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Game developers killing the industry all over again
The gaming industry is wandering blindly in the forest of untapped markets, claims John Riccitiello (pictured below), chief executive for Electronic Arts.
The market is failing to meet the demands from average consumers and instead focuses on the same old gamer groups of teens, students and geeks who flock to titles like Halo and World of Warcraft.
There is plenty of money to be made off these groups, but there is a potentially far larger market in the mainstream consumer segment. But EA is famously unable to tap it, as it witnessed by the firm's flat earnings.
Riccitiello is finally starting to hear the wake-up call that was sent out by the Nintendo's Wii. Despised by hardcore gamers, the console is outselling all its competitors and forced Sony to slash the price for its PS3 by $100.
It's not like the gaming industry couldn't have seen this coming before. It not like they haven't undergone a game crash before when the complacency of game designer lead to the release of a series of sequels and titles based on major movies.
It's not like Sony has unsuccessfully attempted to position the PS2 as a mainstream consumer device. Riccitiello is marketing last year's news and taking credit for seeing it last.
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