Core gamers game for on average 18 hours a week, according to US stat tracking company NPD.

They bought an average of 5.4 games over the last three months, NPD said in a new report.

The report claims digital gamers, which are different to core gamers, are catching core gamers up. Digital gamers spend 16 hours a week gaming, and bought an average of 5.9 games for any system or device over the past three months.

So, how did NPD come up with its numbers?

It collected data from February to March this year from 8214 respondents aged two and above. The data is weighted and representative of the US population ages two and older, NPD said.

But how does it define core gamers? And how does it define digital gamers? It doesn't say.

We do know core gamers represent the highest number of gamers (23 per cent), though, followed by family and kid gamers (22 per cent), then "avid PC gamers" and "light PC gamers, both of which claim 15 per cent.

Mobile gamers and digital Gamers bring up the rear.

"The name of the game in 2011 seems to be choice," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said.

"Gamers are increasingly branching out to methods of play other than those that the industry has traditionally expected them to use.

"Fuelled by the growth of smartphones and new tablet devices, mobile gaming continues to accelerate, and what a game is and what it means to be a gamer is evolving, reflecting the rapid nature of change within the industry."

Which type of gamer are you?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...urs-a-week-npd ...

Gabe Newell pleased with new console’s graphics performance
Nintendo’s next-generation console is powerful enough for Valve to consider as a platform to release content on, the studio’s co-founder has said.
Speaking at the Games for Change Festival in New York, Newell said, compared to the original Wii, it is “a lot easier to look at Wii U and have it fit within our [game development] framework”.
"Wii U seems to be a lot more powerful than the previous generation," Newell told Joystiq.
"It sort of fits better into the scalability in terms of graphics performance and CPU performance, so I think it'll be a lot easier for us to fit it into our scalability model."
Develop understands that Nintendo would need to dramatically improve its online services for Valve to seriously consider building games on the platform.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-U-development ...

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has finally said the words we all wanted to hear: "We want to create a real HD Zelda game for [Wii U]."

Sure, Nintendo showed off a Zelda HD tech demo running on Wii U at E3 this month, but it made a point of repeatedly stating none of the software on show represented real games.

That statement may be true, in that an eventual Zelda release may not look anything like the demo (remember that start difference between the Zelda GameCube tech demo at Spaceworld 2000 and the final look of Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker that came after it).

Nevertheless, it's official. "[Wii U] is an HD system, our first HD system, and we want to create a real HD Zelda game for it," said Miyamoto.

"You will see a lot of these in-depth and deep experiences in terms of visual style. You will also see some play styles that are fun and interesting because of the play structure," he added.

Fingers crossed it'll look just like the hyper-detailed demo we saw if not better.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that cost considerations mean that the Wii U may not be significantly more powerful than either the 360 or the PS3 - instead insisting that a balance must be struck between price and performance.

Speaking in a new interview with website GameSpot, Miyamoto again focused on the importance of the controller to the appeal of Nintendo's new machine - seemingly indicating that the company would again be avoiding a confrontation in terms of raw computational power.

"When you look at what we're trying to do this time, which is I think maybe to a certain degree somewhat reckless, because we're trying to include this somewhat kind of tablet-like device - this controller with the screen," said the producer.

"We're trying to do that by finding the right balance between the CPU and the GPU, the graphics processor, and bringing all of that together with the ability to take advantage of the HD capabilities of the system, and wanting to do the most that we can on that front as well.

"We're very sensitive, of course, to trying to do all of this at an appropriate price. So I don't know that we would be able to sit here and say that it's going to necessarily dramatically outperform the systems that are out now. It's part of the balance that we strike in terms of trying to find entertainment that is new and unique."

Miyamoto also insisted that the iPad was not a direct influence on the Wii U controller, describing its similarity to tablets in general as a "coincidence".

"Even at this point last year at E3, we had done a lot of work on this, and it was pretty far along, and we had been working on the concept for several years," he said. "And so we felt it was kind of a funny coincidence that, while we had been working on this, all of a sudden right as we're getting ready to bring it to the public, there's this tablet boom."

"From a kind of a visual point and an initial kind of conceptual starting point, the two seem similar, [but] because of the unique structure of the console and the new controller and the TV, that when people start playing with it and interacting with it, especially in the living room, they're going to find that it opens up a great deal more possibilities," he added.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...an-current-gen ...

Nintendo will launch its next home console after April 2012.

Nintendo USA boss Reggie Fils-Aime revealed the launch window on US TV show Jimmy Fallon while demonstrating the Wii U.

Wii U, announced at E3, comes with a wireless controller that has a touch-screen built in. It marks Nintendo's first foray into HD gaming.

Nintendo is yet to announce specifications, leading to speculation around the Wii U's power.

We do know Nintendo plans to send out updated hardware either this month or next month to publishers, which should give developers a better idea of what they're working with.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ter-april-2012 ...

Continuing his week of video game-themed coverage, Jimmy Fallon played host to Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime last night. Check out the video below to see The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in action, and to hear Reggie talk up the Wii U, which will apparently launch "in 2012, after April."

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/18/re...i-u-coming-af/ ...

Nintendo's tablet-esque Wii U controller raised a few questions when it was announced at E3. Questions like, "What kind of crazy games are going to use that thing," and "How much will a second controller cost me?" The latter, at least, has been answered. Nothing. You don't need one. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata recently said in an interview that games enlisting more than one Wii U controller aren't being considered just yet -- although they are possible. Our very own Ittousai tells us that Iwata told Diamond Online that the Wii U can technically support multiple screen-controllers, but that additional slabs would be too expensive to sell on their own. Iwata went on to say that the console would ship with only one, and that game developers should design titles under the assumption that each console will use a single Wii U controller. Player two will have to settle for a good 'ol Wiimote, and even Satoru himself admits that there are plenty of those around.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/18/n...bs-player-two/ ...

Gary Dunn, SEGA's MD of development, has revealed that new dev kits for Nintendo's Wii U will be on their way to developers either this month or next, but is still uncertain as to how powerful those units will be.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Dunn said that his team is pleased with the performance of current kits, but refused to be drawn on comparisons with current-gen hardware, instead highlighting the fact that the platform will offer studios a "different" approach to development.

"It's still a little early," Dunn told Eurogamer. "There's another generation of prototype hardware coming out in June or July that's going to give us more information." As a "very early doors" assessment, Dunn offered that "we're finding it to be quite powerful."

"We've certainly found it easier to get prototypes up and running on next-gen definition visuals, so we're quite pleased with it," added Dunn.

"Given the fact that one of our graphics engineers ported something across very quickly I would say the answer to [having easily understandable architecture] has got to be yes."

It had already been suggested that the technical specifications of the kits which developers are already in possession of are likely to change, with final systems likely to offer parity with 360 and PS3 at the very least.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-next-6-weeks ...

The Wii U's unusual feature set is causing brainache within EA Sports, label boss Peter Moore has revealed.

Speaking in an interview with Gamasutra, Moore explained that his teams were very excited about the new platform but unsure how to best leverage the tech in its games.

"My dev teams - their heads are exploding, in a good way and a bad way," he said.

"How do we look at this new technology? We don't just want to bolt this on; this has to be relevant to the sports gamer."

Moore insisted he was a big fan of Nintendo's new system, stating, "once again, Nintendo is putting a different spin on things, showing that it's not all about graphic fidelity and processing power.

"In the world of sports, our minds are racing as to how we can bring a sports game to life in a unique way."

He gave one example of how its sports titles might use the controller - calling plays in a Madden game via the pad's touch screen would be "kind of a no-brainer for us."

He also hailed Nintendo's apparent focus on luring third parties back into core development for the platform, following the first party focus it favoured with past machines.

"We love the fact [Wii U] is high def, that Nintendo has a renewed focus on building online communities. Nintendo adds that kind of outlier mentality that is a very different take on what the industry needs, and more power to them," he says.

EA Sports hasn't officially confirmed any games for the system just yet, but hinted to Eurogamer last week that FIFA could well be a launch title.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-for-ea-sports ...