Most Gamers Haven't Heard of Natal or Move

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
17,672
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Most Gamers Haven't Heard of Natal or Move


Worrying news for Microsoft and Sony, as a survey shows that most gamers haven't heard of their new motion controls.

Do you have an opinion about Natal [http://www.amazon.com/Project-Natal-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1276253992&sr=8-1] and Move [http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Move-Controller-3/dp/B002I0J51U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1276254019&sr=1-1]? Well, it turns out that you're in the minority, at least according to a survey by research company Nielsen [http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/gamers-await-motion-control-systems-from-microsoft-and-sony-at-e3/].

Nielsen asked 2,400 active gamers whether they were aware of Natal and Move, and the results showed that less than a quarter of those asked were aware of the motion controls. Move slightly beat Natal in terms of awareness, with 23% of those polled being aware of Move, against 21% that knew about Natal.

"Gamer" is a broad term however, so Nielsen removed those polled who didn't play on the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 to see what awareness was like amongst the target audience for each controller. The numbers improved quite significantly, peaking at 42% for Move amongst PS3 owners, with Natal slightly behind at 39% amongst 360 owners.

There was some good news for Microsoft though, as gamers who had heard of Natal were more likely to buy it, although the numbers were still low, only 35% amongst gamers in general, and 42% of Xbox 360 gamers.

As disappointing as these numbers might look, it's important to remember that there's been hardly marketing for either controller yet. Gamers who keep up with gaming news are actually the minority, and when commercials start appearing on TV, expect awareness to go up sharply.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5560792/most-people-dont-even-know-project-natal-exists]



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Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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If Gamer includes those shut ins who play Call of Duty non stop, then this is understandable.

Oh wait, my friends want me on COD now...

Calumon: Forget that, your playlist just hit Styx!
 

elexis

just another guy
Mar 17, 2009
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This is the only website where I have heard anything about the natal or move, there have been no advertisements on tv or though gaming retail stores. Did someone forget to hire a marketing team?
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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Jack and Calumon said:
If Gamer includes those shut ins who play Call of Duty non stop, then this is understandable.
Not to mention the Halo-ites on 360, too.

But I'm shocked at the 360 numbers. The 360 dashboard videos are whoring it out every week.
 

LavaLampBamboo

King of Okay
Jun 27, 2008
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Jack and Calumon said:
If Gamer includes those shut ins who play Call of Duty non stop, then this is understandable.

Oh wait, my friends want me on COD now...

Calumon: Forget that, your playlist just hit Styx!
Yes, I worry that gamers may include 13 year olds who only consider COD a game and everything else to be faggery.

OT; I think that this won't matter. I'm sure the marketing department will kick into overdrive when it's closer to the release date.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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I've heard about them, and am really not interested in them. We've been through the age of gimmicks, how about the games companies maturing in themselves and actually challenging Ebert's ridiculous notion?
 

Cpt_Oblivious

Not Dead Yet
Jan 7, 2009
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
I've heard about them, and am really not interested in them. We've been through the age of gimmicks
Exactly what he said. The Wii already proved that any motion control won't live up to expectations or hype so get back to making good games for the tried and tested controllers.
 

Crazy_Bird

New member
Oct 21, 2009
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I have not heard of research company Nielsen either.

Though I am not sure how Natal or Move will evolve during their life time I embrace the prospect that this technology is innovative and might bring us closer to the holo deck in the (distant?) future. So let's hope for the best.
 

OmegaXIII

New member
Jun 26, 2009
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My guess is that a good number of those gamers don't give a crap about either one. I would like to forward myself as a member of said group.
 

Jandau

Smug Platypus
Dec 19, 2008
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See, this is a prime example of a poorly constructed survey and/or flawed interpretation of the results.

Most gamers DID hear about Natal and Move, they just decided to repress the memory...
 

Mako SOLDIER

New member
Dec 13, 2008
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2400 gamers? That's hardly a substantial sample. Heck, they could easily all be people who consider themselves gamers because they bought a Wii and a copy of My Horse and Me. You know, the kind of 'gamers' that think that a ZX Spectrum is the scientific term for a rainbow.
 

luvd1

New member
Jan 25, 2010
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Well since neither have show anything WORTH talking about I'm not surpriced s at all. In fact nether have shown anything really. One made up family and virtual pedo boy from Microsoft isn't going to make anyone want to mention it.
 
Jun 13, 2009
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Please say they will take this complete disinterest not as a challenge to improve marketing, but as a reason to scrap these awful ideas for good.

While I hate to quote Yahtzee, since it's done to death and beyond on this site (and increasingly so everywhere else now he's popular), he really is correct when he says that until motion controls have physical feedback they aren't any good.

Prancing around in front of my television just gets annoying. This was proven by the EyeToy.