The World | 18/11/2013 at 11:14 • Updated 18/11/2013 at 15:16 | By Sarah Belouezzane
success is more surprising, however, in a country where it is usually the U.S. Microsoft with its Xbox, who holds the upper hand. This has also not yet said its last word like Sony, the Redmond (Washington) is selling the latest version of its console, Xbox One, on November 22 in the United States. The match promises to be tight.
WHIPLASHFor both groups, the challenge is the same: to give a boost to an aging market, the latest consoles – except for the Nintendo Wii U, the third industry heavyweight consoles, released in 2012 – with all between seven and eight years. And adapt to a sector increasingly fragmented. In recent years, consoles, which once ruled the world of gaming, were jostled by a host of new players, but also by new uses.
Thus emerged in recent months, the handheld console manufactured by Nvidia or the low cost machine manufacturer Ouya, whose software is an adaptation of Android, the Google operating system. As for uses, they were upset by the arrival of smartphones and tablets, real gems of technology, offering, in their application stores, games sometimes as good as those written for handheld .
Thus appeared the casual gamers , casual players, instead of being “stuck” in the same game for dozens of hours, prefer to play just a few minutes on their smartphones or Facebook, in the subway or when they queue at the supermarket. It is for them that games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga were invented.
“PLAYERS Sunday”arrival of the Wii, Nintendo’s machine, in 2007, drew the “players Sunday” to consoles. According to Richard Beaudoux, Natixis, this year, the video game market grew 34% compared to 2006. “In 2008, casual gamers represented up to 30% of the market” says the analyst.
But with the economic crisis that has cut their purchasing power, the failure of the Wii U and the development of tablets, these players have finally decided to appease their new passion solely on their mobile devices. “With the crisis, the exploding use of smartphones and tablets and the proliferation of quality TV series, these people have deserted the portable consoles. Especially a portable gaming costs 40 dollars (29.63 euros) against 0-10 dollars on smartphone or tablet to an almost identical quality “ says Mr. Beaudoux.
For him, the purpose of multimedia features and permanent link with social networking added to the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft “is to recover the players who had been seduced by Nintendo consoles and parties are in favor of mobile “.
GENUINE “MEDIA HUBS»
must say that the two manufacturers did not skimp on resources. More than games consoles, these machines are real “media hubs” that the two electronics giants offer their fans. In addition to the sessions outright gambling, Xbox One user can watch TV, rent movies or listen to music through Xbox live, shop online content from Microsoft.
giant even signed partnerships with TV channels such as Canal + to dispose of some of their proprietary programs. Same with Sony, where the user can enjoy all content published by the Japanese giant, also a music producer and film.
“It will attract casual gamers, recognizes Piers Harding-Rolls, the firm IHS iSuppli. But we must not forget that these consoles have an audience of fans who would have come anyway. They are likely to be a success. “
“THE HEAT IS REALLY THERE”
“This time, everything comes together to make it a success: a more affordable price (399 euros to 499 euros for PlayStation and Xbox) for much more powerful than previous machines. Real players have always been on consoles and continue to buy them, they are very sensitive to the macroeconomic environment, “, for his part confirmed Mr. Beaudoux.
“The excitement is really there , enthuses his side Cuilleret Pierre, president of specialty retailer Zappos. fans expect these consoles as the Messiah for several years. But they are not the only ones interested. The game remains one of the best ways to please her children. “
France, players rushed on advance bookings. Those who have not taken precautions must wait until January 2014 to purchase the Microsoft machine. Sony fans will even wait until March
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