Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

According to the above mentioned article the video game industry is suffering in the current economic market. The value for video games seems to be in question. People seem to be downloading more games for phones and other handheld units rather than buying game consoles. “ … higher sales from used games, digital downloads, games for smart phones and games played over social networks kept video game content sales at $15.4 billion to $15.6 billion for 2010, flat with 2009.” (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Video-Game-Sales-Decline-in-zacks-3332226628.html?x=0&.v=1)  The consoles are very over priced and the more they require add on’s  to play these games seems to be driving the industry further down. According to seeking alpha.com, “declining hardware sales, which declined 13.0% year over year to $6.29 billion “(http://seekingalpha.com/article/247116-video-game-sales-decline-in-2010). As a parent it is impossible to keep up with all the add on’s for each console but it makes more sense to allow my child to play a free game on the internet. According to casualgaming.biz, “The free Lite version of Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 11 million times; YouTube videos relating to the game have topped six million views; and more than 77% of players grab updates when they're made available. (http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/30380/Angry-Birds-iPhone-passes-65m-sales-milestone). Gaming consoles have been a cash cow for a very long time. No longer is this the case. With the IPad, and various multi-format phones that are available there is not that direct need to have a true gaming console. The video game companies need to look at gaming from a different point of view if they want to capture the ever growing market of internet gaming. The ability to enjoy these games, especially for families on the go (such as mine) requires something new. Something to be accessed anywhere, anytime, at the touch of a button.

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