Segment 2:  22-35 Year Olds

This segment accounts for about 25% of the market.  They live in a world where they are beginning their careers and have more disposable income.  Many still live at home, but a larger majority share low cost ‘student’ type accommodations with friends of their own age group.  With few claims on their time and income, they are able to spend as much time as they want playing games as a kind of “stress reducer” from the combined tension and (possible) boredom of their first jobs.  The gender split of girls to boys is 30:70.

Price is not as important to this segment as it is for the younger one, and they are willing to spend money on a quality console, especially if the console has other multi-media add-ons; this saves them from having to buy a DVD player, a CD player and a media box separately.

One of the most important drivers of choice for this segment is the sophistication of the gaming experience.  After having grown up in the video gaming age, they are not interested in ‘retro’ as far as technology goes!  They want faster, better, and more complicated.  Their minds have been weaned on gaming strategies, and the more complicated and quicker the gaming environment, the better.

However, they are not as demanding on the graphics front.  Although the appeal of very lifelike scenarios is big, often they are as yet unable to afford a display device (e.g. a medium-to-large LCD or Plasma television) to match the sophistication of the graphics that their console produces.

The controller, however, is their master weapon.  The more sophisticated the controller, the better.  Sophistication is offered through the number of buttons and the way the functionality of these buttons changes at different phases of the game.  The best controllers are also wireless, enabling the gamer to roam freely around a room or studio apartment while being able to game constantly …  stand up, shoot monster, open fridge, shoot baddy, open drink, shoot monster, pour drink, shoot baddy, sit down, shoot monster.  Finally, ‘rumbling’ controllers are very appealing to this group – the rumble effect and the sounds that it can make all contribute to the realism of the virtual escape world for this segment.

Audio sophistication is also not a primary driver of choice for this segment, since they have limited space, live in dense accommodation and have to try and be considerate to others.  They may well use headphones in which case stereo sound is sufficient.  When the cost of a good home cinema speaker system drops well below $100, this segment will buy one and they would like their gaming console to be able to offer a great sound.

Multi-media add-ons are very important for this group.  If their gaming console doubles as a CD player (together with the ability to download songs to their MP3 player) and a DVD player, along with providing internet connectivity and the ability to stream videos from the internet, then they are quite happy.  A few from this segment may require an HD player – however, this is not a paramount requirement.

Online support is quite important to this group and they expect to receive a reply which solves the problem within 24 hours.

Along with the sophistication of the gaming experience and of the controller, the most important factor for this group is the online community.  They may have moved to another town, or moved away from their friends and familiar neighborhood, and so the virtual community becomes their new extended network of ‘family and friends’.