BLOG

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.

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?

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.

Gamescom was a great opportunity to speak to all kinds of people in the games industry. But from Yves Guillemot to small indie developers, one theme regularly emerged when you talked about Nintendo’s DS platform – piracy.

The games industry is often guilty of putting a good spin on bad news. Title pushed to next year? Well, it’s just getting more development time to make it better. Consoles not selling as quickly as planned? It’s okay, we’ve got a long-term strategy that doesn’t rely on short-term sales spikes. Yet news that so many bankable games have been pushed away from the busy Christmas season really isn’t such a bad thing.

One indie believes that the country’s biggest grocers will ruin the chance for retail to stick to RRPs this Q4…

What a difference a few years make. I remember when, as a junior reporter on MCV about five years ago, one senior publishing boss warned me away from talking about digital distribution – at all, I hadn’t even put pen to paper yet – as if it was some evil menace. The less coverage it got, he explained, the happier he and his retail friends would be. But you can’t fight the internet.

Retailers calling publishers greedy. Publishers labelling retailers short-sighted. Battle lines clearly drawn. The reaction to MCV’s report of Activision setting a £55 RRP for Modern Warfare 2 – with more labels likely to follow suit – got a little fiery over the past week, to say the least.

Without question, Modern Warfare 2 is set to be one of the biggest games of the year. And now, following news that Activision has raised the trade price of the game, it’s set to be one of the most expensive as well (outside of the music peripheral games sector, that is).

Ever since I got back from LA I’ve been regularly asked: who won E3?

Ever since I got back from LA I’ve been regularly asked: who won E3? The answer is usually clear, based on the buzz around each company’s announcements, which of the three format holders made the biggest and best impression. This year I don’t think the decision is that simple…

So in just a few days we’ll know if the big gamble finally paid off.

Some well-known figures in the trade recently told MCV that they feel Tesco has no profile in games, and lacks focus.

Digital distribution was the talk of GDC. No surprise there, given the importance of network services to Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation. But OnLive stunned everyone, whilst Zeebo had us thinking about Brazil and China. Where no consoles currently grow.

When retailers across the UK reported their financials at the start of the year, and the mainstream media decided to focus on the credit crunch and economic slide, it was irksome to see GAME Group not given enough kudos.

The history of the world is one of steady evolution peppered with truly epic moments that herald massive change.

2008 has been one of the most challenging, exciting and dramatic years in the history of video games retail.

It’s easy to write off Apple’s claim that iPhone and iPod Touch ‘represent the future of games’ as the typical bluster many have come to expect from the company.

One glance at the titles due to hit stores on November 14th and you might well think so. The list of potential chart toppers is nothing short of staggering, and is sure to cause a headache or two for shelf space-starved retailers.