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MCV 12/02/10 5
NEWS
longer cycle Grenzbach out importance of better console marketing
at Nickelodeon TOPHEAVY10 RAIN by Christopher Dring
Retailers agree that the longer cycle benefits the industry. From left: Tim Ellis (HMV), Gurdeep Hunjan (Sainsbury’s), Richard Chapple (The Hut), Stephen Staley (Gameseek), Igor Cipolletta (ShopTo)
Increased support will help all the home consoles on the market consolidate their place in the mainstream, retailers added. Sainsbury’s games manager Gurdeep Hunjan added: “The marketing plans and launches for the accessories will reinvigorate the console sales and hopefully be well targeted to brand out to the more massmarket consumers. “There will be no need to reeducate consumers about new technology. Also, the quality of games should improve as publishers perfect their skills.”
“It’s quite clear that dramatic advancements in hardware technology over recent years has slowed to the point that right now a new console is simply not needed,” added Gameseek boss Stephen Staley. “There’s still a lot of life left in this current generation.” ShopTo CEO Igor Cipolletta added that that if the industry can co-operate, it will achieve “the kind of self-perpetuating cycle that has seen great PlayStation 2 titles being developed long after you would have expected the death knell to have sounded”.
[PRE ORDERS]
NICKELODEON’S vice president for international video games, Arwed-Ralf Grenzbach, has departed the kids’ content firm, MCV can confirm. Grenzbach joined the firm in August 2007 following a successful stint as managing director for Take-Two Germany. He has also worked for media giants Disney and Sony Music. MCV understands that Nickelodeon has no plans to hire a replacement for Grenzbach. “Arwed has decided to leave Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products International to pursue new opportunities within the international entertainment industry,” said a spokesperson for MTV Networks International. “We wish much success and all the best in his new pursuits.” During his time at Nickelodeon, Grenzbach signed publishing deals with the likes of Take-Two’s
PS3 SONY
2K Play label and was also involved in a licensing deal with Activision over Nickelodeon’s hugely successful iCarly TV show. The TV giant also has a long-standing publishing deal with THQ for games based on the lucrative SpongeBob SquarePants licence. The next SpongeBob is due for release on DS and Wii on March 26th. Nickelodeon owns a range of top kids IP, and recently acquired the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for £5.9 million from The Mirage Group. Ubisoft currently holds the game rights TMNT.
2. FINAL FANTASY XIII PS3 ................................SQUARE ENIX
3. GOD OF WAR III PS3 ..........................................SONY
4. ALIEN VS PREDATOR 360 ..........................................SEGA
5. FINAL FANTASY XIII 360 ................................SQUARE ENIX
6. BATTLFIELD: BAD COMPANY 360 ..............................................EA
7. ALIEN VS PREDATOR PS3 ..........................................SEGA
MTV Networks: 020 7284 7777
8. BATTLFIELD: BAD COMPANY PS3 ..............................................EA
9. GTA: EPISODES LIBERTY CITY PS3 ....................................ROCKSTAR
10. STAR OCEAN: LAST HOPE PS3 ................................SQUARE ENIX Week ending February 5th Source: SHOPTO.COM Turn to page 29 for more pre-order charts from leading online retailers
UK SOFTWARE SALES MONITOR Your weekly guide to the UK games software market… UK games software sales fell 16 per cent last week to £19.1 million, while unit sales fell 11 per cent to 913,565. Mass Effect 2 remains the key sales driver alongside Just Dance, with just 850 units separating the two at the top of the GfK ChartTrack Top 40. Only one new release managed to break into the Top 10: EA’s Dante’s Inferno, which debuted in fourth place. Retail can expect the market to jump back up again next week thanks to the long-awaited release of 2K’s critically acclaimed first person shooter, BioShock 2 – which was available on Tuesday this week.
[WEEKLY MARKET VALUE]
Total UK Software Sales Source: ELSPA/ChartTrack and Intent Media
25
Week Ending February 6th 2010
£19.1m
20
15
10
5
Mass Effect held on to the top spot this week
£18.6m
£22.8m
£19.1m
1,021,329 Units
1,021,224 Units
913,565 Units
0 Week Ending January 23rd
Week Ending January 30th
Week Ending February 6th