The video game industry has come a long way since 1966 when Ralph Baer, commonly credited as the inventor of the video game, designed a series of seven prototypes that played several video games.
The first playable video game was one in which two squares chased each other—exciting, huh? The first agreement was signed with Magnavox in 1971 and the first video game system was released in May 1972: Odyssey. Atari would later hit the market in November 1972 with their first PONG arcade game.
Today, the computer and video game industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sales for U.S. computer and video game software grew 6% in 2006 to $7.4 billion—almost tripling industry software sales since 1996, according to the Entertainment Software Association [ESA]. A number of other statistics that caught my attention:
# The average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.
# The average age of the most frequent game buyer is 40 years old.
# 93% of computer game buyers and 83% of console game buyers were over the age of 18.
# 44% of gamers are age 18 to 49.
# 25% of gamers are age 50 or older.
# 38% of all game players are women.
So, how can one profit from this ever-growing industry?Here are a few companies below that are some of the top players in the video game industry
GameStop Corp. (GME) GameStop Corp. operates as a retailer of video game products and personal computer entertainment software. The company is also the largest reseller of used video games. GME currently operates 4,778 retail stores across North America and Europe. The great thing about this company is that no matter which game console or software titles eventually win out, GME will succeed by selling the most popular consoles and titles in its stores.
Electronic Arts, Inc. (ERTS) engages in the development, marketing, publishing and distribution of interactive software games worldwide. Its software games are playable by consumers on devices such as in-home video game players, personal computers, mobile platforms, including handheld video game players and cellular handsets, and over the Internet and other online networks. ERTS produces one of the most popular video games around—Madden NFL. The PlayStation 2 version sold 1.8 million copies, helping to make the game the top seller of 2006.
Activision, Inc. (ATVI) is a leading international publisher of interactive entertainment software products. ATVI maintains a diverse portfolio of products that span a wide range of categories and target markets and can be used on a variety of game hardware platforms and operating systems. The company’s portfolio of games has been anchored by four key titles: Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Guitar Hero II.
THQ Inc. (THQI) is a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software, whose diverse product portfolio caters to every segment of the expanding gaming audience. The company develops its products for all popular console and handheld game systems as well as games for personal computers and wireless devices. As of Mar 31, 2006, THQI had 14 internal development studios located in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.
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1 comment:
this is a really nice article.
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