There are now 11 countries that have an annual video game revenue in excess of US$ 1 billion. By 2009, the video game market is expected to reach a whopping US$ 57 billion. Leading the charge are the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and the Wii. Analyst David Cole of DFC Intelligence speaks his peace on the current generation of consoles. Which is the most profitable platform for 2007? The answer is a doozy. Make a guess, and find out after the "read more" link.

The DFC Intelligence analyst group is back with new predictions. This time, they're forecasting what will drop for the three current-generation consoles in 2008 and beyond. To give you a hint, they're expecting record sales for the Wii this year, while the PS3-Xbox 360 duel is said to be in for a momentum shift. Is Sony ready to overtake Microsoft after it closed the gap in monthly sales? See the full article for the full details.

Analysts are known for scrutinizing trends and then making predictions based on those trends. In this case, David Cole of DFC Intelligence has his own take on the Xbox 360's performance in Europe. Interestingly, it includes a predicted switching of loyalties as well. Analyze the details in the full article after the jump.

Okay, so you've got your agenda finalized. What's the next thing to do? Why, it's to announce the All-Star Speakers, of course.

Evergreen Events, the organizer of the 2008 ION Game Conference, has done precisely that. It's mentioned four important names to take note of. Find out who these four people are after the jump.

Year after year we see a vicious cycle of war and hate between the super powers of the video gaming and interactive entertainment industry. People choose their sides and fight for their favorite consoles, hoping to come out the winner in the end. At this stage of the battle, DFC Intelligence has given out their latest forecasts and hard numbers on who's leading the console wars race.

DFC has given out several forecasts and outlooks at the best and worst case scenarios for each console system to see which one will come out on top of the rest.

1. DFC forecasts that the Wii will sell the most hardware units in Japan and could be the overall worldwide winner. However, the PlayStation 3 could be a strong second. Furthermore, by 2012 the PlayStation 3 may actually lead in software revenue even though the Wii has sold more units.
2. Under DFC’s best case scenario for the Xbox 360, the system is in a virtual tie with both the Wii and the PlayStation 3. However, unless the Xbox 360 can kick it into gear in the fourth quarter and through 2008, the system will probably finish in a fairly distant third. A big challenge for the Xbox 360 is building a base outside North America.
3. The PlayStation 3 is looking to make a strong play for 2009 and beyond. For software revenue, the PlayStation 3 looks to be a solid platform for the 2009-2012 time period.

DFC also published interesting numbers regarding the ever rising growth of the PC interactive entertainment market, as well as the portable game market and the definite niche each platform has made for itself already. However, according to their own conclusions, no one was satisfied with their somewhat lukewarm response to the question, "so which console will win?" Their answer: none.

 

DFC Intelligence, expert in video game and entertainment market research, recently released forecasts for the gaming industry. According to the research firm, Microsoft's Xbox 360 could lose the so-called "console war" and fall in a distant third place when year 2009 kicks in.

Various sources make it quite clear that the Nintendo Wii is zooming past its competition in terms of sales but Microsoft's horse trails close behind. DFC researchers, however, found weakness in 360's recent sales. If the current pace goes on for a couple of years, the Wii will dominate until 2008 ends. Sony's year will be 2009, when PlayStation 3 sales move into overdrive as DFC foresees.

DFC analyst David Cole pointed out how likely Sony will be leading in the software race even if Nintendo's console continues to sell. In order to share Xbox 360's presence to the scene, Microsoft "will need to build a strong base outside North America," said Cole.

By 2009, DFC expects US$ 47 billion in revenue for the gaming industry. Sales of the three big consoles are to reach numbers between 180 million to 210 million when 2012 comes - if DFC's projections are correct, that is. During the same year, PC gaming could be racking up $US 13 billion in revenue thanks to the ever-growing online games market and convenient digital distribution.

DFC's research is strongly positive toward handhelds. Cole stated that the Nintendo DS could be on top as the best-selling game system ever five years from now. Nothing is set in stone, but we can be sure of one thing: it'll be fun to watch how everything unfolds, and gamers win in the end.

The gaming industry is now shaping up to become one of the most lucrative businesses ever. Just a few days after NPD's sunny US$ 18 billion prediction, DFC Intelligence released a statement that the interactive entertainment industry is set to skyrocket and gain about as much as US$ 47 billion worth of revenue come 2009. The prediction covers all video game markets, including PC gaming.

Furthermore, DFC also predicted that the PC gaming market will earn as much as US$ 13 billion once year 2012 hits.

While the DFC puts (unsurprisingly) a high amount of confidence towards the portable gaming market ( particularly the Nintendo DS) they are still uncertain about the individual outcome for each of the three competing next-gen consoles: Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.

Apart from the DS, DFC also raised its forecast for the Wii, as well as the PS3. However, their forecast for Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been lowered, saying that Microsoft needs to improve on their market outside North America.

However, despite the unpredictability of the next-gen console race, the DFC forecasts that the combined effort of the three competing systems will yield a high sales rate of 180 to 210 million units by year 2012.

All of us are closely monitoring the next-gen console race, and some may even think that they know the outcome. But that's just for the meantime.

According to DFC Intelligence, a marketing research and consulting firm focused on gaming, the console wars is just getting started. It all depends on whether or not the hardware manufacturers manage to fulfill their shipment goals for the next year. If they all do, DFC said, none of the systems will have more than 40% of the market shares by next summer.

When speaking about the PlayStation 3, DFC stated that it is quite hard to assess a product that is meant to last for a decade, so it's best to expect something different after a couple of years or more. It is just a matter of letting game developers get a feel of the PS3's full potential.

Another interesting point to note is DFC's prediction that none of the competing systems (all together now, folks: Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) will get the same level of success that the first two PlayStation systems had.

DFC also offers some advice for those working in the game industry: Those developing major FPS (first-person shooter) games should release them on the Xbox 360 platform even if their sales may not be spectacular at this point. For the PS3, a big price cut as well as beefing up the games library will do the Sony next-gen console a big favor.

As for the Wii, DFC cautions game developers that while Nintendo's quirky little machine captured the hearts of many, it's best to refrain from creating too many big-name franchises on the Wii. The reason? The Wii phenomena may have already cooled down by the time all the big third-party name games have been released.

Those who think they know which console wins in the next-gen war should have second thoughts. The race has just begun, so who knows? The bigwigs at Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo may be listening to DFC's advice. If so, expect the unexpected in the near future.

For some years, Sony has been the reigning leader in the video game realm. The release of its PS1 and PS2 consoles have become big hits in the market, easily giving Sony the upper hand in the competition. Up to this year, the PS2 is still selling like pancakes, bagging in more revenues than its other competitors. According to David Cole of DFC Intelligence, Sony is pretty much in control of the gaming market.

Unless it makes a wrong turn, that is.

Apparently, Cole thinks so, "Microsoft and Nintendo had to hope Sony fumbled or significantly changed its strategy so that they could get an opportunity to capture some of that PS2 audience. Now it is clear Sony is handing its competitors a golden opportunity."

Surely, Nintendo and Microsoft are girding their loins for an attack of opportunity. The Wii and Xbox 360 are like their own versions of weapons of mass destruction, both levelled against the much-awaited release of Sony's PS3. In this clash of gaming titans, Cole predicts that Nintendo would come in first.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Although it will be nice seeing two of the most reliable companies joining forces to bring better services to gamers, gaming research firm DFC Intelligence says we shouldn't bank on the Apple-Nintendo merger.

According to DFC Intelligence President David Cole, in light of the upcoming Wii, now is not the best time for Nintendo to sell. Although notably the loser in the last generation console war, Nintendo will now have a chance to redeem themselves and to "restart their market share" with the advent of the next generation.

Cole also pointed out, "Obviously Nintendo has done really well in terms of their profitability and their market value has really held up—if you go back and look at how their market value has held up over this past generation compared to, say Sony and Microsoft, who have seen drastic declines in their market value."

If the Wii comes out and if it flops, then talks of a merger with Apple and Nintendo may as well be more believable. Yet if this happens, one should also put into mind that "news" like these always lean on the speculative side rather than conclusive. "When you're talking about mergers of that size, there's always so many moving parts, especially when you've got an established Japanese company possibly merging with a North American company—and that's always just very speculative. Even if they start talks, it's just months and months of trying to get together and oftentimes they just clash at the last minute," explains Cole.

However, it is not unlikely that Apple is interested in Nintendo, says Cole. What made the whole talk "pure rumor" is the fact that Nintendo will most likely turn down such offer by Apple. Cole offers, "[Apple] could start reaching out to see if Nintendo is interested, and then [Nintendo] say no. That would probably be the most likely scenario that I would see. You know, companies are always talking with each other... which can lead to rumors and speculation. It just goes on all the time. The chance of something actually getting finalized is a totally different ballgame."

So although the fact that Apple may start being more active in the gaming race, considering talks that they have LucasArts' tech director Mike Lampbell onboard, they just have to do their gaming ventures without the aid of Nintendo. And Nintendo has to wage its next-gen battle without Apple.