Say What?

"We continue to believe that GameStop is the leading potential acquirer of Gamestation.”

Michael Pachter at Wedbush Morgan starts the year off by winding up Gamestation’s commercial director Martyn Gibbs, January

It is time to garotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation and admit the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males.”
Boris Johnson, Tory MP, January

You can be sure kids will be howling until cash-strapped parents give in and put themselves in debt. Any toy that costs more than many people earn in a week is a serious worry.”

Ulrika Jonsson reacts to the PlayStation 3 launch details, February

Sony will launch and sell out their limited quantities. And consumers will try to figure out if the addition of unproven technology is worth the 200 premium over the Xbox 360”
Chris Lewis, VP EMEA of Home and Entertainment at Microsoft takes an early swipe at his rivals over at SCEE, February

If you’d asked me ten years ago if Sonic and Mario would star together in a video game, I’d have said that Hell would freeze over first.”

Sega Euro boss – and former Nintendo marketing director – Mike Hayes announces the teaming of two iconic gaming characters, March

Our egos want to make sure that we have the biggest launch in history.”
SCE UK MD Ray Maguire gets ready for the PlayStation3 roll-out, March

Rather than burden consumers, forcing them to buy technology they don’t want – as with PS3 and Blu Ray – we offer real choice.”

Stephen McGill, head of gaming and entertainment at Microsoft gives his view on the PS3 offering, March

If you take PS3’s price of €599, it’s a big price tag, so I’m not sure that ‘value’ is something you would associate with that console. We offer great value.”

Microsoft’s Chris Lewis again, March

If I had one tip for [Trilogy MD] Matthew Allen, it would be to think a bit longer before launching. Come on Matthew, don’t slip in my estimation. If you truly want to shake up the sector, do something big and different, then we can be the joint pioneers of change.”

It’s handbags at dawn in the distribution sector as Koch Media MD Craig McNicol accuses rival Trilogy of offering nothing new with its new indie-focused business, March

The Trilogyi innovation comprises what the indie sector itself identified as missing from the market and Craig can benefit from this learning by simply talking to his own independent customer base himself.”
Trilogy MD Matthew Allen fires back at McNicol, April

A massive heatwave that arrives early will be very damaging.”

CHIPS MD Don McCabe is concerned about what effect a hot summer will have on game sales. He needed have worried… April

‘War is over’
MCV offers its own take on the GAME acquisition of Gamestation, May

‘Slaughter – Horror at Sony’s depraved stunt to promote PlayStation with decapitated head’

The Mail on Sunday kicks off the ‘Goatgate’ saga, May

We don’t have our eyes on the competition in any way.”
SCEE president David Reeves refuses to be drawn into a discussion on Sony’s rivals as he announces the sell-through of a million PS3 units nine-and-a-half weeks after launch in PAL territories, June

Whilst it is regrettable that there will be a number of staff reductions, this was a necessary move.”

James Ellingford, international MD at Take 2, has the difficult task of announcing major cut-backs by the publisher in Europe, June

Manhunt 2’s unremitting violence cannot be fixed by removing one scene or element of the game.”
Sue Clark at the BBFC explains exactly why Rockstar’s controversial slasher could not be classified, June

In the last six months the UK has slipped from the third largest manufacturer to the fourth… An increasingly concerning issue is that UK development is losing its competitive global position and this can be attributed to the fact that other territories are offering attractive investment packages.”

Ian Livingstone, chair of the Computer Games Skills Forum, questions the Government’s decision not to give UK studios sector tax breaks or other incentives and sparks a debate that is still rumbling on, July

There’s much evidence to suggest that this industry isn’t being taken seriously by the UK Government.”
Jane Cavanagh, CEO of Britsoft giant Eidos continues the discussion, August

Even in five years I expect downloads to only be worth a maximum of around 15 per cent of the market.”

Joerg Trouvain, the new senior VP of European publishing at Activision offers some comfort to the High Street, August

We are really looking at stepping up in industry terms. We want to be very creative and aggressive in what we do.”
Pascal Brochier, president of global retail at Vivendi Games. And ‘step up’ is certainly what the French entertainment giant did later in the year, September

This is what we have been working towards for the last two years. It is a major milestone for Midway.”

Midway’s European marketing director Leonie Manshanden welcomes the release of the firm’s triple-A title Stranglehold, September

It seems football cannot compete with an Xbox. Maybe they have the hunger and drive that working class boys of England had 30 years ago but now it is replaced by video games passion.”
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp blames the state of English football on video games, October

As for criticism from the media, well don’t be so surprised. You’re a competitor of theirs, aren’t you?”

Labour’s Culture Minister Margaret Hodge suggests why games get such a bad press during her keynote at the London Games Festival, October

This new company raises the competitive bar for the likes of EA, THQ and Ubisoft and the other major diversified media companies such as Disney and Warner Bros.”

Piers Harding-Rolls at Screen Digest is just one of a flurry of analysts to offer their tuppence-worth on the Activision Blizzard deal, December