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E3 buzz much louder this year, says Nielsen

Media ratings and research company Nielsen says the new Nintendo console is pushing interest in the E3 show way up.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman

NM Incite/Nielsen

According to media ratings and research company Nielsen, E3 is generating online buzz at a level 59 percent higher than last year. The key driver is interest in Nintendo's successor to the Wii console, which is expected to be revealed on Tuesday, June 7.

Related links
• E3 and the video game bubble
• Dust-bunny ratings of E3 2010's high-profile game hardware
• E3 2011: Complete coverage

The buzz level was measured by counting the number of messages from blogs, Twitter, and message boards during April and May of 2010 and 2011, and Nielsen says that 22 percent of this year's related postings are about the still-unnamed Nintendo console.

Also worth noting is a survey where Nielsen asked gamers how likely they were to buy a new console within six months of its launch. The most popular option was a new Nintendo console, at 27 percent, followed by Microsoft at 25 percent, and Sony at 24 percent.

Somewhat less anticipated were a new iPad, at 18 percent, and Sony's new NGP handheld, at 13 percent.