Not game yet

Clearly, indians prefer their movies over video games. This is so, despite the fact that the digital divide between emerging markets and developed economies is blurring, making the former more hungry for games. In a survey spanning 52 markets involving 26,202 people across Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and West Asia, the Nielsen Company reveals that while people in western countries tend to be heavy users of media hardware like DVD players and gaming consoles, next-generation devices like video-enabled handsets are more popular in the up-and-coming markets, particularly in Asia. However, in India, television sets rule. Fancy video-handsets, and, therefore, gamers are far fewer in number.

Movies and music—not computer games—sell like hot cakes in India. Around 63 per cent of people surveyed claimed to have bought a DVD in the past six months and 59 per cent bought new music CDs, compared to 37 per cent who bought computer games. “Riding on the back of Bollywood, movies and music are an integral part of an Indian’s media consumption,” says Vatsala Pant, Associate Director, Client Solutions, Nielsen Company.

Playing video games on a computer or portable phone device is preferred to playing on a gaming console. It is interesting to note that in an age of Internet access through mobile phones, the number of Indian respondents, who had a non-video or web-enabled mobile (67 per cent) in their house, was greater compared to respondents who had a videoenabled or web-enabled mobile (36 per cent).

—Shamni Pande