While the damage inflicted by Irene varied by location, the loss of power was significant, widespread and affected millions. Talking to friends, neighbors, and reading Facebook posts revealed that outside of the true safety issues that the power outage presented, the loss of their ability to use many of their electronic devices was very much felt by the entire family. Parents tend to have a love and not-so-much love relationship with the electronics their kids use. We love them when they can keep them busy while traveling, or when they are distracting them from what is going on out in the world (like hurricanes), but we don’t love them as much when we need our kids to focus on homework or get chores done.

No matter how they make us feel, consumer electronics are a mainstay in kids’ lives — and it’s an area that is subject to rapid change, as the technology and devices themselves change. Our recent report, Kids and Consumer Electronics, 2011 Edition, takes an in-depth look at what devices kids ages 4 to 14 are using, how much time they’re spending with them, and what activities they engage in on their devices. We have conducted this study every year since 2005, and it’s fascinating to track the changes in kids’ interaction with their favorite gadgets. New to this year’s study is a question regarding expected replacement rate of various types of devices, which gives us new insight into turnover. At just under two years, cell phones showed the fastest expected replacement rate among all devices, while high definition televisions are expected to have the greatest longevity at nearly five years before expected replacement. This is great new information that can help with modeling and forecasting.

But what are kids doing with all these devices? It’s probably not surprising to learn that gaming is one of the most commonly enjoyed activities kids engage in across the gadget gamut. We plan to delve further into the content kids are consuming in our upcoming study, Kids and Entertainment Content, which we will release later this month.

It looks like I’ve caught a break in the rain – I’ve got to run out to get some batteries for my wireless keyboard.

Gamers can now tailor their gaming experience to their exact desires and, in doing so, have made the competition for their time and interest a more complex fight. Gamer Segmentation 2011 breaks gamers into six groups: Core Gamers, Digital Gamers, Mobile Gamers, Family & Kid Gamers, Avid PC Gamers, and Light PC Gamers. The report provides key findings on each group and enumerates everything from the cross-categorical gamer activity that has come to typify the industry (52 percent of mobile gamers are also gaming on a console system) to the evolving attitudes toward gaming (41 percent of mobile gamers report that they like the “mindless entertainment” that gaming provides).

This report helps paint the picture of modern gamers and how they currently spend their time and money. Those who make videogames are now faced with even more difficult questions that need clear-cut answers before the first character is sketched or the plotline is developed. The industry stakeholders who are most informed of gamers’ evolving habits will inevitably be able to adapt to their demands and continue to innovate beneficially in this space.

Why the delay as compared to point-of-sale results? Consumer research is more complex to conduct and analyze than point-of-sale, and since the Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend utilizes many different sources along with some inputs from data sharing partners, number crunching and expertise from our analyst team, and finally calibration with partners that participate in the various forms of digital distribution, is a time consuming process. While we continue in our digital retailer and first-party recruitment efforts with the goal of ultimately offering a full market point-of-sale service that includes both physical and digital formats, we believed it was important to start covering the broader market now, utilizing the other tools in our tool box, rather than to wait for point-of-sale to become a reality, in order to better serve our clients. We have invested heavily in our consumer research capabilities, moving some of our surveys, monitors, and trackers from a quarterly outgo to a monthly outgo with the goal of improving data quality and reducing the turnaround time on our quarterly estimates.

We will continue to report monthly on new physical retail sales as they still comprise the majority of the consumer spend on the industry, and it is one important barometer of industry performance. When weekend box office results are reported, no one would suggest that that is a measure of the entire revenues generated by the movie industry – but they are one leading indicator in the consumer demand for filmed entertainment. Likewise, new physical retail sales of games remain a critical piece of business for many in the industry.

Upon review, my entire decision-making process begged one simple but extremely important question: what motivates a digital games purchase decision? For me, it was the ability to extend my Dance Central experience with new music and moves. For my newly-minted teenage son, his desire to explore new areas with his online friends drove him to beg me for the new Black Ops map pack. NPD’s new Games Purchase Drivers 2010 provides an in-depth look at the market factors affecting digital games purchases while giving a comprehensive view of what impacts the entire game purchase decision-making process. With the growth of digital buyers comes a need to deliver reliable data on the composition of this expanding group. The “Spotlight on Digital” section reports in detail on the three main purchasing subgroups: digital-only, physical-only, and dual (digital and physical) game buyers. One-in-10 Americans ages 2+ have purchased a digital game in the past three months and we are committed to being the market research leader in analyzing the continued emergence of the digital buyer.

What motivated your last full game or DLC digital purchase?

Since new physical sales at retail have been down for some months now, the news that the industry is beleaguered has been widely covered, and it has caused unnecessary angst for many. So, while the monthly POS sales reporting still represents the majority of the consumer spend on the industry, we believe that by reducing our reporting on that portion of the market, and augmenting it with our new report, Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend, which looks at, and measures, the other avenues consumers are acquiring games content, we would provide a better, more comprehensive look at just how big the games industry is.

This new report covers not only what we’re best known for (our sales tracking of new physical retail purchases), but it adds coverage of consumer spending on used games, rentals, mobile apps, social network games, and digitally acquired content in the U.S. The pilot issue of this new report will be available later this month, but for some highlights you can read the press release we issued last week. The games industry is experiencing one of the most transformative periods in its rich history; new technologies and ways of gaming, new consumers being introduced to gaming, and new avenues of distribution all play major roles … and we’re excited to be evolving our coverage of the market to accommodate the industry.

Along about April, however, my participation with Cafe’ World and Farmville came to a screeching halt. Why? I was getting ready to move my family cross-country and simply didn’t have any time to waste (there, I’ve said it) on non-real-world activities. Besides, most of my neighbors had trailed off on their participation, and it just wasn’t as much fun sending gifts but getting few in return.

This whole phenomenon of social network gaming is the topic of our latest research report cleverly titled “Social Network Gaming,” and it explores in-depth this relatively new form of gaming that has introduced the world of video games to entirely new groups of people. Of all social network gamers, over a third indicated they had never played a game before. But that means that about 2/3 of social network gamers came from existing gamers, which debunks the theory that “real” gamers could never be interested in such simple games. In fact, I was just chatting with one of my nieces the other day. She’s interested in going into the games industry after she graduates from college, and is a pretty dedicated gamer - playing on everything from mobile phones to PCs to handhelds to consoles. In fact, she was telling me how much she is looking forward to playing Black Ops when it releases, but also told me about the time she spent playing Bubble Island while on the job. For her, the social aspects were meaningless - it was about how easy it was to access these games, and at certain locations, to pass time. Another existing gamer, my friend Tim (his name has been changed to protect his identity), is what I would call a core gamer through and through. His current obsession with Farmville, Mafia Wars, Vampire Wars, Castle Age, and Zynga’s Texas Hold ‘Em left a few of us scratching our heads, since we figured he’d never be the type to succumb to this new form of gaming. He mentions the achievements, the collections, and enjoying the fact that his level is higher than that of his neighbors (because he is more efficient at managing his farm) as similar to his experience on Xbox Live and Modern Warfare! He also doesn’t highlight the social aspects as driving his involvement, other than liking the cooperative nature of the gifting - but that is more about getting the collections and achievements than it is about being social.

Regardless, there is a lot that game developers can learn about the swift adoption of social network games. Whether they’re developing social network game titles or more traditional forms of games for other platforms, developers need to pay close attention to what makes these titles so attractive to gamers, and learn to apply this to their own games. Sure, it’s easy to say that a lot of the appeal comes from the fact that so many titles are free to play, but there is much more to it than that. Things happen beneath the surface that encourages someone to take money out of their wallets and pay for virtual items, or, conversely, make them leave out of boredom.

- March 2010 was the third best non-holiday month ever for the industry, behind March 2008 and June 2008

- Unit sales for all categories (hardware, software, accessories) were up over last March.  Only hardware saw a dollar sales decline due to falling average retail prices

- PS3 unit sales increased year-over-year for the eighth consecutive month

- The PS3 platform contributed the greatest revenue to the industry over all other platforms, driven by stellar software performance with four of the top 10 games for the month

- Eight of the top 10 SKUs for the month were new releases, which is a noticeable change in recent trends

- God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, all launched with significant unit sales growth over previous best-selling games in their respective franchises

And the list goes on.  While one month does not a marked improvement make, the success of the new title launches along with the increase in hardware unit sales combines to help boost industry spirits considerably.  That said,  we all have to acknowledge that video games are still going through a transformational time as digitally distributed content becomes a bigger focus for many publishers, and social network gaming (and other free gaming options) draws the attention of more consumers.  But the appeal of high-quality and deeper gaming experiences to consumers is evident in the March sales results, and that should make everyone feel better coming off what has admittedly been a tough run.

In this sense, iTunes.com could be benefiting from the very same up sell long favored by fast-food restaurants and enjoyed by mass market merchandisers as shoppers pick up impulse items to go along with their planned purchases.

Our newest report, Kids and Gaming, reveals that 87 percent of kids age 6-8 play games on some device, while 50 percent of kids in this same age group report playing games online, and 10 percent are playing games on cell phones. Even at this relatively young age, gaming is deeply rooted in kids’ lives. But one of the issues gnawing at the industry at large, the increasing incidence of free gaming - whether on a cell phone, or online, is an issue with the kids market as well. While there may not be as many young kids engaged in gaming on social networks right now, there are plenty of free online virtual worlds to draw them in. Our report found that only 9 percent of kid gamers ages 2-17 had purchased a microtransaction in the past three months. Having spent quite a bit of time myself now on both Cafe’ World and Farmville, I haven’t found anything that would compel me to take out my wallet and spend real money. My kids, however, have been enticed to buy a Grand Chase pre-paid game card at 7-Eleven. So the ongoing debate about how to best monetize these gaming experiences - experiences kids are clearly engaged in - remains one for the industry to grapple with.

Anyway, gotta go. My spaghetti and meatballs are ready to serve.