This is another guest post from our regular contributor Ryan, if your interested in writing guest posts see here
Ryan is an internet marketer working for a company that sell RC models and as you are aware, he is a keen gamer and a big follower of the industry.
Gaming has come a long way in recent years thanks to many different factors and whilst it is good that we are seeing more and more players pick up the games, it means we are also seeing more developers making poor games for the general audiences that the true gamers just cannot stand to play. Prime examples of these types of games appear mostly on the Wii and the DS but can be found on other next generation consoles too.
So what has helped boost the market so much in the last few years and are we going to see a continual growth in the amount of people purchasing and playing video games?
Marketing
In terms of marketing video games you may have seen the odd advert crop up every now and again ten years ago and it was most likely not going to attract your attention at all. However now it would seem that companies are spending millions on advertising games on prime time television to attract the attention of the masses. Even Bill Gates was involved in selling some of the Halo 3 games when it was released in 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHCLlG9ji4
If you take a look at the recent Halo Reach advertisement you will see just how much money Microsoft are throwing at the game. It is worth noting that this was simply for a two week Beta; goodness knows how much will be spent when the game draws near in September. It is not just Halo that does that and other big games such as Call Of Duty, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction have all had major marketing campaigns.
Models
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYIWHJ9Tw98&feature=related
Major companies that make models actually create them for the most popular games nowadays and this includes things like RC models as you can see by the video above. The main games that I have seen models
created for are Halo, Gears Of War, Resident Evil and Street Fighter. The reason why companies are now doing this is because it appeals to the gamers and the model enthusiasts.
Recession/Sales
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isKCa5XOkaU&feature=related
Although you could easily put these two in different categories it has been found that a lot of people started to play games over the time of the recession because they found it to be a lot cheaper than spending time going out for a meal or something like this. You will find that a decent game can give you 50+ hours (including multiplayer) whereas going out for a meal will cost more money and will take around a couple of hours at the most.
This in turn has boosted the industry in the last few years which is why the figures are looking so good. Midnight launches have really started to come on too and this encourages gamers to have a bit of social time before the release of one of their favourite games.
Family Consoles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ARvhT6Gzc
Nintendo have always been a company that have gone after gamers that do not want to really play serious games. Saying that, they have always had their fans I have to say I have brought every Nintendo console from the SNES. Although I am not impressed with what they have done with the Wii as they have essentially made most of the games for five year olds I am impressed in that they are targeting a market that the industry has really never gone after before. The Wii has got older generations off their feet too and this is an idea a gamer would have laughed at a few years ago.
These are just a few of the reasons why gaming is becoming more and more popular; expect to see an increase in the amount of Xbox 360 sales this winter when Project Natal finally hits stores.
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