Visit us at BETT 2009

Online Game, Fantasy Couriers, is to be launched into the education market at BETT 2009.

Visit us at Olympia, Stand SW108, from Wednesday 14th January til Saturday 17th January.

Register Here, for a free ticket to the show

Family Games keep the Games Industry Bouyant

The UK Games Industry reports record sales for 2008 of £4.034billion per ELSPA (the games industry association). 

Leading the way in Games sale is the Wii, with it’s broad range of family based games titles, and innovative hardware.  “Videogaming is increasingly bringing families together with the introduction of so many outstanding family-based console titles,” said Michael Rawlinson, MD of ELSPA. “These have really opened up the market to those who may never have even considered playing a videogame before.”

And this is reiterated in the fact that wii sports has just become the best selling game of all time, selling now over 40million copies.  Undoubtedly the bundling of the game with the console will have contributed to the sales, but Wii Sports is the game that most people associate with the wii.

DS, Playstation and Xbox software all saw increased sales in 2008 over 2007.

Sony’s focus for 2009 is to get the PS3 profitable.  Which is a telling sign of the state of the industry.  Although there are big grabbing headlines telling of the games industry’s successes, more quietly there are the stories about EA’s scale down in operations and cessation of non-profitable titles, and publishers such as Midway fighting off bankruptcy.

Despite the increasing sales of both consoles and software, and the announcements that the games industry is “recession proof”, Sony are highlighting that it is only the profitable companies that will be able to take advantage of these circumstances, the recession harshly separating the wheat from the chaff.

Starting a Business in a Recession

2009 looks set to be one of the most challenging years in recent history for small business owners.

When large, established, household names struggle to survive in the tough economic climate, we ask is it harder or easier for the small businesses.

Recessions frequently result in a burst of new small businesses, as those with redudancy settlements take the step to start up their own business, something that they’ve maybe wanted to do for years, but been too cautious to do, preferring the security of the monthly pay check to the uncertainty of the new business start up.

Over the next few weeks we will be running a serious of posts about the issues that face small businesses, and in particular those trying to start and trade through a recession.

A business that can survive and grow in a recession can cope with anything, and some of the UK’s small business are best placed, with their flexibility, and “can do, will do” attitudes.  We look forward to bringing you some of the top tips, advice and stories.