”Casual” Video Games Lead the Charge in Transforming the Video-Gaming Market

Step aside, son, video games have a new player in town, in the form of women, baby boomers, and even seniors.

So-called “casual” games — new, easier-to-play games popularized by Nintendo’s Wii console — are catching the eyes (and fingers) of these new audiences, giving video games the potential to be “one of the few retailing success stories in what may be a lackluster holiday shopping season.” That’s the conclusion of the latest Sector Focus commentary by four consumer analysts at Turner Investment Partners.

Turner, an investment firm based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, publishes Sector Focus commentaries monthly as part of the continuing efforts of its five analyst teams to monitor the market sectors for its growth-stock portfolios.

The commentary, entitled In video games, the (casual) play’s the thing — written by Jillian Batten, security analyst; Bill McVail, senior portfolio manager/security analyst; Halie O’Shea, security analyst/portfolio manager; and Jason Schrotberger, security analyst/portfolio manager — notes that the video-game industry is expected to generate more than $17 billion in revenue this year and $48.9 billion by 2011.

The draw of casual games, such as Activision’s Guitar Hero III, is that the average person can play, without in-depth knowledge of a button- or joystick-laden console. The industry is also looking to broaden its appeal with games that feature more sophisticated graphics, movie-like story lines, and even exercise games, like Nintendo’s Wii Fit, aimed at the health conscious.

The analysts pointed to four companies they think have auspicious prospects over the next two years: video-game producers Activision, Electronic Arts, and Nintendo, and video-game retailer GameStop, each in their own way leading the effort to expand and broaden the video-game market.

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