E3 Expo is undeniably the largest geek-fest of video gamers, industry, and entertainment players in the world. Each summer, the industry comes in for a lofty landing in downtown Los Angeles complete with giant press conferences, staged performances, sold-out video gaming release parties, and various celebs that suddenly seem to be into gaming and are present to pimp their latest franchise. Even though E3 Expo has been scaled back since the behemoth booths of yesterday (circa 2005-6 when dropping a couple of million on a booth that took weeks to build was common), the event still attracts the big hitters and scores of industry insiders, particularly now, movie producers and directors of films and TV looking for the next big idea which many believe is coming from gaming (as well as related cousins cartoons and manga).

Much was revealed from July 14-20 as the expo took, starting off with the “big 3” meaning Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, whom each hosted huge press conferences in consecutive days of the show. Other big conferences came from EA, Ubisoft, and others as new, usually sequeled video game releases were announced and previewed.

At the same time, Label Networks put together some fresh data on the trends in gaming -that’s playing more now than they were 6 months ago, and where the market’s headed with new gamers.

In this story, first we give you a quick recap of what went down from E3 Expo, followed by the state of the industry from a consumer perspective of 13-25-year-olds.

E3 Expo Wrap-up:

  • Xbox 360 announced collaboration with Netflix, so basically now, you can get access to 11,000 different Netflix movies downloadable via your Xbox 360 (in case you don’t want to download it via your computer or something).
  • Nintendo Wii released more from their Sports Resort set including games ranging from swordfighting to Frisbee throwing, to the much-hyped Animal Crossing: City Folk game and new Shaun White Snowboarding. Yes, Shaun was there, on stage demonstrating how to play the game like a skater-snowboarder.
  • Rock Band 2 was released which is sure to be a big hit. These guys also have a massive tent as a top sponsor currently out on with the Vans Warped Tour.
  • AT&T and EA have collaborated with Spore Origins game so starting September 4th, you can play Spore via your cell phone or for AT&T high-speed internet customers.
  • Girls are Gamers Too! The female-factor made some headway as Nintendo announced that 52% of the Nintendo DS owners are females. This is a first, which as Cammie Dunaway from Nintendo pointed out, means “there is clearly a “new” market for game publishers and developers” (see Label Networks’ reports on female gamers, The Sims, via search). Nintendo has sold over 70 million Nintendo DS portables and forecasts 100 million by the end of March, 2009.


However when it comes to who’s actually playing video games, what’s interesting to note is that it’s not always the hyped-up demographic that most people think. In this story, we take a look at fresh data based on the question, “E3 Expo Wraps-up while Label Networks Reveals Video Gaming Patterns among 13-25-year-olds in North America.”

For Premium subscribers, more information will be available next month in Label Network’s upcoming “Digital Youth Culture Lifestyle Report 2008” revealing top gaming preferences, titles, platforms, and other entertainment factors. Email info@labelnetworks.com ; (323) 630-4000 for information.