JPR predicts PC gaming hardware will reach $27 Billion in 2010
According to Jon Peddie Research, PC gaming hardware will reach $27 Billion in 2010 and the results are (of course) better than previously expected. The worldwide PC gaming hardware market (which includes PC systems, accessories, and upgrades) is forecasted to gain $1.2 billion for 2009, which is a 5.9% increase versus 2008 (from $20.07 to $21.26 billion). The increase is due to higher than anticipated consumer demand for enthusiast, performance, and mainstream hardware - strongly influenced by the ability to play video games.
Due to what JPR says, significant growth across all major markets in the worldwide PC gaming hardware sector are expected to climb 30 percent in 2010. Senior Video Game Industry Analyst at JPR, Ted Pollak, credits this growth to a number of key factors:
“The largest influence on the high forecasted growth rate is due to purchasing delays for systems and upgrades in 2008/2009 as consumers circled the wagons and took a conservative position on discretionary spending. A recovering economy, processing advancements, and higher quality gaming offerings will all contribute to a healthy year for PC gaming hardware in 2010.”
“The PC gaming market continues to be the high growth, and technological leader for home entertainment. With Windows 7 and DirectX 11, advanced and exciting physics, and stereovision capabilities, the PC platform is far and away the most advanced,” noted Jon Peddie President of Jon Peddie Research. “And, the PC has the added advantage that when not used for gaming, it can be used for more practical purposes, and/or as a media center.”
The data comes from the Worldwide PC Gaming Hardware Market report series by Jon Peddie Research. It comes in three very expensive flavors: Enthusiast, Performance, and Mainstream versions, with each version selling for $5,000 and the set of three for $12,000. Find out more about it by visiting www.jonpeddie.com.
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Health Games Research gets $1.85 million grant for 9 projects
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has given a $1.85 million grant to the Health Games Research to research game-based health intervention solutions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is an organization dedicated to improvinge the health and health care by helping Americans lead healthier lives and getting the care they need. Health Games Research is a national program that funds research to advance the effectiveness of digital games and game technologies intended to improve health. It does this by doing research, creating technology and teaming with developers from around the country. It is headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The grant will help fund research on 9 different projects, with each receiving $100,000 - $300,000 USD; enough for a one to two year study per project. The 9 research projects were chosen from 185 different proposals. Among them are projects to help Parkinson’s patients reduce the risk of falling using Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution game, a mobile phone game with breath interference to help smokers quit or reduce their tobacco use, facial recognition games for use with helping autism patients identify emotions, and a game project to reduce obesity rates in high school students using EA Sports Active game on Wii. All of these projects will focus on what the program describes as “diverse population groups.”
Personally, I applaud these kinds of efforts. On a related note, check out Steve Steinberg’s most recent Health Meter column, where he puts a spotlight on AbleGamers.
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Virtual Iraq: treating posttraumatic stress disorder with video games
Can a realistic war game help treat the stresses of real war in a soldier? That the debate going on in the country right now about a game being used to do just that called Virtual Iraq. Because video games are a comfortable medium for many, using a game like Virtual Iraq to treat war-related posttraumatic stress disorder seems like a perfect fit. On the flip side, many are not comfortable with the idea of undergoing traditional psychological treatment to deal with the very serious issues was can produce in returning soldiers.
The game is part of Virtually Better, which is run by Josh Spitalnick, PhD, The group developed “Virtual Iraq” and several other virtual reality games to treat posttraumatic stress disorder via a two-year open clinical trial of 20 participants funded by the Office of Naval Research. The program is showing positive results but more rigorous testing is needed to fully understand the advantages or disadvantages of using games as a treatment method.
Gaming has a lot of nonclinical benefits because it is widely accepted by younger generations, relatively low cost and easily accessible.
Robbi Saletsky, PhD, clinical associate professor and director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program for Depression and Anxiety Disorders at Upstate Medical University in Rochester, N.Y., is conducting one of the 15 studies using Virtual Iraq around the country. Saletsky said she has found similar virtual reality programs to be successful because they open up options to a population that might not respond well to traditional exposure-method treatments that rely on the patient’s imagination.
And in a separate study set beginning next year, the U.S. Air Force for will also use virtual reality treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder at its Lackland base in San Antonio.
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Galactic Arms Race: changing content generation in online games
An interesting game experiment by the Evolutionary Complexity Research Group (EPlex for short) at the University of Central Florida is showing how content can be automatically generated in an online game. The experiment, a prototype game called Galactic Arms Race (or GAR), generates weapons all on its own based on user preference.
Galactic Arms Race lets players payers pilot a gunship from one of three alien factions in the galaxy. As the game progresses players earn levels, new skills and more powerful weapon systems. But the real interesting part of this multiplayer space shooter is cgNEAT (content-generating NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies), a spaceship weapon systems that automatically evolves based on player behavior through a specialized version of the NEAT evolutionary algorithm. New variations of weapons that players like are continually created and recreated by the game itself. Because of this the game is always changing.
The developers call it “Space Diablo“, offering real-time combat, particle system weapons, and RPG-style leveling and skill trees.
A video showing off exactly what this means and how it affects ongoing gameplay can be found below , but you would do well to download this neat little experiment from gar.eecs.ucf.edu.
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Games Boost Mental Skills in Seniors, Says Research
A recent study conducted by University of Illinois psychology professor Arthur Kramer found that playing Rise of Nations helped adults age 60 - 70 with cognitive skills such as task switching, memory retention and reasoning skills. The study tested two groups age 60 to 70. One group played around 23 and half hours of Rise of Nations, while the other group didn’t. Both groups were then tested in a variety of ways to test their mental acumen.
The group that played the game scored higher than those that did not in a number of areas, particularly in activities with an entire group. The results also showed that the gamer group short-term visual memory, object identification, faster task switching abilities, improved working memory and reasoning ability.
While this research is only the tip of the iceberg, it is good to hear that some researchers are using games in a constructive way, as opposed to scapegoating them for ill behavior that has yet to be successfully proven in any study of merit. It would be interesting to see how the data would be different in other age groups.
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Guitar Hero World Tour Used in Research Initiative
Video games and drumming … all in the name of science? That’s the word coming out of the UK this morning. The Clem Burke Drumming Project, a unique scientific research collaboration between Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Dr. Marcus Smith from the University of Chichester, and Dr. Steve Draper from the University of Gloucestershire, has today announced a year-long collaborative research project which will examine the potential benefits of using the drum kit from Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour.
The Clem Burke Drumming Project was first created with the purpose of using science to research the possible health and psychological benefits of people involved in drumming. For example, the project’s recently released first wave of findings found that professional drummers had a heart rate profile similar to professional football players and expended a significant amount of energy. Physiological tests included the measurement of heart rate, oxygen uptake and blood lactate in rehearsal tests and monitoring heart rate and blood lactate during live stage performances.
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GfK Takes Control of ChartTrack
GfK Group has bought a controlling interest in UK retail sales data tracker ChartTrack, according to published reports. The GfK Group has bought 46 percent of ChartTrack’s shares, adding to the nine percent stake the company already held. With this controlling interest in the group a new entity is being formed called GfK ChartTrack Limited
ELSPA, the UK trade organization for the interactive entertainment industry is pretty comfortable with the deal. The group has said in other published reports that the UK sales data firm will continue in its current activities unabated. ELSPA holds a 45 percent stake in ChartTrak along with the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).
ChartTrack collects sales data in the United Kingdom for both video games and music and has done so rather successfully since its formation in 1996.
The games we're pulling together in this feature won't appear on any of those best-of lists and get confused looks when you mention them in conversation. Just because time has forgotten these titles, though, doesn't mean you should forget them, too.
According to Jon Peddie Research, PC gaming hardware will reach $27 Billion in 2010 and the results are (of course) better than previously expected. The worldwide PC gaming hardware market (which includes PC systems, accessories, and upgrades) is forecasted to gain $1.2 billion for 2009, which is a 5.9% increase versus 2008 (from $20.07 to $21.26 billion). The increase is due to higher than anticipated consumer demand for enthusiast, performance, and mainstream hardware - strongly influenced by the ability to play video games.
The 
Can a realistic war game help treat the stresses of real war in a soldier? That the debate going on in the country right now about a game being used to do just that called Virtual Iraq. Because video games are a comfortable medium for many, using a game like Virtual Iraq to treat war-related posttraumatic stress disorder seems like a perfect fit. On the flip side, many are not comfortable with the idea of undergoing traditional psychological treatment to deal with the very serious issues was can produce in returning soldiers.
Video games and drumming … all in the name of science? That’s the word coming out of the UK this morning. The Clem Burke Drumming Project, a unique scientific research collaboration between Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Dr. Marcus Smith from the University of Chichester, and Dr. Steve Draper from the University of Gloucestershire, has today announced a year-long collaborative research project which will examine the potential benefits of using the drum kit from Activision’s 