Today, we take a look at two things near and dear to many Dev Hardware readers: video games and robots. Joe Eitel examines the video game market and takes out his crystal ball to predict its growth, then takes a look at the seemingly ubiquitous Roomba and wonders where that cleaning robot -- and the company that makes it -- will be going next.
Video Game Explosion
It's not hard to see that the video game market has grown in recent years. The introduction of the Nintendo Wii has sparked interest in video games by a whole new audience. This new audience consists of housewives, grandparents, and even those trying to get in shape.
Did you ever think that people would start playing video games to get in shape? The Nintendo Wii is targeting the fitness crowd with the introduction of their new Wii Fit at the 2007 E3 Convention. The Wii Fit consists of a Wii balance board which will allow you to do aerobics, exercises, and other fitness routines; the possibilities are seemingly endless.
It's not just Nintendo which is flourishing thanks to the growth of new gamers. Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox will surely get a piece of the pie. Of course, these two platforms have traditionally been targeted at the more hardcore gamers, so it may initially be tough for these platforms to get a share of the newbie gamers. It would not surprise me if Sony and Microsoft, in the near future, begin to release more fitness-friendly hardware and games. I believe that they are going to have to take a page out of the Wii book in order to get some of the new customers buying these revolutionary games.
Microsoft Xbox 360 is still the number one console on the market, as of this writing, but Nintendo is right on their heels. Nintendo is growing like no other console, and should soon be number one in the market. Sony PlayStation 3 has experienced strong growth as well with a 135% increase in sales of the console since their price drop to $499. They have also stated in a recent press release that their total sales in June of 2007 were 21% higher than that of June 2006, reaching the $393 million mark.
Because of all of this growth in the video game market, video game publishers are becoming increasingly optimistic about the future of gaming. Some makers have stated that they expect huge growth over the next four years in the video game market.
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