GameStop has never had a better deal on game trades.
+50%.
Are you still reading this? Seriously-go get your old dusty games, put them in a bag and head on down to GameStop.
...huh, now would be good.
Monday, March 1, 2010
We Give...Information!
Hey Westlake GS Shoppe Fans-
Soemetimes the best deals don't come from GameStop... Check this out:
Xbox Live is throwing the biggest bash in town in March, and today they announced that they have some party favors to give away too! So here’s the low-down: if you purchase all three XBLA titles in March (Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal, and Perfect Dark) AND download the Game Room (it’s free), your account will be credited with 400 Microsoft Points. That’s not a bad deal considering that all three of the titles look extremely solid, and there’s a good chance that a lot of people will end up buying them all anyway.
But wait! It gets better. If you’re a Gold Member (and there’s a 95% chance you are) they’re also throwing in a free month of Xbox Live. Together, these two ‘incentives’ are valued at about $10. Not bad at all. In case you don’t know, here’s the full Xbox Live Block Party release schedule:
Toy Soldiers – March 3rd – 1200 Microsoft Points
Scrap Metal - March 10th – 1200 Microsoft Points
Perfect Dark – March 17th – 800 Microsoft Points
Game Room – March 24th – Free to Download
But wait! It gets better. If you’re a Gold Member (and there’s a 95% chance you are) they’re also throwing in a free month of Xbox Live. Together, these two ‘incentives’ are valued at about $10. Not bad at all. In case you don’t know, here’s the full Xbox Live Block Party release schedule:
Toy Soldiers – March 3rd – 1200 Microsoft Points
Scrap Metal - March 10th – 1200 Microsoft Points
Perfect Dark – March 17th – 800 Microsoft Points
Game Room – March 24th – Free to Download
So, there you have it – all the makings of a very fun March. Are any of your wallets going to get hit hard by the Block Party?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
COST OF
GAMES
Seven dollars of a $60 video game purchase covers expenses for games never even sold. That's according to a breakdown of retail game cost by an on-demand games service.
--
--
OnLive, of Palo Alto, Calif., says that $7 covers, on average, "returns." That's the cost associated with returning unsold inventory - essentially, sales that don't meet expectations. By this analysis it is equivalent to the royalty paid to the platform holder - Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony.
--
--
By far the largest portion is to the publisher, nearly half of it. As it should be. But 25 percent of a game's cost is the profit to the seller. That is a very nice margin, and it - plus the fudge factor on the returns, hint at how discounts on some new games can be justified even at release.
Monday, February 22, 2010
News
Video Games Score 5% of U.S. Household Entertainment Budget
February 22, 2010
U.S. consumers face a dizzying array of choices in how to spend their media and entertainment dollar. At the same time, the current economic climate has put even more pressure on how households make decisions. With these forces in mind, Nielsen Games surveyed more than 3,000 U.S. consumers to examine their overall entertainment spend with a focus on the video game category.
A baseline for thinking about entertainment spending is the notion of “share of wallet,” defined here as the percentage of monthly spending for all entertainment options by a household. At a macro level, the video game category represents 5% of total U.S. households’ entertainment spending. Among households that are active buyers in the video game category, this figure is nearly double, with over 9% of total entertainment spend attributed to game-related content.
Before jumping further into the analysis, there is one important point to keep in mind. Put simply, shares do not equal dollars. Individual households spend different amounts in total on entertainment, which may deflate or inflate shares for a given category. In addition, these results are a reflection of consumer claims that are useful directionally in understanding how consumers perceive their allocations of money.
Video game category buyers (those spending at least $1 per month on game-related content) comprise 24% of U.S. households, and their share of wallet profiles paint a picture of valuable, tech-savvy entertainment consumers. Besides video games, they over-index substantially on DVD/Blu-ray, music, online entertainment, and VOD share of spending. They are also higher in share for movie-going, sports activities, and live events. These higher shares come at the expense of more established media options like basic cable and print media, where video game category buyers under-index notably.
Given the 24% buyer base, the video game category is notable for what other forms of entertainment it surpasses in share of spending for the average US home: all print media (4.2%), premium TV packages (4.1%), DVD/Blu-ray purchases and rentals (3.5%) and music in all its forms (2.8%).
More insights on gamers, console dynamics, and game buying will be featured in the inaugural Nielsen 360° Gaming Report: United States Market, available in March.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
James at War: Blame it on Halo
Very Funny. Check this out. "James at War" is a very talented (active duty Air Force) 29 year old family man who has a bunch of very very funny YouTube videos! Subscribe if you think so too.
http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesatWar#p/u/2/ZOkF0McZKIw
http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesatWar#p/u/2/ZOkF0McZKIw
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Video Game Sociology
Video games not all bad, psychologists say
Playing video games improves manual dexterity among surgeons, making them faster and less likely to make mistakes, US researchers have said. The findings were contained in a raft of research about how video games effect the people who play them, discussed Sunday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston.
"The big picture is that there are several dimensions in which games have effects," including their content, how they are played, and how much, said psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University. "This means that games are not 'good' or 'bad' but are powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could."
Gentile presented several studies on video games including one involving 33 surgeons specializing in laparoscopy, the use of a thin lighted tube to inspect and treat various conditions in the pelvic and abdominal cavities. Laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were 27 percent faster at advanced surgical procedures, and made 37 percent fewer errors, compared to their non-gaming colleagues, the study found.
Studies involving high school and college students confirmed previous findings about the social effects of playing violent video games, the Iowa State researchers said. Students who played "prosocial" games got into fewer fights at school and were more helpful to other students, the researchers reported.
Yet another study, at Fordham University, measured the effect of learning a new video game on problem-solving skills in middle-school-age children and found that "playing video games can improve cognitive and perceptual skills."
"Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects improving gamers' dexterity as well as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to surgeons," the researchers found.© 2010 AFP
Playing video games improves manual dexterity among surgeons, making them faster and less likely to make mistakes, US researchers have said. The findings were contained in a raft of research about how video games effect the people who play them, discussed Sunday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston.
"The big picture is that there are several dimensions in which games have effects," including their content, how they are played, and how much, said psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University. "This means that games are not 'good' or 'bad' but are powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could."
Gentile presented several studies on video games including one involving 33 surgeons specializing in laparoscopy, the use of a thin lighted tube to inspect and treat various conditions in the pelvic and abdominal cavities. Laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were 27 percent faster at advanced surgical procedures, and made 37 percent fewer errors, compared to their non-gaming colleagues, the study found.
Studies involving high school and college students confirmed previous findings about the social effects of playing violent video games, the Iowa State researchers said. Students who played "prosocial" games got into fewer fights at school and were more helpful to other students, the researchers reported.
Yet another study, at Fordham University, measured the effect of learning a new video game on problem-solving skills in middle-school-age children and found that "playing video games can improve cognitive and perceptual skills."
"Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects improving gamers' dexterity as well as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to surgeons," the researchers found.© 2010 AFP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
