Table of Contents: The Executive Interview Series 2003

Published by DFC Intelligence November 2003

Overview

State of the Interactive Entertainment Market

What the Interviewees Said:  What is your take on the current condition of the interactive entertainment market?

The Hardware Wars: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo

What the Interviewees Said:  What are your predictions for each of the  major console platforms (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)?
What the Interviewees Said:  How long will the lifecycle be for the new game systems?
What the Interviewees Said:  Will the fact that game systems can do more than just play games ever be a major selling point?
What the Interviewees Said:  Can three systems thrive on the marketplace?

Individual Console Game Systems

What the Interviewees Said:  Sony PlayStation 2.
What the Interviewees Said:  Microsoft Xbox.
What the Interviewees Said:  Nintendo GameCube.

PC Games

What the Interviewees Said:  Do you view the PC game market as a growth opportunity?

Portable/ Wireless Market

What the Interviewees Said:  What are your general thoughts on the future for portable/wirless games?
What the Interviewees Said:  Is the Game Boy Advance the only big money making portable platform?
What the Interviewees Said:  Is there room for third party publishers to make money off of the portable game market?
What the Interviewees Said:  What are your thoughts on the following platforms: Game Boy, Sony PSP, Nokia N-Gage.

Online Gaming

What the Interviewees Said:  How would you describe the current state of online gaming?
What the Interviewees Said:  What do you think online game revenue and profits will be over the next few years and what are likely to be some of the successful business models?
What the Interviewees Said:  What major trends do you think will impact the online gaming industry in the future?

Console Online Gaming

What the Interviewees Said:  What is your outlook for online console gaming?
What the Interviewees Said:  What do you think of the different online game business models from Microsoft and  Sony?  Do these two companies have viable approaches that allow third party publishers to make money?

Development Costs

What the Interviewees Said:  What are average development costs?
What the Interviewees Said:  Are development costs within reason?
What the Interviewees Said:  Where are development costs headed?

Game Marketing

What the Interviewees Said:  What are marketing costs for a “AAA” title? How have those changed over the past few years?
What the Interviewees Said:  Any comments about types of marketing vehicles (TV, print, online, POP etc)?
What the Interviewees Said:  How important is having a triple AAA license to a product’s success?. 28

Individual Companies: Winners and Losers

What the Interviewees Said: Outside of your own company, which company (ies) did better than expected? Who will be the market leaders over the next few years?
What the Interviewees Said: Which companies were disappointments? Who will be the market failures?

Order Report

Previous Executive Interview Series Reports

Executive Interview Series: The State of the Game Market 2002

Interviewees2

Overview.. 2

State of the Interactive Entertainment Market 3

        What the Interviewees Said:  Comments on 2001. 4

        What the Interviewees Said:  Outlook for 2002 and Beyond. 5

Platforms. 6

        What the Interviewees Said:  Who will win the video game hardware race? How did each system perform in 2001?. 7

        What the Interviewees Said:  Can three systems survive on the marketplace?. 8

        What the Interviewees Said:  When can we expect hardware price drops?. 9

        What the Interviewees Said:  How long will the lifecycle be for the new game systems?. 10

        What the Interviewees Said:  Will the fact that game systems can do more than just play games ever be a major selling point?. 11

Individual Game Platforms. 12

        What the Interviewees Said:  PlayStation 2. 12

        What the Interviewees Said: Microsoft Xbox. 14

        What the Interviewees Said: Is Microsoft in this for the longhaul?. 16

        What the Interviewees Said:  Nintendo GameCube. 17

        What the Interviewees Said:  Nintendo Game Boy Advance. 19

        What the Interviewees Said:  Wireless/Portable Games. 20

        What the Interviewees Said:  The PC Game Market 22

        What the Interviewees Said:  Is there any life left for the 32/64-bit Platforms?. 24

Individual Companies: Winners and Losers. 24

        What the Interviewees Said:  How was your company’s performance in 2001? How do you expect to do in 2002?. 24

        What the Interviewees Said:  Which companies did better than expected, which were disappointments?. 26

Development & Marketing. 27

        What the Interviewees Said:  Are development costs within reason?. 28

        What the Interviewees Said:  What are the development costs for a “AAA” title?. 28

        What the Interviewees Said:  Where do you see development costs heading?. 28

        What the Interviewees Said:  What are the marketing costs for a “AAA” title?  Where do you see marketing costs headed?. 29

        What the Interviewees Said:  What are the most attractive marketing vehicles?. 29

Online Gaming. 30

        What the Interviewees Said:  How would you describe the current state of online gaming?. 31

        What the Interviewees Said:  What business models for online gaming do you think will exist over the next few years?. 33

Console Online Gaming. 33

About DFC Intelligence. 36

The U.S. Market for Video Games and Interactive Electronic Entertainment 37

The Online Game Market 44

Executive Interview Series: The State of the Game Market 2001

Order