MARKETING PROJECTVideo Game Console

BY-Ishaq Yashin Dhamaskar XI-C 27813

2010-11

INDEX Aim Introduction Methodology Findings Conclusion Appendix Pictures

AIMAim of this project is to ascertain volume of sale of video gaming console

INTRODUCTIONA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or modified computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade machines, which are designed for businesses that buy them and then charge others to play.

History

The origin of video games lies in early cathode ray tube-based missile defense systems in the late 1940s. These programs were later adapted into other simple games during the 1950s. By the late 1950s and through the 1960s, more computer games were developed (mostly on mainframe computers), gradually increasing in sophistication and complexity. Following this period, video games diverged into different platforms: arcade, mainframe, console, personal computer and laterhandheld games.

The first commercially viable video game was Computer Space in 1971, which laid the foundation for a new entertainment industry in the late 1970s within theUnited States, Japan, and Europe. The first major crash in 1977 occurred when companies were forced to sell their older obsolete systems flooding the market. Six years later a second, greater crash occurred. This crash—brought on largely by a flood of video games coming to the market—resulted in a total collapse of the console gaming industry worldwide, ultimately shifting dominance of the market from North America to Japan. While the crash killed the console gaming market, the computer gaming market was largely unaffected. Subsequent generations of console video games would continue to be dominated by Japanese corporations. Though several attempts would be made by North American and European companies, fourth generation of consoles, their ventures would ultimately fail. Not until the sixth generation of video game consoles would a non-Japanese company release a commercially successful console system. The handheld gaming market has followed a similar path with several unsuccessful attempts made by American companies all of which failed outside some limited successes in the handheld electronic games early on. Currently only Japanese companies have any major successful handheld gaming consoles, although in recent years handheld games have come to devices like cellphones and PDAs as technology continues to converge.

Following are the game console from first generation to seventh generation:

First Generation (1972–1977)

Although the first computer games appeared in the 1950s,[1] they were based around vector displays, not analog video. It was not until 1972 that Magnavox released the first home video game console which could be connected to a TV set—the Magnavox Odyssey, invented by Ralph H. Baer. The Odyssey was initially only moderately successful, and it was not until Atari's arcade gamePong popularized video games, that the public began to take more notice of the emerging industry. By the autumn of 1975 Magnavox, bowing to the popularity of Pong, cancelled the Odyssey and released a scaled down console that only played Pong and hockey, the Odyssey 100. A second "higher end" console, the Odyssey 200, was released with the 100 and added onscreen scoring, up to four players, and a third game—Smash. Almost simultaneously released with Atari's own home Pong console through Sears, these consoles jump-started the consumer market. As with the arcade market, the home market was soon flooded by dedicated consoles that played simple pong and pong-derived games.

Second Generation (1976–1984)

Fairchild released the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES) in 1976. While there had been

previous game consoles that used cartridges, either the cartridges had no information and served

the same function as flipping switches (the Odyssey) or the console itself was empty and the

cartridge contained all of the game components. The VES, however, contained a programmable

microprocessor so its cartridges only needed a single ROM chip to store microprocessor

instructions.

RCA and Atari soon released their own cartridge-based consoles

Third Generation (1983–1992)

In 1983 , Nintendo released the Family Computer (or Famicom) in Japan. Like the ColecoVision,

the Famicom supported high-resolution sprites and tiled backgrounds, but with more colors. This

allowed Famicom games to be longer and have more detailed graphics. Nintendo brought their

Famicom over to the US in the form of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. In the

US, video games were seen as a fad that had already passed. To distinguish its product from

older video game consoles, Nintendo used a front-loading cartridge port similar to a VCR on the

NES, packaged the NES with a Super Mario Brothers game and a light gun (the Zapper), and

originally advertised it as a toy. The plastic "robot" (R.O.B.) was also sold as an individual

purchase item and in some cases packaged with the NES system.

Like Space Invaders for the 2600, Nintendo found its breakout hit game in Super Mario

Bros. Nintendo's success revived the video game industry and new consoles were soon

introduced in the following years to compete with the NES.

Sega's Master System was intended to compete with the NES, but never gained any significant

market share in the US and was barely profitable. It fared notably better in PAL territories,

especially Brazil.

Fourth Generation (1987–1996)

Sega regained market share by releasing its next-generation console, the Mega Drive/Genesis,

which was released in Japan on October 29, 1988, in the U.S. in August 1989 (renamed as the

Sega Genesis) and in Europe in 1990, two years before Nintendo could release the Super

Nintendo Entertainment System(SNES).

Sega extended the Mega Drive with the Mega CD/Sega CD, to provide increased storage space

for multimedia-based games that were then in vogue among the development community. Later,

Sega released the 32X, which added some of the polygon-processing functionality common in

fifth-generation machines. However, the peripheral was a commercial failure due to lack of

software support, with developers more keen to concentrate on more powerful machines, with a

wider user base, such as the Saturn that followed shortly after.

Other consoles included in the fourth generation are NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and SNK

Playmore's Neo Geo.

Fifth Generation

The first fifth generation consoles were the Atari Jaguar and the 3DO. Both of these systems

were much more powerful than the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) or Mega Drive

(known as Genesis in North America); they were better at rendering polygons, could display more

onscreen colors, and the 3DO used discs that contained far more information than cartridges and

were cheaper to produce. Neither of these consoles were serious threats to Sega orNintendo,

though. The 3DO cost more than the SNES and Genesis combined, and the Jaguar was

extremely difficult to program for, leading to a lack of games that used its extra power. Both

consoles would be discontinued in 1996. Bandai introduced an Apple Macintosh based console

called the Pippin that was more like a low cost computer than a high end console, but did poorly

in the market.

Sixth Generation

This generation saw a move towards PC-like architectures in gaming consoles, as well as a shift

towards using DVDs for game media. This brought games that were both longer and more

visually appealing. Furthermore, this generation also saw experimentation with online console

gaming and implementing both flash and hard drive storage for game data.

Sega's Dreamcast released in North America on September 9, 1999 was the company's last

video game console, and was the first of the generation's consoles to be discontinued. Sega

implemented a special type of optical media called the GD-ROM. These discs were created in

order to prevent software piracy, which had been more easily done with consoles of the

previous generation; however, this format was soon cracked as well. It was discontinued in

2002, and Sega transitioned to software developing/publishing only. It also sported a 33.6Kb

or 56k modem which could be used to access the internet or play some of the games,

like Phantasy Star Online, online.

Sony's PlayStation 2 was released in North America on October 26, 2000 as the follow-up to

its highly successful PlayStation, and was also the first home game console to be able to

play DVDs. As was done with the original PlayStation in 2000, Sony redesigned the console

in 2004 into a smaller version. As of July 2008, 140 million PlayStation 2 units have been

sold.[2][3] This makes it the best selling console of all time to date.

The Nintendo GameCube, released November 18, 2001 in North America, was Nintendo's

fourth home video game console and the first console by the company to use optical media

instead of cartridges. The Nintendo GameCube did not play standard 12 cm DVDs, instead

employing smaller 8 cm optical discs.

Microsoft's Xbox, released on November 15, 2001 in North America, was the company's first

video game console. The first console to employ a hard drive right out of the box to save

games, and had similar hardware specifications to a low-end desktop computer at the time of

its release. Though criticized for its bulky size, which was easily twice that of the competition,

as well as for the awkwardness of the original controller that shipped with it, it eventually

gained popularity due in part to the success of the Halo franchise. The Xbox was the first

console to include a Ethernet port and offered high speed online gaming through the Xbox

LIVE service.

Seventh Generation

The features introduced in this generation include the support of new disc formats: Blu-ray Disc,

utilized by the PlayStation 3, and HD DVD supported by the Xbox 360 via an optional accessory,

that was later discontinued as the format war closed. Another new technology is the use of

motion as input, and IR tracking (as implemented on the Wii, and demonstrated by the PS3).

Also, all seventh generation consoles support standard wireless controllers.

Microsoft Xbox 360 was released on November 5th, 2005. A HD DVD drive was later

available as an accessory; however, with the termination of the HD DVD format, this

accessory's production has been ceased by Microsoft.[4] The Xbox Live service allows the

Xbox 360 to connect to the internet via a built-in Ethernet port or a wireless accessory. The

Xbox 360 is currently available in two versions, an "Arcade", a regular Xbox360 "Elite"

version. The biggest difference between these versions is the addition of a 120 GB hard drive

in the "Elite" edition. The regular has a 60/20GB hard drive. The "Arcade" version is not

packaged with a hard drive. The Xbox 360 is capable of outputting 1080p through HDMI and

component. On June 15, 2010, Microsoft released a new, slimmer version of the Xbox 360

containing built in connectivity features, a quieter cooling system and a 250 GB hard drive. [5]

Sony PlayStation 3 was released in Japan on November 11, 2006, in North America on

November 17, 2006 and in Europe on March 23, 2007. All PlayStation 3s come with a hard

drive and are able to play Blu-ray Disc movies and games out of the box. The PlayStation 3

was the first video game console to support HDMI output of the box, utilizing full 1080p

resolution. Up to seven devices (including controllers, with tilt-sensing capabilities) connect to

the console using Bluetooth. Five versions of the PS3 currently exist; a 20 GB HDD version

(discontinued in North America and Japan, and was never released in PAL territories), a 60

GB HDD version (discontinued in North America, Japan and PAL territories), a 40 GB HDD

version, 80 GB HDD version (only in some NTSC territories and PAL territories) and a 160

GB HDD in addition, as well as a 120 GB "slim" and 250 GB "slim" version. The hard drive

can be replaced with any standard 2.5" Serial ATA drive and the system has support

for Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO

Duo, USB, SD, MiniSD, and CompactFlash (CF) digital media.[6]

Nintendo Wii was released in North America on November 19, 2006, in Japan on December

2, 2006, in Australia on December 7, 2006, and in Europe on December 8, 2006. It is bundled

with Wii Sports in all regions except for Japan. Unlike the other systems of the seventh

generation, the Wii does not support an internal hard drive, but instead uses 512 MB of

internal Flash memory and includes support for removable SD card storage. It also has a

maximum resolution output of 480p, making it the only seventh generation console not able to

output high-definition graphics. Along with its lower price, the Wii is notable for its unique

controller, the Wii Remote, which resembles a TV remote. The system utilizes a "sensor bar"

that emits infrared light that is detected by an infrared camera in the Wii Remote to determine

orientation relative to the source of the light. Like Nintendo's hand-held systems, it is also

backwards compatible with previous Nintendo consoles, as it is capable of playing Nintendo

GameCube games and supports up to four Nintendo GameCube controllers and two memory

cards. It also includes Virtual Console, which allows the purchase and downloading of games

from older systems, including those of former competitors. The latest addition to the Wii is the

'Wii Motion Plus', which uses the same technology as the console previously used, but with

enhanced motion tracking and sensing to improve gameplay quality.

METHODOLOGYTo find the demand of the selected video game console (only six and seventh generation). A questionnaire consisting of 5 questions was tailored for this purpose. We request 10 males and 10 females of different nationalities.

Source Of InformationPrimary: - Family, Friends, Teachers, Lucky Stores (Manager and Staff).

Secondary: -Wikipedia.

Findings

Sony Microsoft Nintendo Others

The follownig graph show which company do people prefer (2010)

PlayStation 3 PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable Others

The following graph shows in sony which product do people prefer (2010)

The reason for that people prefer sony (2010)

GraphicsGamesStyleOthers

ConclusionIn terms of graphics, people prefer PlayStation 3 (Sony)

In terms of money, people prefer XBOX 360 (Microsoft)

In terms of enjoyment, people prefer Wii (Nintendo)

Appendix Please select your Gender.

Male: ___Female: ___

Please select your Nationality.American: ___ Asian: ___ European: ___Others: ___

Please select the company which you prefer to buy this product

Sony: ___ Microsoft: ___ Nintendo: ___ Others: ___

Please select the reasons that made you to purchase this product.

Graphics: ___ Style: ___ Games: ___ Others: ___ 

Please rate the value for money aspect of the product. Excellent: ___ Good: ___ Average: ___ Poor: ___ 

Pictures