I.C.E. to develop video games for console market in addition to PC platform

I.C.E. Multimedia will soon end a five-month hiatus from developing video games and begin producing titles for the video game console market, Canadian NEW MEDIA has learned. While the company is keeping full details secret for another several weeks, company spokesperson Ron Vaillancourt confirms that the company would begin developing for the console market after assessing new market trends in favour of platforms such as the new Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube over slower sales in the personal computer market. PC vs. Video Game Consoles Males make up 62% of PC game players, and 72% of console game players. 40% of PC game players are 36+ years old. 34% are under 18 years old. 45% of console game players are under 18 years old, and 19% are 36+ years old.96% of PC game buyers are 18+ years old. 86% of console game buyers are 18+ years old.55% of PC game buyers are female. 54% of console game buyers are men.Source: IDSA 2002 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game IndustryVaillancourt says full details won’t be made public until mid-June, but hints that the company’s successful Land of the Magic Stones title will be continued with a second installment for both the PC platform and for an undisclosed console. He adds that the company expects to re-hire many of the game designers it let go in January when it began its market research phase (CNM, Jan. 23/02). Though Vaillancourt isn’t at liberty to discuss I.C.E.’s new plans at this time, the company’s direction seems consistent with market trends, says interactivity expert Sam Punnett, chief knowledge officer of Delvinia Inc. He notes that game developers for the video game console market enjoy a current advantage as the various manufacturers compete to offer the best game titles. Changing hardware has also made I.C.E.’s game focus – edu-tainment – possible on dedicated consoles as those devices have become more sophisticated. "For their kind of game, PC was probably the way to go initially," Punnett says. "Historically, consoles catered to a particular type of game. That’s been a function of things like inability to do game saves and things like that on some of the earlier platforms. So, you were kind of locked into what they call ‘twitch’ stuff." He notes, however, that parents today are demanding more than just video/arcade-style games for their children. Moving into the console market won’t be cheap or easy, Punnett notes. While both software and hardware architectures have made porting games easier than ever, he says I.C.E. may still require a separate development team working in tandem with the PC designers to put the same title on both platforms. Figures released this month by the U.S.-based Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) also bear out I.C.E.’s decision to no longer focus exclusively on developing for personal computers. In its latest Facts document, the IDSA notes that video game sales in the U.S. rose from US$4.1 billion in 2000 to US$4.6 billion in 2001, and from 130.6 million units to 141.5 million in the same period (increases of 10% and 8.3%, respectively). In contrast, computer game sales fell from US$1.78 billion to US$1.75 billion, and from 84.9 million to 83.6 million units over the same period (declines of 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively). Edu-tainment titles (irrespective of platform) rose significantly in sales volume – from 18 million in 2000 to 25.1 million in 2001, but were worth significantly less in terms of revenue, falling from US$365 million in 2000 to US$322.6 million over the same period.

I.C.E. to develop video games for console market in addition to PC platform

News | 05/31/2002 4:00 am EDT

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