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T O P I C     R E V I E W
whizknock  - posted
I hope it all takes. When you have time read this stuff. It gives an overall look at our market.


Published by: Broadband Properties
August 2003 excerpts

In tangible vs. abstract, pay per view has been around for
nearly 10 years and arguably has become nearly as convenient as
video on demand, yet after 10 years it commands a mere fraction
of the after market for movies on video. In fact, pay per view’s
true value is not movies at all but rather special events like
boxing matches, world wrestling, and other closed sporting
events. The record revenue from a single pay per view event was
$100 million –for a boxing match. This value will continue
regardless of the success of any on demand video innovation.

Similarly in the consumer’s mind, they will always believe that
DVDs will be of higher quality than anything they buy
electronically.

There is also very little standardization among electronic media
choices. There are no less than 6 different
transmission/encoding formats, 4 different purchase options, 4
different transportation service providers, and numerous
proprietary hardware and technologies in play. Compare this with
DVD where you have essentially one standard along with multiple
ways and means to purchase and play the content.

The DVD player has been called the fastest growing consumer
electronics device in history. Over 43 million DVD players were
shipped in 2002 and it is predicted that by 2006 over 125
million DVD players will be shipping.

Another problem for digital set top boxes is that DVD players
are everywhere – they now come standard with all new computers,
all new game consoles, and even family friendly automobiles. The
continual rise in DVD sales creates an overwhelming market for
the packaged media business that is only becoming stronger and
more powerful as the ultimate convenience that consumers are
buying and continue to buy is “portability”.

US News Cover story 12/29/03
Videos without late fees

By now, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was supposed to be a dead man.
You don't go head to head in renting out DVDs against the likes
of Wal-Mart and Blockbuster and live to tell about it.

Yet 2004 will find Hastings not just alive but thriving. Netflix
shares have more than tripled in value the past year to around
$45, third-quarter revenue jumped 77 percent to $72 million, and
its subscriber base, now 1.3 million, is growing at about
125,000 a month. To top it all off, Netflix is the Silicon
Valley darling of an anticipated billion-dollar market in
digital movies if downloads over the Internet ever become
feasible and popular.

Yet 2004 will find Hastings not just alive but thriving. Netflix
shares have more than tripled in value the past year to around
$45, third-quarter revenue jumped 77 percent to $72 million, and
its subscriber base, now 1.3 million, is growing at about
125,000 a month. To top it all off, Netflix is the Silicon
Valley darling of an anticipated billion-dollar market in
digital movies if downloads over the Internet ever become
feasible and popular.

Netflix expects to offer downloads, but because they still take
hours even with broadband, Hastings says mail rentals will hold
sway for the foreseeable future. The good news, he says, is that
Wal-Mart "doesn't enter less-than-billion-dollar markets. We've
got lots of growth ahead."

17 October 2003 Video games

"The games industry is booming, with the new generation consoles
as the major contributing factor," says Michael James, the
editor of New Age Gaming, an industry magazine.

The video games industry is growing faster than the movie,
recording and book publishing industries because it offers "some
of the most compelling, stimulating, and challenging
entertainment available", says James.

James McDonald, games buyer at retail group New Clicks - owners
of Musica and CD Wherehouse - says CDs and DVDs are the only
entertainment items that still outsell gaming software.

"But this time next year it will be a different story ," he
says.

McDonald says the electronic games industry is so big that
musicians are now launching their music tracks on games before
releasing albums. Hollywood actors are also doing voice-overs
for computer games.

"Games software is our number one seller, and the bulk of the
buyers are between 16 and 30 years old. We do have the 40-plus
also buying games such as golf and flight simulators," says
Ferriman.

Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Regarding the new type of Games on the horizon.

You have to make the right choices and anticipate the
consequences of your actions, advises another participant,
explaining that the game's designers at Edmonton-based BioWare
Corp. deliberately created scenarios where opportunities are
closed off to those who fail to think ahead.
This kind of concern for moral choices and consequences is
something new in the universe of video gaming, where
trigger-happy contestants are traditionally rewarded for
shooting first and never asking questions.

It represents a new generation of sophisticated electronic
games, created for a maturing and rapidly expanding audience,
that are transforming gaming consoles from an adolescent
diversion into a mainstream entertainment medium with artistic
integrity and a social conscience.

"They are taking gaming to a whole new level," says Ryan
Mugford, director of marketing in Canada for Microsoft Corp.'s
Xbox gaming console.

Over the past few years, electronic gaming has stealthily crept
up on mainstream media, growing to the point where analysts'
reports show that annual revenue from console gaming -- more
than $10-billion (U.S.) in the United States, more than
$1-billion (Canadian) in Canada -- now exceeds movie box office
receipts. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which included video games
this year for the first time in its annual report on the global
entertainment and media industry, forecasts that the category
will expand at an 11-per-cent compound annual rate to
$35.8-billion (U.S.) by 2007, making it the fastest-growing
industry segment.

Ray Muzyk, joint chief executive officer at BioWare, says games
developers must now respond to "more demanding consumers who
want increased complexity and deeper story lines." Star Wars:
Knights of the Old Republic responds to this demand, he says, by
letting players explore issues of morality as they develop their
characters into dark- or light-side Jedi with actions that
affect the world around them.

US video rentals resisting strong competition
Story filed: 8 December 2003

Complimenting the incredible growth in sales of DVDs and despite
the challenges from competing technologies such as
video-on-demand, video rental remains the American public's
favourite way to view new release movies, said Bo Andersen,
president of the Video Software Dealers Association.

"The home video industry is offering the American public a
choice between renting and buying, and the public is choosing
both," Andersen noted.

The Games Of 2004
12/23/2003 4:32 PM

As another year comes and goes, it’s kind of sad in the video
game world for a few moments. It’s actually quiet. All of the
big holiday titles from 2003 have shipped. There’s not a lot of
massive news, few announcements, and generally a small amount of
game releases. But that’s only for a few brief moments.

2003 was a great year in gaming, and 2004 is waiting in the
wings to rock gamers' hearts around the world. You better get
busy and beat all the games you got this holiday season because
it won’t be too long until the heavies come out in 2004.

Game Informer Online takes a look at the big name titles for
each respective console, and gives you a general idea of when
they will be released. We can’t guarantee that each game will
release when we say they will, because as you can tell by
history, games change dates all the time.

We decided to leave out the games that will be hitting across
multiple consoles, and focus on console specific titles. But
even so, there’s some serious multi-platform titles about to
grace which ever system you favor, including Call of Duty:
Finest Hour, X-Men Legends, StarCraft Ghost, EA and ESPN Sports
franchises, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna ### Laude, Lord of the
Rings: Battle For Middle Earth, Spider Man 2, James Bond:
Everything or Nothing, Driv3r, Mafia, NFL Street, Star Wars:
Battlefront, and a pile of other games. It’s actually pretty
scary - and we're not even close to E3 2004 yet.

Mark MacDonald, executive editor of

Electronic Gaming Monthly, pointed to Electronic Arts' spring
smash, Def Jam Vendetta, a wrestling game with hip-hop overtones
based on licenses from the Def Jam record label, as one sign of
games' increasing crossover power. He also pointed to games such
as the current bestseller, True Crime: Streets of LA, which
features rap star Snoop Dogg as well as voiceovers by actors
including Christopher Walken and Quentin Tarantino movie veteran
Michael Madsen.

"Games are seeping into all of these new areas and the broader
culture," MacDonald said. "People are discovering new crossover
potential with music, as they have with movies for a while now.
And with celebrities starring in games, it seems like you can't
have a major game now without voice-overs from at least one or
two major celebrities."

11/25/03 A Rosy Picture for DVD

The picture for DVD couldn't be better. In the United Stats
there are now over 50 million set top DVD players. This number
is expected to grow to 60 million by years end. When you add
other devices which can play DVDs (including PC's, PS2 and
X-box) that number jumps up to between 90 and 100 million DVD
capable devices. In 2002 there were 1.14 Billion DVDs shipped
world wide and the average home bought 15 DVDs. For the first
time DVD has overtaken VHS in the rental space. During the week
ending June 15, 2003, for the first time ever, more DVDs were
rented than VHS videocassettes. According to VSDA VidTrac, 28.2
million DVDs were rented while 27.3 million VHS cassettes were
rented. DVD Rental stores also are singing the DVD praises which
is now a $9 Billion industry. Old style DVD Rental companies
like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have more to celebrate
(though renters won't be crazy to hear this) as 25% of DVD
renters are reported to pay late fees at least HALF of the time
they rent DVDs and in 2002 Video Rental companies collected an
estimated $1 Billion in late fees - yes, that's Billion with a
'B'. The explosion in DVD doesn't end there. DVD is seeing
growth into the portable market, into cars, dorm rooms,
playrooms and multiple rooms in the home. Twenty-nine percent of
US homes now have two or more DVD players. Barreling full steam
ahead DVD is expected to continue to have 'double digit growth'
from now until 2007.

November 23, 2003: Hollywood studios are banking

on huge holiday films like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of
the King, The Cat in the Hat and The Last Samurai to make their
years, but no movie -- or movie studio -- will match the
entertainment muscle of Nintendo's Game Boy Advance according to
company predictions. In fact, the Game Boy Advance line in 2003
is tracking to exceed the year's total box office revenues for
any Hollywood studio. That's right: Hardware and games for the
Game Boy Advance are projected to exceed $1.5 billion in revenue
in the United States, an estimate beyond the domestic estimates
for any Hollywood movie maker.

"Game Boy Advance is the envy of the entertainment world," says
George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of
marketing and corporate communications. "Not only does our
'studio' boast a library of more than 550 titles, but these hits
get played over and over again."

All Press Releases for November 6, 2003

Christmas video game sales soar towards record: Who buys them,
who plays them and who creates these leaps into fantasy? You'll
be surprised!
Christmas video game sales soar towards record Adults buy them
Adults play them The highly secret world of video game
development Who creates these leaps into fantasy?

Parksville BC Canada,(PRWEB) November 4, 2003: Coming off a
banner year for Christmas sales in 2002, October 2003 sales
figures reveal that the North American video game industry is
headed towards an even better holiday marketing season in 2003.
Sales could exceed 10 billion this year.

Adults buy them Adults play them.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not only kids who play video
games. According to the Interactive Digital Software
Association, sixty percent of all North Americans age six and
older, or about 150 million people, play computer and video
games. The average age of a game player is 28 years old and,
forty-three percent of game players are women. The vast majority
of people who play video games do so with friends and family.
Ninety percent of all games are purchased by adults over the age
of 18.

The highly secret world of video game development
Enter a world that keeps tightly guarded secrets about what's
being developed and why, as companies continually vie for a
larger share of the billions in annual sales of computer and
video game software.

Video rental market booming

In a time of war, people in broadcasting want to know what
people are going to watch. What was anticipated was that people
would watch coverage very extensively and other types of
programming (movies, video games, reality shows, etc.) would be
forgotten. That happened in the first 72 hours. But after that,
normal patterns resumed. And, in fact, video rentals are booming
right now. In spite of - or maybe because of - the war, the
numbers are huge. People want diversion from the war, and
they’re getting it from movies. Netflix, the subscription
video service, has even crossed the million-member mark in
recent days. People see these services as a fixed expenditure,
so they know exactly what they will pay. And they don’t have
to leave their home or deal with unanticipated late fees. The
video game market is also booming. It’s actually even bigger
than the video movie market these days. And, according to the
New York Times, Netflix has inspired about 15 to 20 video game
companies that have started their own subscription rental
businesses using a similar business model. Video games are much
more expensive than movies, at about $50 or $60 a pop. And,
sometimes you get bored playing the same game over and over. So,
renting games has become a booming business.

from the August 29, 2003 edition
Off to college to major in ... video games?
'Video game studies' may sound oxymoronic, but academia is
beginning to take it seriously.
By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor


This fall, Southern Methodist University in Dallas will enroll
32 students in its new 18-month master's level certificate
program in video-game design. Shawnee State University in
Portsmouth, Ohio, is offering for the first time a full-blown
undergraduate major in "game and simulation arts" as part of its
bachelor of fine arts degree program.

A few big-name universities are toying with the serious side of
video games. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the
Georgia Institute of Technology, and Carnegie Mellon University
offer curricula on video-game criticism, games as educational
tools, and game design.

Georgia Institute of Technology started a PhD program in digital
media and a master's in information design and technology, in
which many students are pursuing video-game design.

Market For Used DVDs Continues to Grow
Accounts for 10% of Sales in Many Outlets
October 14, 2003

Video Business is reporting that more and more retailers who
sell or rent DVDs are also selling "previously owned" or
"previously rented" DVDs. A survey by the Video Software Dealers
Association found that high profit stores gained a higher
percentage of sales from merchandising used DVDs and tapes than
did average stores. Another survey of video stores found that
60% of stores generated 10% or more of their income from sales
of previously owned or rented product.

The quick resale of rented video product actually gives
independently owned stores a window of opportunity in their
competition with the Blockbusters of the world, since the big
chains are often prevented from selling off inventory for a
specific period of time because of deals made with the studios
regulating how quickly the chains can shed their rental
inventory. Retailers who specialize in renting and selling niche
video product, such as anime, have also done well with an
aggressive program for selling off excess rental inventory, and
in catering to customers who want to "trade in" their old titles
for new ones. The simplicity and robust nature of DVDs, which
are difficult to damage under normal conditions of use, make
them ideal for resale.

Forget billboards; forget Super Bowl ads...

These days just about anybody with something to sell to teens is
doing it through games. Nike, Pepsico, McDonald's, Nokia, and
ESPN are only a few of the companies now using games to sell
their products. Forrester Research, a firm in Cambridge, Mass.,
that studies the use of new technologies, predicts advergaming
will be a billion-dollar-a-year industry by 2005.

A paragraph from Fortune mag:
Saturday, September 6, 2003

Videogames: Next Big Thing
"Music? Sales down. Hollywood? Hit or miss. Tech? Flat." So,
what are the options? Writes Fortune:

Games are becoming culturally pervasive, stealing time and
dollars from other consumer entertainment options like movies,
television, and, ahem, magazines. On average an American will
spend 75 hours this year playing videogames, more than double
the amount of time spent gaming in 1997 and eclipsing that of
DVD or tape rentals today, according to market research firm
Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Of the other forms of entertainment,
only Internet usage is expected to grow faster than
videogames—a fact that the videogame makers plan to use to
their advantage.

And with time comes money. Though the global videogame market
was just $28 billion in 2002, some people think it's on track to
rival the movie, music, or television industries, perhaps by the
end of this decade. Music sales have been falling in recent
years, the moviegoing experience hasn't changed that much since
Gone With the Wind, and network TV is on the skids. The games
business has been racking up double-digit growth rates for the
past decade, even through the recent tech slump.

Electronic Arts wants to become the "biggest and best
entertainment company in the world", according to its CEO
Lawrence Probst III. Adds Fortune: "Its stock recently hit an
all-time high of $90, making the $13.2-billion-market-cap
company the world's fourth-largest software maker, behind
Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP."

Game Reporter: Mark Perry
11/18/2003

[UPDATE] Survey of console gamers comes up with a mixed bag of
preferences. GameSpot talks to the survey's lead reseacher,
Billy Pidgeon.

Today, game industry analysts from the Zelos Group released
findings that paint an interesting-but-complicated picture of
today's typical console gamer.

- Game rentals add to the industry's overall bottom line. The
study reports that about one third of respondents indicate that
they rent games and these users have a high propensity to use
rentals as a means to inform purchase decisions. Hardcore gamers
are more likely to rent games than their avid and casual gamer
counterparts. Almost half of hardcore gamers indicate they rent
at least one game a month, and almost 20 percent say they rent
five or more.

GS: What is driving the increased reliance or interest in
renting games? Is it high retail prices? Do rentals steal
revenues from retail sales or do rentals compliment and drive
sales?

BP: Rental is a reliable and inexpensive method to try a game
before buying it. Rental is a negative for inferior games and
for short games that can be easily finished within a rental
period and offer little replay value. Game rentals bring in big
revenues for rental outlets and can complement and drive sale
for good games with depth and replay value.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC

And by 2007, the company forecasts, software and hardware for
games will be worth about $56 billion in North America alone.
Put simply, video gaming is the world's fastest growing form of
entertainment. "Nobody would be in this business if they weren't
making money," says Lisa Webber, Microsoft Canada's marketing
manager of PC games.

There are more profits on the horizon. Technological advances in
computer chip development enable companies to put faster console
systems and games with better graphics out year after year, so
consumers keep having to upgrade their systems and buy updated
titles if they want to enjoy the latest and greatest. Currently,
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo dominate the console industry. They
sell their systems at cost or even at a loss, and then make
their profits on the games.

Video game console growth seen boosting software
11 November 2003, 3:58pm ET
By Franklin Paul

NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Video game software sales are
expected to be strong this holiday season, driven by enthusiasts
hunger for new games and the swelling number of consoles popping
up in consumer living rooms.

Analysts remained optimistic, despite the lack of a blockbuster
title like last year's "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," which sold
close to a million copies on its first day in October 2002.

"We are looking at an installed base (of consoles) that is 55
percent larger than it was...last year," Jeffrey Griffiths,
Chief Executive of retailer Electronics Boutique said at Harris
Nesbitt Gerard's "Playtime" conference in New York last week.
"The size of the installed base should be enough to drive a nice
increase in software sales."

Although console sales growth has slowed after three explosive
years, industry specialists said the demand for new software
remains impressive and is expected to boost sales.

NPD Group, a market research firm, has said that software will
be the primary near-term driver for the gaming industry, as
owners of the near 80 million boxes grab new titles for their
machines.

More evidence of the DVD boom came from
the video rental industry. As of July 21, consumer spending on
DVD rentals surpassed spending on DVD rentals for all of last
year, according to the Video Software Dealers Association, a
trade group based in Encino, Calif.

For the weeks ended Jan. 6 through July 21, a 29-week period
rental revenues hit $1.47 billion, an increase of $7 million or
5 percent over the $1.4 billion revenue for all of last year,
according to the association.

A cable channel devoted to video games
For July 02, 2003

Video game players now have something else to do in front of a
TV screen than just shoot asteroids, pilot a starship or steal a
car.

A new channel called G-Four is showing up on local cable TV
outlets around the country.

G-Four offers a daily news show called "Pulse," a review segment
and even a show detailing the tricks that are programmed into
games -- known as "cheats." It lets players do things such as
extend their virtual lives or make bobble-heads of players in a
basketball video game.

G-Four also has an on-line component giving viewers a chance to
chat live and post messages on a bulletin board. There is a live
show where the hosts respond to comments and questions from the
Web.

Charles Hirschhorn founded the network and says he realized when
he was working at Disney that there was a need for a channel to
cater to the age group that plays video games.

G-Four has been on the air for a year and it's available to
eleven million people.
December 02, 2003

Video Rental Shows ``Extraordinary Strength'': Despite Growth of
DVD Sales and Video-on-Demand, Rentals Hold Their Own

ENCINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2003--Complementing the
incredible growth in sales of DVDs and despite the challenges
from competing technologies such as video-on-demand, video
rental remains the American public's favorite way to view new
release movies, Bo Andersen, president of the Video Software
Dealers Association, said today. Andersen noted that the total
number of DVDs and VHS cassettes rented in 2003 will be
approximately the same as in 2002.

"Rather than seeing a flat video rental market as a sign of
weakness, we see it as a sign of extraordinary strength,"
Andersen said. "With DVDs offered for purchase at remarkably
attractive prices and cable and satellite companies aggressively
promoting video-on-demand, one would expect pundits to speculate
that the rental market would see a dramatic drop. But, in fact,
that drop has not happened."

VSDA noted that:

-- DVD sales have seen double-digit increases in the past
several years, but those sales have not significantly eroded the
rental market. In the first half of 2003, combined DVD and VHS
sales were up 27%, compared with the first half of 2002. Rentals
were up 3.5% over the same period, and currently are about the
same as they were in 2002. "The home video industry is offering
the American public a choice between renting and buying, and the
public is choosing both," Andersen noted.

-- DVD players have fallen dramatically in price and are on the
top of all the gift recommendation lists this holiday season.
"With DVD players falling below $30 in some instances, many
lower-income households - who are more likely to rent than buy -
will make the switch to DVD this quarter," Andersen predicted.

-- Many rental stores are generating an increasing share of
their revenue from previously viewed DVDs, which are extremely
popular. According to VSDA's most recent "benchmarking" report
on independent video stores, the typical respondent video store
generated approximately 14% of its revenue from sales of new and
previously viewed videos (primarily DVDs), which is greater than
the 11% of revenue generated from extended viewing fees (a.k.a.
"late fees").

-- Video rental remains relatively constant, even though other
entertainment options - such as broadcast television and
theatrical admissions - have suffered decreases this year.

November 2003, Zelos Group

Partner and Senior Analyst -
Billy Pidgeon is a fifteen year veteran of the interactive
electronic entertainment industry.

Research Associate -
For the last four years David Hu has been involved in marketing
in the Videogame software industry.

Game Rental Business Adds Ancillary Revenues and Impacts Sales.
About one third of respondents indicate that they rent games and
these users have a high propensity to use rentals as a means to
inform purchase decisions. Moreover, hardcore gamers are more
likely to rent games than their avid and casual gamer
counterparts. Almost half of hardcore gamers indicate they rent
at least one game a month, and almost 20 percent say they rent 5
or more.

Consoles Can be Positioned as General Purpose Entertainment
Appliances. With over 50 percent of survey respondents favoring
DVD playback as the number one additional console feature,
consumers do not have difficultly viewing the game console as a
general purpose entertainment appliance.

Solitary Gaming Remains Prevalent. Despite interest in playing
against others in an online environment, gaming remains largely
a solitary activity and games that rely on social interaction
have a relatively narrow addressable market. Over 73 percent of
respondents claim to play games alone almost always or most of
the time, and only 2 percent claim that they never play alone.

Nov/Dec exerpts, Yahoo Entertainment news...

Top cable networks like Spike TV, MTV and Game Show Network are
focusing on original programming that revolves around video
games in an effort to regain the loyalty of an audience segment
coveted by advertisers.

If the nation's largest cable carrier, Comcast, purchases TechTV
-- a transaction that has not been confirmed by either party,
despite widespread media speculation -- video game programming
likely would get a further boost. If a purchase is finalized,
Comcast is expected to combine San Francisco-based TechTV, which
reaches 40 million homes, with its Los Angeles-based video game
channel, G4, which reaches 11 million homes. Such a combination
would give dedicated video game programming a much larger TV
presence.

Several factors, beyond money, are fueling Hollywood agencies'
current interest. Led by PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and
including Xbox and GameCube, there are more than 60 million
video-game consoles in U.S. homes today. More than 168 million
Americans play video games.

While the U.S. market is the fastest-growing sector, it's only a
part of a worldwide audience that plays video games. Couple this
global reach with an elusive 18- to 34-year-old male population
that spends more time playing games than watching TV, and you
can see what's grabbing the attention of major Hollywood
players.

"There's a whole new generation of Hollywood producers, writers,
directors and actors that grew up playing games," explained
Boesky, the video-game agent for International Creative
Management. "These people understand games, they play games, and
they often want to become involved in games."

U.S. Electronic Media and Entertainment
Pub Time: 2003/04

Games revenues from interactive TV are forecast to climb from
only $58 million in 2002 to $987 million by 2010. The majority
of the growth will occur after 2006 when broadband networks
become more commonplace

Power of product placement in video games -
Jan 9 2004, 10:29 AM

Whether it's Dole bananas in "Super Monkey Ball" or SoBe soda
machines through "Splinter Cell", it is estimated that product
placement in video games will account for hundreds of millions
of dollars in revenue by 2005. Also, according to the article,
"Studies indicate 30% of in-game ads are recalled in the
short-term, which is impressive. Even more amazing is the fact
that 15% are recalled after five months - unheard of in
advertising." Not too shabby for an industry that used to beg
companies to place their products in their games.

Posted on: Thursday, January 8, 2004 -

Professional athletes these days love to play video games. They
live to be in them. Most of all, they dream of being the
featured guy in the latest red-hot game.
"That's what is important to these guys now," former Suns coach
Frank Johnson said. "It used to be everybody worried about
money, shoe contracts and commercials. Now it's those (video
games)."
Twenty-five years ago, making the cover of a Wheaties box
signaled an athlete's arrival in the big time. Today it's being
a "box cover athlete" on a video game.
Sports video games continue to be among the hottest-selling
entertainment items in the country, with star players from the
four major sports leagues serving as pitchmen.
The games last year generated at least $1 billion in sales in
the United States, according to industry observers, and capture
about one-fifth of the entire video-game market.
Video games have enhanced the bottom lines of all four major
sports leagues and their players, along with the software
companies. The NBA, for example, has seen its video-game
revenues more than double in the past five years, while players
who appear on the cover of video games can command six-figure
sponsorship fees.
While sports video games are a $1 billion industry, action games
have recently overtaken them in market share.

November 2003...
Billy Pidgeon, Partner & Senior Analyst
David Hu, Research Associate

No Major Shake-up This Holiday Season. With 18 percent of 1,000
console gamers indicating that they plan to acquire a
PlayStation 2 console, and 14 percent expecting to purchase or
receive an XBox by the end of 2004, this year's holiday buying
pattern will not dramatically impact the market share of major
vendors. Zelos Group expects that Nintendo may erode Microsoft's
lead due to increased GameCube sales spurred by the decision to
cut prices.

Game Rental Business Adds Ancillary Revenues and Impacts Sales.
About one third of respondents indicate that they rent games and
these users have a high propensity to use rentals as a means to
inform purchase decisions. Moreover, hardcore gamers are more
likely to rent games than their avid and casual gamer
counterparts. Almost half of hardcore gamers indicate they rent
at least one game a month, and almost 20 percent say they rent 5
or more.

Solitary Gaming Remains Prevalent. Despite interest in playing
against others in an online environment, gaming remains largely
a solitary activity and games that rely on social interaction
have a relatively narrow addressable market. Over 73 percent of
respondents claim to play games alone almost always or most of
the time, and only 2 percent claim that they never play alone.

USA TODAY January 08,2004 -

Check the year-end reports from the various sectors of the
entertainment industry, and it's clear that DVD stands alone as
an unqualified sensation. It's such a success that it might even
be eclipsing -- and cutting into -- other leisure pursuits.
Total DVD revenue last year hit .5 billion -- .1 billion in
sales, .4 billion in rentals -- according to new industry totals
from market tracking firm Adams Media Research.
Each DVD amounts to a consumer devoting money and time to
watching a movie at home, sometimes in lieu of going to a
theater or watching TV or listening to a CD.
Nearly every other area of entertainment -- TV watching, CD
buying, moviegoing -- is showing a downward trend:
* Moviegoers spent 1% less at the box office last year (.17
billion) than in 2002 (.27 billion); overall, theaters sold 100
million fewer movie tickets. It was the first time in more than
a decade that Hollywood failed to set a box office record.
* Music sales continued a three-year slump, though the rate of
decline has slowed. The industry took solace in that CD album
sales dropped 2% to .5 billion last year, compared with 9% in
2002.
* Television executives are arguing with audience trackers over
the mysterious disappearance of chunks of the viewing audience.
Overall, the six major networks have lost about 8% of their
viewers, compared with fall 2002. The biggest drop has come
among young men, particularly ages 18 to 24 (down 23%).

Sun., Jan. 4, 2004, 7:10pm PT
DVD-by-mail renter shows 74% sub growth...

Is online DVD rentailer Netflix ready for Main Street? Having
already wowed Wall Street with 400%-plus stock price gains in
2003, the subscription-based DVD movie rental club is quickly
proving that its model not only works, but has plenty of room
for growth.

ENCINO, CALIFORNIA (January 5, 2004) …

Noting the numerous DVD sales and rental records set in 2003,
the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) today declared
that 2003 was "the year of DVD" in the home video market.

"We have simply run out of superlatives to describe the DVD
phenomenon," said VSDA President Bo Andersen. "It's bigger and
better than anyone imagined it could be."

Consumers spent record amounts purchasing and renting DVDs in
2003. Adams Media Research estimates that consumer purchases of
DVDs totaled more than $12 billion in 2003, up $3.9 billion, or
46%, from 2002. Consumers spent an additional $4.3 billion
renting DVDs in 2003 (through December 21, 2003), up 53% from
the same period last year, according to Home Video Essentials (a
product of Rentrak Corporation). The number of DVDs rented also
set a record in 2003. Home Video Essentials reports that,
through December 21, 2003, approximately 1.3 billion DVDs were
rented during the year - up 55% from the same period in 2002.

Thursday, January 8, 2004
DVD's success steals the show - USA Today

USA Today looks at the ongoing advance of DVDs as well as the
fact that their success is coming at the expense of other forms
of entertainment. DVD revenue totalled $17.5 billion last year,
with $12.1 going to DVD sales and $5.4 billion for rentals. The
total spent on DVDs surpasses the amount spent on movie tickets,
video games and music CDs. Time spent watching DVDs also cuts
into time spent doing other activities, particularly watching
broadcast television. Tom Adams of Adams Media Research: "If the
average home buys 15 movies a year -- and the more avid consumer
buys 20 -- and on average you watch them twice, that is 80 hours
a year, a couple hours a week gone to watching DVD movies. Throw
in an extra feature, and it's well over 100 hours a year."


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whizknock
 

BananaBelly  - posted
Wasnt that talking more about Netflix. I did see where they talked about games but i saw no mention of gzfx, i could have overlooked it though. Hopefully there will be enough room for gzfx and i think there is, especially with the game/movie combo available, i just need some more cash to get while its low.
 
whizknock  - posted
Actually that's my point. They mapped our future & as far as the games go, we're already there.

I don't own so much as one share of Netflix I want them to be hugely successful & they are. Believe this, there's room for two in this & Netflix simply proves the market is ready & willing.

That's the good news!

ALL OUR MARKET RESEARCH IS DONE & OUR BUSINESS PLAN WORKS!

Furthermore it appears to out perform &/or offer a better product than any other approaches at delivering recorded content to the home for the consummer who wants entertainment on their schedule.

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whizknock
 




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