One-third of hardcore gamers surveyed for the latest “Verizon FiOS Innovation Index” said they would give up their car for six months in order to be one of the first to get either the new PS4 or Xbox One. Looking to gain insight into consumer preferences and behavior associated with information and communications technology (ICT) and the connected home, Verizon surveyed over 900 men and women in producing the report – just under half of whom were registrants for the Endgadget Expand conference.
“This time of year has historically been great for generations of gamers from the debut of the home version of Pong in 1975, to the release of the PS4 and Xbox One,” commented Chris Melissinos, a director of business strategy and development for Verizon, who presented some of the findings at the Expand show.
“Gaming and technology continue to spread deeper into society and are becoming a bigger part of our lives. So we wanted to reveal how people feel about the technology they love and what they want to see in their connected homes, which even in today’s mobile world remain the hub of their digital lifestyles.”
Gauging what tech gadgets consumers rate highly in the run-up to the year-end holidays, Verizon found that 72% of tech fans had a “high interest” in virtual reality gameplay, such as Oculus Rift and TrackrIR, as compared to 53% of the general population.
Tech fans ranked purchasing either the Xbox One or the Playstation 4, when they are released, second at 50%, with 44% of general population respondents saying they had high interest in purchasing either of the game consoles. Forty-two percent of tech fans and 49% of general population respondents expressed high interest in purchasing a tablet for gaming.
Consumers with a high interest in purchasing a game console would use them to do a lot more than play games, according to Verizon. Sixty-nine percent of tech fans and 58% of the general population said they had a high interest in streaming video from a game console, 49% in both groups have a high interest in streaming music, while 39% and 46%, respectively, said they had a high interest in using a game console for online shopping.
In addition, 34% of tech fans and 49% of the general population said they would use a game console to browse the Web. Twenty-eight percent and 42%, respectively, said they would use a game console to view social media.
Verizon also found a strong interest among both tech fans and the general population in accessing and storing their games in the cloud, though “consumers as yet haven’t flocked” to cloud services. Sixty-seven percent of tech fans and 54% of the general population said they would prefer to download video games online or from the cloud as opposed to buying them on disc. Fifty-seven percent and 59% said they prefer to play games in the cloud and not have to worry about storing games on their consoles.
In addition, 89% of all respondents said their Internet connection was the most important service in their home, while 96% said their home Internet connection is more important than public Wi-Fi hotspots. The 85% of general population respondents who said their home Internet connection was the most important service in their homes is a 33% increase from 2012’s survey results.
Verizon also found that Internet service has become an important factor for Americans when looking for a new home. Ninety-six percent of all respondents said access to high-speed, broadband Internet service was important in this situation, tied with community safety/low crime and ranking higher than nearby shopping/supermarket/restaurants, new family and friends, and near access to public transportation.
I can guarantee you that 58% of senior adult consumers don't want to stream video from a game console. Maybe we don't count, but it just doesn't make sense to me. I use either my Blu-ray player or my Media box to access Netflix, but I don't use a game console for anything.