wraggster
February 20th, 2009, 20:14
A fair number of bleary-eyed game makers recovered from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards show after party in time to listen to the first talk of the final day of the DICE summit in Las Vegas. J. Paul Raines, chief operating officer of GameStop, opened the talks by first thanking the audience for producing such creative and engaging games.
Raines attendance at DICE is an interesting one, due to his being the first DICE speaker from the retail sector and a none-too-subtle anger other speakers have shown regarding GameStop's used games sales.
The lecture focused mainly on GameStop's statistics regarding who is shopping at the retail chain. 35% of core users go to GameStop for their games, but Raines also mentioned that the stores are also number one with mom's shopping for kids or loved ones.
"Heavy game purchasers may or may not equal heavy game users." A full 60% of heavy game buyers play less than 15 hours a week and 63% are married. Raines also noted that 2 in 5 new gamers are female, showing that the classic view of who a gamer is no longer applied.
Raines also noted several other things GameStop has learned through its research. Gamers like to borrow games from each other, trade them in, and buy used games. They also want portability. "The ability to take a game with you on a trip or vacation is very important…people like the ability to go to a friend's house and play a game."
The COO of GameStop looked to clear up some myths of what the used games business means to publishers. Gamers fund their new game purchases by trading in old ones, he argued. 14% of new game purchases are bought using trade-in credit and the majority of used games purchased are not new to retail.
Though many of the speakers at DICE gave talks pointing to the benefits of digital distribution, Raines argued that the retail experience still has room for growth. For example, he mentioned that through heavy marketing, GameStop was responsible for 90% of the growth in sales between Call of Duty 4 and World at War. "We think that we will continue to grow together…it's in our DNA to grow together."
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/955/955725p1.html
Raines attendance at DICE is an interesting one, due to his being the first DICE speaker from the retail sector and a none-too-subtle anger other speakers have shown regarding GameStop's used games sales.
The lecture focused mainly on GameStop's statistics regarding who is shopping at the retail chain. 35% of core users go to GameStop for their games, but Raines also mentioned that the stores are also number one with mom's shopping for kids or loved ones.
"Heavy game purchasers may or may not equal heavy game users." A full 60% of heavy game buyers play less than 15 hours a week and 63% are married. Raines also noted that 2 in 5 new gamers are female, showing that the classic view of who a gamer is no longer applied.
Raines also noted several other things GameStop has learned through its research. Gamers like to borrow games from each other, trade them in, and buy used games. They also want portability. "The ability to take a game with you on a trip or vacation is very important…people like the ability to go to a friend's house and play a game."
The COO of GameStop looked to clear up some myths of what the used games business means to publishers. Gamers fund their new game purchases by trading in old ones, he argued. 14% of new game purchases are bought using trade-in credit and the majority of used games purchased are not new to retail.
Though many of the speakers at DICE gave talks pointing to the benefits of digital distribution, Raines argued that the retail experience still has room for growth. For example, he mentioned that through heavy marketing, GameStop was responsible for 90% of the growth in sales between Call of Duty 4 and World at War. "We think that we will continue to grow together…it's in our DNA to grow together."
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/955/955725p1.html