A list of top ten selling titles in Europe during 2007 reveals that Europeans prefer smart play over violence.
The IDG (International Development Group) values the European market at $17.9 billion in 2007, compared to $18.8 billion for the US. Forbes Online states that the European market is “dominated” by casual games and shows an “aversion to excessive violence”. Gaming news site Gamasutra adds “The number one selling title, actually released in 2006, is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (aka Brain Age) for the Nintendo DS. The only single format titles in the top ten are for the Nintendo DS and Wii, with the Nintendo DS described as controlling 26 percent of the European market. ”
Europe has twice the population of the U.S. the fragmented market - divided by different languages, cultures and laws - has often seen publishers concentrating on the North American and Japanese markets.
Euro Top Ten 2007:
1. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (Nintendo)
2. FIFA 2008 (Electronic Arts)
3. Wii Play (Nintendo)
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
6. Need for Speed: ProStreet (Electronic Arts)
7. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
8. Call of Duty 4: Mordern Warfare (Activision)
9. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo)
10. The Simpsons Game (Electronic Arts)
on July 27th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
All the Europeans I know play Call of Duty 4. Don’t forget, this is top ten selling. They don’t account for how many of those sold games are taken back to the store because the people hate them.
For example: Brain Training, NFS Pro Street, Big Brain Academy, and The Simpsons Game are all games that sold well but did not fare well in achieving a following. And don’t tell me the Brain games have a following. Anyone who is on the train or bus will turn on their DS because it’s easier than taking a console and an HDTV on the bus and making sure people don’t steal it.