Game Analysts See Blockbuster Months Aheadby UtahSaint
Date: Monday, July 12 @ 16:20:03 UTC
Topic: Off Topic
When video game publishers report quarterly results in the weeks ahead, the focus for investors and analysts will be on a coming slate of blockbuster games that need to live up to their advance hype for the industry to avoid falling short of the still heady expectations for sales growth, analysts say.
Starting in early August, consumers will see the release of some of the most hyped and most eagerly anticipated games ever: "Doom III," "Halo 2," "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," "Metroid Prime 2" and "Metal Gear Solid 3," with the possible releases of "Half-Life 2" and "Gran Turismo 4" as well.
Banc of America Securities analyst Gary Cooper called the games a "Murderers' Row" of blockbusters, and suggested last week that some game publishers simply get out of the way and postpone certain titles to avoid the bruising competition.
"The reality is that the second half of 2004 should witness the largest sales of video games in any six-month period in the history of the video game industry," Cooper wrote in a report. "There is no mistaking the potential for solid sales and profits and solid business fundamentals of the video game industry right now."
The new games have enviable pedigrees. The last two "Grand Theft Auto" games were each No. 1 in their year of release; the original "Halo" is the best-selling game ever for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox; and the last "Gran Turismo" is thought to be the top seller of all time for the dominant gaming console, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2.
"Doom III" comes from a line credited with creating the modern PC shooter-game genre, "Half-Life 2" follows on a game still being played actively six years after its release, and "Metroid Prime 2" and "Metal Gear Solid 3" are the latest entries in historic gaming franchises.
Source: Rueters
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