According to a survey by IGN's GamerMetrics and Research Solutions titled "Anatomy of a Gamer," the video game-playing population is switching to smaller digital formats for entertainment and replacing realistic TV and movies with animated and comic-based entertainment. The survey was conducted in March, 2006 through IGN.com with findings complied and distributed through The Bohle Company.

The "IGN Research: Anatomy of a Gamer" approached the fan's life outside of gaming in four distinct categories: Music, Movies, TV and Consumer Brands. The Music category documented a sweeping majority of this young male demographic have moved to the MP3 format, many use iPods. The research also showed that global pop sensations Gorillaz, U2 and Eminem top their playlists.

Further, even though gamers prefer watching DVDs to the box office, FOX's X-Men: The Last Stand was the most anticipated upcoming big screen release, while Disney's Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest followed close behind.

On the small screen, FOX's two rowdy animated families "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" led along with Comedy Central's "South Park."

Survey-takers also voted for Google, Apple and Coca Cola as their top brands.

Findings include:

Music

• 46% of gamers enjoy listening to Gorillaz
• 39% enjoy Eminem
• 33% enjoy U2
• 32% enjoy Kanye West
• 30% enjoy Coldplay

Movies

• 63% of gamers are looking forward to X-Men: The Last Stand (FOX)
• 55% are looking forward to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Disney)
• 33% are looking forward to The Da Vinci Code (Sony)
• 33% are looking forward to Superman Returns (Warner Bros.)
• 31% were looking forward to Mission: Impossible III (Paramount)

Television

• 68% of gamers watch "Family Guy" (FOX)
• 64% watch "The Simpsons" (FOX)
• 51% watch "South Park" (Comedy Central)
• 26% watch "Lost" (ABC)
• 24% watch "24" (FOX)
• 23% watch "The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
• 22% watch "SportsCenter" (ESPN)
• 21% watch "American Idol" (FOX)
• 19% watch "Punk'd" (MTV)
• 16% watch "House" (FOX)
• 14% watch "Prison Break" (FOX)

Consumer Brands (w/most positive impact on gamers)

• Google
• Apple
• Coca-Cola
• ESPN
• Target

IGN Entertainment's network of videogame-related properties (which includes IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others) is the web's leading videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. GamerMetrics data is based on more than 30 million users' activity on these, and on a pool of more than half a million users volunteering which video game titles they own, want and are evaluating.