Opinion & Analysis
RSS Feed
The annual Q4 stock headache
Neil Long
Editor, MCV
November 9, 2007
You can look at the fears over hardware stock at Christmas in one of two ways.
Conversely, you may think of it as scandalous that the three biggest platform holders are already warning that there may be some consumers who are disappointed this Christmas.
Whatever your opinion, it’s a headache that seems to return each year. Even the two-year-old 360 is struggling to meet demand.
David Yarnton is right, of course, when he says that you can’t just turn on a tap when it comes to hardware supplies – but that won’t stop the frustration for retailers if they’re forced to turn Christmas customers away.
Recent Columns
- COMMENT: Something like a phenomenon
May 16 - Neil Long
- Will EA buy Take Two this week?
May 13 - Michael Pachter
- COMMENT: PS3 slips into top gear
May 9 - Neil Long
- How the music industry got it wrong: Pt 2
May 8 - Nicholas Lovell
- How the music industry got it wrong: Pt 1
May 8 - Nicholas Lovell
- COMMENT: Believe the hype
May 2 - Neil Long
- 'Music in games is the new rock and roll'
April 29 - Tahir Basheer
- COMMENT: Relax, don't do it
April 25 - Lisa Foster
- COMMENT: Are we normal?
April 18 - Neil Long
- Cinemas - a brave new world for gaming?
April 17 - Mark De Quervain
- The Industry vs. Tanya Byron: Pt 3/3
April 15 - Ray Maguire
- COMMENT - MCV Awards
April 11 - Stuart Dinsey
- The Industry vs. Dr Tanya Byron: Pt. 2/3
April 9 - Paul Jackson
- The Industry vs. Dr Tanya Byron: Pt. 1/3
April 8 - David Reeves
- Isn't it Byronic?
April 2 - Professor Mark Griffiths
- "Get behind Play.com Live"
April 1 - Jonathan Weinberg
- "Gibson relishes a good court case"
April 1 - Andy Barrett
- "Ken Kutaragi was my biggest inspiration"
March 28 - Chris Deering
- This Tanya Byron Lunacy
March 27 - Bruce Everiss
- Take Two has made a mistake
March 26 - Michael Pachter
- ANALYST REACTION: EA’s bid gets hostile
March 20 - The industry's leading analysts
- COMMENT - Can EA be a true Rockstar?
March 20 - Neil Long
- GameStop financial analysis
March 18 - Richard Fontaine
- COMMENT: Convergence is back
March 14 - Neil Long
- Take Two financials - analysis
March 12 - Michael Pachter
- QUICKFIRE Q&A: GAME
March 10 - Lisa Morgan
- All hail the MCV Awards finalists
March 6 - Stuart Dinsey
- RETAILER PROFILE - DSGi
March 5 - David Johnson
- EA & Take Two - the analyst view
March 3 - Colin Sebastian, Nick Parker, Piers Harding-Rolls, Michael Pachter, Edward Williams & Thomas Andrews
- Phil Harrison - Fanfare for the common man
February 29 - Stuart Dinsey
- ‘Don’t ditch PEGI ratings’
February 28 - Patrice Chazerand
- Why Take Two must accept EA's offer
February 26 - Michael Pachter
- Why we want Take Two
February 25 - John Riccitiello
- The trend that won't go away
February 22 - Neil Long
- What now for SCI?
February 21 - Nicholas Lovell
- WoW hits 10 million
February 19 - J Allen Brack
- Never a dull moment in Gardner's world
February 15 - Neil Long
- 'The British Goverment is stupid'
February 13 - Bruce Everiss
- Games ratings: Have we all calmed down now?
February 11 - Christopher Dring
- Tabloid aggression would be Prime evil
February 7 - Tim Ingham
- How GAME can keep it up
February 4 - James Flower
- Yet more shock and awe
January 31 - Neil Long
- The games of 2007: Analysis
January 30 - Andrew Wooden
- This year will struggle to beat ‘07
January 29 - Rick Porter
- Games aren’t crack, stupid; they’re games
January 25 - Neil Long
- Introducing the MCV Awards '08...
January 24 - Stuart Dinsey
- Zavvi New Year
January 23 - Simon Douglas
- What went wrong at SCi
January 22 - Nicholas Lovell
- Warner and SCi: Another twist in the tale
January 18 - David Cole
- COMMENT: Seriously, Happy New year
January 11 - Neil Long
- Retail review: Christmas trading
January 9 - René Wright
- Say What?
January 3 - Quotes of the year
- All hail the three kings - Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo
December 20 - Martyn Gibbs
- The Manhunt 2 saga just keeps on going...
December 18 - Neil Long
- Xbox and Nintendo clean up in the MCV Retail Survey
December 14 - Neil Long
- Q4 PLATFORM BATTLE PART 4: PC
December 13 - Russell Barnes
- Q4 PLATFORM BATTLE PART 3: PS3
December 12 - Henning Hoffman
- Q4 PLATFORM BATTLE PART 2: Nintendo
December 11 - Mark Green
- Q4 PLATFORM BATTLE PART 1: Xbox 360
December 10 - Jon Hicks
- ACTIVISION BLIZZARD: Wake up Hollywood
December 7 - Stuart Dinsey
- 2007 – a proper gaming vintage
December 4 - Ben Parfitt
- ACTIVISION BLIZZARD: What it all means
December 3 - Michael Pachter
- There’s no escaping the festive frenzy
November 30 - Neil Long
- The digital download BBFC loophole
November 28 - Phil Lee & Ray Coyle
- Gender differences in gaming
November 27 - Professor Mark Griffiths
- Play.com Live - Ready to Play the field
November 26 - Tim Ingham
- The need for new IP
November 23 - Neil Long
- Developers should develop themselves
November 21 - Simon Jones
- Sex in games
November 20 - Bruce Everiss
- Quality key to effective advertising
November 16 - Dan Coleman
- COMMENT: Play-ing with the big boys
November 15 - Tim Ingham
- Why do films get tax breaks and we don’t?
November 13 - Mick Morris
- Capcom's Western mission statement
November 12 - Michael Pattison
- Italian Territory Report
November 7 - Valentina Frigerio
- Getting ready for the Q4 rush
November 6 - Neil Long
- When Hodge met ELSPA
November 5 - Margaret Hodge
- Lest we forget: The Power of PS2
November 2 - Neil Long
- Braben on pre-owned software
November 1 - David Braben
- Publishers need to trust developers
October 30 - Jason Kingsley
- Games can help people learn
October 29 - Professor Stephen Heppell
- A trade body with teeth... Yes, really
October 24 - Stuart Dinsey
- Violence in video games and its effect on children
October 22 - Amanda Gummer
- Our very own media darlings
October 19 - Neil Long
- Mobile gaming is maturing fast
October 18 - Bernard Dugdale
- How to get girls gaming
October 16 - Jane Cunningham
- It’s Prime time for Brown to listen to you
October 12 - Tim Ingham
- Publishers: Know your rights
October 10 - Alex Chapman
- Give us gamers more titles like Halo
October 8 - Ben Parfitt
- Games Industry Status - Hooked on Facebook
October 4 - Lisa Foster
- GMAs: Media Frenzy
October 2 - Dave Roberts
- Gamestation's staff are key for Christmas
October 1 - Martyn Gibbs
- Next-gen analysis
September 28 - Nick Parker
- Niche work if you can get it
September 25 - Dermot Stapledon
- COMMENT - Warner warms up
September 21 - Stuart Dinsey
- COMMENT - No Longer Virgins
September 21 - Andrew Wooden
- Let’s get gamers off their arses
September 19 - Simon Lovell
- We shouldn't cheapen games degrees
September 18 - Matthew Jeffery
- Leipzig 1 London 0
September 14 - Stuart Dinsey
- GC must move to fulfil its potential
September 13 - Steve Boxer
- Why we dropped the 360’s price
September 11 - Dan Cornelius
- COMMENT: Hitman and her
September 7 - Lisa Foster
- LEIPZIG REVIEW: Sony steals the show
September 4 - Neil Long
- COMMENT: Cameron’s attack is worse news for him than us
August 31 - Tim Ingham
- The new Hollywood?
August 28 - Matthew Jeffery
- COMMENT: Warner toons into games
August 24 - Neil Long
- ANALYSIS: Territory report: Germany
August 20 - IDG
- COMMENT: Retail’s love triangle
August 17 - Neil Long
- Virtual worlds, real research
August 15 - Professor Mark Griffiths
- Eidos’ real heroine
August 14 - Jane Cavanagh
- Sega on Q4 '07
August 13 - Mike Hayes
- COMMENT: Every Cloud...
August 9 - Neil Long
- Better graphics mean better gameplay
August 9 - Phil Wright
- The problem with games retail
August 7 - Richard Hammond
- Toy firms to roll the dice again?
August 2 - Lisa Foster
- ‘We know what we must do’
July 27 - Phil Harrison
- Tesco turns supplier
July 26 - Neil Long
- Warranty move will generate more consumer confidence
July 23 - Chris Lewis
- Vegas or New York? A less elitist E3 beckons
July 20 - Stuart Dinsey
- Rivalling the online super-powers
July 18 - Matt Holland
- Kids today
July 17 - Michael Wolstenholme
- A brand new 'Vision for the future
July 16 - Andrew Brown
- E3 without me
July 12 - Lisa Foster
- E3: Postcards From The E3dge
July 11 - Simon Byron
- ‘We’re disrupting the games world with Kidman ads’
July 10 - Dawn Paine
- Let’s rally Government for a level playing field
July 9 - Ian Livingstone
- UK parliament must sit up and take notice
July 6 - Neil Long
- Was the BBFC right to ban Manhunt 2?
June 29 - Roger Bennett
- Casual games are getting serious
June 28 - Neil Long
- More demo events mean more sales
June 27 - Stephen Lynn
- How to make interactivity mainstream
June 25 - Chris Deering
- ELSPA the defender - unless you're Rockstar
June 22 - Stuart Dinsey
- The childrens’ gaming market
June 20 - Michael Wolstenholme
- What women want
June 18 - Patrick O’Luanaigh
- Take 2 Part 2
June 15 - Lisa Foster
- The PS3 powers on
June 8 - David Reeves
- Community key to Pro Evo
June 4 - Jon Murphy
- Mainstream audience is key for Football Manager online
June 4 - Miles Jacobson
- Brown but not out
June 1 - Stuart Dinsey
- Real PS3 numbers, modestly revealed
June 1 - Lisa Foster
- European studios are vital to 360’s future success
May 30 - Phil Spencer
- PC is not just a cash cow
May 30 - Darryl Still
- ‘God bless the games industry’
May 29 - Iain Lee
- We give indies the chance to shine online
May 2 - Chris Ratcliff
- Warcraft is taking over the world
May 2 - Ross Atherton
- Thinking outside the Xbox
May 2 - Stephen McGill
- The biggest change is yet to come
May 2 - Tim Smith
- Talk of trade shows must be constructive
May 2 - Simon Harvey
- Quality will never go out of fashion
May 2 - Jonathan Weinberg
- Print media must move quicker
May 2 - Steve Boxer
- Only Elite gamers will buy new 360
May 2 - Stu Taylor
- Nintendo is on the right track with Sonic
May 2 - Paul Davies
- Bored of the ABCs
May 2 - Gary Cutlack
- No-one’s above our ‘Station
April 7 - David Wilson
