Will analysts sway (or ruin) the industry?

[Spongedaddy]

Take a look at this survey: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=3978&Itemid=2

Off of 2000 responses they somehow predicted 8.9 million PS3 buyers. I know most of these reports are garbage, but it got me thinking about the position the gaming market is in. Now that the business has "arrived" does that mean analysts and the media will have a huge impact on sales and company health? John Q public might not care about IGN, but they will read gaming articles off of MSNBC.com. There are going to be people who read articles like that and make buying decisions off of "oh no one cares about the 360." How large of an impact will this have as the industry moves ahead? It seems unlikely that there will be another industry crash. However both Sony and MS should be careful what they ask for because being under the microscope can have harmful effects.

Thoughts?

[sdrotar]

Re: Will analysts sway (or ruin) the industry?

It will have some effect, just like the movie industry.
If critics universally pan a film, generally, it doesn't do well.
The same will happen here.

The difference is that there are lots of good film critics - people who understand what makes a good film and what doesn't - in the mainstream media.

I'm not convinced that there are too many quality video game critics at all, however. That usually leads to people covering themselves while they learn on-the-job, which means simply approving of what they've already heard of.

Sony knows this full well, and they're counting on it. The PlayStation name is ubiquitous, and the Xbox (and certainly not the Wii) are less recognizable names. So, generally, these "critics" will just say whatever they know won't come back and bite them - in this case, expect Sony to get much better word of mouth from the mainstream media, simply because they know that name better.

At this stage, the mainstream media isn't ready to make real evaluations, but they will anyway, and yes - it will have something of an impact.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Will analysts sway (or ruin) the industry?

Electronic Arts has put an embargo on certain information and has not allowed IGN to post reviews on certain titles until their release date, so some do believe in the power of the review.

I do believe that many people follow. They listen, watch and play what is deemed good. For those, quick reviews on MSNBC and the like will influence. For those who frequent places like OS and the like, they are looking for something of value, a reviewer that understands the concept of the game and it's potential and then whether or not it meets that.

Gaming is still looked at as "it's what kids do." Sites like OS take into account the many older more sophisticated gamers (lol..sophisticated). We take our reviews serious and want depth when reading one. IGN does a good job of reaching out to both "hardcore" and "casual" gamer. There's one guy there I can count on when reading his reviews, that's Douglas Perry. He is very thorough and very readable.

[USF11]

Re: Will analysts sway (or ruin) the industry?

Sway maybe, ruin no.

Ultimately consumer satisfaction dictates the industry.