RETAIL’S PROSPECTS… AND IT’S ONLY MAY SOMETIMES the games industry can get too caught up in willy waving with other forms of entertainment. But this week comparisons with cinema are fair, if only to remind us how rough things are for games retail at the moment. The UK’s boxed software market has generated £320m this year, while 2012 cinema Box Office receipts currently tally close to £340m. Roughly neck and neck, then. But when you consider that the Hollywood summer season is just gearing up – while June, July and August are looking pretty sparse for games – you see the problem. Cinema has new Spider-Man, Batman and Men In Blacksequels to look forward to, plus the usual-but-popular family animated movies and some grown-up fare.
Moshi sequel will offer new take on the franchise
Mind Candy hints at more platforms for follow-up by Christopher Dring
DEVELOPER Mind Candy has confirmed it is hard at work on the sequel to the record- breaking Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo.
The firm says the next title will offer a ‘new take’ on the online kids phenomenon when it arrives this year. It follows news that Moshling Zoohas toppled Nintendo’s own Brain Trainingas the longest- running DS No.1. “We are extremely
passionate about increasing the brand experience in as many ways as possible,” Mind Candy’s senior category marketing manager Andrew Matjaszek told MCV. “[The sequel] offers a completely new take on the Moshiuniverse. We focus on the key characters in a similar way to Moshling Zoo. However, players will once again experience new
We are passionate about increasing the brand experience in as many ways as possible.
“ Andrew Matjaszek, Mind Candy
look to expand the Moshi universe even further in the near future. Stay tuned.” Moshi Monstershas over 60m registered users online, while the boxed video game tie-in has been No.1 in the DS retail charts for 18 consecutive weeks. Mind Candy: 020 7501 1900
locations, new characters and loads of new games to enjoy.” Matjaszek added that the brand could also come to new consoles: “We’ve loved taking Moshito the DS and don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t
Aside from the interactive tie-ins to said movie sequels, games retail has… well, very little. The problem here isn’t that our market won’t catch up with film in 2012 – because it will – it’s that the big games are some way off. And when they come, they come all at once. This has been a problem for the trade since virtually time immemorial. But by now you’d have thought publishers had got to grips with planning. A smoother schedule would please retail, diminish the attraction of trading in relatively new games, give games room to breathe, and satisfy consumers year-round. Certainly the number of families queuing up to see The Avengersproves they will hand over £40 if you offer access to decent big- budget entertainment on a rainy day. But in big boxed video games there is very little on offer right now, much to the industry’s discredit.
SLOW PROGRESS ON PEGI,
BUT IT’S BEEN WORTH IT PARLIAMENT re-opened last week, and with it kick-started the process to turn PEGI into the de factoratings for games. This has been a slow, drawn-out affair, with a handful of delays and miles of red tape to cut through. Forgive yet another comparison to the movie world, but: provided the transition is now relatively smooth, decoupling games from the BBFC’s authoritarian methods adds a level of credibility to games.
Through this process, the trade will have earned self-regulation – not many big-money business sectors can claim to have pulled that off. Michael.French@intentmedia.co.uk