The video game market is one of the fastest-growing fields in the entertainment industry. Since 1996, video game sales have earned more revenue than the box office. Video games are no longer for the maladjusted loner living in his grandparents’ basement [nice]. Video games are now the norm, and companies are competing for the everyday consumers’ money. Thus, console wars are intensified. [make sure to do some definitional work on what a "console war" is]
Sony’s better understanding of the video game console market helped them come out on top of the console wars in previous and current generations; however Sony did not always dominate the video game market. Efforts of video game companies, such as Nintendo, Sega, Microsoft, and Atari have spawned console wars in the past and are currently contributing to these wars. What would the video game world be like if these console wars did not exist? I plan on addressing this aspect of video games by exploring the strategies video game companies use in gaining support of the consumer, because even though companies sometimes use similar strategies, certain companies’ attempts at gaining a large portion of the market share fail.
Console manufacturers also frequently borrow ideas and features from previous consoles and gain future ideas from the current competition. I will investigate previous consoles and games in order to see how the past appears in video games today. [this sounds really interesting]
Certain consoles appeal to certain individuals. A person’s personality can be read from the kind of console they support. Brand loyalty in video games is just the same as it is in other aspects of the commercial world. This can be related to car manufacturers’ images they want to represent in the consumer market. Just like cars’ marketing, consoles are also marketed towards a specific type of person, and I will look at how this plays a role in the companies’ actions.
The future of gaming is getting more and more complex and companies are trying to keep up the pace of development with the growing interest in video games. More and more technology is being incorporated into these machines. These are no longer for just gaming. Sony’s next console, the
PlayStation3, promises to be “future proof” with its expansive “AV doohickeys” that allow the support of “two 1080p screens working in tandem to build one enormous picture.” (
War! We go to the front lines…)
Video game companies now play a large role in the entertainment industry and ultimately affect our everyday lives. My paper and possibly a flash animation, if I can learn flash on time, will analyze previous, current, and future console wars and how they affect the entertainment world. I would like to explore the benefits of console wars. I will analyze why certain companies fail and why certain companies succeed in the market. I will also analyze the marketing strategies employed by video game makers.
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I like this topic. More importantly: you have done an excellent job of surveying the industry stakes and trends. I think this is going to make a very interesting project.]
War!; We go to the front lines of the next hardware battle between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo and come back with a megaton of info Crispin Boyer. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Lombard: Aug 2005., Iss. 194; pg. 92
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9&did=864485211&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1131669776&clientId=1360∞
Video-Game Leaders Unveil New Systems / Nintendo, Atari highlight electronics show; [FINAL Edition]San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext). San Francisco, Calif.: Jan 11, 1991. pg. C.3
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=11&did=67878381&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1131674885&clientId=1360∞
A Video Match: The Nintendogs vs. Gangs, Thugs and Wars Robert Levine. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: May 23, 2005. pg. C.7
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=18&did=843261871&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1131671777&clientId=1360∞