Longtime readers know that gaming is a subject close to my heart, but it is relevant to any marketing discussion given the rapid growth of this market. Microsoft’s Halo 3 made anywhere from $150-170M depending on what numbers you believe. Bigger than the initial take Spiderman 3 or the final Harry Potter book. Enough for the movie industry to use it as an excuse for a bad week.
Give credit to the Nintendo Wii from changing the market from “Gamer/Non-Gamer” to “Wii and up”. Everybody in my family has played with the Wii and enjoyed it, they may not be standing in line for the release of Starcraft 2 (I’ll may even pre-order, but no line for me) but they at least see some of the entertainment value.
I’ve been lucky enough to see the GuildCafe, a startup here in Boston from prior to first funding at one of the WebInno events before they started hitting Comdex-like attendance.
Last week they announced an additional round of funding and a name change to gamerDNA. Led by Jon Radoff (who did a recent presentation on startups here), they have experience at the helm and are moving into an exciting new market.