The Games Industry thread.

[Standup]

That's a shame as many of the UK's great developers around today started off designing on their Spectrums and then Amigas.

We (the UK) still seem to have the developers but not the publishers. The one high profile UK publisher, Eidos, has been taken over by a much smaller Uk company which in turn now seems to be up for grabs. The suitors seem to be all American. Maybe its another example of the Uk's ability to take creative talent and make it commercial.

Surprised about the consoles though, although i have just bought a PSP - my first console for many, many years.

[DrSpike]

Hmm, probably just more Sunday PC gamers in the other countries.

[Sandman]

But more so in the shocking fact that the UK and Europe are behind the USA in terms of chosing to buy and play games on PC over console.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

[Standup]

I think it is if you like challenging, in depth strategy games. There's a lot of good games (or potentially anyway) that don't get a general UK release presumbly because the market is too small.

Means we have to pay a premium to get them from N America.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Hmm, probably just more Sunday PC gamers in the other countries.

Its quite possible the US margin in PC gaming over Europe is due to more sunday gaming.

It also may have to do with higher PC market penetration though, esp depending on how "europe" is defined.

The Japanese are definitely the most console oriented market, IIUC.

[Vince278]

I've noticed in all my local stores that they went from mostly PC games to mostly console games. Just in the past year or so. Not a good trend for a PC-only person like myself. Should I be concerned?

[DrSpike]

Depends on whether you really want to use those stores I guess.

[Vince278]

I think they are all EB outlets. They used to be big on PC games until recently.

[DrSpike]

Online stores are your friend.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Vince278
I've noticed in all my local stores that they went from mostly PC games to mostly console games. Just in the past year or so. Not a good trend for a PC-only person like myself. Should I be concerned?

first you must live in a different part of the country than I do - here the EB's switched to mainly (though not entirely) console games a couple of years ago.

Should you be concerned - depends

1. Theres still considerable retail shelf space for PC games at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc. But shelf space does seem to be decreasing, and fewer titles seem to be kept for as long

2. As Doc says, ecommerce in PC games, both electronic sites that direct mail games (like Chips and bits, or Amazon) and direct download services (like Steam) are growing.

3. Brick and mortar retail is still important for the impulse purchase, for drawing new people to the hobby. Its loss may still impact the hobby overall.

4. Overall sales trends for PC gaming are unclear. The latest sales figures for PC games from NPD show 2005 14% down from 2004, a trend of steady declines since 1999. And this in what was an off year for consoles. However those figures exclude MMOG revenues, digital downloads, and possibly some internet/direct mail sales.

[duke o' york]

Hobby? It's a way of life!