Downturn spurs home entertainment

As if the financial crisis is not depressing enough, now we've got a flu epidemic looming, which might force people to stay at home even more.

But people still need entertainment and gaming is one such industry that's still doing well despite the downturn.

James Hong, GM for Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) says sales for its network games have increased substantially but declined to give further details on exact figures.

Hong has joined the gaming industry for over a decade now. He observes when he first joined 11 years ago, gaming was a subculture with only a tiny population interested to play games.

Today, gaming has become the 4th pillar after movies, TV and music, endorsed by the government and recognised as an important mainstream entertainment for young people.

However, it's only through education from industry players such as SCE that the public have become more receptive to gaming.

Hong says that five years ago, there weren't many people spotted carrying handheld console games such as the PlaystationPortable (PSP).

Back then, people had the misconception that game consoles were for kids and it's naive to be seen carrying one.

SCE decided to position the PSP as a fashionable and trendy gadget. Referencing ipod as its key competitor, the company was keen to change user's perception and wanted them to be proud of carrying a PSP everywhere they went.

To create the hype that PSP was a trendy gadget, the console game was seeded to up-and-coming stars, artistes and opinion leaders including movie directors to demonstrate that they could watch movies and trailers on the device as well as for singers to watch music videos and listen to songs.

Two years since the PSP was introduced, it grabbed a 40% market share in Hong Kong in 2007 and rose to 55% in 2008.

Hong admits PSP is currently skewed towards male users but the company has recently launched 7 colours of a slimmer version of the PSP and will soon roll out a new campaign to capture the female market.

Target audience for PSP are what he coins as 'kidults' particularly the young salaried men with more disposable income between early 20s to 30s.

Hong explains it's the software that brings in the money and students are less likely to pay for authentic games as they tend to use Bit Torrent to download pirated versions.

To target the family, SCE's Playstation3 (PS3) with its Blu-ray HD format, according to Hong has "the biggest edge against competitors" especially for watching movies.

He adds that PS3 has its own social network for its users available free known as Playstation Home, where they could interact with friends or meet other people with the same hobbies as them.

While gaming has been viewed negatively in society as being anti-social or "otaku", which refers to an obsessive video games fan and in Japanese usage to generally suggest a creepy, obssessive loner who rarely leaves the house, Hong asserts that "gaming is another very healthy and popular entertainment".

He reiterates that gaming is not harmful and it's just another form of entertainment that allow one to connect and enjoy with family and friends.

To reinforce the positive image of gaming, his team invests heavily in CSR initiatives such as the public recruitment of 150 jobs for Tin Shui Wai residents and partnering World Vision to raise $200, 000 in charity sales for the Sichuan Earthquake in May last year.

Additionally, SCE has cooperated with the government to provide part-time courses to train local youths to write PSP games and groom them as game producers.

As a Chinese native, Hong understands the enormous potential of introducing PSP and PS3 into the Mainland market, but he says the games could not be officially released in China.

"It's definitely our dream to go to China but due to government policy, we can't do anything," he sighs.

He hopes when China opens its market, it will allow them to sell in China one day.

With gaming becoming such a lucrative business and home entertainment taking precedence in this economic climate, it will be interesting to see how the key players Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's X Box battle it out to gain market share for this industry.