Monday, January 30, 2012

The Reason Why Video Games Are Even More Profitable Than Hollywood Movies?

By Daniel Greer


Video games contain a distinctive appeal that attracts legions of followings. Proving its dominant drawing power, global video game purchases reached a staggering 500 million in 2010. Gaming is considered as one of the most lucrative markets with gamers collectively spending 3 billion hours each week playing the said platform.

Investigative findings by the Association of Psychological Science reveal that gaming in general is considered as the optimal platform for players to take on the characteristics of their own "ideal self." Video games offer gamers the possibility to play an ideal role or virtually adopt a new identity, introducing feelings of enjoyment in the massively social and interactive games experience and satisfaction at each victory.

Some Sort Of Formidable Industry

Within 2008, the gaming industry - covering all games in all video formats - made much more money than all Blu-ray and DVD movie releases combined in terms of product sales. Gaming sales were at $32 billion, up by 20 percent from 2007. Hollywood film sales dropped 6%, fixed at only $29 billion.

A case in point is Grand Theft Auto IV, which has become a jaw-dropping success when it broke 2 entertainment industry records, hauling the largest sales on a single-day and seven-day basis since the release on 04/29/2008. GTA IV sold 3.6 million copies or $310 million in equivalent sales within the first 24 hours of its availability. To the first week, the sales figures subsequently skyrocketed to over six million units or an equivalent of $500 million.

The GTA IV first-week earnings are much like giant movie releases. In a report by Reuters, the British-produced game has outperformed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from Warner Bros., which earned $394 million during its opening week in 2009. GTA 4 also beat blockbuster Spider-Man 3 from Sony and Buena Vista's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which has earned $382 million and $344 million, respectively, right after they opened in cinemas in the year 2007.

On December 12, 2011, Modern Warfare 3 officially de-throned the most recognized movie of all time - Avatar, as being the fastest entertainment media to achieve the $1 billion mark. The former got its first billion dollar earnings 16 days after it was eventually released while the other for 17 days.

Exemplifying effective international business marketing solutions, video games have also amassed profit from its European sector, decisively pulling the limelight faraway from the movie industry. Thought to be "the most valuable purchased entertainment market," gaming sales are four times a lot more than cinema earnings, additionally trumping music and DVD sales combined.

Shedding light over the phenomenal video game following, UK paper The Guardian notes how the gaming pushes itself to the mainstream consciousness by stimulating the consumer's intelligence, attractive to their imagination and enhancing constancy in player involvement - something that Hollywood definitely isn't very successful at.

A Glimpse into the future

Industry research firm Gartner, Inc. has estimated that in 2011, global spending on the gaming ecosystem might reach over $74 billion, showing an increase of 10.4% from $67 billion in 2010. Major transitions to gaming technology, company and software strategies are predicted to last beyond 2015, and at that time, spending will jump to a whopping $112 billion.

The gaming ecosystem covers gaming console manufacturers Nintendo, Sony together with Microsoft; software for platforms or gameplay consoles like PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii and Xbox 360; lightweight consoles Nintendo DS together with DSi, Game Boy Advance and Sony PSP; computer or notebook software; mobile phone gaming, and online and social playing games.

Discussing the gaming business and software strategies in general, internet marketing firm Zebra Partners Perrin Kaplan tells Gaming Business Review that gamers will tend to respond to new products, irrespective of how they are being packaged - console, computer, handheld or Internet. With new games mushrooming on various forms of media, the real challenge for vendors in the video game industry is to adjust to what insatiable gamers want: to become continuously surprised and interested by a new type of fun and new technology that come with video gaming.




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