BLOG

We recently pointed out that the industry has pretty much reconciled itself to the fact that 2009 will not be as stellar a year for games as 2008 was.

In MCV one year ago exactly, I said that all bets were off as to whether video games were really recession proof on the High Street. Despite bumper revenues last year, it was clear to everyone that the games industry’s climb up the rollercoaster was about to end.

The answer, straight off the bat, is no, they probably aren’t. However at the recent London Games Conference it became clear there are massive changes facing the way games are serviced by the High Street thanks to digital distribution.

Retailers refusing to stock riskier new releases in favour of old-reliable IPs and high-margin second-hand stock might seem like a fairly cut-and-dry issue. Whether in fashion, food or video games, the High Street isn’t just a route to market, it’s a way to gauge customer response. Shops offer a barometer on what consumers want.

Ever get the feeling the industry is getting smaller? Not in volume terms of course, but, you know… companies and conversations. How many different people have you called this week? Or maybe just the usual few, mostly by email.

FIFA is probably the only game that’s cheaper at launch than it is six months after release. The price cutting on the title is an annual ritual. But £25 is a terrifying new low. How long will it be before the title is given away free with a pack of loo roll? It makes you wonder how the likes of HMV and GAME can hope to compete.

Quiet at the back. Come on now. Yes, I’m looking at you, EA, THQ and Activision. And would somebody please tell David Braben to stop gesticulating so wildly?

It’s fair to say that the reaction from the industry to last night’s TV debut of Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe was mixed. But if its intention was to offer an informed, reasoned and mature take on the games industry of both past and present, then it’s hard to regard the show as anything other than an overwhelming success.

Amidst the rising concern's at retail regarding digital content, all is not lost – for some time it will remain the arena for big budget releases, like the on-coming Modern Warfare 2 juggernaut. We all know that Activision and developer Infinity Ward expect it to be game of the year, and in 2009 there has been something new to say about the release every week.

We promised a raft of content on digital distribution in the run up to our London Games Conference, and so far we haven’t disappointed. This week’s issue of MCV magazine includes a WiiWare feature with Laurent Fischer and should prove especially illuminating, given how the formerly online-agnostic Nintendo has made such a particular move into selling digital content.

The games industry has been no stranger to celebrity endorsements in recent years. And what a spectrum of talent it has turned to; from John, Paul, George and Ringo right through to Ferne, Holly, Vernon and Tess. Publishers have shown no shame in trying to ride the coat tails of the rich and famous to the top of the charts.

How is your business approaching the downloadable content business? Is it an opportunity or a threat? Not sure? Join the club.

There are more questions than answers when it comes to judging what kind of impact digital distribution will have on the current industry landscape, but at the same time there is some damn good research out there, a few experts, a growing number of pioneers and increasingly big bets being placed on the future.

Will we see the Wii price lowered before the end of the year? After price cuts by Microsoft and Sony, it seemed inevitable that attentions would turn to their market-leading rival.

Batman: Arkham Asylum held firm for the second week in a row at the top of the UK charts this week. It rode a wave of incredibly positive reviews (and some ridiculous posturing about a Guinness World record for its Metacritic rank – but the less said about that the better) to sell thousands upon.