Getting ready for the Q4 rush

MCV readers can look forward to reading about blockbuster release bottlenecks, possible price slashing at retail and broken street dates during the next two months as the build-up to the ‘gifting period’ (a phrase that has always struck me as having vaguely filthy connotations) truly begins.

Veterans of the industry will have seen it coming a mile off – but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. Last week’s busy industry schedule was indicative of things to come. Many industry party-goers will have just wanted to lie down in a dark room last weekend after a week which included the BAFTAs, the PES 2008 Industry Cup and the Golden Joysticks.

Between necking pints and schmoozing, publishers are betting their houses on blockbuster titles with massive marketing budgets, all the while making bold claims about snatching the Christmas number one spot. For the next eight weeks, every game, console and peripheral sold at retail is a vital step towards those all-important sales targets.

And the reason I am writing about all this? The Christmas lights are up just down the road from the MCV offices. They may be yet to burst into life, but the festivities in the games industry have begun already. Cheers!