Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

"We're making sure that Wii U owners will have great games to play from the moment they open the box…” http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/story/2012/09/26/nintendo-23-games-launching-with-wii-u-console/57844666/1 Nintendo has been extremely innovative and successful with their products while remaining family friendly, but they also lag behind in hardware specs, their new Wii U Console and featuring the R700 GPU, “…the Wii U will be capable of outputting full 1080p graphics — but it is ultimately a four-year-old GPU.” http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/136121-nintendo-confirms-wii-u-specs-and-release-date-prices-it-above-xbox-360-and-ps3

“…does not allow Adults Only (AO) content to be certified for use on its platform, and would not condone this type of game for Kinect." http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106259-Microsoft-Ready-to-Crush-Kinect-Porn-Game The biggest paradox in America (Beheading = OK, Breasts = BAD) is an extreme miss for Xbox.  They’re missing out on a LOT of money here.  Xbox has 47% of the consoles out and “…has sold more than 19 million units and the company’s Xbox Live service now boast 40 million members.”  http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/30/xbox-360-kinect-sales/

“Amazon blamed weak quarterly results from its media business on a decline in videogame sales. ‘You're seeing an industry slowdown in games and consoles.’” “Video Game Makers Can’t Dodge Recession” (emphasis added).  PC’s settings can be set to be far greater than any console, can consistently be upgraded, and computers are now a part of our daily lives for everything as software and youtube are making things easier to do-it-yourself, from games, editing movies and pictures, email, etc.

For example:  Loading time on an PS3 for the game “Skyrim” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg7j11_tlBY&t=0m36s

VS. loading time on a PC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQwkoc6Ivlg&t=00m5s

Even though mobile devices don’t offer real gaming experiences, they do offer simplistic, easy entertainment.  The Wii was done after the Kinect came out, and the 3DS still has Pokémon.

BCG Ratings:

Stars: All mobile devices

Cash Cows: Xbox, Nintendo 3DS

Question Marks: PC, Wii U

Dogs: PS3, Wii, PSP