http://www.igda.org/online/#papers

I don't know if anyone else has listed this link but it has allot of information.

Good link! Lots of info.

There are lots of excellent docs available at the IGDA site, including ones on IP and publisher contract walkthroughs. Well worth checking out.

Very interesting reading...just finished getting through the 93 pages in that PDF file.

It's been mentioned here in these forums before, but what stands out again is the number of females in the market for downloadable games eg 70% of sales coming from women over the age of 30.

Of interest was also the multiple pricing strategy for products, especially within Europe. I was surprised by it initially, but then I realised that they where using pricing to segment and penetrate the market.

Alfie

Wow, what a gold mine, thanks for posting that!

Originally posted by alfie
but what stands out again is the number of females in the market for downloadable games eg 70% of sales coming from women over the age of 30. The important thing to remember here is that the numbers don't tell the whole story. A high proportion of women over 30 are married and or a mother (though they may very well still be holding down a job). It often falls to the wife/mother to make purchases for presents and also to do the actually buying when the kids want something. 70% of purchases may be made by women but that doesn't mean they are the end users.

I often spend time standing in game shops looking to see exactly who is buying games. One afternoon I was in a shop and almost every customer was a women over 30. I browsed the games strategically close to the counter and without fail every single one of them was there to order/collect a pokemon game for their son.

I browsed the games strategically close to the counter and without fail every single one of them was there to order/collect a pokemon game for their son.
Exactly.
I'd say that the teenager range is a golden mine, boys/girls from 10 to 18 years old.
The problem is that this market is almost completely taken by games made under license (pokemon, dragonball z, etc)... :(

>70% of purchases may be made by women but that doesn't mean they are the end users.

Very good point that hasn't been discussed much. It depends if the numbers were obtained by survey and therefore women told what kinds of games they bought or the numbers are being lifted from order information.

Originally posted by obscure
I often spend time standing in game shops looking to see exactly who is buying games. One afternoon I was in a shop and almost every customer was a women over 30. I browsed the games strategically close to the counter and without fail every single one of them was there to order/collect a pokemon game for their son.
On the other hand, I heard that most (well, a lot of) woman gamers don't buy games at retail stores because of the way they are treated by the staff (patronizing) and the kids buying there.

Ah, I found where I read it:

http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/02/industry_facts.html

15th post from the top, by PJ. The rest of the thread is an interestion read, too, as are the other threads on Game Matters.