Strong demand for gaming devices

While software and hardware are cited as the major drivers of revenue in the gaming industry, peripherals should not be overlooked. The sale of devices, which range from controllers and headsets to fake instruments and plastic add-ons, have grown over the past years and weathered the recession well.Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are the manufacturers of the three big gaming consoles. But that's not the whole story. A small group of lesser-known companies have figured out a lucrative way to make even more money in the game industry. They are the accessory manufacturers, and they know how to play the game."The gaming industry in the Middle East is very disorganised. There is no focus. They don't understand what the gamers want. Customers do not get what is perceived to be the best in the world. It is a huge segment but vacant," said Ganesh Venugopal, chief operating officer at Uber, a PC and gaming hardware company. He said people are realising that the quality of gaming depends largely on the quality of accessories available to them, and many are spending on high-quality gaming peripherals.According to PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), the global PC games market continued to show strong growth in 2010, reaching a record $16.2 billion (Dh59.5 billion). This represented overall growth of 20 per cent over 2009.China continues to be the largest and fastest growing market for PC games with record 2010 revenue of $4.8 billion. However, mature game markets in Korea, Japan, US, UK and Germany all showed growth in 2010. Together these markets increased revenue 19 per cent in 2010 to $7.3 billion.Out of this, Venugopal said Mideast contributes only 18-20 per cent. It is growing at around 12-13 per cent annually amid downturn. People spend as much as they spend on the music industry. It all comes under entertainment and IT category. It is worth as much as the music industry.The console gaming industry was worth $2 billion in 2009, $4 billion in 2010 and $6 billion expected this year.One sector which is slowly gaining momentum is mobile gaming. According to ABI Research senior analyst Aapo Markkanen the industry's revenue base will grow from less than $5 billion in 2011 to more than $16 billion in 2016."An ever larger share of mobile gaming revenue is coming from virtual goods and other purchases that take place within the game. These in-app payments will account for about one-third of the 2011 revenue base, but by the end of 2016 their share will increase to almost half of the total. Also, the in-game advertising revenue will increase considerably, as more and more advertisers take advantage of mobile games' mass-media potential," he said. Around 30 console accessories vendors are there in the region, mostly from China, he said. The accessories market will be growing at a minimum rate of more than 25 per cent annually and it is still a nascent market."So we in Uber are here to give focus to gamers. We are like doctors to prescribe gamers what is best in accessories space," he said.He said consoles are the fastest growing market. People start with Wii consoles, which are mostly played by under 18-year olds, then they move to PS3 or Microsoft Kinect, which is like a graduation, and then they move to PC gaming, which is like post-graduate. From / Gulf News