NPD's latest report, Entertainment Trends in America, reveals that hard core gamers spent most of their entertainment budgets on non-gaming things. GameDaily reports that of the 10,000 US consumer sample, the data showed that in the last six months 58% of hard core gamers (defined as someone who plays daily or several times a week) bought a DVD, 46% purchased a CD, and only 43% purchased a game for a console.
The NPD data also shows that consumer spending on music fell 10% and DVD revenues remained flat in the last year; similar data was recently reported in the UK. The most dramatic shift was a 41% increase in retail spending among teens in gaming and a 45% drop in music sales. But, just like the UK data, NPD doesn't have access to systems like iTunes or Xbox Live, which would further complicate the reported data.
[Via Press Release]