Sony Eyetoy Case
In the face of substandard EyeToy Groove sales, Executive VP Phil Harrison of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has to make the decision as to whether SCEE should continue to market the EyeToy, and if so in what manner and with what resources.
Despite the seemingly disappointing sales of EyeToy Groove, SCEE should carry on efforts to sell the EyeToy: marketing specifically towards children and families, offering hardware bundling options for all titles and collaborating with 3rd party software companies.
Criticisms that EyeToy will not appeal to traditional gamers may be true, but the market demand for non-mature gamers is strong. The majority of Consumer Responses to EyeToy Play praise the child, family and group oriented gameplay. Similarly child-focused games comprise 4 of the Top 10 Video-Game Console Titles in 2003 in the U.S., which demonstrates a preexisting market for games of an “E-rated” nature. Sony should capitalize on this existing market segment and emphasize the active and movement based nature that differentiates EyeToy from traditional video games found on this Top 10 list.
In measuring the success of Groove, Sony made the mistake of comparing it to the sales of the EyeToy hardware. Of the 2.5million EyeToy owners who purchased the Play package, 4% purchased the Groove software. This metric is comparable to the 6% of all PS2 owners who purchased the mainstream Getaway game, which was considered success. SCEE should aim to increase sales of an EyeToy hardware-game package, in order to create a future market for EyeToy software rather than prematurely market just software to an audience without the hardware.
The major risk associated with this recommendation is that SCEE will be unable to supply consumers with enough games in the long run to keep up interest in the EyeToy. To combat such a risk Sony should collaborate with 3rd party software companies such as Electronic Arts. By increasing the number of games that have EyeToy capability,
Despite the seemingly disappointing sales of EyeToy Groove, SCEE should carry on efforts to sell the EyeToy: marketing specifically towards children and families, offering hardware bundling options for all titles and collaborating with 3rd party software companies.
Criticisms that EyeToy will not appeal to traditional gamers may be true, but the market demand for non-mature gamers is strong. The majority of Consumer Responses to EyeToy Play praise the child, family and group oriented gameplay. Similarly child-focused games comprise 4 of the Top 10 Video-Game Console Titles in 2003 in the U.S., which demonstrates a preexisting market for games of an “E-rated” nature. Sony should capitalize on this existing market segment and emphasize the active and movement based nature that differentiates EyeToy from traditional video games found on this Top 10 list.
In measuring the success of Groove, Sony made the mistake of comparing it to the sales of the EyeToy hardware. Of the 2.5million EyeToy owners who purchased the Play package, 4% purchased the Groove software. This metric is comparable to the 6% of all PS2 owners who purchased the mainstream Getaway game, which was considered success. SCEE should aim to increase sales of an EyeToy hardware-game package, in order to create a future market for EyeToy software rather than prematurely market just software to an audience without the hardware.
The major risk associated with this recommendation is that SCEE will be unable to supply consumers with enough games in the long run to keep up interest in the EyeToy. To combat such a risk Sony should collaborate with 3rd party software companies such as Electronic Arts. By increasing the number of games that have EyeToy capability,