Strong demand for Activision's Guitar Hero:analystWednesday, November 19, 2008 10:51:00 AM
(AP) Strong demand for Activision's Guitar Hero:analystSo, there you have it folks, take note: During financial troughs, escape to Video Game Land? Anybody want to come over and play Guitar Hero with me?
NEW YORK
Hollywood
movies were popular during the Great Depression, drawing huge crowds looking to
escape the financial gloom. Will video games be the escape of choice for a 21st
century recession?
Certainly, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision
Blizzard Inc., the maker of popular titles like World of Warcraft and Guitar
Hero, hopes so. And the company got some good news from a Citi Investment
Research analyst Wednesday.
Despite seemingly ceaseless reports of
layoffs and cutbacks, analyst Brent Thill told investors in a research note
Wednesday that based on his checks with traditional and Internet retailers, that
consumers continue to snap up Guitar Hero World Tour packages _ priced at $190
each.
The title comes with an unusual amount of hardware _ plastic
guitars and drum sets that make for particularly animated living room scenes.
Gamers play along with rock classics like Aerosmith's "Dream
On."
Last month, an NPD Group report on video games showed
disappointing sales last month in the music genre. Thill said sales of the
Guitar Hero package are below expectations, but online retailers like
GameStop.com, Amazon.com and Walmart.com have all sold out with seven weeks to
go before Christmas and sales at traditional retail stores look pretty good
too.
Great Britain, also staring at a potentially steep recession,
is showing a healthy appetite for the game as well, selling out Amazon's U.K.
site. There, bundles are going for $225.
Thill noted figures from
the sales monitor Chart-Track showing that video game sales last week in Britain
were the eighth highest ever, helped by Guitar Hero and Activision's Call of
Duty.
Activision shares lost 9 cents to $10.02 in morning
trading.
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