Irish computer games websites

We’ve updated our links page, mostly containing links to Irish games websites.

It now includes Irish news/review games sites, community and LAN
sites, Irish sites with games sections, games cafes/centres, game
retailers in Ireland, local official console sites, and links to games
companies based in Ireland. There’s also a selection of international
games sites.

Games Toaster’s links section can be found here, or by using the link on the side bar.

To make a suggestion of a site we’ve missed, use the comments section below, or the ‘email me’ link on the side bar.

GAME: Ireland UK sales boosted by PS3

Retailer GAME says that the PS3 pushed sales up; pictured: a customer handing over cash at the PS3 midnight launch at GAME on Dawson Street in Dublin.

PlayStation
3 has accounted for over 40 percent in growth in sales at the games
retail giant GAME according to a statement released today by the firm.

GAME have stores around Ireland but it is hard
to tell what trends are exclusive to the State or the island as the
company treats the UK and Ireland as the one market.

“In the UK and Ireland, total sales were up by
71.1%” the statement says “The Sony Playstation 3 launched on 23 March
2007. If we exclude all sales of the PS3 product category the UK and
Ireland [like-for-like] sales were up by 24.6%”.

The retailer says it has also seen strong Wii sales, but did not expand on detail.

GAME say they are expecting a net profit
before tax between £1m and £3m (

INTERVIEW: PlayStation nation

The
launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) was a success, the boss of Sony’s
Irish PlayStation division told this publication in a wide-ranging
interview (This article was first published last month in Slant magizine, which was distributed in Dublin city center).

Niall O’Hanrahan the managing director at Sony Computer
Entertainment Ireland told us that the launch was “Very good”, even
thought he admitted — unlike another cheaper console — the PS3 was
not a sellout. The cheaper Nintendo Wii launched here before Christmas
was a sellout.

“We’ve shipped 20,000 and of that 17,500 are sold”, O’Hanrahan said.
He put the left over stock down to planned over supply “It was planned,
that was enough stock”.

He also robustly defended the high price of the

Lisa Geiran, UCD; Barry Dolan, Shamrock Rovers FC, Karina Kelly, UCD.

-

PS3 launch in Dublin

The PlayStation 3 launched tonight in Ireland, Games Toaster went out to get the images of midnight launches in Dublin… expect more news on the PS3 later today…

Shoppers
waiting outside ‘Game’ on Dawson Street before midnight to be some of
the first to buy the PlayStation 3 in Ireland, there was about 50-60
waiting outside when we arrived.

The first person to buy a PS3 in ‘Game’ on Dawson Street.

We asked this shopper to pause for a second.

HMV
on Grafton Street was also open for the launch. Many Thursday night
drinkers were bemused by the line of about 50 shoppers, HMV says they
had served about 20 people at this stage. While it’s unclear if the
performers were regulars on the famous shopping street, also know for its buskers.

Games Toaster
then made it over to Dublin’s north side to GameStop at Henry Street,
where the crowd was still about 50 strong at around 12.40, GameStop say
that up to 150 people turned out. That’s a DJ on the stairs. And below an indoors shot of GameStop.

FEATURE: Irish parents ignore age ratings on violent and obscene computer games

Many parents ignore age ratings on violent or obscene games, as
advice from the self-relegated retailers often falls on deaf ears as
parents buy 16+ and 18+ games for children, writes Cian Ginty.

Staff at the main Dublin video games retailers agree that minors are looking for adult-rated games “all the time”.

We interviewed retail staff at six game stores in Dublin, most said
that when they explained to parents that a game’s content was not
suitable for children the majority bought the game anyway. The content
of these games includes drug taking, violence, and sexual references.

BBC research published late last year states the average age of
gamers in the UK at 28 years old, but retail staff in Dublin agreed
that the majority of people looking for adult rated games are children.

Surveys of game players in both the US and the UK may put average
age of gamers well above 18, but again according to the BBC research
into game player’s habits, higher percentages of children play games
more often. In addition, 70% of younger gamers aged 6-10 favoured
‘action adventure’ games, in the age group 25-35 the popularity of this
genre dropped below 50%

In a striking similarity to underage drinking, one game shop staff
member said that when children are refused they sometimes ask other
shoppers to buy the game. This wasn’t echoed by staff in other shops,
but this may have been because of the store’s location on one of
Dublin’s busiest shopping streets.

Ger Connolly, Deputy Film Censor, at the Irish Film Censor’s Office
(IFCO) commented, “Our own research of parents’ attitudes would suggest
they are very concerned as to the suitability of anything their
children are watching”.

Parents
are still buying these games for their children, even though an IFCO
survey on parents’ views recorded ‘drug taking’ and ‘violence’ as the
topics that cause parents most concern. With age ratings, 83 percent of
parents replied ‘drug taking’ was ‘very important’, followed by
‘violence’ at 75 percent. Including the percentage of parent who said
these were “fairly important” pushes the percentages beyond 90%.

For age classifications of games the Irish censor’s office
subscribes to ‘PEGI’, a voluntary pan-European age ratings system.
Ireland is represented by the Deputy Film Censor on the board of PEGI,
but the voluntary system has no legal basis in Irish law.

“We strictly enforce PEGI, we treat it as its mandatory” said commented Michael Finucane, Commercial Director, GameStop, one of the largest Irish games.

“As with all entertainment mediums, not all content is appropriate
or acceptable to all people” commented a spokeswoman for Microsoft,
maker of the Xbox 360 games console, “We believe in the rights of
parents and caregivers to make educated choices for their families on
the appropriateness of a game’s offerings”. Microsoft help families
make these decisions Microsoft actively supports and abides by all game
rating systems in effect in the different parts of the world.

Publishers — such as Microsoft, Sony, and Rockstar — only have to
voluntarily submit a game to the Irish Film Censor’s Office if the game
is “deemed prohibitable”, which includes games which containing obscene
or indecent matter or possible incitement of crime.

The UK uses a similar system. However, in the UK more games are
referred to the censor to be legally classified. Across the border in
Northern Ireland games rated for over 18 end up with the recognisable
red ‘18′ circular logo from the British Board of Film Classification
(BBFC).

In the Republic, it’s different. The recently released ‘Vice City
Stories’ for the PlayStation Portable, the latest title in the
well-known Grand Theft Auto series, only received a PEGI 18+ age
rating. ‘Gears of War’ for Xbox 360, which includes screen filled
blood-splatter after chain saw use, also appeared on Irish game store
shelves with the dull black and white age rating.

With games publishers the situation appears to be if in doubt sent
it to the BCFC, but it’ll pass in Ireland using the voluntary ratings.

Cllr. Aodhán

GameStop for Tullamore, Midleton, Mullingar

GameStop Ireland continues to expand their network of computer games stores across the country.

The Irish division of the multinational retail giant plans to open
outlets in Tullamore, Co Offaly; Midleton, Co Cork; and Mullingar, Co
Westmeath.

After the openings, the Dublin operation will control 42 stores,
including nine in Co Dublin, five in Co Cork, four in Northern Ireland,
and shops in Birmingham and Stockport in England.

Set up in 1994 by Kevin Neary and Michael Finucane the company
started in the back of a Dublin bookstore and first traded as
GamesWorld before GameStop Inc bought a controlling share in 2003. At
that point, the retailer re-branded its 11 outlets, and started the
current expansion.

The parent company owns shops across Europe, North America,
Australia, and Puerto Rico – it reported $1.7 billion in sales for the
last nine weeks of 2006, a 29% jump on the same period the year before.

Dublin Games Price Survey (no 1)

The Dublin Computer Games Price Survey (no 1) is Games Toaster’s first comprehensive games price check.

We plan to conduct further surveys in the future, and possibly smaller price reviews after launches of high-profile games. Apologies for the lack of Nintendo titles in this one. (For details and methodology read after the table).

Price table

Key
Lowest street price have red background, overall lowest in bold text. ^ = was not in stock.

Methodology
All street prices
are from the evening or night of Tuesday November 7, 2006, bar
Xtravision which was done the next night. Games are a random sample of
popular or high profile titles currently on release, most are just
recently released.

Date
was not collected on non-listed titles; the selection shown is
formatted raw data. Beyond the stated prices, no special offers or
store card discounts were taken into account.

With high street
stores, all prices were checked in-store. Most prices were taken from
display boxes, with the exception of a few titles (in GameStop, where
staff were asked for the pricing of the PC and Xbox 360 games, as the
shop was closing).  Argus prices taken current from “games update” catalogue.

Online stores were taken at displayed euro
pricing on the night of Sunday November 11. Both online retailers
surveyed include free postage.

No updated prices will be taken
into account (but if you want post them below). However, if you can
prove that the pricing on the day differs from what is shown, please
contact us.

Legal note
Games Toaster has done
all that is reasonably possible to obtain correct date, however the
date is for information reasons only. We have no involvement with any
of the retailers listed, and can not guarantee product will be
available to buy at rates shown.

Comment or suggestions
Feedback
can be posted anonymously without login in the below comments section
or can be emailed to the usually address (see left hand side menu).

PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable continue to dominate Irish games charts

PlayStation Portable alone still frequently
outranks Xbox 360 in percentage sales  

A GamesToaster.com / BlurredKeys.com
examination of the Chart-Track Irish Software charts, which tracks retail sales
of computer games in Ireland, has found that Sony’s PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable continue
to massively dominate the Irish multi-format charts, with Microsoft’s Xbox and
Xbox 360 combined rarely amounting to over 25% of multi-format games.

Our study of the charts ranges from the
start of 2006 to the week ending July 15.

When the combined percentages of the Xbox
consoles reach higher percentages the games are usually at the lower end of the
charts. Frequently the percentage of the two combined is lower then or around
10%.

When the high profile Xbox 360 game Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released in March, Microsoft reported that the game
“has topped the all-formats sales charts in key European countries”. Ireland was not one of those countries. Even with the support of 43% from PC sales, the
Take 2 game entered the chart at number three, slowly dropping, then in its
fourth week nose-diving to sixteenth place.

Only three Xbox/360 exclusives made it into
the top 20. This is somewhat but not fully explained by a higher number
released on Xbox and PC combined, without giving away the title of ‘console
exclusive’.

The three exclusive games were Dead or
Alive 4 on Xbox 360, in at number seven, and out after a second week at number
12; the Outfit also on 360 in at 17th, not to be seen again; and Tom Clancy’s
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. GRAW was release on the 360 the first week,
at number three, in its second week also on Xbox at number five (Xb360 96%/Xbox
4%), and the third week at 10 (360 93%/Xbox 7%). After the third week, it lost
the exclusive as it was released on other formats.

There were few other Xbox games to break
between the 50-100% marks, often only when pitted against the PC. On Xbox 360,
Call of Duty 2 ranged from around 60-80%, Oblivion from 35-60%, Fight Night
Round 3 entered the chart at 17th with 53%, recently Pray entered at six with
71%, and LOTR: The Battle for Middle-Earth II got a healthy 81%. Middle-Earth
II however only entered at 15th place after it was on the top 20 as a
PC-exclusive for three weeks early in the year.

As sales are measured at the point and time
of purchase, the charts can be seen as the most reliable measure of how
different games formats are competing. The value of game sales cannot be
underestimated as console manufactures depend on royalties of third party
games, and selling first and second party games. Most game consoles are sold at
a loss, with the makers recouping cost with games and peripheral sales.

In isolation the charts for the week ending
July 15 record Pro Evolution Soccer 5 with 76%/PS2, and 19%/PSP; FIFA World Cup
Germany 2006 with 66%/PS2, and 19%/PSP; Over the Hedge 76%/PS2; Tomb Raider: Legend with 48%/PS2, and 38%/PSP; Hitman: Blood Money with 77%/PS2.

PC and Nintendo formats makeup even smaller
percentages then the Xbox brands, practically leaving the charts a two-brand
race. Few Nintendo titles punch above this trend, the exclusivity of Nintendo games
sometimes makes the brand move visually apparent, games such as New Super Mario
Bros, Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, Mario Kart Ds, and Animal Crossing: Wild
World. Nintendo, however, are often bypassed when it comes to multi-format
games.

We previously reported that in the
Christmas charts, when it comes to multi-format games, Xbox rarely received
much more then 10% of sales of any one game, and never above 20%. We quoted the
Sony line that after Japan; Ireland has the highest PS and PS2 ownership per head of population. We
added that PlayStation looks to be the game brand burned into the Irish mind
and culture — this still looks to be the case.

The Xbox 360 looks to have so far failed to
gain a substantial head start on the Sony PlayStation 3. Sony maintaining their
market share in Ireland will most likely depend on a continued support of the PlayStation
2, in the form of the game releases, well into the life of the PS3.

It’s worth noting that prices for the PlayStation 3 in the Republic and Northern Ireland have still to be officially
announced, the higher rumoured pricing puts the Ireland at around 30 euro above the 599 “euro” announced price. “We would never
say we cannot fail”, Niall O’Hanrahan, MD SCE Ireland,
told the Irish Times in July, “We have a marketing challenge from now
until launch. This is not a done deal”.

According to Chart-Track.co.uk the data for the Irish games charts comes
from Argos, Currys, Dixons, Game, Golden Discs, Heartbeat City, Heatons, HMV,
PC World, Play.com, Roxy Tower Records, Virgin, Zhivago, a number of
independent retailers, and Tesco, and Xtra-vision were added in July 2005.
There is a notable absence of the Irish branches of GameStop, and the online
retailer CDWow.ie. Chart-Track own and compile the Irish Software Charts, they
also compile the UK games charts, and the Irish music charts.

Chart-Track kindly provides the Top 20 Irish games charts to Games Toaster;
the chart is published weekly on the site’s side panel. An archive and
individual charts are also available on Chart-Track’s website. What percentage
each format sells is not normally published. At a cost Chart-Track also provide
in-depth analysis of game sales.

New Irish games site to launch soon

The launch of a new Irish computer games website, Irishgamer.ie, has been delayed until this Wednesday, June 21.

As well as the normal news and reviews, the site is to feature price watches monitoring the Irish retail sector.

The site is to be headed by Noel Brady, he currently writes games reviews for Campus.ie, and has previously written for Dreamcast Monthly magazine, The Player (an Irish games magazine), and RTE’s Gamezone.

In a post on Boards.ie’s games section Brady explains,
“This is a newspiece that was due to go up on Irishgamer today.
Sadly, we’ve been delayed until next week (ironing out glitches etc.)
as we don’t want to launch the site until its 100% functional”.

For the record: Irishgamer.ie is no relation to
Games Toaster’s previous moniker ‘the Irish Gamer’ that used a
dot com address. Separately we have provided some content for the new
site.

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