It's (not) in the GAME

As some of you are no doubt aware, an internal memo from GAME (transcribed below) was recently leaked which detailed the reasons as to why the beleaguered high street chain will not be stocking EA releases in March.

Dear all,
Last week we held an event for our partners in the industry and explained the challenges we are facing in the short term - and we asked for their support.
We asked them to trade with us using manageable credit terms, and for them to continue to do that whilst we work through the strategic review and refinancing of our business.
We gave the industry commitments - we committed to integrity and openness in our dealings, and working with everyone equally.
We committed to only stocking products on which we could get the right credit terms, regardless of the title or the supplier. We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business - we will not sacrifice long-term credit requirements for short-term sales opportunities.
As a result of us taking this position - a position that we believe is critical to our long-term health as a business - we have taken the very difficult decision to not stock EA's March releases, including Mass Effect 3.
As a specialist retailer dedicated to games and gaming, it is never easy to make a decision not to stock a title, particularly one with such a strong fanbase. But it is imperative that we treat every supplier evenly, that we stick to our commitments, and that we don't sign up to payment terms that will hamper us further in the future.
It is even more critical that we manage this appropriately with our loyal customers. We know they will be disappointed regarding Mass Effect in particular and in recognition of this, we will be contacting our Mass Effect pre-order customers and as a gesture of goodwill we will be offering them £5 of reward card / elite points.
I know that many of you will have to manage customer and supplier feedback directly, and I would like to thank you in advance for your support and am happy to answer any questions you have directly - just grab me as I walk around.

While it's commendable that GAME will not back down over the issue and is trying to deal with all publishers/distributors on an even playing field, it strikes me as strange not to put off the decision so that they can stock two of the most hotly anticipated EA titles of the year, Mass Effect 3 and the SSX reboot. The timing really couldn't be any worse for GAME, as these two titles, ME3 in particular, would have made a decent profit for the group.

Perhaps the bigger concern for GAME going forward is that if this stand-off continues they may find themselves on the outside looking in when FIFA13 comes out later this year. As many readers are aware FIFA12 set the record for both the highest and quickest selling sports game of all time, so to remove yourself from the equation seems tantamount to corporate suicide to me.

GAME recently said that they would be willing to consider giving publishers a cut of their used game sales, perhaps they could bring this to the table in an attempt to get a more flexible arrangement with EA ratified? I certainly think this is a case of GAME needing EA rather than the other way round, especially with the increase in games sales on-line at places like Play.com and Amazon.

Either way, this situation needs to be sorted out, and fast. EA represents a large chunk of the gaming pie, and GAME can't afford to do without their games on their shelves.

UPDATE 

Mark Photiades, a market analyst with Singer Catalyst Markets has estimated the capital loss to GAME from not stocking Mas Effect 3 at around £2.5million. In a Post by Nick Fletcher on the Guardian website, Photiades is quoted as saying -

"Working on the assumption that a decent triple A title sells 0.8m-1m titles in the first few weeks of release in the UK and assuming Game has around 20% share, we calculate that by not stocking Mass Effect 3, Game is potentially missing out on around £6m-£7m of revenues in the UK given the title will retail for £39.99,"

 That is a massive loss for a company already forecasting losses of around £8million for this year alone. Interestingly he also states that profit margins on new titles stand at around 24%. Also of interest is the opinion of Nick Bubb in the same piece who doesn't seem to understand the market at all.

So, had you heard of this new so-called blockbuster game Mass Effect 3 that comes out next week? Well, nor had we, and despite all the tut-tutting about how ominous the EA supply problem is, we suspect that it is just a storm in a teacup in a seasonally quiet time of year, as the big game suppliers can't really afford to do without Game at Christmas, given its huge share of the market. We are more concerned about the lack of news on the overseas disposal front.

Idiot...

E3 - Reasons to be excited

With one of the most anticipated E3's for years kicking off next week, it's only right to delve into the list of games on display to see exactly why it's going to be such a great show.

In the last couple of days Square Enix Europe released a trailer for the re-boot of the Tomb Raider franchise. It looks as though the game is based on a mysterious Island which might be related to the Bermuda triangle, old galleons and at least one plane litter the shoreline but they all look recently shipwrecked, Pirates vs Lara Croft perhaps? No game play was on display but whatever the answer to the questions raised in this trailer, i have to say it's jumped right up to the top two or three games on my most anticipated list.



On the subject of treasure hunters, Nathan Drake makes a welcome return this E3 in not one, but two new games from Naughty Dog. Playstation 3 owners will get Uncharted: Drakes Deception while anyone tempted to pick up the new NGP hand held system will have Uncharted: Golden Abyss to look forward to. Here's some game play from the new Console game to whet your appetite.



Some of you will remember that i wrote about Gran Turismo 5 a little while ago, I'm still playing it and have begrudgingly accepted the role of the B-Spec drivers in the overall game but i still think that it's a very good driving Sim wrapped in a terrible game. This isn't a problem i had with the Forza Motorsport series though, and this year Turn 10 will introduce the world to Forza 4. So long as they concentrate on evolving the menu system, something which was perfectly implemented in the last instalment, they have nothing to fear. More manufacturers, more locations, Kinect support for people who care, and graphics to die for coupled with great sound and the community based game play that made Forza 3 so great. This could be the best driving game ever.



You've all seen the Dead Island trailer by now, if you haven't you owe it to yourself to check it out. This years E3 gives us the first chance to really see if the game can live up to the hype that the beautiful (if anything with zombies in it can be called that) trailer created. Similarly Mass Effect 3 has a lot of hype to live up to. The third instalment of the franchise is meant to be where all your decisions in the first two instalments take effect, I for one am very interested to see what effect sparing the Rachni queen and cheating on my love interest from the first game will have.

Any gamers out there who have played Elder Scrolls Oblivion will no doubt be aware of the upcoming sequel available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 entitled Skyrim. Set 200 years after the events of Oblivion, the Kingdom of Skyrim in full civil war after the assassination of the king. Adding to the woes of Skyrim, the God Alduin has appeared in the form of a Dragon that is terrorising the people. Only you, the last of the Dovahkiin (Dragon born) can stop him and return the Kingdom to peace. The game looks stunning and promises to expand on the game play that made Bethesda's Elder Scrolls game so enjoyable. Check out the epic trailer below.



Earlier i said that Tomb Raider had jumped to the top of my most anticipated games list, there's only two games that i can think of that are keeping it from number 1 status. In both cases these games have made me interested in getting back into the genres they both represent.

EA's Battlefield series is probably the best chance anyone has of breaking the Call Of Duty monopoly over the modern day reality based FPS genre. While i have become increasingly bored with Modern Warfare's multi player, more often than not it devolves into an every man for himself fire-fight, Battlefield rewards co-operation between team mates. It doesn't hurt that the third game in the franchise looks stunning either. Utilising ANT technology that also features in the FIFA series, character animations look more realistic, you can drag team mates to cover, mount weapons on almost any part of the environment and transition into cover more naturally. Before I saw the trailer for BF3 i could quite happily have never played another wartime FPS again, now I'm eager to give it a go.



So now we're onto the main event, my most anticipated game of E3. If you'd told me this time last week that it would be a music game i would have laughed at you. At this point i'm almost completely burnt out on the plastic instrument front, but this game is a little different.

Rocksmith is a music game like no other, instead of playing a plastic instrument and just matching a combination of five buttons plus the strum bar you actually play a real guitar. Rocksmith doesn't use canned riff's either, it uses the sounds straight from your guitar meaning that you feel you're really playing. It's intelligent enough that the note structure alters itself to become more or less challenging depending on your skill level. This is the first game i've seen that might actually teach me a real world skill, and i'm all for it. If you don't believe me though, let Daemon Hatfield of IGN convince you. He felt the same way as i did before he had a hands on, it's his enthusiasm for Rocksmith that got me so excited.



There are plenty more games being shown this year, Not to mention that Nintendo are expected to reveal further details of the new Console they have under development. A more complete round up of the games and conferences of the show will be forthcoming post E3, with plenty more coverage during the event itself.

So stay tuned and check out IGN's coverage of the event too, those guys are the real pro's after all.