NEWS LEADER
WHAT DOES THE HANDHELD GAMES REVOLUTION MEAN FOR RETAIL?
WITH 3DS just weeks away, NGP on the horizon, and continued growth in iPad and mobile, 2011 is shaping up to be a transformative year for portable games.
But that means retailers will have to face up to some tough facts of life. These platforms are proving to be the defining force in how digital and physical games content live together – and show how the many formats the industry offers are becoming joined up. Some will be unsurprised to hear SCEE boss Andrew House confirm that only the biggest and best tentpole NGP games will be available for stores to sell. But his comments are the most explicit confirmation yet that retail’s part to play with games is simply over. A brand like The Sims, for instance, is rapidly migrating online. Its mobile spin-off isn’t ‘the mobile spin-off’ any more, it’s the main handheld version, promoted heavily by EA through various app stores. Forget DS and PSP – The Simsis bundled on the new Xperia ‘PlayStation Phone’ handset.
Of course the console version still did the business at Christmas, but for a large set of consumers, this is a game they play on a portable, not a TV. Retail-friendly formats like the 3DS are fast becoming the exception, not the rule.
HMV to renovate London shops
£14m 360 Oxford Street sale completed by Christopher Dring
ENTERTAINMENT giant HMV will refurbish its 150 Oxford Street and Trocadero stores this year.
The firm will use some of the £13.7m it has generated from the sale of its 360 Oxford Street to pay for the refit and upgrades. 360 Oxford Street was opened in 2000, but HMV – which already has two other shops on Oxford Street – announced it was selling it to US clothing chain Forever 21 last year.
The buyout was expected to be completed by this spring, but now the outlet’s final day of trading will be tomorrow (Saturday, March 5th).
www.mcvuk.com
The company says it will continue to have a strong presence in Central London, with a ‘major refurbishment’ planned for its 150 Oxford Street store, including an upgrade to its video gaming department.
The retailer also says it will update its Trocadero store at Piccadilly Circus, which includes a HMV Gamerbase. 360 Oxford Street is not part of the 40 store closures announced by the
entertainment chain in January. HMV issued a second profit warning earlier this week, admitting its pre-tax profits would fall slightly short of the £45m market expectations. HMV: 01628 818 300
“Sony won’t be releasing just one new PlayStation this year – it’ll have three or four, all united with the same digital backbone.”
That’s why Sony’s totally hybridised model for NGP, and all its games platforms going forward, is hugely noteworthy. Power parity between the handheld and PS3 creates continuity for developers and publishers. Meanwhile the PlayStation Suite and PlayStation Certified plan means games content and hardware can roll out without SCE having to bear manufacturing, but still give it the Sony seal of approval. That’s a very progressive model for a typically closed format holder. And given rumours of a PlayStation Certified tablet, at this rate Sony won’t be releasing just one new PlayStation this year – it’ll have three or four from various divisions, all united with the same digital backbone. What part retail has to play in that model is still be determined. Certainly, the High Street’s role in software sales for such formats is in question. But as the mounting excitement for 3DS shows, consumers will always be hungry for hardware: the next big gadget is always hard to resist.
Michael.French @
intentmedia.co.uk
March 4th 2011 5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84