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.
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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.
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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.

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.

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

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

Fallout: New Vegas Video Game, Debut Trailer HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Fallout: New Vegas Video Game, Debut Trailer HD Game Trailers & Videos GameTrailers.com

The Bittersweet Taste of Promotion

For those of you who know me, I usually run around the "Shoppe" like I own the joint. And since I am so tall and have such a commanding low voice (and old!), people usually assume I am the ambassador to some cool tropical country as well.

Well, up until a week ago, I was the proud assistant manager, helping my friend Josh Brown. And because Josh was asked to help a GameStop get "revitalized" in Tarzana, I was offered the position.

Although I am excited to be running the old "Oak Tree West" (Deli section, remember?) I will miss "JB" very much.

We accomplished so much together, along with our team: #57 in the ENTIRE company, #1 in the region, Alabama won the college football National Title, the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl and the team he coached his 6 year old son in won the flag football championship in the Tarzana recreation league. I don't know how much we had to do with any of that last stuff, but hey, we were there for you, Josh.

It's bittersweet seeing a friend and mentor leave, and we all owe a debt of gratitude that Josh was part of our Store, even if it was just for a few months.

“One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention.”
- Clifton Fadiman

Thanks Josh.

Also special thanks to my other friends and teachers: Lisa, Angela, Brianna, Houman, Steve, Leo and Corey.

Welcome!

Hi friends-

Welcome to my little GameStop portal.

I am so glad you could stop by and visit. This is new for me, so if I can add a few things like a guest book, I will. For now I'll keep these messages simple and funny, just without any humor.

As many of you know, I have been a part of GameStop for coming up on three years now. Throughout that past, I have often wondered if something like this would work, and I guess that you would have to refine what "work" means:

-Regular contributions that are interesting and funny.
-A place where gamers and non-gamers can visit for information and fun stuff.
-Community bulletin board for GameStop stuff like specials, tournaments and signings.

My main thrust for this is for parents to come to this site for information on how to make the best decisions on platforms, games and appropriate content. I'd like to create a section where parents could share ideas about gaming discipline and rewards.

Mostly, this isn't just another advertisement. The Westlake/Agoura/Thousand Oaks GameStop is a special place-that's why I want it to be known as a "shoppe". Where my friendly colleagues Joe, Brandon, Spencer, Eric, Jeremy and Jeni all like what they do and make coming to our GameStop fun.

Now, save this address to your favorites and visit when you can. If you feel like contributing, that would be even better...