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The NPD Group Reports Total U.S. Consumer Spending On PC Games Reached $1.4 Billion In 2005

Research Designed to Better Capture Sales of Digital Downloads and Online Subscriptions

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, May 25, 2006 According to recent research conducted by leading consumer and retail information company The NPD Group, total U.S. consumer spending on PC Games reached $1.4 billion in 2005. Of this total, online subscriptions to PC games and gaming web sites were estimated to account for $344 million. The research, which was designed to better capture sales of digital downloads and, for the first time, online subscriptions, also addressed gamer demographics, such as the ages of online and casual game subscribers.
The NPD Groups research indicates that paid game-specific subscriptions, such as those allowing online play of massively multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, reached approximately $292 million in 2005, with about 1.4 million paid subscribers. The research also found empirical evidence of a growing trend in online subscriptions.

Football Betting Spread According to the research, paid casual gaming sites, such as those allowing users unlimited play of a variety of games from services like Pogo.com or RealOne Arcade, reached sales of $52 million in 2005 with about 1.05 million paid subscribers, while casual online gamers pay an average of just under $5 per month. There are fewer paid casual game subscribers than there are game-specific subscribers, with the highest percentage of gamers in both categories being in the 25-34 age range, at 30 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

Online travel spending in the U.S. during the 2005 holiday season (November 1 through December 31, 2005) totaled $8.6 billion, percent increase on last year. Last year U.S. consumers spent $7.4 billion during this period, according to comScore Networks. For the full year consumers spent $60.9 billion, percent increase on the previous year. Total Internet spending for the full year 2005, including travel, reached $143.2 billion, up 22 percent over the $117.2 billion spent online in 2004.

Commodity Spread Trading While The NPD Groups retail tracking service shows what appears to be a decline in PC game sales, critical developments in the PC games industry, specifically the Internet, is fundamentally changing the PC software industry, said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. With the increase in high speed Internet access, not only are users purchasing their games online, they are also willingly paying additional recurring fees over and above the price of the game to subscribe to services that let them play with others online.

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Nfl Betting Spread The casual game space continues to show potential by broadening the PC game audience, giving companies the opportunity to drive revenue from non-traditional audiences. For example, the ratio of female to male online gaming subscribers varied greatly when comparing game-specific to casual gaming, with only 29 percent of females being game-specific subscribers versus 49 percent found to be casual game subscribers. Age is also an important factor, with 87% of casual game players being 25 or older, while 55% of game-specific subscribers are 34 or younger.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group has reported record profits, off of bad consumer debts increasing by 30% to .17 billion.

Advanced Commodity Spread About This Study
The online gaming estimates referenced in this release were developed from a one-time custom study conducted by NPD over the fourth quarter of calendar year 2005. Over its 13 weeks in the field this survey collected data concerning online subscription behavior from nearly 60,000 respondents. These responses were projected to be representative of the online-capable individuals aged 13+ in the US. Estimates have been benchmarked against actual subscription volumes obtained from select publishers in an effort to generally compensate for any consumer reporting bias. The estimates reported in this release are annualized solely from the data collected during Q4 2005 and as such do not account for events from the first 3 quarters of calendar year 2005.

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Betting Exchange Spread About The NPD Group, Inc.
Since 1967 The NPD Group has provided reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,400 manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD to help them better understand their customers, product categories, distribution channels and competition in order to help guide their businesses. Information from The NPD Group is available for the following major vertical sectors: apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, food and beverage, foodservice, footwear, home improvement, housewares, imaging, information technology, music, software, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information, visit www.npd.com.

About Pinnacle Systems According to The NPD Group, Pinnacle Studio is the number one consumer video editing software, based on U.S. retail unit and dollar sales from October 2005 through November 2006. Pinnacle Systems, Inc., owned subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., is an industry leader in video editing solutions, TV tuners for the PC, and digital media adapters for the consumer market. The company's product lines include Pinnacle PCTV, Dazzle, Pinnacle ShowCenter, Pinnacle Mobile Media and its flagship Pinnacle Studio line. For rmation, visit www.pinnaclesys.com.

Stock Spread Trading Source: NPD Group, Inc.

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