Go to a retailer like Target early some morning, and you’ll likely find a group of non-employees waiting to be let in. When the doors open, a race to the electronics department ensues, and the cashiers get busy. So since gamers are so willing to spend money, two new reports take a look at where their interests lie.
Let’s talk about in-use operating systems first. According to Steam’s latest monthly hardware survey, XP dominates. Its market share, though down a bit since October, remains more than twice the size of what Vista has captured. And PC-imposed restrictions appear to have little to do with the state of things, as dual- and quad-core machines were common in Steam’s sample.
Steam Hardware Survey Results
If Microsoft doesn’t manage to make Windows 7 something special, the company appears ready to encounter a rather serious problem.
Then there’s the matter of searches for game consoles. Microsoft’s doing a bit better in this regard – Hitwise says its Xbox 360 ranks third with a share of 15.6 percent. Sony sweeps up the next four spots with the Playstation 3, PSP, PSP 3000, and Playstation 2.
But the real winner is Nintendo, with the Wii and DS Lite grabbing market shares of 36.7 and 26.4 percent, respectively. And sure enough, if you do some early-morning shopping, these products are what most of the rabid customers will be after, too.
