Game Business – Page 13

WALMART Looks Into the Gaming Future

Walmart? Who shops at Walmart for state of the art gaming stuff?

Well, pretty soon it may be me and YOU, as Walmart corporate has allowed its key buyers to blog information they obtain from consumer electronics shows.

Now you can preview the newest games, gadgets and gotta have techno toys at their new blog.

BUT before you click away, here are some of the up-and-coming trends in the market as put forth by Tifanie Van Laar the Walmart game buyer.

Expect Packaging to Matter – We spoke with quite a few folks about their publishing. It is time for our industry to mature and take more responsibility. Look at movies and music and some of the efforts they have undertaken. No need for heavy plastic packages that really are way overbuilt. We challenged quite a few suppliers on this front. We can, and must do better.

Expect More Street Dated Releases – Here too, we have much to learn from our brethren in music and movies. You know that Tuesday is the day for big releases in movies and music. Even smaller releases are out on Tuesday. With some of the marketing and development costs makers are talking about, there is no need to just ship date these titles. A street date serves as a call to action for the consumer. Hey, if I were spending $10 MILLION on just marketing a title, I would want a street date. Only one retailer does not want street dates, the other retailers want them. Seems that less than 30% of the industry is trying to have it their way. It just does not make sense to the industry or the consumer.
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Did You See Those Zombies in the Mall?

You know that old adage, “Seen one zombie, you’ve seen them all?”

No, well neither have I. But MKR Group, a boutique investor relations firm specializing in the representation of small companies across a broad spectrum of industries filed a lawsuit against Japanese video gamer Capcom Entertainment Inc. on Monday, February 25, alleging Capcom infringed on the copyright of the 1978 film ‘Dawn of the Dead’ to which it owns rights.

You remember ‘Dawn of the Dead’ the 1978 and 2004 remake movies scripted by George A. Romero – well, MKR contends that Capcom’s “Dead Rising” stole the idea of people trapped in a shopping mall full of zombies from Romero’s original script.

“Dead Rising” was released on Xbox 360 in August 2006 and sold more than a million units in its first five months of sale.

Both ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and “Dead Rising” provide “thoughtful social commentary on the ‘mall culture’ zeitgeist” as well as “a sizeable portion of sensationalistic violence”, wrote MKR in its court brief.

“Mall Culture Zeitgeist”??!! Geez, since when have mall zombies become part of youth culture?

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GamePro: Microsoft may buy Epic Games

Think independent game developers, and Epic comes to mind. One of the industry’s veterans, Epic is known for their Unreal franchise, as well as their famed Gears of War. But GamePro magazine predicts that this is about to change and monster publisher Microsoft Games will buy Epic eventually.

To find out more on the diabolical deal of doom, hit the jump!
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LucasArts president Jim Ward resigns abruptly

Jim Ward, president of one of the greatest games publisher (and developer, in some cases) announced his departure, citing personal reasons as the cause. He will be quitting in a couple of weeks – quitting the company he had been working for 10 years (with only 4 as president).

He talked more about how great LucasArts is, and what we should expect from it now. Hit the jump for more and such.

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Futuremark enters Gaming Industry as Developer

Continuing today’s series of most unexpected developments in the gaming industry, we have Futuremark entering the gaming industry as a full-fledged video game development studio. Or in short, Futuremark will now be making games. This announcement is, in my opinion exactly as random as the Valve’s “Steamworks” announcement.

For those who are not well-versed with hardware manuals, Futuremark is best-known for 3DMark, a benchmarking tool whose primary purpose is to rank your hardware with shiny numbers so that you can numerically prove that you have a better and more geekier computer set-up than your friends (if you have any). To read more on Futuremark’s dive into game development, hit the jump.

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Blockbuster releases to be more spread out in future, says analyst

It seems that gaming publishers may finally be getting the message, shouted daily from countless enthusiast web communities, that we want to play good games all year round, not just in the fall. About damn time too; when a quirky, niche Atlus title is the most exciting release for three months, while the next three feature Mario, Mass Effect, and Uncharted, there’s something wrong. Thankfully, the SimExchange’s Jesse Divnich says there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

A broader release schedule could positively affect retailers such as GameStop and make them more attractive to the investment community as they will have more months of strong sales to hedge themselves against any negative short-term economic factors

It’s the same logic we enthusiasts have been using against game developers for years: while releasing at the end of the year is good for those who can stand out from the pack, just as many titles see decreased sales from increased competition. The logic hasn’t changed from last year, and sales numbers this holiday season were up from last year, so why expect change? While Jesse doesn’t offer an explanation for the publishers’ change of heart, he does provide ample evidence for his claims.

Before the first half of 2008 ends, we can expect the release of AAA titles such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl (expected to achieve 13.95 million units of GLS [global lifetime sales]), Wii Fit (expecting 8.7 million units of GLS), Grand Theft Auto IV (expecting 17 million units of GLS), and Metal Gear Solid 4 (expecting 4.7 million units of GLS).

While I’d be surprised if even half of that list actually releases in Q1 or Q2 2008, the point is well taken. This year’s early releases are the best recent memory. Call me cautiously optimistic that, burned by flops like Stranglehold and Blue Dragon, publishers will be less likely to flood the retail channel around the holiday season.

For more, see here.