Segment 3:  36+ Years Olds

This segment accounts for about 25% of the market.  They are the aging gamers who grew up with the industry. They refuse to grow old and remember those bygone times when all they had to answer to were themselves.  These gamers may have families and much more disposable income to spend on ‘toys’.    They already have, or aspire to have, a home cinema system.  This segment is predominantly male, with the gender split being 85:15 men to women.

This segment is not price sensitive at all.  Since they are working hard and spending most of their earnings on their family, buying something for themselves  for once feels justified.  They are looking for something good, not a bargain.

They are willing to pay, and so the sophistication of the gaming experience is very important to them.

However, the most important thing for them is the sophistication of the graphics.   Visual appeal is everything to this segment.  The gaming console must match the performance of their high-end DVD and HD Video players.  Scenarios must have depth and accurate visual detail, and the movement of the characters must be smooth and realistic.

Controller sophistication is not particularly important for this segment.  They found the controllers they learned on (some 25 years earlier) to be quite adequate for their needs and, with so much else happening in their lives, they appreciate the simplicity and familiarity of these.

Audio sophistication is very important.  Since games are using better and better sound effects to mimic dramatic explosions, often with surround sound echoes, being able to reproduce this in a home cinema is very important.  This segment has spent the money on a good sound system and now they want to make it pay for itself!

This segment is not at all driven by game consoles with multiple multimedia add-ons.  In fact, the stand-alone equipment which they have is far more sophisticated than any available on a gaming console.  All they want is the game player itself – they are indifferent to the rest of the multi-media capability and will never use it.

Although they are experienced gamers and do not require much help, they are used to pushing equipment to its limit and from time to time may have an odd technical question.  Since they have money, they are used to obtaining a high level of service and are able to pay that bit extra to be at the front of the queue. They thus expect very rapid replies to any queries which they may have.

Online gaming was never part of their gaming experience when they grew up, although they are now relatively sophisticated internet users.  However, their internet usage is not socially driven, apart from the few e-mails to family and distant friends.  They use the internet to buy and sometimes sell goods and services.  Their interest in online gaming is very low, but it is increasing slowly.