Archive for the ‘video games’ Category:
More Project Natal – The intersection of life and video games
Project Natal on Jimmy Fallon
Video Game Digital Downloads and its effects on the industry
This is a great article about the impact of digital downloads to the business of video game retailing, but where i think it is most interesting is not the direct impact on physical product sales, but the life time of a video game product. Digital downloads allow publishers and studios to extend the life cycle of their product directly into the sequel and sometimes longer, vs the much driven hit based business. Therefore we will see longer run titles, bigger and longer revenue swings (micro transactions, downloadable content, etc) and possibly lower costs as the production and distribution of the titles could be cut exponentially as it will be completely delivered digitally. Pretty interesting transformation of the business.
Digital downloads spell end for videogame stores? by Reuters: Yahoo! Tech
Digital downloads spell end for videogame stores?* By John Gaudiosi – Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:38AM EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
Will digital downloads kill the videogames store? That’s the multibillion dollar question facing retailers from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp to GameStop Corp, as Internet distributors continue to grow.
Retailers like Target splashed out on large booths at last week’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles, showcasing games like Activision’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
But gamers — especially on personal computers — are increasingly turning to alternative methods to play and buy games, such as downloading or “streaming” online games, rather than trekking to a store.
Take industry veteran Dave Perry, whose Gaikai online system lets PC gamers buy and stream games through their Web browsers without needing to download any content.
“Our solution is not to dive into a fight with Sony (Corp), Microsoft (Corp), Nintendo Co Ltd, as it wouldn’t gain any ‘new audience’ for publishers,” Perry said. “Instead, our strategy is 100 percent focused on being an ally to publishers and first-party hardware makers, by delivering them audiences they don’t reach today.”
Digital downloads are still a small, but fast-growing business. According to the NPD group, 17 percent of games sold in 2008 by PC gamers were digitally downloaded. Microsoft and Sony are trying to convert console gamers who have become accustomed to consuming music and movies digitally via services like Netflix and Apple Inc’s iTunes.