OPINION Less is not more David Smith worries that fast-play games could be bringing an end to longer playtimes
THIS COLUMN can be read in three minutes. For some of you, that will
be a welcome statement, but what if (indulge me for a moment here) someone else actually enjoyed this column and wished it had lasted a bit longer? This isn’t a bid for more space in ToyNews, it’s actually a comment on a fairly strange phenomenon I’m seeing more and more of in the toy industry, especially when it comes to games.
Quite often now, I’m seeing packaging that proudly declares that the game inside can be completed in 15
minutes, or ten minutes or five minutes. Usually these are games aimed at younger children,
and I understand the thinking behind it – holding a child’s attention can be difficult. But are fast-play games
a reaction to short attention spans, or are they part of the problem? Are we conditioning
youngsters to expect a game to be over in the blink of an eye? Won’t that lead to them becoming frustrated with games that require more of an investment in time? Yes, a child can play a
game more than once. But just as this column will lose its appeal the more times you read it, so a game gives a little less of a thrill when replayed repeatedly. I know there are still complex board games out
Are fast-play games a reaction to short attention spans, or are they part of the problem?
there for older kids, but if we raise our youngsters on whirlwind games, will they develop the patience to play them?
A game like Escape from Colditz used to take as much time to play as it took real prisoners of war to build a glider and escape
David Smith runs the consumer-focused toy news site ToyTalk (
www.toytalk.co.uk) and is the author of the book 100 Classic Toys. Is it time to outsource your warehousing?
Outgrown your premises? Or do you want to launch untried products or enter new markets? Could be time to consider a third-party, says Torque’s Stewart Firth
ONE QUESTION which most toy manufacturers and retailers have to address at some point is ‘should we outsource our warehousing?’ A good third-party
provider can deliver many advantages, including highly relevant experience, multi-client expertise, shared resources and a tried-and- tested warehouse management system. Where employing a
warehousing supplier is appropriate, as is the case for our own toy sector clients including Step2 and Infantino, the rewards can be considerable. But how do you know when it’s time to
outsource? It may help to know that clients often turn to warehousing partners when they:
Want to launch untried products or enter new markets without implementing warehouse infrastructures of their own.
Have outgrown their premises but prefer to avoid the major capital or lease cost of new warehousing and understand outsourcing can mean space being added or reduced as required.
Realise their existing systems are now not suitable to their business
needs, but are unable to make the serious investment cutting-edge replacements demand and realise outsourcing should provide access to the best warehouse systems around.
Wish to avoid labour issues. If businesses are highly seasonal, recruiting and managing enough warehouse staff at peak times, particularly when they’re inexperienced, can be problematic. Warehouse providers with multi-user sites, on the other hand, can move experienced workers between clients to handle peaks and troughs, including those due to clients having
different peak days of the week.
Decide to secure the comprehensive advantages which end- to-end logistics providers offer – warehousing being just one of the services these organisations provide. The benefits of an end- to-end service can include substantial reductions in lead times, through having customs, deconsolidation and fulfillment depots under one roof.
End-to-end suppliers can also provide speed and cost efficiencies, by supplying services such as freight forwarding and distribution transport.
Stewart Firth is head of operations and director at leading end-to-end logistics services provider Torque.
www.torque.eu www.toynews-online.biz November 21
If you’re still unsure whether outsourcing is right for you, the best advice may simply be to ask a reputable warehouse provider to quote. They should positively
welcome you bench marking, as this could precede them offering you other services in the future. Do give them full
information, though, so you receive a like-for-like comparison, and if their estimate is near your current spending, you can switch with confidence. Even if they’re much
more expensive, however, at least they’ll have saved you the cost of employing a consultant to make the comparison.
from Colditz. And that’s a good thing. If a game is fun to play (it must be fun to play, mustn’t it? Otherwise surely it would never have been released), then more of it would be better. Add a few more questions, a few more spaces, a few more challenges. Draw playtime out a bit, to 20 minutes, half an hour or more. Children should get lost
in play. They should lose track of time and be totally unaware that they have been playing for an hour, because the game is just so good.
And when it’s all over (I
can only hope the same holds true for this column), they should be left wishing for just a little bit more.
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