International Media Partner
The Market For Computer & Video Games
EVERY BUYER EVERY BRANCH EVERY WEEK Issue 636 Friday May 6th 2011 £3.25
Wii-for-all as Nintendo console is re-energised
Casual, price-conscious families and young gamers targeted with new £129 bundles Retail praises ‘long overdue’ price drop Which retailer will take it to under £100?
by Michael French & Christopher Dring
FORGET ‘WII 2’. Nintendo’s current best-selling console will get a new lease of life via its first price cut. Retailers say the cost drop will give hardware sales a ‘long overdue’ boost that can attract new audiences. Nintendo will introduce a
new Mario Kartbundle on May 20th alongside the Wii Sportsbundle – lower trade prices mean both will retail for around £129. A range of budget Wii re-releases is also on the way.
“This is great news – customers are very price conscious in these tough times,” Grainger Games’ Phil Moore told MCV. “We’re sure this will energise the Wii.” HMV’s Jonathan Hayes added: “This price drop is to be welcomed, not least as it should help to re-energise sales. It may well encourage new consumers into the market, especially with a range of £20 games.” Asda’s Andrew Thompson said the Wii price drop “should drive some much needed volume back into the hardware market.”
IN THIS ISSUE
04 PSN WARNING Games industry execs weigh in on the aftermath of the PSN security breach
09 LA NOIRE AD BLITZ Rockstar details its TV- centric marketing campaign for this month’s big release
18 FULL STEAM AHEAD We talk to the men behind digital platform Steam about how it benefits retail
23 WINNING ‘11 Konami discusses its year ahead and the bid to rebuild Pro Evolution Soccer
35 RETAIL BIZ
Previews of the biggest upcoming titles, including RPG The Witcher 2
A new price, a new bundle and a range of budget games is designed to appeal to children
WILL MICROSOFT AND SONY FOLLOW SUIT?
SOME RETAILERS are now hopeful that Microsoft and Sony will consider cutting the price of their consoles, too.
The PS3 carries an RRP starting at £250. The cheapest Xbox 360 is £149, rising to £270 with Kinect.
Microsoft last cut the price at E3 2010, Sony at Gamescom 2009. Morrisons’ Nick Sultanti said to MCV: “The Wii price drop is long overdue. Hopefully we will see a response from the other platform holders in the near future.”
Big guns fired up for GAME show by Michael French
SOME OF the biggest names in games have thrown their weight behind the GAMEfest consumer show. Nintendo, Activision and EA have all booked space to exhibit at the September expo run by GAME. The event takes place from September 16th to 18th and just a matter of days before the Earls Court EG Expo.
CAMPAIGN TARGETS YOUNG FAMILIES
NINTENDO HAS told MCVnew families and gamers as young as five will be the target of its latest Wii marketing. The firm plans to promote how the Wii can help bring the family together by being social, creative, fun, safe and affordable, through a TV and outdoor push. The new bundle campaign is the biggest Wii push in some time.
NOW STORES EXPECT £99 WII DEAL BOOM
HIGH STREET insiders say the new Wii trade price could spark a wave of sub-£100 offers. Retailers may launch the new SKUs at that price on May 20th or wait until the bank holiday at the end of May.
Sainsbury’s for one experimented with
super-low Wii hardware prices in Q4 2010 to great success.
“
We’ll announce details and a few surprises in the coming weeks. Anna-Marie Mason, GAME
Marketing director Anna- Marie Mason said: “This is a fantastic start – we will be announcing other publisher sign-ups and more details of the plans in the coming weeks as well as a few surprises.” A month ago publishers
told MCVthat supporting both GAMEfest and EG Expo would be an impossible task, but both events seem to be thriving so far. The Earls Court show confirmed that exhibitors – such as Sony and Microsoft – are returning to the London event.
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