believe manufacturers will respond by developing
more game titles geared towards this particular group."
Using award-winning Internet monitoring technology combined with the power
of human analysis, BrandIntel detects, analyzes and generates intelligence
on tens of thousands of relevant comments about the gaming industry on a
daily basis. The company scans the entire scope of the Internet and
analyzes the most pertinent content to measure for assigned sentiment
scores and share of discussion, rating the physical and emotional value of
the results (positive or negative) to produce the relevant categorization
records of information in all its reports. As a result, BrandIntel gaming
customers are provided with the most reliable data possible to leverage in
the decision-making process regarding their brands.
To view a summary of the report, visit www.brandintel.com
About BrandIntel (www.brandintel.com)
BrandIntel, a Brandimensions Inc. company, translates consumer-created
content into reliable intelligence, enabling businesses to advance the
science of decision making. The company offers an information-delivery
platform combining human intelligence with award-winning technology for the
most trusted market data in the industry. The BrandIntel data helps
businesses validate critical business decisions, uncover new opportunities
for value creation, and get closer to customers. BrandIntel works with
Fortune 1000 companies and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with
offices in the United States.
Contact Information: CONTACTS: Brittany Bevacqua Lois Paul & Partners 781-782-5857 Brittany_bevacqua@lpp.com Maxine Friedman BrandIntel 646-202-9387 mfriedman@brandintel.com
