Abstract
The video game industry has continued to evolve with each passing cycle
because of its unique characteristics of being seasonal as well as cyclical.
As a result of these characteristics, companies like Sony Corp, Nintendo and
Microsoft launch new consoles every few years that are followed by a slew of
new games from the software publishers.
With the introduction of innovative
products comes the benefit as the video game industry has grown by 50% in the
period 2004 to 2006. The growth in this market is driven by the increased
hours of video game consumption that are taking time away from other forms of
entertainment, including radio, recorded music, daily newspapers, consumer
magazines, and consumer books.
Also, survey suggests that nearly half of the
U.S. population have played videogames. But besides growth in the developed
economies, gaming console market is also seeing huge adoption in the emerging
economies especially BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
With
increasing adoption, preferred channels for purchasing video games have
changed over the years -- consumers are more attracted towards mass merchants
and consumer electronic stores for their purchases now.
The competitive
landscape of the video game industry has also changed with Nintendo and
Microsoft threatening the dominance of Sony. In the next generation video game
market, Microsoft' s Xbox 360 and Nintendo' s Wii are major improvements over
their respective prior video game console offerings, and for the first time in
nearly a decade create respectable alternatives to Sony' s video game consoles.
As a fallout of the changing scenario, it is likely that by the year 2008,
video game console market will be evenly divided between the Nintendo,
Microsoft, and Sony consoles, with Nintendo taking the lead beyond 2008.
The
report is a study of the global video game market covering the growth of the
industry over the years. It analyses the changing consumption pattern for this
format of entertainment among the different age groups in different regions.
The share of the current generation of video game and the next generation has
been analyzed and also the market positioning of the leading brands assessed.
The report also highlights the challenges faced by the leading players and the
potential that lies in the online gaming space.
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