[Deepak]

Interesting!!!!!!!!!!

Link

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The majority of video game players who buy sports games do so because of advice from friends or other players, rather than expensive television or online advertising, according to a new survey released ahead of next week's huge E3 video game convention.

The 2003 Console Sports Survey, a poll of 4,742 responses compiled by industry newsletter GameDaily, found that only 4 percent of sports games buyers purchase a title primarily because of an athlete's endorsement. The two most popular sports in the survey were football and basketball.

Sports games are a major component of most publishers' product lineups, with some franchises, like Electronic Arts Inc.'s (Nasdaq:ERTS - news) "Madden NFL" series, virtually guaranteed to sell millions of units every year.

Three of the 20 best-selling games of 2002 were sports titles, according to the NPD Group.

Among features that buyers looked at in choosing a sports game, improved gameplay was ranked as the top reason to make a purchase, cited by 40 percent of buyers. That was followed by improved graphics at 37 percent and updated team rosters at 19 percent.

The majority of those polled buy two to three sports titles a year. Those buyers rated good trailers or demos of new games as the most influential factor in their purchase decision, followed by word-of-mouth advice and recommendations from friends.

TV commercials and online ads were the top influence for only 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of those polled.

[Johnny Awesome]

The survey is meaningless, since most people think they are immune to advertising when they actually aren't. EA knows what they're doing with their multi-million dollar ad campaigns.