“Part of the blame lies with retail. They’re not introducing families to the gaming space.” Have we lost the kids games market? p18
Fujifilm rumbles into games space Japanese firm seeks business partners to integrate new tech into consoles and handheld devices by Dominic Sacco
PHOTO expert Fujifilm wants to shake up the video games market.
The Japanese giant has
told MCVit hopes the likes of Nintendo and Sony will use its new technology that can ‘transmit the ‘sense of touch’ in future versions of 3DS and Vita. The firm’s technology division, Fuji Xerox, has hired go-between firm NineSigma to help it find partners in the video
It can also be used as a more
compact type of vibrating technology for mobile phones, or
games industry.
The new tech uses a movement sensor that claims to ‘reproduce the sensations of touching by
physical movement’. In other words, it can add varying degrees of force feedback to handheld consoles depending on the player’s movement.
as a piece of integrated force feedback kit for smaller games controllers and joysticks. “We want to find potential partners to expand Fuji Xerox’s business together,” NineSigma’s vice president and director Tatsuya Hoshino told MCV. “Since this tech is small, it can be installed into portable devices.
Gamers give up on credit cards by Christopher Dring
FEWER gamers are using credit cards. NewZoo says that in 2010, 26 per cent of consumers reported making
payment for games using credit cards, but that fell to 20 per cent last year. It follows similar research from pre-payment specialist Ukash, which says nine out of ten of its customers prefer to use a cash alternative to credit and debit cards.
It’s far from game over for cash. There’s demand for alternative payment.
“ David Hunter, Ukash Pre-paid specialists, such
as InComm, Microsoft, PaySafeCard and Ukash, have seen sales rise year- on-year. The amount spent on pre-paid cards in general have risen from £90m in 2010 to £125m in 2011. “It’s far from game over for cash,” said Ukash CEO David Hunter. “We’re seeing
demand from publishers and gamers for alternative payment.”
“Fuji Xerox doesn’t have any partner in the games industry at the moment, so we are actively contacting game device makers.” The piece of rumble technology would mark Fuji’s entry into the games industry. Fujifilm was founded in 1934 as a photographic film producer. Today it works in the medical, life science and office equipment sectors, too. It employs over 35,000 staff worldwide and has a share capital of around ¥40bn (£330m). www.ninesigma.com