The researchers at Electronic Entertainment Design and...Research have been looking at console game sales patterns. Looking at how long it takes a game to enter "price protection", which is a term used for when a publisher - having noticed a game isn't selling very well - lowers the wholesale cost of a game so that retailers can keep it on the shelves at full price, even when the public are ignoring it. What they've found is that this practice occurs for 7.5% of 360 games. And 9.09% of PS3 games. But the Wii? It happens for 15.1% of titles.
EEDAR speculates that this is due to a crowded release schedule full of samey, poorly-made casual titles that are pitching to "unpredictable mainstream and casual markets". Common sense, as well as the mob's opinion, will no doubt agree with EEDAR. Their advice to publishers?
"For reference, we consider games targeting the core market to have a less competitive landscape as core targeted titles are typically spread out through the year and receive less competition upon release."
Whaddya know. Make better, realer games. I like these EEDAR guys.
Hunter RiderRonin
Lily Adler#forthecontent! 📹 (she/her)
