In a perfect World...

If you asked me what i'd do to fix the current state of games the answer would not be a simple one, neither would it be a very popular one.
I say this because if you look closely at how videogames are trending right now you'll see a very worrying state of affairs for traditional boxed product, which, for all intents and purposes finds itself in an increasingly shrinking marketplace in a murderous economy. Yes, there will always be a market for boxed products, No, Apple hasn't killed off CD albums just yet despite launching the ipod a decade ago and No, Kindle and the impending Kindle Flame hasn't quite signed the death warrant of legacy book publishing (although Amazon do sell more digital books than paper books these days).  It's a pretty safe assumption that the next line of consoles will require monster sized hard Drives as downloadable product and DLC play an ever increasing part in video game entertainment, cloud based gaming, boxless downloadable digital is here to stay and they will continue to shape the market in which video games operate in.

Boxed product won't vanish overnight of course and in all probability larger titles and franchises will continue to have shelf presence because of the brand equity and trust in the consumers they have built over time. An example is Activisions regular map packs for Black Ops, if each map pack release can still generate over $12 million dollars each in revenue on what is probably little more than a $2 Million outlay on the dev cost for each pack then its clear that making a ton of revenue is where the focus for larger publishers in gaming is going to end up.
I know what you're going to say, "but in order to build those sales they'll need a physical product first", true, the instore physical aspect of a product on a shelf is good for the consumer because they can see it, it's real and tangible, its also good for trade but right now games bricks and mortar retail is literally on the floor and its not going to get better. Game Group, our very own homegrown specialist videogame retailer made a loss of £51.5 million before tax in the six months to July 31st, almost double its loss for the same period last year.
So what's happening?, well for starters everyone knows the global economy is the worst its ever been and that obviously isn't helping anyone. This in turn is keeping people away from premium priced luxuries which means that core gamers are buying less games than they were before. Social games like Zynga's Farmville has thrived off of the social network buzz that infiltrates our daily lives because of its free to play element. The good news is according to a study is that 82 percent of hardcore social gamers play console games, the bad news is that as the market for social gaming becomes more diverse and more accessible its taking players away from traditional console, that is to say they are actually spending less time playing console games. And before you say it, no the typical demographic of social gamers does not consist of women over 40, far from it, hardcore social gamers, at least 55% of them are male and 57% of those players are well under the age of 40.

Smaller publishers are going to have to think about the content and business model they are working to in the coming months and years ahead. If games are not offering value for money and unique experiences they will fail, the way I see it is that traditional console games will radically drop in price to a third of their current value, so for example, several years down the line Modern Warfare 4 is going to set you back £15 full price, however to get the maximum value from the game and to remain competitive in multiplayer you're going to need to fork out another £35 for  'awesome content' not including the 4 separately priced map packs plus the two additional weapon packs and uniform pack.

Even if console game pricing remained high in years to come publishers need to think about ways they can engage the player and keep them motivated with the brand with unique content and additional motivators like DLC. On the one hand overpriced map packs have been the norm but publishers and developers need to think about extending the customization options for the player as an individual. Players want to stand out in multiplayer matches, they want to create a tailor made experience of their choosing and design, they want to feel like they have invested not in just the pocket lining of the publisher for the priviledge to play but also so they can enhance and modify to tailor the games experience. Expressing themselves socially amongst their peers is incredibly important to gamers and I think so many publishers and developers are not even scratching the surface as yet.

Social Games are successful because they allow players to modify and personalize and share those experiences in the social space, there are in-game variations that make the game totally unique to the way users play it and want to play it. As more and more mobile digital devices become available they will continue to erode the physical presence of console videogames. Are map packs adding value to your experience? some would say yes others aren't so convinced, yes they support the brand in that they continue to provide an experience for the fan, remember that a brand doesn't just solely exist as the box the game came in but rather the playing experience that a user derives from the product also.

The transition as we approach the next generation of consoles is always a tricky one, the timing has to be golden, high cost consoles anytime soon will only limit the amount of users that buy into it, accessibility and content are king. Sony has superbly powerful tech but an absolutely awful functionality, Microsoft has an unbeatable functionality but limited tech even if Bluray sales are slowing. Cloud services, sharing social network and cross platform will be integral to the success of next gen, until then its going to be a rocky ride.