NPD online gaming report shows Solitaire still dominates WOW and Xbox Live is King!

The NPD Group has released Online Gaming 2007: The Virtual Landscape, which is a marketing report containing statistics pertinent to the growing field of online gaming. It is a statistical breakdown of who's playing what online when and on what devices. The information contained in the report is of vital importance to game, console and PC developers who will use the information for formulating future strategies for maximizing revenues.

For gamers it is interesting to see exactly what types of games are the most popular online and it might reveal some interesting future online gaming trends.

Their research indicates that 62% of all gamers play online games. You may have expected MMO's like World of Warcraft to be the number one genre of online game, but the fact is MMO's are not even second. The top dog of internet games is still casual card, puzzle, arcade, and word games, which represented 44% of the online games available across all platforms. Meanwhile, family oriented games made up 25% of the share while MMO games of all types held only 19%.

According to the NPD's research, 42% of all online gamers are female, which may account for the high popularity of casual games genres. In addition, the report also reveals that the majority of online gamers fall within the bracket of middle income ($35,000~$75,000) households.

In terms of the most popular gaming consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has solitary control over the top spot, with the highest percentage of actual online use at 54%. However, owners of the Nintendo Wii may be the most internet savvy, as 76% of Wii owners surveyed are connected to the internet. The percentage of connectivity for the other two next-gen consoles hovers at around 70%.

While Nintendo Wii owners may have the highest percentage of internet connections, they aren't spending most of their time online with their Wii's. According to NPD's data, Xbox 360 users spend the most amount of time online, with an average of approximately 7.1 hours per week. The PS3 came in second at 6.1 hours a week, while PC/Mac users spent about 5.8. All other connected consoles amounted to less than four hours a week of online playing time.

If you think about it, none of this seems very surprising to me except maybe the amount of Wii owners with an internet connection. Otherwise, I would always expect casual games to dominate the online PC gaming space. People have a lot more opportunities for playing those types of games during the work week than they do to sit down and waste 4 or 5 hours playing WOW. Xbox Live is the best console online gaming platform available so it dominates the Console online space.

Girls Gamers: They exist and are growing

I've noticed over the past year while playing Gears of War and Ghost Recon 2 and even Counter-strike online, I've been meeting a lot more female gamers playing the games traditionally only thought to be enjoyed by guys. These ladies aren't just fodder for sexist comments either, some of them kick some serious jibooty.

Amber Dalton is a member of PMS Clan, a professional gaming clan comprised completely of women that had been competing for over 5 years. In an interview with Steven Wong of GameDaily, Amber shares her insights into competitive gaming, the role women have in gaming and the responsibility girl gamers have to attract more women to gaming.

It is very easy to maintain anonymity while gaming, but that is not the way Amber sees it. When asked how important it is for more female gamers to step out and become known, she had this to say:

(Amber) I say greatly. While some women want to be known as a "gamer" and not a "girl gamer," I do not agree. Until women are common representatives in gaming, we need to represent greater diversity in gaming. We owe it to other women to help blaze a path that will make it easier for future women in gaming to follow. Take pride in who you are, don’t hide it. The same can be said for people like Rafik "Lost Cauze" Bryant, one of the only top African American male gamers in the PC community. To me, he has a greater responsibility than his male counterparts in the fact he needs to provide a good example for minority pro gamers. He seems to take that responsibility very well, and I think he is a wonderful representative for all gamers.

It is a short interview, but it gives some insight into the minds of female gamers. With the numbers of female gamers growing each day, as men playing these games we need to recognize the value women can bring to our gaming experience in terms of skill and community.

Guitar Hero 3 will feature online multiplayer

Speaking to Pro-G, Kai Huang, President and Co-Founder of RedOctane, has confirmed that the upcoming Guitar Hero 3 will feature online play.

So, the one feature that Xbox 360 Guitar Hero fans have been wishing for will be coming eventually. It is possible online multiplayer may be added to the 360 version of Guitar Hero 2, though nothing has been confirmed at this point.

You won't have to wait very long to get your online rock fix. Guitar Hero 3 is scheduled for release on all major platforms this winter and is in development at Neversoft.

Motorstorm with your friends - Online anyway

The Motorstorm patch that hit the Playstation store last night adds friends list functionality to the game. While I'm glad to see Sony patching games (Resistance got a patch this week also) how could they allow a racing game, or any online game for that fact, to be released without a friend's list feature? Would it really be all that difficult for Sony to require developers to meet some very basic online standards before putting a game on store shelves?

What I find even more disturbing in the case of Motorstorm is the fact that it has NO offline multiplayer game. So, if your buddies come over and want to splash some mud in your face, they'll have to go home and meet you online. I can't remember ever playing a racing game that didn't allow split screen racing.

It makes me wonder, did they leave out split screen racing because they were pressured to release the game (even though it was already delayed) or is the PS3 simply not powerful enough to support split screen racing in Motorstorm?

Video Interview - SCEA's David Karraker talks Home

While at GDC, Sony of America's David Karraker was (cornered) interviewed by Gametrailers. He discusses Sony's (microtransaction) online strategy HOME, Little Big Planet and Killzone 2.

Watch the interview below.

Griefers: knowing your enemy

If you play online games, even if you 've never heard the term "griefer", you've likely met one. A griefer is a player who enters a game or chatroom with the sole intent of disrupting or ruining every one else's game.

Spouting constant profanity or racial epithets, saluting Hitler, insulting other players or simply interrupting an otherwise harmonious gaming experience, you know the griefer when you meet him (I say him because I've yet to encounter a female griefer in 10+ years of online gaming).

GamePro's Sid Vicious (the irony is not lost on us) spoke with a psychiatrist about the griefer phenomenon in an effort to learn more about what motivates griefer behavior. No report as to whether or not Sid plans to schedule a later appointment for himself.

The pyschiatrist sites many plausible reasons, including a misguided desire to lead, but we're gonna stick with our reasoning that griefers only do what they do from loneliness caused by a general lack of social skills combined with a vitamin D deficiency from underexposure to sunlight.