Online market intelligence firm BrandIntel has published a new report regarding interest surrounding two of this holiday's biggest titles: Halo 3 and Guitar Hero III. The company tracked more than 78,000 raw search results on the Internet (from Jan. 1 through Oct. 4) and "refined those results through technological filters and human analysis" to ultimately examine more than 5,600 consumer mentions of the two games.

What BrandIntel found was that while Halo 3 appealed to the hardcore gamer audience as expected, it has also "generated significant awareness and engagement in the casual gaming community prior to and after its release on September 25." BrandIntel argues that the game "has been successful in generating broader interest and potentially points to the long-term success for not only the game series, but for Xbox 360 as well."

Furthermore, although Guitar Hero has typically appealed more to the casual crowd, Halo 3 actually managed to generate a greater amount of discussion among casual communities. "In August and September 2007, Halo 3's casual discussion more than doubled discussion volume around Guitar Hero III," BrandIntel said.

The effect Halo 3 has had on Microsoft's Xbox business cannot be emphasized enough. "In the months leading up to Halo 3's release, there was a positive correlation between Halo 3's and Xbox 360's discussion levels -- as Halo 3's discussion increased, so too did the Xbox 360's engagement with the casual community," BrandIntel added. "Sentiment for the Xbox 360 also improved, indicating that gamers who were previously unsure about purchasing the console, are more convinced that it's a worthy purchase."

"As seen with the success of the Nintendo Wii, gaming manufacturers are beginning to understand the importance of engaging a casual gaming audience, as this group can be a vital demographic in driving sales and new market opportunities," said Alan Dean, vice president of Business Innovation at BrandIntel. "Once gaming manufacturers begin to see the sales results that the casual gaming community can deliver, particularly after the 2007 holiday season, I believe manufacturers will respond by developing more game titles geared towards this particular group."