Gaming industry should desaturate Q4

The initial idea to release most games in Q4 stems from the idea that parents chose this time to buy games for their kids as presents. However, the gaming population on average is older now than it was in the 1980's, and this notion is no longer relevant. The way I see it, both consumers and gaming companies would benefit from desaturating the fourth quarter--they should release games more evenly throughout the year.

First, this strategy would benefit hardcore gamers by giving us a regular selection of new releases every month instead of gaping holes with little-to-nothing to buy between March and August. The game companies would benefit from getting decent sales from quirky releases (compare Rayman 2's success on DC in March to BG&E's in Nov/Dec). And parents wouldn't care because they could still buy their mainstream Madden junk every Christmas anyway.

I always get a sick feeling each Jan 2 because I know I'll have no idea what I'll be buying during the upcoming year until ~April or E3. I'd like to see the companies begin changing their strategies by announcing next year's games in mid-late December.

Preaching to the choir, Kid.

Maybe we should boycott games next Christmas.

I know, I know. I'm not so naive to think one post will change the world.

I could never boycott games on Xmas :(

I'm sure annual sales would increase while holiday sales would at least remain the same if the publishers would distribute the releases more evenly throughout the year. As it is now, there are a lot of decent games crammed into Oct-Dec that aren't selling. We as gamers wouldn't have to boycott anything. I think the results would speak for themselves.

I think it's fair to say that the companies which spend millions of dollars a year on market research know more about it than the TNL crowd. Just a hunch.

A residual effect from the saturation of games in 4Q is the dramatic price decrease for overstocking games in the following 1Q.

Which is kinda nice. :) Notice games like Beyond Good and Evil, I-Ninja, etc all drop like a rock in terms of retail price.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I think it's fair to say that the companies which spend millions of dollars a year on market research know more about it than the TNL crowd. Just a hunch.

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Yeah, the marketing minds at Ubi Soft sure earned their paychecks last Christmas.

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Originally Posted by sleeveboy

Yeah, the marketing minds at Ubi Soft sure earned their paychecks last Christmas.

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Making a mistake and knowing more than your average TNL user are two very different things.

This idea is really trite and it would be nice if the world could move on.

Yes, it would be nice if releases were a little more spaced out, but they aren't, so let's accept it and continue with our lives.