Competition
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Illustration provided by Ed Barton -ScreenDigest (Dated 4.11.08)

The graph shows revenue up until 2007, with an additional forecast of video game consoles. Starting from the year 2000, you can see Sega Dreamcast has a small market percentage of sales. (Sales in the millions) The number falls around 1,000 M. If you rank the top competing game consoles:

1. Microsoft X-box (12,000 M peak)
2. Nintendo Game Cube (10,000 M peak)
3. Sony Playstation 2 (8,000 M peak)

The forecast indicates a rise in the industry, with X-box 360 at #1, followed by the Nintendo Wii, and then Sony’s Playstation 3.

Personal Computers account for the majority of online play.

Who exactly are the competitors?

X-box, Playstation, Nintendo, Cell phone providers?

According to data compiled by the NPD Group, a global market research company, and released by the ESA in January 2008, computer and video game companies posted records sales in 2007. The industry sold 267.8 million units, leading to an astounding $9.5 billion in revenue. Of these sales:

Game console software sales totaled $6.6 billion with 153.9 million units sold;
Computer games sales were $910.7 million with 36.4 million units sold; and,
There was a record $2.0 billion in portable software sales with 77.5 million units sold.
NPD's research also showed:

On average, nine games were sold every second of every day of 2007;
Halo 3, the best-selling title of 2007, took in more revenue in its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie ("Spider-Man 3") and the final "Harry Potter" book's first day sales; and,
The entertainment software industry sold over 13.4 million portable game units in 2007, easily trumping the much-hyped Apple iPhone, which sold just four million units.
The genre with the greatest growth was "Family Entertainment," which grew 110 percent over the previous year. Family games accounted to 17.2 percent of all games sold in 2007, more than one of every six games sold, up from 9.1 percent in 2006. In addition, of the games sold in 2007, 56.6 percent were rated "Early Childhood (EC)," "Everyone (E)" and "Everyone 10+ (E10+)." The NPD Group's data also indicates that only 15 percent of games sold last year were rated "Mature (M)."

Entertainment Software Association (Dated 2.1.08)

The video game industry consists of many players, big and small. All companies are trying to create the next big game. The bigger companies have the luxury of more money with which to make many games. Smaller companies rely on differentiating themselves and creating unique games. There is room in this market for both. Recently the market has expanded to include the casual gamer due to the availability of
simpler games which do not require hours and hours of dedication to play.

This list is comprised of the companies that have made a name for themselves.

  • Blizzard Entertainment
  • Electronic Arts
  • ID Software inc.
  • Sierra
  • Valve
  • Activision
  • Atari
  • Rockstar Games
  • EA Sports
  • LucasArts Entertainment
  • Epic Megagames
  • Bungie Studio
  • Interplay Productions
  • Konami
  • THQ inc.
  • Westwood Studios
  • Eidos Interactive
  • Namco
  • Ubisoft
  • Codemasters
  • 3D Realms Entertainment
  • Apogee Software
  • Take 2 Interactive
  • Midway Games
  • Maxis
  • BioWare Corp
  • Bethesda Softworks
  • NovaLogic, Inc
  • EA Games
  • Vivendi Universal Games
  • Sports Interactive
  • Raven Software
  • Gainax Network Systems
  • Square Enix
  • Aspyr Media
  • CDV Software
  • JoWooD Productions
  • Ambrosia Software
  • Monolith Productions, Inc.

The internet has helped the video game industry grow and made online play incredibly accessible. It is not only possible to talk to people across the globe, but you can also play almost any kind of game while chatting. The internet has also opened the door for more competition. It is now possible for companies to offer free games online. Companies generally use these games for marketing purposes. It makes their
products and brand name stronger. Online gambling has also exploded onto the scene. Gamblers can now play at any time from their computers. These online developments provide competition for video game makers alike.

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The company Nabisco has been producing free video games on their website for over 10 years! The company's old homepage use to only incorporate the products that the company was selling. A place that provides additional information, but access to free online games. The section was some-what hidden and hard to find. Fast forward the clock, and today (April 2008), you check out the website and you immediately become introduced to their successful game website;

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NabiscoWorld.com was their sub-domain name, an amazing place that provided free unique games which was created entirely around Nabisco products. For example; If you play Mini-Golf on their website, you play on 18 holes. The boards are basically made to incorporate products, like trying to get a ball through a tube of life-savors, and little life-savors blocking your path. Or gummy worms trying to eat your ball. The company did an excellent job in delivering free games with the incorporation of self advertising.

The other website domain name Nabisco created was Candystand.com. The original homepage basically showed a person behind a candy station, and in front was all the products by Nabisco. You can click on the products and play a unique game. The interface was very friendly. Nabisco also chose to market NabiscoWorld (has links to Candystand.com) on almost every Nabisco product packaging. The margin is not too large, but behind every package they have a reference to the website to play free games.

Demand: The demand is actually high for these games. The company continues to invest a lot of money in the website, now creating dozens of new games every year. Incredibly, the number was only a few five years ago. Obviously, people love playing these games. They cost the consumer nothing, and they actually have the possibility to gain. Meaning, the company offers prizes to the top 100 players. A random drawing for prizes worth several hundred dollars (Nintendo GameBoy, Digital Camera, Stereo Speakers) keep players coming back to try and compete for a spot on the top list. The high scores are competitive and require hours of play. The website is fun, informative, free and provides prizes. A perfect stop for the younger demographics, creating good consumer brand imaging.

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Yahoo, an internet based company has been providing free online games for years. They create unique games that can either be played by yourself or multi-player. The most popular games are; source?? Citation.

Westward II
2 Pool
3 Magic Farm
4 Spades
5 Jane's Hotel Family Hero
6 Dominoes
7 The Price is Right
8 Sally's Salon
9 Dream Chronicles 2
10 Bejeweled 2
11 Cake Mania Bundle
12 Jewel Quest 2
13 SCRABBLE
14 Supple - Episode 1
15 MCF: Madame Fate
16 JoJo's Fashion Show
17 Chess
18 Literati
19 Backgammon
20 Bridge

*Most of these games be classics, like Pool, Spades, Dominoes, Scrabble, Chass, Backgammon. Most of these games have multi-player userability. The other names on the board are games with mainly 15 minutes of fame because they are relatively new. The production of new games keeps users returning to the site, and the hosting of class games attracts people of different demographics. These type of games don't require a user to sit for hours like World of Warcraft, but you can stop by for roughly 20 minutes and have an exciting time.

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Gambling! The gambling industry can be seen as major competition to the online gaming corporations. The older demographic spends roughly $4 Billion dollars on electronic gambling. Pokers, Slots, roulette are all types of games when playing online. They all have video game graphics that allow the potential for users to have monetary profit. The odds are within the operations favor, but the general public still believes they have the potential to make money. This industry is major competition to online video gamers looking to playing online just for entertainment purposes.

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