Game throws out bullish forecast

I don't have a horse in this race

but I am pretty happy to see Nintendo do so well and probably at the expense of both Sony and Microsoft (evil companies that deserve to fail).

Thing is though...

That with all the console types pushing now towards download games sold directly off themselves, the whole high street games market will be dead within 5-6 years at this rate. MS has pretty much said the next Xbox is going download, probably even download only from all the "trials" they keep pushing onto the 360 what with full game downloads now etc. PC games are getting fairly popular also from this method what with Steam doing so well.

With so much more profit for the companies in the download model than the boxed game model, the sad thing is companies like Game unless they can do something to move themselves along with where the markets heading is looking like dead men walking sadly. I do wonder if companies like Nintendo, MS and Sony will open up the download system on the consoles for third party companies like Game...then again not a chance in 'ell of that is the :P

Just perhaps...

...they made all that profit because they're so damned expensive! Shop around for your games chaps and chapesses there are often decent savings to be had...

I always check...Amazon, HMV, Argos, Gameplay, Play, Gamestation and of course Game. So far I've always managed to save £5-10 per title.

bah

I hate Game - they have made going to a computer game shop a depressing and miserable experiance, full of wankers (and no not the good honest kind of wanker) that try and sell you the latest crap. Look young man I have been playing computer games for 22 years. Shut up and die.

Gamestation wasn't too bad, normally staffed by a few dodgy looking geeks and dark so you could browse for stuff in peace. Game is attrocious - bright flickering lights, no pc games, full of annoying people. Gah.

Games done to computer stores what Starbucks and Costa have done to coffee shops. Turned them into unholy convayor belts of misery.

Misery I tell you!

re: "the sad thing is companies like Game..."

The sad thing is that people are still buying software from companies like Game, who almost always charge more than the going rate and provide awful customer service - as I found out when I returned a faulty xbox 360, and when I returned the replacement that died.

The most amusing point during the first return was when I informed the manager that he was violating my statutory rights as set out in the Sale of Goods Act - to which he replied "Sale of Goods Act? What's that?"

Still... gotta love the trade-in market they've got - they'll give you £20 for an over-priced game you bought a few weeks back and stick it back on the shelf for £45, more than you can get it new for elsewhere. Genius.

@SmokeyMcPotHead

Oh, I'm with you on that!! I've never dream of buying anything from Game. Far too uncompetitive.

But, for every one of us shrewd 'net bargain hunters, there's 10 (or more) suckers prepared to pay high-street retail prices (which are generally full RRP).

Even if the next 5yrs brings a growth of game downloads/streaming/etc (via the 'net), this will be the exception, and not the norm. eg. with Blu-Ray content being 10-50GB (in theory), I don't want to be downloading 50GB!!

So, there's definately some money to still me made in this area (high-street sales).