Brought to you by Every week: The UK games market in less than ten minutes Issue 22: 3rd - 9th November WELCOME ...to GamesRetail.biz, your weekly look at the key analysis, news and data sources for the retail sector, brought to you by GamesIndustry.biz and Eurogamer.net THIS WEEK ... we're looking how the FIFA vs Pro Evo rivalry is shaping up so far, and looking back at who's scored the best chart performance in the past few years. Plus we've got the second part of the big interview with Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens, as well as the latest news, charts, release dates and much more! FIFA vs Pro Evo: Eurogamer Reader Interest FIFA VS PES D This week we're looking at one of the most established rivalries in the UK's videogames scene - FIFA versus Pro Evolution Soccer. This year FIFA scored two points higher than Pro Evo for the first time ever (9 versus 7) and has sold more than ever as well (partly thanks to crazy supermarket discounting) - but how have the two C E games been PR'd? A B Eurogamer Reader Interest Looking at a graph of the two games' activity on Eurogamer.net we can see that FIFA 10 (in red) succeeds in gaining more profile spikes that Pro Evo 2010 (in blue). Point A is the first hands-on of FIFA at this year's E3 and you can see that the EA title had that month virtually to itself in Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Jun '09 comparison. Points B and C are peaks for both games: The first Comparison of Cumulative UK Chart Performance is an updated hands-on with FIFA, along with some comparisons to Pro Evo - understandably popular; the second is more of the same, with later code, as well as a Pro Evo screenshot gallery. The interesting thing with both those points is that while FIFA shades the first, both titles are pretty equal in the second - but the real indication of relative popularity comes with the two reviews. Point D is FIFA's - a point at which it's the most popular game on the entire website, with a decent Cumulative UK Chart Total long tail. Point E is the Pro Evo review, which makes much less of a splash. Part of this year's battle may have been won by marketing for previous editions - the second graph shows the last couple of years of cumulative chart FIFA 08 FIFA 09 presence for both franchises, and while 2007's PES 2008 PES 2009 FIFA 2010 PES 2010 games were pretty close, last year's was much more one-sided. The GamesIndustry.biz Network now has over 9000 registered industry users! Page 1 Brought to you by Every week: The UK games market in less than ten minutes Issue 22: 3rd - 9th November THIS WEEK IN RETAIL ASDA TAKES 600,000 MODERN WARFARE 2 PRE-ORDERS As rival Sainsbury's slashes price of new release to £26 in UK. THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW Street dates for Modern Warfare 2 are in STREET DATE CRUMBLES AHEAD OF MODERN WARFARE 2 RELEASE tatters as significant numbers of consumers Consumers buy and complete single-player game before official launch; get their hands on the game - and complete Gamestop breaks street date in US. the single player content - before release day. SQUARE ENIX REVENUES UP BY A THIRD Meanwhile the national press in the UK has Dragon Quest, Batman and Kingdom Hearts perform well; profits down on responded to concerns raised by MP Keith restructuring. Vaz about the realism of killing civilians in the game's 'Terrorist' scene. MODERN WARFARE 2 PRE-ORDERS "SET NEW RECORDS" Microsoft and Sky have finally launched Activision promises "unprecedented" level of stock on day one with publisher the Xbox Sky Player to all 360 owners in poised to replenish retail in weeks following release. the UK and Ireland, following upgrades to cope with demand. ACTIVISION RECORDS $15M THIRD QUARTER PROFIT Electronic Arts has announced an endless Call of Duty and Guitar Hero legacy titles help publisher swing to profit; free trial - up to player level 10 - for its World at War map packs hit 7.5m units sold. Warhammer MMO in a bid to get gamers trying out the title. THE BIG INTERVIEW: ROD COUSENS - PART TWO The Codemasters boss talks retail relationships and proposes a radical new business model for the future of the games industry. Highlights include: - Retailers should see a higher margin on hardware to encourage greater sales priority - The margin on games is then much lower, so accepted price points should be £29.99 - Additionally retail should take a slice of DLC revenue to encourage sales there as well - Meanwhile the future of Ashes Cricket is safe, despite Transmission Games going bust MOST-ANTICIPATED GAMES MOST-READ ARTICLES 1. Alan Wake Microsoft 1. Dragon Age: Origins Review 2. Final Fantasy XIII Square Enix 2. Dragon Age: Origins Review 3. Heavy Rain SCEE 3. The Void Review 4. Gran Turismo 5 SCE 4. Torchlight Review 5. God of War III SCEA 5. Tekken 6 Review 6. Final Fantasy Versus XIII Square Enix 6. Wii Fit Plus Review 7. Modern Warfare 2 Activision 7. Episodes From Liberty City Review 8. Splinter Cell: Conviction Ubisoft 8. SAW Review 9. BioShock 2 2K Games 9. Need For Speed: Nitro Review 10. Mass Effect 2 Electronic Arts 10. Ghostbusters Review List based on traffic for Eurogamer articles dated 3rd - 9th November. You can reach key UK retailers by advertising with GamesRetail.biz. Page 2 Brought to you by Every week: The UK games market in less than ten minutes Issue 22: 3rd - 9th November RETAIL DATA PRICE-CHECK DATA Modern Warfare 2 (360) Brutal Legend (PS3) Football Manager 2010 (PC) HMV £44.99 £39.99 £29.99 Amazon £43.99 £35.03 £27.99 ASDA £44.91 £39.91 £29.91 Play.com £44.99 £39.99 £29.99 GAME £44.99 £24.99 £29.99 Tesco £43.99 £37.48 £22.44 Cheapest Online £39.99 £23.99 £22.44 UK ALL-FORMAT CHART EVENT CALENDAR Title Publisher 13th - 15th Nov 2009 1. (2) Wii Fit Plus Nintendo NEoN Dundee, Scotland. 2. (3) FIFA 10 Electronic Arts 3. (10) Wii Sports Resort Nintendo 16th - 17th Nov 2009 4. (1) Football Manager 2010 SEGA Montreal International Game Summit 09 5. (-) Dragon Age: Origins Electronic Arts Hilton Bonaventure, Montreal, Canada. 6. (4) Forza Motorsport 3 Microsoft 26th - 29th Nov 2009 7. (7) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Sega Games G-Star BEXCO, Busan, Korea. 8. (6) Grand Theft Auto Episodes - Liberty City Take-Two 9th - 13th Mar 2010 9. (5) Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 Konami 10. (8) Tekken 6 Atari GDC 2010 Moscone Center, San Francisco, US. 11. (11) WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 THQ SELECTED GAMES INDUSTRY JOBS 12. (21) Mario Kart Wii Nintendo 13. (13) Need for Speed: Shift Electronic Arts Studio Manager 14. (15) Lego Batman: the Videogame Warner Bros Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 15. (9) Borderlands Take-Two PS3 QA Lead 16. (-) Singstar: Take That SCE South East, England, UK & Europe. 17. (16) Professor Layton and Pandora's Box Nintendo 18. (19) Super Smash Bros Brawl Nintendo Senior Games Designer 19. (17) Wii Fit Nintendo Scotland, UK & Europe. 20. (12) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves SCE Production Manager North West, England, UK & Europe. © ELSPA, compiled by Chart Track Movie Animator Director - Rare REVIEW SCORE COMPARISONS Opportunity Shanghai, China, Rest of World. Dragon Age: Origins (360) 86 73 Lips: Number One Hits (360) 68 62 SAW (360) 62 62 FIFA Manager 10 (PC) 72 70 Ghostbusters (WII) 76 69 The UK score is the mean average of the most read UK-based videogame websites and magazines. Eurogamer.net information can demonstrate the impact of game marketing. Page 4 Brought to you by Every week: The UK games market in less than ten minutes Issue 22: 3rd - 9th November TOP 10S PLATFORM TOP TENS PS3 PSP 1. (2) FIFA 10 1. (1) FIFA 10 2. (4) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 2. (2) Gran Turismo 3. (-) Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time 3. (3) Football Manager 2010 4. (3) Tekken 6 4. (4) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars 5. (1) Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 5. (-) Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 6. (6) Need for Speed: Shift 6. (5) WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 7. (5) WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 7. (6) Dissidia: Final Fantasy 8. (7) Borderlands 8. (7) Need for Speed: Shift 9. (11) DJ Hero 9. (-) Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron 10. (8) Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising 10. (8) Motorstorm: Arctic Edge WII DS 1. (1) Wii Sports Resort 1. (1) Professor Layton and Pandora's Box 2. (2) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2. (2) Mario & Sonic At Olympic Winter Games 3. (4) Mario Kart Wii 3. (3) Dr Kawashima's Brain Training 4. (3) Wii Fit 4. (5) Style Boutique 5. (5) FIFA 10 5. (4) Rhythm Paradise 6. (7) Toy Story Mania! 6. (6) Professor Layton and the Curious Village 7. (6) Guitar Hero 5 7. (7) Mario Kart DS 8. (9) Star Wars: Clone Wars - Republic Heroes 8. (16) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 9. (8) The Beatles: Rock Band 9. (9) FIFA 10 10. (-) Ghostbusters: the Video Game 10. (10) New Super Mario Bros XBOX 360 PC 1. (1) Forza Motorsport 3 1. (1) Football Manager 2010 2. (2) Grand Theft Auto Episodes - Liberty City 2. (-) Dragon Age: Origins 3. (3) FIFA 10 3. (3) the Sims 3 4. (-) Dragon Age: Origins 4.