Leading Industry Analyst says that Gamestop is probably screwed
Steam Powered
GameStop is well aware that digital distribution is the future of gaming. The company even appointed a general manager of digital media (after initially brushing off digital distribution). That said, two prominent analysts believe that things are gong to be difficult for America's largest gaming-specialty retailer. In a recent interview with Industrygamers, DFC Intelligence's David Cole said:
"GameStop's very existence will be perilous as digital distribution becomes more prevalent. Physical retailers have a mixed bag when it comes to moving to the online world. Further complicating matters is GameStop's dependence on the used game business which causes some conflict with the publishing community. It makes sense for GameStop to move into digital distribution, but the company's success in this area is far from guaranteed. It is a very different business from what they are used to and the competition will be intense."
Full story @ G4TV.com
Wired Q&A w/ Blizzard on new MMO
World of Warcraft Cataclysm
ANAHEIM, California — Blizzard is creating a new MMO game. With the enormous success of its World of Warcraft, it doesn’t seem to make sense for the same company to release a competing title.
Yes, judging by the recent unveiling of its new expansion Cataclysm, Blizzard is still supporting World of Warcraft and its 11.5 million players. But it doesn’t think that losing some of those players to another Blizzard game is a bad thing.
At Blizzard’s annual fan convention BlizzCon this past weekend, chief operating officer Paul Sams said that although there has been some initial concern in the company about cannibalizing their WoW subscribers, they think they’ll get over it quickly.
“I think the (new MMO) is going to be significantly differentiated enough,” Sams said. “Such that, you’re not going to feel like they’re one and the same resulting in that you have to pick or choose,” he said.
Full story @ Wired.com