Analyst: Fraction Of Console Owners Using Video Capabilities

How important is DVD/BD video playback to console owners? According to new research by The Diffusion Group, though 80 percent of console owners have the option, only 30 percent realized it was part of its feature set, and only 13 percent actually utilize it - more stats inside. The new report, 'On the Use of Game Consoles for Movie Viewing', which surveyed 2000 U.S. homes, says that 74 percent of households rely solely on standalone DVD players for watching movies, while a quarter have gone online to purchase or rent digital movie downloads. Looking more widely at the research results, the report found that approximately half of U.S. broadband households have at least one game console, with 15 percent owning more than one. The study found that just over half of those that own consoles keep them in the living room, compared to just under a quarter in a second bedroom, and 21 percent in a den or game room. As above, only 30 percent of DVD-capable console owners said that the console they owned even allowed for DVD playback, a fact, says Diffusion Group "that demonstrates how poorly many consumers understand the capabilities of today’s game consoles and a major barrier to persuading consumers to start using these platforms for non-gaming media consumption." Finally, the group says that 42 percent of those console owners that have their consoles connected to the internet have watched an 'internet-based movie' on their TV. Said report author Dale Gilliam III, “Today’s next-generation games consoles such as the Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 are true digital multimedia powerhouses. Yet very few of these devices are connected to the Internet and, even though these same platforms may feature a high-definition DVD playback system, very few consumers are using them for non-gaming media applications.”