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MCV 12/12/08 17
2008 RETAIL SURVEY
IF YOU USE A VARIETY OF DISTRIBUTORS WHICH WOULD YOU COMMEND FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE? Keyne Distribution With pretty much every big publisher going through Centresoft these days (including recent signing Capcom), it comes as no real surprise to see the distributor come out top in the 2008 MCV retail survey. In fact, many were so delighted by the service offered by the Birmingham-based company, that they voted it amongst the ‘best overall companies for 2008’ as well.
The team at Gem weren’t forgotten either, who also put in an impressive performance during 2008. Yet they were matched this year by newly-formed distributor Keyne – who has become a firm favourite amongst the indies. However, some stores weren’t so pleased, with many refusing to nominate an actual distributor and opting for the supermarkets instead.
CENTRESOFT..............................................................................43% GEM..................................................................................................12% KEYNE ............................................................................................12% IDEAL................................................................................................6% KOCH ................................................................................................6%
IF YOU COULD HAVE ANYONE ELSE’S JOB IN THE INDUSTRY, WHOSE WOULD IT BE?
The retirement of last year’s winner – Microsoft boss Bill Gates – has meant that industry legend and inventor of Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto, has come out top with 20 per cent of the retail vote. Miyamoto might not churn out as many titles as he used to, but his popularity, general genius and worldwide success has seen him emerge triumphant in 2008. Just behind the Nintend designer, Bill and ‘none of them’, was Epic Games’ design director Clifford Bleszinski. The man behind Gears of War took eight per
cent of the vote following the huge critical and commercial success of Gears of War 2 (also voted highlight of the year). Lionhead boss and the face behind Fable II, Peter Molyneux, was the only other games designer on the list, whilst others were tempted by the life of a video games tester and GAME CEO Lisa Morgan. Of course there was plenty vying for a promotion, with store managers nominating their area manager as the job they’d most like to have. And a surprising ten per cent insisted they were perfectly happy where they are.
MIYAMOTO...................................................................................20% BILL GATES..................................................................................15% NONE OF EM – I’M HAPPY WHERE I AM .......................10% CLIFF BLESZINSKI ....................................................................8% A GAMES TESTER ......................................................................6% LISA MORGAN ..............................................................................5% DAVID YARNTON.........................................................................5% MY AREA MANAGER.................................................................4% PETER MOLYNEUX .....................................................................2%
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Ray Maguire, GAME manager, buying department of Gamestation, Satoru Iwata, someone at Blizzard, someone at Capcom, Bethesda boss Robert A Altman, head of EA marketing, head of eBay “so I can stop the selling of dodgy items”, head of Sony, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos
CONTRIBUTORS Blockbuster (Bridgewater), Blockbuster (Ely), Blockbuster (Fareham), Blockbuster (Maida Vale), Blockbuster (Wilmslow), Blockbuster (Woking), Bolts Electrical (Shetland Island), CHIPS (Arnold), CHIPS (Chorlton), CHIPS (Hartlepool), CHIPS (Lytham), CHIPS (Stockton), CKS Entertainment (Online), Close Encounters (Bedford), GAME (Braintree), GAME (Brighton), GAME (Bristol), GAME (Cheltenham), GAME (Chesterfield), GAME (Clacton On Sea), GAME (Coventry), GAME (Cumbria), GAME (Didcot), GAME (Islington), GAME (London (Camden), GAME (London (City), GAME (Maidstone), GAME (Maidstone (chequers)), GAME (Manchester (Trafford Centre)), GAME (Mansfield), GAME (Margate), GAME (Peterborough), GAME (Reading), GAME (Slough), GAME (Southampton), GAME (Stevenage), GAME (Trowbridge), GAME (Welwyn Garden City), Game ON (Essex), Gameseek (Online), Gamestation (Cambridge), Gamestation (Andover), Gamestation (Birmingham), Gamestation (Boston), Gamestation (Bury), Gamestation (Camden), Gamestation (Canterbury), Gamestation (Cwmbran), Gamestation (Exeter), Gamestation (Great Yarmouth), Gamestation (Hartlepool), Gamestation (Ilford), Gamestation (Kilmarnock), Gamestation (Leamington Spa), Gamestation (Luton), Gamestation (Paisley), Gamestation (Redhill), Gamestation (Rotheram), Gamestation (Scarborough), Gamestation (Stevenage), Gamestation (Sunderland), Gamestation (Sutton), Gamestation (Swansea), Gamestation (Wembley), Grainger Games (Various), HMV (Ashford), HMV (Birmingham), HMV (Gloucester), HMV (London), HMV (Plymouth), Outland (Isle Of Wight), PSX (Tyne and Wear), Take the Jag (Online).