Game Economics and Industry Reports

 
In it's second week of release, Toy Story 3 climbed to the top of the UK all formats chart, dethroning xbox 360 exlusive Crackdown which dropped to 10 after two weeks on the top. It's the first time since 2007 that Disney have topped the charts.<!--break-->
 
Red Dead Redemption jumped back up to 2 and Tiger Woods 11 moved up three places to 5 whilst the only new entry was Dragon Quest IX, which debuted at number 9.
 
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 fell out of the top 10 for only the second time in 37 weeks, but is closing in fast on the all time UK sales record currently held by Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.
 
01. Toy Story 3 (Disney)
02. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
03. Dance On Broadway (Ubisoft)
04. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner)
05. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (EA)
06. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
07. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (EA)
08. Just Dance (Ubisoft)
09. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix)
10. Crackdown 2 (Microsoft)
 
Source: Chart-Track

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has surpassed 1 million sales worldwide since its release on October 13, according to publisher Sony.

In the face of the day one sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (7 million according to Activision), this might seem small, but Infinity Wards’ shooter is something of an anomaly Read More  »

Ten years ago, turn based RPG action ruled the gaming world. Titles such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest had gamers craving multiple discs, turn based battles and logic defying haircuts. Not only were these games massively popular with both their fan boy audience and casual gamers but, in the case of Final Fantasy, were some the best games of their generation. Due to the fact that the majority of these games originated from Japan and shared similar themes, the genre was affectionately crowned the ‘JRPG’. Hours were chalked up, bosses were beaten and potions were thrown, all in the name of this eccentric and engrossing brand of gaming.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in its golden age, the JRPG really was the most popular gaming genre of its time. There’s not a gamer in their twenties that hasn’t at least heard of Final Fantasy VII and almost ten million of those gamers bought the game.  This giant fan base has inspired everything, from the standard geek fare of cosplay, to the big budget heights of films and energy drinks. This success allowed other JRPGs to break into the mainstream, with Pokémon becoming a global Gameboy phenomenon and Square going on to release a host of other Final Fantasy titles, each gaining commercial and critical success.

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Recent monthly sales figures now show that the Playstation3 has outsold the Wii in Japan for the first time in just under eighteen months with the PS3 achieving individual sales figures of 146,948 compared to the 99,335 units sold by Nintendo.
 
Is this a downward spiral for the Wii in Japan?
 
In my opinion no. It was recently announced that the Wii was now the fastest selling games console in history, outstripping the previous record held by Sony's Playstation2. The Wii has now clocked up unit sales of over 50 million consoles which is a staggering amount of units sold in such a relatively short space of time and amply demonstrates the appeal of the Wii across the consumer spectrum, a point alluded to by Nintendo. The family and friends orientated appeal of the Wii is something that the PS3 and Xbox360 cannot seem to compete with and with the release of the new DSi looking to set new sales records across the globe, I don't see this as anything but a market blip and nothing connected to a potential downfall for Nintendo. In fact, recent software releases are seen as the driving force behind this upturn in sales of the PS3 with Capcom's Resident Evil 5 being cited as a main reason.
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While it may not seem very obvious point blank, the women that are featured in video games have a large affect on the gaming business. Afterall, would the Dead or Alive games ever sell if it weren't for the girls' scant outfits? Why was Tomb Raider able to crank out so many sequels? Wasn't it Chun-li who forced hordes of gamers to spend loads of quarters in the arcade? These pixelated vixens hold a lot more weight in game sales than most gamers take note of. So, the question isn't their importance in games, but their portrayal. Would games sell if the girls were in normal outfits? Would the Mario have had nearly as much success if the roles were reversed? In this an analyzation of women's roles in games as well as their affect on the industry, we will see how they have come, and if they really do help sell games...
 
PART 2
 
The 90's is when women really started to get more exposure. The Final Fantasy games allowed for strong characters such as Terra, Rydia, and Celes to make a name for themselves; however they always played second fiddle to the male characters. In a bold step for fighting games, Chun-Li stepped into the fray in Street Fighter: World Warrior, showing the gaming community that she could take Ryu and just how powerful her thighs of steel really are. The awesome thing: both of the series' maintained staying power. Chun-Li is still one of the most easily recognizable characters in gaming, and any Final Fantasy game is a high profile release.
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While it may not seem very obvious point blank, the women that are featured in video games have a large affect on the gaming business. Afterall, would the Dead or Alive games ever sell if it weren't for the girls' scant outfits? Why was Tomb Raider able to crank out so many sequels? Wasn't it Chun-li who forced hordes of gamers to spend loads of quarters in the arcade? These pixelated vixens hold a lot more weight in game sales than most gamers take note of. So, the question isn't their importance in games, but their portrayal. Would games sell if the girls were in normal outfits? Would the Mario have had nearly as much success if the roles were reversed? In this an analyzation of women's roles in games as well as their affect on the industry, we will see how they have come, and if they really do help sell games .
 
The typical idea of women in games is that they are objectified, used as sexual objects. I used to feel this way too, and I always used to question things like why Jill Valentine would be fighting zombies and Nemesis in a tube top and mini skirt. I mean, the more skin she shows, the more likely she is to get bitten, right?? Yes, this is the thing you often hear feminist gamers talking about, and although I do agree with them for the most part, I don't think women in games are treated nearly as poorly as made out. A look at gaming history over the past twenty-five years, the female counterparts of games have really come a long way from what they were to begin with. Although they are still used as a ploy to sell games (Rumble Roses anyone), there has been a definite increase in the usage of females in games, almost to the point where lack of a main female character may result in a loss of sales.
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In their latest press release, Blizzard has announced that they broken the sales record for a PC game once again, a title that they already held. Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies in its first twenty-four hours of availability. This number crushes the number the last World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, set in January 2007 of 2.4 million.
The latest expansion was released in North America, Europe, Chile, Argentina and Russia on November 13th. On November 14th, citizens of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were able to purchase Lich King, then on the 18th in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. More than 15,000 stores around the world had midnight releases in celebration of the game for the thousands of gamers in wait. Several of these locations had surprise appearances by Blizzard representatives, who signed copies for gamers.
"We're grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft," says Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we've created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead."
Blizzard's success obviously comes from their dedication to players to give them the best they have to offer. From first hand experience, Blizzard has top notch customer service as well as an easy user interface. The massively popular MMO had over eleven million subscribers prior to the release of the Wrath of the Lich King, a number that is expected to grow. WoW is easily the most popular MMO right now, if not of all time. Blizzard is by far one of the biggest companies in the industry, becoming a worldwide gaming powerhouse.
More on the latest expansion can be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath, or on blizzard.com.