Video and computer games are played in every developed country by the affluent young people at whom they are targeted. In Ireland, these consumers have not taken to the games as quickly as their counterparts in the UK, but both the Republic and Northern Ireland are catching up in terms of home penetration of console games and home computers.

The home PC market has developed rapidly in recent years, in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, and Irish homes, like those worldwide, are likely to see a convergence of home entertainment technologies as the years after 2000 progress. This report will address the local factors that either stimulate or inhibit the demand for these games in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.

Other relevant reports in the Irish Series include:

- In-home Entertainment, Irish Series, October 1999

- Irish Lifestyles, Special Report, July 1999.

Definitions and coverage

Geographical, national and regional definitions

The political relationships between the states of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are complex, and it is essential to define clearly the use of the terms "Ireland", "Irish" and "British":

- Ireland: in this report, Ireland denotes the whole of the island of Ireland, which comprises the Republic of Ireland, an independent republic, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (or simply the UK).

- the Republic of Ireland, or the Irish Republic (or Eire, in Irish Gaelic), is referred to in the abbreviated form of RoI, or "the Republic".

- Northern Ireland consists of the six counties of Derry, Tyrone, Down, Antrim, Fermanagh and Armagh.

- the term "British" is avoided in this report in order to avoid either geographical or political confusion. In strict geographical terminology, Ireland is one of the British Isles, but "Great Britain" comprises only England, Scotland and Wales.

Politically and economically, the RoI and the UK have been linked by membership of the European Union since the 1970s. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement between the two governments, aimed at bringing to an end "the Troubles" and moving towards a devolved government for Northern Ireland, was endorsed by a referendum. All-party discussions took place in 1999 and into 2000, but further disagreements followed, putting devolution and the resolution of the "peace process" on hold.

Games definitions and coverage

"Games" will be used in the report as shorthand for three types of game system (or format, or platform) which overlap either at the technology or supplier level:

- video games refers to dedicated games machines called consoles, which are the "hardware" of video games (including peripherals such as controllers and headphones). Consoles are usually connected to household television sets to provide the "video" screen. Currently, three companies dominate the world market for consoles: Sony (PlayStation), Nintendo and Sega.

- hand-held games refers to games machines which are essentially portable versions of the big brand names in consoles, and this market is dominated by Nintendo's Game Boy.

- computer games is used in the title of the report in order to express the breadth of coverage, but in practice the home computer market is dominated by IBM-compatible personal computers (PCs). For simplicity, therefore, the term PC games is used to distinguish games played on home computers from those played on consoles.

- software and hardware software are used to denote, respectively, the games themselves (software) and the machines on which games are played - consoles, hand-helds or PCs, together with their peripherals (hardware).

- convergence is used to describe the market tendency, driven by digital IT, for household items to take on a multiplicity of functions, all converging on the same appliance (eg clock-radios, Internet-ready games consoles, interactive TV sets). A domestic PC is now the convergent focus of activities such as doing homework (eg as an encylopedia), keeping in touch with relatives (e-mail instead of telephoning), playing games or even following television programmes (eg Big Brother).

The home PC market itself is not covered as such, only as a means to playing games (see Market Size). Definitions of market size can never by crystal clear, however, because both computers and consoles are usually sold with games "bundled" with them as part of the total price to the consumer.

Simple electronic games are not included in the coverage, since this would broaden the product list to general toys and learning aids for children.

Values throughout this report are expressed either in Irish Pounds (IR£), in Sterling (UK£) or in euros.

All values are expressed at retail selling prices unless otherwise stated.

Abbreviations

ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

BMRB British Market Research Bureau

CD Compact Disc

CSO Central Statistical Office (Republic of Ireland)

DVD Digital Versatile Disc

EMU Economic Monetary Union

ESB Electricity Supply Board

EU European Union ('euro' = currency of EU)

FP First person

Gb Gigabytes

GB Great Britain

GDP Gross domestic product

IT Information technology

LCD Liquid crystal display

NES Nintendo Entertainment System

NI Northern Ireland

ONS Office for National Statistics (UK)

PDI Personal disposable income

PC Personal computer (IBM compatible)

PS PlayStation (first generation)

PS2 PlayStation Two or II or 2 (second generation)

RoI Republic of Ireland

RPG Role playing game

rsp retail selling price

SCEE Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

TGI Target Group Index. For further details concerning this information, including data regarding readership patterns of users/purchasers and details of brands, please contact Peter Shreeve at BMRB International on 020 8566 5000.

UMS Ulster Marketing Surveys

USB Universal Serial Bus

VCR Video Cassette Recorder

WAP Wireless Access Protocol

WWF World Wrestling Federation

08/2000