IGN Entertainment Survey Reveals Media Habits, Brand Loyalties of Gamers Are Changing; According to New Data Gamers Have Left the Movie Theater for the Home Theater, Ported Music Collections to iPods, Watch More FOX and Comedy Central than MTV

Business Wire, May 18, 2006

BRISBANE, Calif. -- According to a survey by IGN Entertainment's GamerMetrics and Research Solutions titled "Anatomy of a Gamer," the video game-playing population is switching to smaller digital formats for entertainment and replacing realistic TV and movies with animated and comic-based entertainment. The survey was conducted in March, 2006 through IGN.com.

The "IGN Research: Anatomy of a Gamer" approached the fan's life outside of gaming in four distinct categories: Music, Movies, TV and Consumer Brands. The Music category documented a sweeping majority of this young male demographic have moved to the MP3 format, many use iPods. The research also showed that global pop sensations Gorillaz, U2 and Eminem top their playlists. Even though gamers prefer watching DVDs to the box office, FOX's 'X-Men: The Last Stand' was the most anticipated upcoming big screen release, while Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' followed close behind. On the small screen FOX's two rowdy animated families "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" led with Comedy Central's "South Park". Survey-takers also voted for Google, Apple and Coca Cola as their top brands.

Findings include:

  Music
  --  46% of gamers enjoy listening to Gorillaz
  --  39% enjoy Eminem
  --  33% enjoy U2
  --  32% enjoy Kanye West
  --  30% enjoy Coldplay

  Movies
  --  63% of gamers are looking forward to 'X-Men: The Last Stand'
      (FOX)
  --  55% are looking forward to 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's
      Chest' (Disney)
  --  33% are looking forward to 'The Da Vinci Code' (Sony)
  --  33% are looking forward to 'Superman Returns' (Warner Bros.)
  --  31% were looking forward to 'Mission: Impossible III'
      (Paramount)

  Television
  --  68% of gamers watch "Family Guy" (FOX)
  --  64% watch "The Simpsons" (FOX)
  --  51% watch "South Park" (Comedy Central)
  --  26% watch "Lost" (ABC)
  --  24% watch "24" (FOX)
  --  23% watch "The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
  --  22% watch "SportsCenter" (ESPN)
  --  21% watch "American Idol" (FOX)
  --  19% watch "Punk'd" (MTV)
  --  16% watch "House" (FOX)
  --  14% watch "Prison Break" (FOX)

  Consumer Brands
  The five consumer brands with the most positive impact on gamers
  are:
  --  Google
  --  Apple
  --  Coca-Cola
  --  ESPN
  --  Target

IGN Entertainment's network of videogame-related properties which includes IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others is the web's number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. GamerMetrics data is based on more than 30 million users' activity on these, and on a pool of more than half a million users volunteering which video game titles they own, want and are evaluating.

IGN's complete survey summary is available at no charge to members of the press, industry analysts and clients of IGN.

About IGN Entertainment

IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reached 35 million unique users worldwide in the month of March 2006, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore Media Metrix.(a) IGN's network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others), is the web's number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. IGN also owns and operates the popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes and one of the leading male lifestyle websites, AskMen.com. In addition, IGN provides technology for online game play in videogames. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S. and in Montreal.

About Fox Interactive Media

Fox Interactive Media manages the Internet assets from all News Corp. divisions, including the highly trafficked Foxsports.com, Americanidol.com and Fox.com. News Corporation has quickly ascended to the top echelon of Internet properties with the 2005 acquisitions of Intermix Media (the parent company of MySpace.com), Scout Media and IGN Entertainment.

(a)comScore Media Metrix, March 2006 Worldwide data. Worldwide data cited herein represent an aggregate of 32 countries reported by comScore Media Metrix on a monthly basis.

IGN Entertainment, Direct2Drive, IGN.com, GameSpy, Rotten Tomatoes, FilePlanet, GameSpy Arcade, GameSpy Arena and TeamXbox are trademarks of IGN Entertainment. Other trademarks and copyrights mentioned are the properties of their respective holders.