What’s happened in the business of video games this past week …
QUOTE | “PS Vita is an utter flop.” — Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about Sony’s losses with their games business.
QUOTE | “The Old Republic was sold as a story; very soon, it will have to double as a shop.” — Matthew Handrahan, staff writer for GamesIndustry International, talking with other journalists about Star Wars: The Old Republic’s risky transition to free-to-play.
STAT | 214.8 per cent — Amount that Namco Bandai’s profits increased for the quarter that ended June 30th versus the same quarter last year; Namco Bandai made a profit of $US130 million on sales of $US1.39 billion in sales.
QUOTE | “We have significant concerns that Call of Duty may have peaked in 2011.” — Ben Schachter, analyst with Macquarie Securities, talking along with other analysts about the likelihood that the new Call of Duty will sell less than last year’s.
QUOTE | “Until games are photorealistic, it’ll be very hard to open up to new genres.” — Christoph Hartmann, head of 2K Games, talking about why we need better graphics to do more than action and shooter games.
QUOTE | “The skill sets are very similar to a game like StarCraft II or League of Legends.” — Playhem co-founder Keith Swan, talking about online poker and how it should be brought into the e-sports world.
QUOTE | “If you don’t keep experimenting you are dead.” — Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of King.com, talking about the need to keep innovating with game designs.
QUOTE | “The industry itself is undefeatable.” — Seamus Blackley, co-creator of the Xbox, talking about how the gaming industry is the greatest industry out there.
STAT | 100 million — Number of times the hit game Temple Run has been downloaded, according to developer Imangi Studios; 68 million downloads have been on iOS and 32 million on Android.
QUOTE | “EA made it clear that they don’t consider the Wii U a hot product for the holidays.” — Steve Peterson, West Coast Editor for GamesIndustry International, talking about Electronic Arts’ comments about the Wii U when questioned by analysts.
STAT | $US45 million — Amount of money that Sony’s games division lost in the quarter ended June 30th on revenues of $US1.49 billion; Sony’s sales were down 10 per cent over last year, when they made a profit of about $US50 million.
QUOTE | “There are no credible studies that show any causal linkage between games and violence.” — Michael A. Stackpole, best-selling author and game designer, talking about the media and their reports trying to connect games and the Aurora shootings.
STAT | 50 million — Number of monthly players that Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter thinks that Star Wars: The Old Republic could attract once it goes free-to-play.
QUOTE | “Nintendo has still managed to shift over 19 million 3DS systems worldwide in 16 months. What Sony would give to be in a similar position with Vita this time next year.” — Johnny Minkley, veteran games writer, talking about the challenges for Nintendo’s 3DS.
This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International.
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