Cloud Gaming: Michael Pachter rails against free-to-play games
"From 2020, cloud gaming have taken up the rule," analyst Michael Pachter opened the Cloud Gaming Conference USA 2012 in South San Francisco. Of whether his pithy, although not always true statements infamous managing director of consulting firm Wedbush Securities larding its short-and outlook of the business side of the game industry with interesting numbers.
Were from 2001 to 2008 games on disks responsible for 90 percent of the revenues of the industry, it was in the years 2009 to 2011 downhill with them. Through the unique after Pachters view peak of 24 million MMO players who paid a monthly fee, classic game consoles had problems: "Without downloadable content had many manufacturers did not survive the same in recent years, the Wii console walked up to the attic.." There were already waiting the plastic instruments from Rock Band and Guitar Hero: The music game genre, which in 2008 was identified in the U.S. and in Europe more than two billion U.S. dollars, which was nine per cent of the total box-sales broke, completely collapsed.
The question remains: Are the much vaunted new casual gamers disappeared as quickly as they are entered by Wii and Guitar Hero in the market? Michael Pachter does not want to believe it, "non-traditional players are still active, but now they play Farmville and Co. For as silly as it may sound, the idea of a virtual farm: The gameplay is quite addictive and reminds me of old slot machines, where you also 'just a coin' interjected, to get ahead. " With increasing variety and more time to spend with the players social games, will also increase the monetization. "My wife alone for Bejeweled Blitz spent $ 75 to keep up with her friends," says Pachter.
Loser of the brave new world games after Pachters opinion, not least dedicated handhelds like 3DS and Vita. "Anyone who buys an iPhone goes to his children, so cheaper than a 3DS - alone, because so many games are free." This lack of or only slight monetization is loud Pachter, however, a very big problem. "You paid earlier for a single player title equivalent of about two dollars per hour of play, are at full price multiplayer titles no more than 15 cents - great for customers, terrible for the developer." These figures speak for themselves, especially when you consider that after Pachters information "Call of Duty" per month 25 million unique users owns and half of all call-of-duty buyers the single player campaign can be left to itself immediately to overthrow the multiplayer mode.
"It's just stupid to give away games. This makes any other medium," rumbles Pachter. He sees a possible solution in the advertising business. "Anyone who watches television knows that free channels financed by advertising. And I have not seen anyone who complained about the short advertising between two rounds of 'Words with Friends." We make ourselves too much about the people who could jump when they see ads -. but these are the ones who pay nothing for the game Who pays something, for example, could thus suppress the ads for a certain period. "
The solution is in the cloud gaming, the contents of a server farm to stream directly to PCs, TVs, and tablets of the customer. But other than his statement that in 2020 cloud gaming would have made the race, Michael Pachter has remarkably returned with forecasts. Sure, he could imagine that you could be at home playing begun playing on the hotel TV on and the contents of all imaginable devices will be playable. And of course, games are becoming more services than before: "Halo 4 offers silent after buying ten weeks free online content, but what happens from the eleventh week, it is still Microsoft," says Pachter.
One thing is for analysts: consoles are mutating into true multifunction miracle. "I am sure that the next Xbox has a cable box, on which you can connect the TV cable directly to the console -. And then the TV picture with the help of Smart Glass on every screen in WiFi range will pass And one day, then you need no more console to enjoy games console - Sony has "bought not so vain Gaikai, says Pachter. And adds conciliatory: "games on disks, there will be still as long as there is a market for single-player title." After all, a consolation for those who still prefer the feel of a game box.
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