Japanese magazine Famitsu has polled a pool of 798 about their thoughts on what's going on with the game industry. The most interesting data was with online gaming.
While 90 percent of those polled have used some sort of home console or portable console, only 24 percent of those have actually paid to use said service — meaning, we assume, they're not using paid services like Xbox LIVE. What's more, 58.5 percent use those networks for wireless ad hoc play (think Monster Hunter on the PSP).
A large number of those polled (75 percent!) had downloaded a game off a network service, which is nearly doubled from the 37 percent who had at the same time last year. Still, the overwhelming majority of Japanese gamers prefer buying boxed games for reasons like "the satisfaction of owning a physical object" to "because I can sell it when I get bored of it." However, there were complaints regarding retail release dates, which often make it difficult for those working to pick up games on launch day.
Japanese gamers were happy with the ability for companies to release patches for games. Demos also got high marks. Said one 36-year-old woman, "Being able to download demos is great. I've made purchases based off the demos I've played several times." Things like online cheaters caused concern as well.
Besides online gaming and DLC, the poll also touched on Japanese gamers' opinions ranging from a one console future (An unemployed 30-year-old said, "There are too many consoles — I wish they'd all merge together.") to ports (A 31-year-old explained, "If a game gets ported somewhere else after it goes on sale, I feel like I wasted my money buying a console just to play that game.")