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WiiWare, Virtual Console Sales Exposed
The three console manufacturers (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) all tend to be cagey when it comes to releasing sales data for their digital distribution platforms. But research firm Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment released its own estimations on the revenue Nintendo collected last year from WiiWare and Virtual Console sales. According to FADE, the two services combined generated $125 million in revenue for Nintendo. WiiWare earned $59 million and Virtual Console earned slightly more with $66 million.
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Anatomy of a $60 Video Game
Ever wonder where your hard-earned money goes after you’ve plunked $60 down on a game at GameStop or Target? Here’s one answer.
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Industry Sales Plunge While Innovation Beckons
Game sales dropped nearly 9 percent in 2009 from the previous year, dipping to $20.2 billion from $22.11 billion, according to digital entertainment market researchers NPD Group. Then a stellar December – a record sales month, thanks to holiday spending – seemed to be a sign that things were rebounding quickly.
They weren’t.
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Disney to Cut Back on Higher End Console Games
Disney Interactive Studios has revealed it plans to cut down on the number of PS3 and Xbox 360 games it produces, instead focusing more heavily on casual platforms such as the Wii and DS.
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Sony Still Losing Money on PS3 Console
Japanese mega-corp Sony revealed their earnings recently, and the Wall Street Journal picked up on a very small, but notable point – Sony loses .06 for every $1.00 of PS3 sales sold, so basically, they take a $18 hit on every unit sold. However, they’re looking to make that back soon, and sales of the PS3 and its games were very well for the year 2009.
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Analyst: Social Game Revenues to Hit $1.3B in 2010
Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian shared several predictions for the social gaming market based on data provided by CrowdStar chairman Peter Relan, including insights on Facebook Credits, Apple’s iPad, and his firm’s forecast that worldwide social game revenues (virtual goods, advertising, and offers) will nearly double in 2010 to $1.3 billion.
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Virtual Goods-Related Companies Raised $598M in 2009
Virtual goods companies raised $598 million in venture capital in 2009, according to a report released by Engage Digital Media.
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NPD Sizes Up Digital Distribution Market
While the industry-tracking NPD Group keeps close tabs on US retail sales in the game industry, it has for years struggled with quantifying the growing realm of digital distribution. Concrete information about the sales of digitally distributed titles is still the closely held secret of vendors like Steam, Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Store, and the Wii Shop Channel, but the NPD Group is trying to find another way to gauge the market’s size.
Read the story here and discuss it in the forum.
Study: 20% of U.S. Game Spending Devoted To MMOs, Portals
Twenty percent of total video game spending in the U.S. goes toward MMOs and game portals, primarily for monthly subscriptions and online credits, according to a new international study. Home and handheld consoles comprise 57 percent of the nation’s gaming budget, including second-hand trade and digital distribution sales.
See the story here and discuss it in the forum.
Can Console Games Compete with ‘Free’?
We won’t convert millions of people into video game buyers when new games are $60 a pop. The average person just doesn’t have a budget for games: they are one-time expenditures, and disposable ones at that. Cable TV, however, is practically a given in many homes, a line item in their household budget. And when a cost is “hidden and assumed”, it becomes a commodity. It no longer factors into day-to-day purchasing decisions.
If someone is trying to decide whether to spend all their free time watching TV shows, or spending some of that playing a new game, they are also doing a price comparison. We’ve established that watching new TV shows is effectively “free.” But playing a new game costs money. Guess which option is going to lose much of the time? (yes, even in a good economy)