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Posted
Oct 20 2009, 03:53 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Price cuts work. In September, Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 outsold the Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii for the first time in recent memory.
Industry research firm NPD said that the video game industry, which includes both consoles and games, had sales of $1.28 billion in September, up 1% from a year ago.
Sony shipped 491,800 PS3 units in September, moving ahead of Nintendo’s Wii which shipped 462,800 units, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 which dropped to third place with 352,600 units shipped.
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Posted
Apr 02 2009, 10:02 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 OK, all you companies that want to go public can come out of hiding. Online video-game maker Changyou.com (CYOU) opened for trading today -- and promptly soared 38%.
If this holds, The Wall Street Journal says, Changyou will have the best Day 1 opening since April 2008, when fertilizer company Intrepid Potash (IPI) rose 58%. The company, which priced its shares at $16, is the first IPO on the Nasdaq since November.
What makes this all the more surprising is that Changyou is still a one-trick pony, which should give investors pause. The company has a good pedigree, having spun off from Chinese Internet portal Sohu.com (SOHU), but nearly all its revenue comes from a single game: the martial-arts title "Tian Long Ba Bu" (pictured).
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Posted
Mar 12 2009, 03:56 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The economy is so bad that many people live in a world where they shop at Wal-Mart (WMT) and eat at McDonald’s (MCD). Finding entertaining things to do has simply gotten too expensive.
Nintendo has been able to buck that trend with its least expensive and smallest product, the DS, or dual screen portable game player.
Sales of the electronics product passed 100 million units worldwide this month. Hitting that mark took a little over four years.
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Posted
Jan 29 2009, 10:01 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Alas, gone are the heady days of 2007, when Nintendo (NTDOF) raised its profit forecast twice, delighting investors who never imagined that the Wii system would be such a hit. "With a lineup of killer games on the way, the business will be smooth sailing," a Tokyo asset manager said at the time. Err, right. Fast forward a year or so, and Nintendo finds itself in the unfortunate position of cutting its forecast -- by a stunning 33%. That would be the first yearly profit dip in quite some time. And it's going to sell 1 million fewer Wiis than it thought. The news shocked
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Posted
Nov 12 2008, 03:35 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Apple's iPhone does everything. It is a phone, a multimedia player, a Web browser, and a washing machine.
Now, Apple wants the iPhone to be a gaming platform and it is going to take on the remarkably successful Nintendo DS and Sony Playstation Portable, which currently rule the mobile video game market.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "Developers are being lured by Apple's online method for delivering games, which has lowered distribution costs and made it possible to profit on games that sell for just a few dollars or are given away with advertising."
Just because there are games available does not mean that consumers will play
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Posted
Oct 27 2008, 11:24 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The consumer's obituary has been written: John Q. Public maxed out his credit card on one too many Abercrombie & Fitch fleeces. He is survived by his flatscreen HDTV.
But my contrarian streak tells me that one type of consumer will rise from the ashes like Zelda when he finds a new shield. Like Super Mario when he eats a mushroom. Like Sonic the Hedgehog when he collects enough chaos emeralds. You get my point: Video games have long been regarded as recession-proof. Though that perception is being tested in this putrid retail environment, it's held true - so far.
According to NPD, US video game sales fell 7% in September from the previous year. However, last year's number was inflated by the monster launch of Halo 3. Through last August, video games sales were 32% ahead of last year's record-breaking revenue, bringing in $10.6 billion in the United States.
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 11:31 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Given weakness in consumer strength and sentiment, investors fear this holiday season could go down as one of the worst on record as spending plummets. Not only will children go without, Mattel and Hasbro, the two largest toymakers, could see profitability hammered further.
After last year's lead paint scare and associated sales drop, the two companies are already fighting rising production costs. Both reported lukewarm third-quarter results this week, which along with broad market selling pressure, have dragged shares down.
With that said, investor sentiment looks too low as toymaker stocks have historically been recession-resistant. UBS analyst Robert Carroll notes that during the recession of the early 80's and 90's, toy sales still demonstrated year-over-year sales growth. The industry also grew when consumer confidence fell sharply between 2000 and 2003.
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Posted
Sep 09 2008, 11:17 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
When it comes to portable gaming devices, Nintendo is king. The company has sold 80 million DS systems, and its legacy with the GameBoy line dates back nearly 20 years. Nintendo owns this category, hands down.
Yet that isn't stopping Apple, which boldly stated today that it has "the best portable device for playing games." Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch can play tons of games, including sports, racing and other action titles. And the graphics look pretty good, certainly equal to, if not better than, what you get on Nintendo's players. Apple unveiled new iPods and an iPhone update today.
Can Apple really expect to go after the Nintendo empire? As much as Apple wants to believe otherwise, the iPhone is not a gaming device. It's a phone first, and secondly a platform for applications, including games. And no one is buying the iPod Touch primarily as a game player.
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Posted
Sep 04 2008, 04:36 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Microsoft has decided that it would rather be the video game market share leader than make a buck at the business. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)
Redmond cut the price of its Xbox 360 to $199. That drops it from its previous sticker of $279. The action may take some business away from the Sony PS3, but it is more clearly aimed at market leader Nintendo which has remained in the front spot for months with its $250 Wii.
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Posted
Aug 28 2008, 02:31 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Video games are always something I buy used, if I can. Oh sure, there's nothing like unwrapping a pristine copy of "Grand Theft Auto IV," but in general, video games don't deteriorate as they move to the second-hand market. The gaming industry doesn't make money off of a second-hand sale. And that's a "critical situation" for publishing giant Electronic Arts, an executive with the company told GamesIndustry.biz. How to fix the problem?
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