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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=582&e=1&u=/nm/20040920/wr_nm/media_videogames_dc
By Bernhard Warner
LONDON (Reuters) - Video game giant Electronic Arts expects to sell 2 million units of the "Sims 2" video game this year in Europe, proving skeptics wrong that you can't build a market around female gamers.
EA's head of European publishing, Gerhard Florin, told Reuters on Monday that it sold 25 percent of the 1.3 million "Sims 2" units it started shipping in Europe last week, with supplies available to meet expected strong demand this Christmas season.
"After two days of sales it's always difficult to say where it will go, but I think (the 2 million goal) is do-able," Florin said, adding that the fast-growing European unit is on track this Christmas to sell more games than it did last Christmas.
EA launched one of its biggest advertising campaigns over the weekend in daily newspapers such as Britain's top-selling The Sun tabloid that was aimed at women and more casual gamers.
The quick start for "Sims 2" sets the stage for an interesting showdown for the title of top-selling game this Christmas season. Can the female-friendly "Sims 2" beat out bad boy title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," created by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North?
BOYS VS. GIRLS
Rockstar, a unit of Take-Two Interactive, expects to ship the Grand Theft Auto sequel the last week of October. The franchise, known for its gun-toting characters and scantily-clad female sidekicks, has sold 32 million units.
Meanwhile, "Sims," a virtual world of every-day characters controlled by gamers, has sold over 36 million games and expansion packs worldwide since 2000.
"I would love to see Sims beating GTA, that a peaceful girls game could beat the typical male game. But we have to be realistic. It will not happen. Maybe over time it might, but the dedicated hardcore gamer male group is just so much bigger," said Florin.
Fast cars and gunplay may dominate now. But the future is in less violent strategy games, Florin said.
"All the games which build (things) appeal more to the female side and all the games which destroy seem to appeal more to the male side," he said. "I believe there is a lot of market opportunity for video games to attract to females."
PLANNING FOR SONY PSP
The other big opportunity for growth is gaming on mobile phones and portable players, an area EA, the world's biggest video game developer, is aggressively pushing into.
Florin said EA has already received development kits for Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites)'s PlayStation Portable (PSP) hand-held player and that it plans to develop four titles -- "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," "Need for Speed Underground," "NFL Street" and "NBA Street" -- for the expected March launch of PSP.
The new platforms are expected to offset what Florin sees as a disappointing early start for online gaming. The prospect of amassing a core of gamers who pay a monthly subscription to battle other global combatants on the Internet has yet to take off.
Florin attributed the slow take-up to a nagging fear that a gamer could be humiliated in challenging an unknown foe.
"We expected millions of people wanting to play the online games and we have found that, no, they don't. There is a pretty easy reason. If you play tennis and you don't know your opponent you are careful whether you should play against him. The same is true with online. If you go online you could be slaughtered or cheated," he said.
Overcoming the social aspect of online gaming, he added, will hold back the market in the short term.
By Bernhard Warner
LONDON (Reuters) - Video game giant Electronic Arts expects to sell 2 million units of the "Sims 2" video game this year in Europe, proving skeptics wrong that you can't build a market around female gamers.
EA's head of European publishing, Gerhard Florin, told Reuters on Monday that it sold 25 percent of the 1.3 million "Sims 2" units it started shipping in Europe last week, with supplies available to meet expected strong demand this Christmas season.
"After two days of sales it's always difficult to say where it will go, but I think (the 2 million goal) is do-able," Florin said, adding that the fast-growing European unit is on track this Christmas to sell more games than it did last Christmas.
EA launched one of its biggest advertising campaigns over the weekend in daily newspapers such as Britain's top-selling The Sun tabloid that was aimed at women and more casual gamers.
The quick start for "Sims 2" sets the stage for an interesting showdown for the title of top-selling game this Christmas season. Can the female-friendly "Sims 2" beat out bad boy title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," created by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North?
BOYS VS. GIRLS
Rockstar, a unit of Take-Two Interactive, expects to ship the Grand Theft Auto sequel the last week of October. The franchise, known for its gun-toting characters and scantily-clad female sidekicks, has sold 32 million units.
Meanwhile, "Sims," a virtual world of every-day characters controlled by gamers, has sold over 36 million games and expansion packs worldwide since 2000.
"I would love to see Sims beating GTA, that a peaceful girls game could beat the typical male game. But we have to be realistic. It will not happen. Maybe over time it might, but the dedicated hardcore gamer male group is just so much bigger," said Florin.
Fast cars and gunplay may dominate now. But the future is in less violent strategy games, Florin said.
"All the games which build (things) appeal more to the female side and all the games which destroy seem to appeal more to the male side," he said. "I believe there is a lot of market opportunity for video games to attract to females."
PLANNING FOR SONY PSP
The other big opportunity for growth is gaming on mobile phones and portable players, an area EA, the world's biggest video game developer, is aggressively pushing into.
Florin said EA has already received development kits for Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites)'s PlayStation Portable (PSP) hand-held player and that it plans to develop four titles -- "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," "Need for Speed Underground," "NFL Street" and "NBA Street" -- for the expected March launch of PSP.
The new platforms are expected to offset what Florin sees as a disappointing early start for online gaming. The prospect of amassing a core of gamers who pay a monthly subscription to battle other global combatants on the Internet has yet to take off.
Florin attributed the slow take-up to a nagging fear that a gamer could be humiliated in challenging an unknown foe.
"We expected millions of people wanting to play the online games and we have found that, no, they don't. There is a pretty easy reason. If you play tennis and you don't know your opponent you are careful whether you should play against him. The same is true with online. If you go online you could be slaughtered or cheated," he said.
Overcoming the social aspect of online gaming, he added, will hold back the market in the short term.
