GTA V tops our all-time Excitement Buzz list for video games

Rockstar's mega-selling GTA V tops our all-time excitement list from the last 33 monthly Harris Buzz reports.

We regularly include the latest video games in our series of Harris Buzz reports - it's never an exhaustive measure of what's been released but we do our best to include the latest and greatest. And all the games are measured as close to the release date as possible.

The table below shows all the games (and gaming news) we've included over the last 3 years.

Due for release later this month, the next issue of Buzz includes Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4. Will these topple GTA V from the top of the list?

Harris Buzz Excitement	% of GB public aged 16-64 excited about this
Grand Theft Auto V	22%	Rockstar
Sony PS4 announced	22%	Sony
Nintendo 3DS	22%	Nintendo
Xbox Kinect	22%	Xbox
Xbox One announced	21%	Xbox
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	21%	Activision
Call of Duty: Black Ops	20%	Activision
PlayStation Vita released	19%	Sony
PlayStation 4 price £349	18%	Sony
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2	18%	Activision
FIFA 14	16%	EA
FIFA 13	16%	EA
Nintendo unveil ‘Wii U’	16%	Nintendo
LA Noire	16%	Rockstar
Portal 2	16%	Valve
Nintendo Wii U launch	15%	Nintendo
Assassin’s Creed III	15%	Ubisoft
Resident Evil: Retribution	15%	Capcom
Wii U console revealed	15%	Nintendo
Battlefield 3	15%	EA
Nintendo  ‘3DS XL’ released	14%	Nintendo
Kinect: Star Wars	14%	Xbox
Resident Evil 6 trailer	14%	Capcom
Kinect for PCs launch	14%	Xbox
Fable III	14%	Lionhead
PlayStation Vita unveiled	14%	Sony
Tomb Raider	13%	Square Enix
Need for Speed	13%	EA
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games	13%	SEGA
Game chain bust	13%	Game
Batman: Arkham City	13%	Warner Bros Interactive
Crysis 2	13%	EA
Halo: Reach	13%	Bungie/Microsoft
Xbox One price £429	12%	Xbox
Halo 4	12%	Microsoft
Hitman: Absolution	12%	Square Enix
Resident Evil 6	12%	Capcom
Microsoft SmartGlass revealed	12%	Xbox
Mass Effect 3	12%	EA
FIFA 12	12%	EA
Homefront	12%	THQ
Microsoft Xbox digital DRM U-turn	11%	Xbox
BioShock Infinite	11%	2K
SimCity	11%	EA
Far Cry 3	11%	Ubisoft
Sleeping Dogs	11%	Square Enix
Max Payne 3	11%	Rockstar
Fallout: New Vegas	11%	Bethesda
Star Trek	10%	Namco Bandai
New Super Mario game	10%	Nintendo
PlayStation 3 slimmed	10%	Sony
Darksiders ll	10%	THQ
Guild Wars 2	10%	NCSoft
Microsoft Xbox Music launched	10%	Xbox
Gears of War 3	10%	Microsoft
Sony Move launched	10%	Sony
Nintendo 2DS launched	9%	Nintendo
The Last of Us	9%	Naughty Dog
Defiance series/game	9%	Trion
Gears of War: Judgement	9%	Microsoft
Crysis 3	9%	EA
Football Manager ‘13	9%	SEGA
Madden NFL 13	9%	EA
Diablo 3	9%	Blizzard
Rage	9%	Bethesda
Sonic the Hedgehog 20 years anniversary	9%	SEGA
Steam (gaming service)	9%	Valve
Saints Row IV	8%	Deep Silver
Rayman Legends	8%	Ubisoft
Ouya console unveiled	8%	Ouya
NBA 2K14	7%	2K
Total War: Rome II	7%	SEGA
Marvel Heroes	7%	Secret Identity
Devil May Care	7%	Capcom
Nintendo Land	7%	Nintendo
PS All-Star Battle Royale	7%	Sony
Dishonored	7%	Bethesda
Deus Ex: Human Revolution	7%	Square Enix
Grid 2	6%	Codemasters
nVidia game device unveiled	6%	nVidia
Disney Infinity	5%	Disney
Remember Me	5%	Capcom
NBA 2K13	5%	2K
Company of Heroes 2	4%	SEGA
World of Warcraft free	4%	Blizzard
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation	4%	Nordic

Wii U launch fails to generate excitement at launch

I've been a bit late in updating this blog and please be aware that two Harris Buzz reports from December have been released.

Of all the things we tested, undoubtedly the most interesting is looking at GB consumer awareness and excitement of Nintendo's Wii U console launch.

The figures from our Buzz survey aren't going to please Nintendo...

Let's take a look at where the Wii U ranks in terms of awareness and excitement, benchmarked against all the other releases and news items we've covered in Buzz over more than two years.

Firstly let's take a look at how the Wii U launch did at generating awareness, the prerequisite for success.

38% isn't poor awareness. But if you look at the most recent Buzz report, it ranks 114th out of the 287 releases and news items we've covered to date in our series of reports (see page 12).

What about excitement?

At 15%, this places the Wii U launch at joint 105th out of 287 releases and news items covered thus far.

Let's take a look at which other launches have been more (and less) successful than Wii U over the last couple of years in generating an Excitement Buzz. We look at lots of things in Buzz, so in this list we've only included device launches and game releases (so nothing about Saville, Oscars, Michael Jackson, or anything like that) so that we have a fairer comparison.

	Excitement
3D TV sets	29%
iPad 2	29%
iPhone 5	25%
The New iPad	25%
iPad	24%
Amazon Kindle Touch	23%
Nintendo 3DS	22%
Smart TV	22%
Xbox Kinect	22%
Windows 8 launched	21%
4G UK	21%
Call of Duty: MW3	21%
iPhone 4S	21%
Call of Duty: Black Ops	20%
iPhone 4	20%
iPad Mini	19%
Kindle Fire UK	19%
Samsung Galaxy Note	19%
PS Vita	19%
Amazon Kindle Fire	19%
Kindle eBook	19%
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2	18%
Nexus 7 tablet	18%
Samsung Galaxy S3	18%
Google Chromebooks	18%
Nokia E7 smartphone	17%
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play	17%
3D Blu-ray players	17%
FIFA 13	16%
BlackBerry PlayBook	16%
Samsung Galaxy Tab	16%
LA Noire	16%
Portal 2	16%
Nintendo Wii U	15%
Assassin’s Creed III	15%
Res Evil: Retribution	15%
HTC One launched	15%
Battlefield 3	15%
Nintendo  ‘3DS XL’	14%
Kinect: Star Wars	14%
Resident Evil 6 trailer	14%
Kinect for PCs launch	14%
Fable III	14%
Surface launch	13%
Batman: Arkham City	13%
Crysis 2	13%
Halo: Reach	13%
Halo 4	12%
Hitman: Absolution	12%
Res Evil 6 game	12%
Optimus 4X HD	12%
Microsoft SmartGlass	12%
Mass Effect 3	12%
HP TouchPad	12%
Motorola Xoom	12%
Far Cry 3 game	11%
Nexus 4	11%
Nexus 10	11%
Sleeping Dogs	11%
Max Payne 3	11%
Apple TV	11%
Fallout: New Vegas	11%
New Super Mario	10%
Lumia 920	10%
Darksiders ll	10%
Guild Wars 2	10%
Microsoft Xbox Music	10%
Project Glass	10%
Gears of War 3	10%
Sony Move	10%
Google TV	10%
Football Manager ‘13	9%
Madden NFL 13	9%
Diablo 3	9%
Rage	9%
Ouya Console	8%
Dishonored	7%
Deus Ex: HR	7%
Dell Streak	6%
NBA 2K13	5%
World of Warcraft free	4%

As you can see, the Wii U console launch puts in on par with some hefty big selling games, but it's way off the excitement levels we see for the illustrious handsets and tablets. It also trails the launch of the Vita and Kinect.

This is disappointing.

It's early days of course. The console battle is fought over years rather than weeks. My earlier post about the Wii being "doomed" generated a fair amount of criticism, especially as pre-sales were healthy boosted by an impressive range of launch titles. But more recent sales figures are suggesting the Wii U is struggling and with impending news of Sony's and Microsoft's next consoles for release later in 2013 can only make things worse for Nintendo.

So I go return to the theme from my earlier post: Is the Wii U doomed?

Well "doomed" is a bit melodramatic. It sold well at launch and it received plaudits as well as a little head-scratching by what it was all about. It may be that its killer apps are in development and we'll all be blown away by how creative the mixed use of controllers and tablets will be. And let's not underestimate Nintendo who have done more to pioneer in this industry than anyone else.

But the data is showing very clearly that it has not really caught the imagination of the the public. 

Not yet anyway.

Is the Wii U launch doomed? Research shows a lack of enthusiasm...

I recall when the original Wii console was released. I was exceedingly eager to get my hands on one but it was sold out everywhere - and I mean everywhere. 

The chap behind the counter at the HMV near my work told me to come by every day because there was a small chance that a pre-ordered console might be available if the person failed to collect it after a certain period. So I went there every day and was disappointed day after day to be told none was available. Then one lunchtime he said, yes, we had one. I bought it and I was happy.

This tells a great deal about the level of anticipation for the console. Never mind that it's gathered dust for most of its life (I'm a PC gamer at heart). At the time there was genuine excitement about the launch and I was one of millions across the world who couldn't wait to get their hands on the new console.

So what of the Wii U, its HD successor. I find it hard to believe that it's being released at the end of this month. Maybe things will ramp up, maybe a lot, but right now I don't see a great deal of anticipation in the general masses.

Perhaps most concerning is some evidence below taken from our Harris Heroes market research report. This looked at the best tech of 2012 and the most anticipated tech and entertainment releases coming up this and next year, all according to the GB general public. In this study we asked gamers about the most anticipated next-gen gaming console or device. See the candidates on the left.

Let's see what gamers said. Just look where Wii U ranks below and remember it's being released in just a couple of weeks...

While the Xbox 360 has done exceptionally well to make up ground and sustain its momentum through things like Kinect, there is no doubt that the Wii was the winner of the last gen launches. 

But look where it ranks for the next gen, a clear and rather lowly third place. 

And it needs to be pointed out again that it is being released in a couple of weeks whereas Sony's and Microsoft's successors are next year (and perhaps even later for the PS4).

This is concerning for Wii U. It doesn't seem to have a solid bedrock (and remember this question was polled to gamers only). The one glimmer of hope is that when we break down these results we see that female gamers are more inclined to rank the Wii U more highly - see the full report for more details - but this is only a glimmer.

Predicting the success or otherwise of tech products is a fool's game. Remember the launch of the iPhone and the iPad - for every expert predicting domination there was one predicting abject failure. When the Wii was first revealed, there was great uncertainty as to its success, mainly driven by uncertainty over its remote motion control style gameplay. 

But the time leading up to its launch, people saw the gameplay, they saw Wii Sports and they got excited. Anticipation was created. And it seems this is what is missing in the last few days prior to the launch of Wii U.

We shouldn't underestimate Nintendo. While there seems to be a distinct lack of anticipation for the launch of Wii U, it really only takes a small handful of killer, exclusive, must-have titles to turn this around, to create that urgency to go out and buy. 

We'll see...

EURO 2012 tops our buzz list for June and SmartGlass pips Wii U

Harris's latest Buzz report is available. Click here to download, it's free as usual.

Not only did EURO 2012 top our list for June, it also tops the our all-time list for excitement of everything we've covered in entertainment, media, technology and mobile in the last two years.

We also covered Microsoft's Surface, SmartGlass and Xbox Music, as well as the E3 reveal of the Wii U console. We'll cover these again closer to launch. In the report you'll see SmartGlass ahead of Wii U right now, but it's early days and I'll be blogging about this particular mini battle later this week.

Here's a full list of what we covered in late June. As usual the buzz report looks at awareness, level of discussion and excitement.

• Apple reveal a new line of MacBook computers
• Diablo 3 video game
• EURO 2012 football tournament
• Flame internet virus steals data from sensitive Iranian & Israeli organisations
• Internet “trolls” (people who abuse others persistently online) to be identified under new measures
• Microsoft announce SmartGlass for smartphones and tablets to work in union with an Xbox console
• Microsoft announce Xbox Music streaming service
• Microsoft reveal “Surface”, their own brand of tablet computer devices
• Prometheus movie
• Rock of Ages movie
• Stars perform at Queen’s Jubilee concert
• Stone Roses band reunite and tour for the first time in 16 years
• Wii U gaming console is revealed

Prometheus, Diablo 3, Wii U, SmartGlass, Surface and EURO 2012 all in the upcoming Buzz report

Here's a teaser for what we're including in the upcoming Harris Buzz report from Harris Interactive. It will be out in a week or so and as usual I'll post a link to the full, free report here.

Here's what we're asking the GB general public about:

• Prometheus movie
• Rock of Ages movie
• Diablo 3 video game
• Wii U gaming console revealed
• Microsoft announce Xbox Music streaming service
• Microsoft announce SmartGlass for smartphones and tablets to work in union with an Xbox console
• Apple reveal a new line of MacBook computers
• ATMs may soon operate without a card, using a smartphone instead
• Stone Roses band reunite and tour for the first time in 16 years
• Stars perform at Jubilee concert
• EURO 2012 football tournament
• Flame internet virus
• Internet "trolls"  to be identified under new measures

I will post a link to the report when it's ready on this blog. All the previous Buzz reports (all 15 of them) can be found here.