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In the post on Viacom selling Harmonix from last week I already mentioned Reuters calling the consumer ‘sick of rythm games’ and now Gamasutra publishes NPD group’s report on the US game retail industry saying music games went through a fivefold drop in just 2 years. The quite recent genre was positioned to be one of the major players on the gaming stage for some time to come, sadly, it turned out to be a hype. Maybe in a few years it’ll steady itself but for the years to come music game sales will probably be around 500 million in the US (1.6 billion in 2008). What’s the next hype to come along?

And ofcourse it starts in the UK, a country I percieve as very game-oriented; Facebook Credits will go for sale at Tesco’s and Game stores starting this week. As I wrote 2 weeks ago, most major publishers have switched to the Facebook Credits system, including the biggest game; farmville. Deborah Liu, Facebook’s manager of the Facebook Credits marketing (what a title), told the Telegraph that they expect their system to expand beyong the main site by using Facebook Connect but they are focused on exploring the options Facebook.com still offers. Motivation for parents to buy the cards is that they would know what their kids are playing and the kids can spend the credits however they wish. The digital goods economy that has been growing for the past decade is now estimated at being worth hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK alone, and I know for sure the end is not in sight.

Viacom, owner of the MTV brand and paramount pictures to name but a few of its major brands, is planning to sell one of its gaming assets; Harmonix. The developer of the famous title Rock Band clearly states in its quarterly report that:

Techcrunch expects Facebook to launch its own mail-service, Titan, this monday. Everyone who was in doubt about the war Facebook and Google are waging, they just upped the stakes. Project Titan is rumoured to be internally referred to as the gmail killer, Google’s biggest product outside of search.

This monday, we will know more, but I won’t be surprised if Facebook presents another great feature. Makes you wonder though, what will Google do?

They tried with buzz, they will launch some social network tool without a doubt, but will it be enough to counter Facebook’s growth?

Gamasutra published an interesting  article about the gaming market’s future business model based upon an interview with the CEO of major publisher THQ. While THQ has been struggling with losses for quite some time now, adding to the burden by acquiring various Midway-studios last year, they predict a bright future for the company. Their business model is changing and they are letting us in on the plan. (more…)

My last job I was managing a cafe in Amsterdam’s most famous parc, but before that my focus was decidedly different. While working for WZZRD, and even when I was still working on Netgamez, I gained some experience in consultancy. I liked the work and challenges it proposed, so why not make it the main thing?!

Starting November 1st, I work for Kroese brands & behaviour, a company basically focussed on improving our clients’ results. Main disciplines are communication, organisation and ICT, and I started as junior consultant. My colleagues have been showing me the ropes this past week and I reckon we will keep at it for some time to come.

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Who still thinks of the current economic climate when it comes to gaming? China certainly doesn’t! Revenues are up 39,5% in Q2 of 2009, with the first two places in terms of market shares going to Tencent Holding, operating China’s largest online messaging platform and Shanda Games who both hold about 20% of the market. (more…)