Battling for Entertainment Dollars: 7 Major Companies in the Video Game Market

MARCH 5, 2013 • As we discussed recently in Can Sony & Nintendo Recover? one of the great ironies of 2012 was that Sony and Nintendo were not able to take advantage of strong consumer excitement over digital devices.  Hardware is clearly not a commodity and this should be good news for game hardware manufacturers that specialize in providing unique, proprietary systems.  Unfortunately, w.....

Amazon Adds HD Kindle Fire

SEPT. 7, 2012 • While the spotlight has been on Samsung’s Android tablets and smartphones this summer thanks to ongoing patent litigation with Apple, Amazon.com finalized a direct assault on Apple’s iPad business with a whole new series of high definition Kindle Fire tablets. The original Kindle Fire has sold well since its introduction last year. How well Amazon is averse to saying, but well enough to drop the upgraded entry-level Kindle Fire (7-inc.....

Amazon Launches GameCircle

JULY 11, 2012 • Moving to make its Kindle Fire tablet platform a more accessible and friendly destination for game playing, Amazon.com launched a new service called GameCircle. Kindle owners now have access to new features such as achievements, leaderboards, and cloud-based sync between Kindle devices that saves gameplay progress that can be made available to separate Kindles. More social features are to be added later. Also released were a series of APIs to hel.....

Kindle Sales Top 1 Million A Week

DEC. 15, 2011 • In the weeks leading into Christmas, Amazon.com announced that it was selling more than 1 million Kindle devices a week worldwide. The online retailer would not say how many of those units sold were the new Fire model. Amazon had never previously announced any sales numbers for its e-reader devices. Impact: The e-reader devices like the Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Co.....

Amazon Kindle Fire Debuts

SEPT. 29, 2011 • Amazon.com introduced its Kindle Fire tablet. The unit is the online retailer’s first color touch-screen model that comes with a seven-inch screen, and wifi connectivity for $199. Fire uses a substantially altered Android system that optimizes access to Amazon’s digital and hard products. Impact: At $199, the Fire is a scary device. HP discovered how well that pric.....

Amazon Preps Tablet

JULY 14, 2011 • The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon.com will release its own tablet computer by October. Whether the device was developed in-house by the online retailer, or sourced from a third-party manufacturer, was not known. Amazon.com declined to comment on the report. Impact: On the short list of major consumer facing companies that could break into the ever more crowded table.....

IGDA Warns Against Amazon

APRIL 15, 2011 • The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) warned its membership in a letter to be wary of contracting with Amazon’s digital Appstore, which reserves the right to pay developers, “the greater of 70% of the purchase price or 20% of the List Price.” While noting many retailers exert control over the price of products, the IGDA said it was not aware of any other retailer having a formal policy of paying a supplier just 2.....