Tag Archives: feature

FEATURE: Rush to cash in store credit could expedite GAME demise

GAME’s Spring Clean sale has certainly proved popular with customers. But has it helped or hindered GAME’s current plight? Go into any GAME or Gamestation outlet today and ask customers what they are doing. Many will tell you they’re using up the last of their store credit in case GAME …

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FEATURE: Trump Cards

Club Penguin. Runescape. Moshi Monsters. These digital franchises generate a significant chunk of their revenue on the High Street – not only through merchandise but also through pre-paid content cards. These can contain anything from points and currency to subscriptions and codes for full download titles.You’ll find them in almost …

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ANALYSIS: Microsoft Flight

Flight simulators have been around since the early days of computer games, with the first one landing around 30 years ago. Technology and business models have advanced dramatically, but flying sims have always remained a more traditional part of the market. Lucrative, too: Microsoft releases new version, third-parties sell extra …

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FEATURE: Does gaming need 3D?

3D technology in the home has yet to achieve mass penetration in any sector.Sales of compatible TVs may be increasing, but they have yet to claim a majority of households. Similarly, the number of 3D filmsin cinemas is on the rise, but has yet to become the standard. And for …

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FEATURE: Fitness Games

Since Wii Fit in 2008, fitness games have established themselves as evergreen titles for a new type of gaming consumer.Zumba Fitness’ chart dominance over the summer allayed fears that the industry was losing the expanded audience cultivated by Wii Fit and Just Dance. And it is around New Year that …

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INTERVIEW: The X(box) Factor

Who better an interview subject for a piece looking at the rise and rise of Xbox than its new UK director of retail sales and marketing Jonathan Grimes? Like the venerable box itself, which rose in people’s estimations over the brand’s history, Grimes has climbed the ranks of Microsoft. Taking …

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FEATURE: Call of Duty’s Modern Art

Whichever way you look at it – the UK/US Day One of 6.5m, or $400m in 24 hours, or 75 copies sold a second – Modern Warfare 3 is a juggernaut. As a Call of Duty game, it was always going to be, of course; there’s probably a graph on …

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FEATURE: Older gamers’ playing habits

Pensioners may be overlooked within the industry, but that doesn’t mean they’re not interested in games. PlayableGames’ manager Ben Weedon looks at the playing and buying habits of the older generation. The proportion of people over 65 years old is increasing at an enormous rate. Approximately 10,000 people will turn …

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FEATURE: Call of Duty’s next phase

Few video game franchises can fill an aircraft hanger with thousands of fans on their own, let alone draw the attentions of the world’s mainstream media or entice superstar Kanye West to give a private performance. But Call of Duty can, and did without breaking a sweat. For a brand …

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FEATURE: Games for kids

Two factors are dovetailing to create growth in the pre-teen gaming market.Firstly, there is the traditional migration down the demographic that comes about as a generation of hardware enters its second, third and fourth years. Secondly, the popularity of the Wii plus the Move and Kinect peripherals mean that games …

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