A Bank of America survey of 418 U.S. consumers under age 50 found that 96 percent of them use Facebook.

We find it interesting that the bank considers its sample to roughly resemble the U.S. population and therefore meant that nearly all Americans use Facebook. If 418 people were truly a random sample, it would mean all people under age 50 in the U.S.

So we’re not going to agree with the assertion that this represents the whole country. Aside from that, B of A’s statistics are very insightful, so below we’ve reproduced the 18 charts summarizing the survey’s findings.Let us know what you think by posting in the comments section.

date Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Call of Duty
Call of Duty: Black Ops
by Activision Publishing
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 395 days in the top 100
Platform:   Xbox 360
3.4 out of 5 stars(1065)

Buy new: $59.99 $53.99
141 used & new from $36.99

(Visit the Bestsellers in Xbox 360 list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Bestsellers in Video Games > Xbox 360

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Portal 2
Portal 2
by Valve
Platform:   PlayStation 3
4.7 out of 5 stars(224)
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Buy new: $59.99 $39.99
67 used & new from $30.00

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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inFAMOUS 2
inFAMOUS 2
by Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform:   PlayStation 3
Release Date: June 7, 2011

Buy new: $59.99
13 used & new from $49.75

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
by Warner Bros
Platform:   PlayStation 3
4.6 out of 5 stars(142)
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Buy new: $59.99 $55.95
48 used & new from $37.99

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
by Warner Bros
Platform:   Xbox 360
4.4 out of 5 stars(97)
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Buy new: $59.99 $39.99
53 used & new from $33.00

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is one of the most highly anticipated PlayStation 3 sequels. Fans of the franchise have been clamoring for information on when the multiplayer beta that developer Naughty Dog teased a few months ago, now they’ve explained what gamers can expect on June 28th, when the beta begins. If you purchased Infamous [...]

Source: Geek.com Games

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You likely know all about Plants vs. Zombies already, but did you know that you could get it for free today from the Amazon Appstore? No? Well, you can. Go get it. (Assuming you have an Android device. And, you know, you want it.)

Source: Daily News from GamePro.com

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An inexpensive Intel MeeGo netbook may be a great companion for people who use Facebook frequently, and can configure your news feed to show up on the device‘s main page.

And $200 is a great price, much lower than the $349 to $499 price range for the Chromebook models.

Let us know in the comments section whether you’d want to use a MeeGo for Facebook access. Or click here to read more about the MeeGo on Social Times.


Source: All Facebook

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Preloaded has released their latest game, zOMT, “a strategy game where you play God, protecting your passive ‘believers’ from the onslaught of a variety of menacing and marauding foes on either side of them. You have to be quick, get the angles right and avoid obstacles in order to keep your people alive and praying! [...]

Source: FreeGamesNews

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If 2010 is remembered as the year that games on social networks became a billion dollar business, 2011 is quickly becoming the year that the industry is starting to mature. Facebook is mandating Credits effective July 1st, creating massive changes in the monetization ecosystem, last year’s hit games are fighting for their lives, and new developers and games are climbing the leaderboards. At the same time, larger players are consolidating smaller studios and teams, and large media companies and traditional game developers continue to plot their social gaming strategies.

Get the Annual Membership
Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD*
OR Buy Single Report: $995 $795 USD*

* Pre-order discount ends June 13, 2011. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on June 14, 2011.

That’s why we’re excited to announce today a new original study in our Inside Virtual Goods series by co-authors Justin Smith and Charles Hudson that is exclusively focused on spending and usage patterns in the social gaming market, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011. The second annual installment of this report, it will be released on Tuesday, June 14, but is available for discount pre-order now.

Most of the studies on player spending and usage patterns in social games over the last year have actually been conducted by industry vendors. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 is our exclusive independent look at the virtual goods spending and behavior patterns of social game players on Facebook — data you won’t find anywhere else.

About the Report

Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 gives you an inside view of the market at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games.

We have surveyed nearly 2,000 players of social games on Facebook from around the world and across the demographic spectrum. Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social Gaming Audience 2011 is the most in-depth independent survey of player behavior and spending patterns in the social gaming market.

What We Cover

  1. Spending Habits and Payment Methods in Top Games – It’s easy to compare games based on audience numbers, but which games monetize better? What payment methods do players use most often in top games? How is the shift to Credits affecting player behavior? We investigate how spending patterns compare across top social games.
  2. Frequency of Play and Methods of Game Discovery - As Facebook has cut down on developer access to viral channels, designing an engaging and viral game is becoming both increasingly important and challenging. We investigate which games people play most frequently, and which methods of social game discovery are most effective for top games.
  3. Demographic Differences by Region, Age, and Gender – While the social gaming market is increasingly global, the audience is also becoming increasingly diverse by age and gender. How do different segments of the audience differ in terms of spending and usage patterns inside social games? We take an in depth look.
  4. Brand Recall for Social Games – How important are brands, and how well can users identify developers of top games? We investigate brand recall amongst social game players.

See the full table of contents below:

Table of Contents

I. Methodology and Respondents

1. Introduction
  • About Inside Virtual Goods
  • About the Authors
  • Survey Objectives
2. Research Methodology
  • Target Population
  • Respondent Acquisition Method
  • Survey Structure
  • Potential for Bias
3. Survey Respondents
  • Description of Total Respondent Population
  • Total Number of Respondents
  • Overall Breakdown

II. Overall Results

4. Favorite Game
  • Distribution of Favorite Game
  • Frequency of Play
  • Favorite Game Discovery
  • With Whom Do You Play?
  • Spending on Favorite Game
5. Payments
  • Consumer Perception of Facebook Credits
  • Frequency of Payment Methods
6. Play Patterns, Spending, and Brand Recall for Top Games
  • Frequency of Play in Top Games
  • Spending in Top Games
  • Aided Brand Recall for Top Games

7. Mobile Platform and Game Adoption by Social Game Players

III. Demographic Differences in Usage Patterns and Monetization

8. Age and Gender Differences
  • Who are the Social Gaming “Whales”?
  • Spend Across Games
  • Trends in Favorite Games by Age and Gender
  • Analyzing the Top Two Games
  • How Do Midcore Games Compare?

9. Regional Differences

  • Game Discovery and Spending
  • Favorite Game
  • Payment Types

Appendix

  • Survey Questions

More Data, More Actionable Insights

In 2009 and 2010, social games began to show what kind of value can be created on top of social networks. 2011 will be an even more important year as the industry continues to mature.

Social gaming, powered by virtual goods, is this year’s industry to watch. If you’re involved, or are considering jumping in, Inside Virtual Goods will be one of your most important tools.

One year of original data and exclusive in-depth reports delivered on a quarterly basis is $2,495 and contains:

  • A detailed overview of the current state of the industry
  • Specific estimates on market size by segment
  • Diagnosis of key opportunities and issues by segment

Get The Annual Membership

Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD*


OR Buy Single Report: $995 $795 USD*

* Pre-order discount ends June 13, 2011. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on June 14, 2011.

Although the report will not be released until next Tuesday, June 14, we are offering a special pre-order discount for those who purchase now. A one year subscription is $1,995 until June 14, at which point the price will go to US $2,495. The one year subscription includes three quarterly updates on key developments in the space, including future editions of our annual reports, Inside Virtual Goods: The US Virtual Goods Market 2010-2011 and Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011.

Or, you can download just this report. The pre-order price is $795 until June 14, at which point the price will go to US $995.

About the Authors

justin-smith-headshotJustin Smith

Founder, Inside Network

Justin Smith is the founder of Inside Network, the first service dedicated to providing news and market research to the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem. Justin leads Inside Network’s analyst services, manages Inside Network’s AppData service, and serves as co-editor of Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games. Inside Network was acquired by WebMediaBrands (NASDAQ:WEBM) in May 2011.

Prior to Inside Network, he was Head of Product at Watercooler, now Kabam, a leading social game developer on the Facebook Platform. Prior to Watercooler, Justin was an early employee at Xfire, the largest social utility for gamers, which was sold to Viacom in 2006.

Justin holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University, where he was a Mayfield Fellow and a recipient of the Terman Award in Engineering.

charles-hudson-headshotCharles Hudson

Venture Partner, SoftTech VC, CEO and Co-Founder, Bionic Panda Games

Charles Hudson is a Venture Partner with SoftTech VC and the CEO and Co-Founder of Bionic Panda Games, a mobile games company based in San Francisco, CA.

Until February 2010, he was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business, a leading producer of social games. Zynga acquired Serious Business in February of 2010. Prior to Serious Business, Hudson worked at Gaia Interactive, Google, IronPort Systems, and In-Q-Tel. Hudson also founded Third Power LLC, a conference and events company that was acquired by WebMediaBrands. Charles holds an MBA and BA from Stanford University.

Source: Inside Social Games

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Kinect Sensor
Kinect Sensor with Kinect Adventures!
by Microsoft Software
Platform:   Xbox 360
4.5 out of 5 stars(680)

Buy new: $149.99 Click to see price
356 used & new from $86.00

(Visit the Most Gifted in Xbox 360 list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Most Gifted in Video Games > Xbox 360

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The Sims 3
The Sims 3: Generations
by Electronic Arts
Platform:   Windows Vista / XP, Mac OS X Intel, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Release Date: May 31, 2011

Buy new: $39.99
2 used & new from $39.99

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
by Warner Bros
Platform:   PlayStation 3
4.6 out of 5 stars(142)
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Buy new: $59.99 $49.99
52 used & new from $39.75

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

date

Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat
by Warner Bros
Platform:   Xbox 360
4.4 out of 5 stars(97)
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Buy new: $59.99 $39.99
52 used & new from $37.99

(Visit the Hot New Releases in Video Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)

Source: Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Video Games

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Want to know how Facebook manages daily code pushes from over 500 software engineers? In the company’s latest tech talk they described exactly that.

For software engineers working anywhere, the talk was extremely insightful for learning how the company manages to avoid too many catastrophic errors and how the company is always realeasing updates. Given that the company is known for their continuous pushes (many of which break functionality of the site), it’s interesting to hear about the various technologies are used. In addition to describing how developers check in their code, Chuck Rossi explained the various tools used by the company including IRC Bots, test automation, shadow branch, error tracking, gatekeeper, and more.

One of the interesting IRC Bots developed by Facebook helps to protect which code gets pushed based on which engineers are around when the code is pushed. If you aren’t there, your code won’t be pushed (as any errors will need to be supported by the developer who wrote the code). The company’s test automation suite provides a lot of details about errors taking place on the site to assist engineers in tracking down bugs. Possibly the most interesting tool is the Gatekeeper tool which controls who gets to see which code pushes (or features).

Developers can go in and select to test code on a subsegment of the user base including filters based on country, age, ip address, and journalist filtering tools. You can also use the gate keeper to gradually introduce features in order to test them and see what works and what fails. Another interesting feature is push karma which shows how each engineer is performing. Low performing engineers are more risky to have their code pushed and as such the code push team will scrutinize their code more than others.

Thanks to a modified version of BitTorrent, Facebook is also able to push code to all of Facebook in approximately 15 minutes. All of the juicy technical details are included in the video below so check it out!


Source: All Facebook

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