Christmas for gamers

The Christmas market for gaming is a funny one. First of all, Consoles are an expensive gift, especially the market as it is at the moment. £300 for a Playstation 3, just the 40 gig console, no games, £250 for a premium Xbox 360 and, even though it's very good value, £180 for a Wii. Mind you, if you ever find a Wii, most shops will smack it in a massive bundle for about £300.

Nintendo have done extremely well for themselves. They have held the number 1 spot for the must-have Christmas toy two years in a row. This, in my opinion is down to tactical releases and even more tactical play on supply and demand. First of all, most of the big guns have been released in a staggered fashion throughout the year. There aren't that many games for the Wii but they've made it sound like there are hundreds. The second is the release of their consoles. I might not be the first to admit that I'm suspicious about the number of Wiis that are being released in this country. They have not been readily available since the release, even in the middle of the year when not everyone wanted one. This lack of supply creates more demand because people who would think twice are buying them when presented with that rare chance. This rise in demand in itself creates more demand because the press talk about it and people hear about it. Also, thanks to the great marketing and the link to the already popular DS, you've got yourself a winner. But I still think that Nintendo has tonnes in a shed somewhere.

PS3 will have taken the second spot I think (by the way these aren't accurate in a any way) being it's first Christmas. I don't know that it will have done especially well, thanks to the Wii and the high price; something for Mum's to buy their kids (ain't gonna happen. sorry Jimmy). Also, I don't know that the games are best for Mums to buy their kids. There are a few racing games and a few sports games but this isn't enough. This will hit the teenage market of rich parents and that's not the biggest of markets. It's big, but not as wide as the Wiis.

Xbox has its second Christmas but its never going to be bleak. More and more gamers look to the wide range of games and the success of the console for the place to put their first steps into the next gen (or the current gen). Xbox 360 will have been fine this Christmas.

As for games, CoD4, Mario Galaxy, Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Fifa 08/PES 08; Need I say more?

There's a little round-up for you, Merry Christmas.