Nielsen Media Research, well known for their television tracking systems, has decided that it’s now time to poll gamers as well.
The new Nielsen rating system will track and monitor game activity on consoles, and this will include the next gen game machines Wii, PS3 and the Xbox 360. Tracking data will include which games are played most frequently and the demographic information about the individuals participating in the program. In addition, the new program, named GamePlay Metrics, will also take note of internet trends by participants.
The statistical data will be used by advertisers to better understand the wants and needs of their audience and help them to direct their advertising dollars to the most popular games by using in-game ads.
Nielsen also plans on targeting GamePlay Metrics to the game industry as well. The data and information gathered by Nielsen could be used by game companies to see which types of games are successful and which ones are not. By determining the trends shown by the polled groups, game developers may have a better chance in cutting costs by strategically using the information gathered by Nielsen Media.
