Screen Digest speaks on the long-term of this generation’s console market

Screen Digest, an analyst group based in the United Kingdom, has conducted its own analysis of the gaming industry as it stands and went out on a limb to check on the long term viability of each of the three major consoles. Though no clear winner was seen in the horizon, the firm did offer insights on what each console-maker can do regarding the status quo.

Screen digest started off with the Microsoft Xbox 360, which it says seems to have “hit a wall” with the American company’s target market being too focused on adult males. In the analysis, it was stated that the Xbox 360’s bread and butter demographic is satisfied with a lot of great FPS games in the shelves, but added that the console is not doing very well with other gamer categories.

The firm did give praise to Xbox Live for having a large and dynamic user base that’s making the business thrive for Microsoft and its partners, but reiterated concerns as to “how long can the XBLA catalogue grow while maintaining high or even worthwhile levels of profitability for publishers?”

And while pundits rave about the fast sales that Nintendo is experiencing right now, Screen Digest asks how long the aging technology of the Wii can keep its users happy. The agency recalls some suggestions of the casual gamer market drying up, saying “the Wii’s target market could be saturated more quickly than its competitors…”

Screen Digest adds that issues with publishers having cold feet about launching third party titles on the platform. Faced with tough competition from Nintendo itself, publishers might opt to just “ride the coat tails of the Wii’s install base” as the analysis suggests. However, the firm does emphasize that if the Wii continues to fire on all cylinders, the investment being put into it can channel publishing funds out of the Sony and Microsoft backyards.

   

As for the Sony PlayStation 3, the analysis made by the firm is all too familiar to us by now. “There is no doubt that currently there is a lack of distinctive content to drive hardware sales but Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 could reveal some unrivalled games which are exclusive to PS3,” says the report.

Also in the suggestion list was a price drop by the end of the year. The analyst agency says that it’s a move that Sony has done in the past and the timing would be in line to cuts with earlier products. If you want to see the full analysis text in verbatim, follow the read URL.

Screen Digest, an analyst group based in the United Kingdom, has conducted its own analysis of the gaming industry as it stands and went out on a limb to check on the long term viability of each of the three major consoles. Though no clear winner was seen in the horizon, the firm did offer insights on what each console-maker can do regarding the status quo.

Screen digest started off with the Microsoft Xbox 360, which it says seems to have “hit a wall” with the American company’s target market being too focused on adult males. In the analysis, it was stated that the Xbox 360’s bread and butter demographic is satisfied with a lot of great FPS games in the shelves, but added that the console is not doing very well with other gamer categories.

The firm did give praise to Xbox Live for having a large and dynamic user base that’s making the business thrive for Microsoft and its partners, but reiterated concerns as to “how long can the XBLA catalogue grow while maintaining high or even worthwhile levels of profitability for publishers?”

And while pundits rave about the fast sales that Nintendo is experiencing right now, Screen Digest asks how long the aging technology of the Wii can keep its users happy. The agency recalls some suggestions of the casual gamer market drying up, saying “the Wii’s target market could be saturated more quickly than its competitors…”

Screen Digest adds that issues with publishers having cold feet about launching third party titles on the platform. Faced with tough competition from Nintendo itself, publishers might opt to just “ride the coat tails of the Wii’s install base” as the analysis suggests. However, the firm does emphasize that if the Wii continues to fire on all cylinders, the investment being put into it can channel publishing funds out of the Sony and Microsoft backyards.

   

As for the Sony PlayStation 3, the analysis made by the firm is all too familiar to us by now. “There is no doubt that currently there is a lack of distinctive content to drive hardware sales but Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 could reveal some unrivalled games which are exclusive to PS3,” says the report.

Also in the suggestion list was a price drop by the end of the year. The analyst agency says that it’s a move that Sony has done in the past and the timing would be in line to cuts with earlier products. If you want to see the full analysis text in verbatim, follow the read URL.