InfoAnda - Shares of video game companies swing on reviews |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Europe struggles for unity in face of recession | 1 February 2009
Bahrain bans Lebanon travel, sectarian tension rises | | 23 March 2011
Iraqis happy at U.S. pull out, but fear more attacks | 21 June 2009

Daughter of missing China dissident seeks US help | 28 October 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Shares of video game companies swing on reviews |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Green Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia Afghan Journal Africa Journal India Insight Global News Journal Pakistan: Now or Never? World Video Politics Politics Home Front Row Washington Politics Video Technology Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland Felix Salmon Jack Shafer Breakingviews George Chen Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook James Pethokoukis James Saft John Wasik Christopher Whalen Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers The Great Debate Unstructured Finance Newsmaker MuniLand Money Money Home Analyst Research Global Investing MuniLand Reuters Money Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Left Field Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Editor's Choice Novartis drug helps in childhood arthritis States join effort to stop AT&T/T-Mobile deal U.S.-Russian space trio lands safely RIM shares battered as questions swirl Power of suggestion affects heart arteries Shares of video game companies swing U.S. to develop chip that tests if drug is toxic MediaFile: Video titan takes aim at Netflix Video: Electric cars star at Frankfurt Slideshow: Flooding in Thailand Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Brad Pitt: I'm Dull, Jennifer Aniston's Not 6:04am EDT Geithner's "succinct" message irks Europeans 12:55pm EDT Private banks eye UBS's disgruntled rich clients 11:05am EDT Scarlett Johansson naked pictures leaked on Web | 14 Sep 2011 UBS trader charged with $2 billion fraud | 2:58pm EDT Discussed 160 Al Gore in 24-hour broadcast to convert climate skeptics 133 Number of poor hit record 46 million in 2010 50 Obama tries to sell jobs plan to Congress, voters Watched Scarlett's naked pics, Tyler Perry is highest paid Wed, Sep 14 2011 Lessons with Lego: the EU crisis Thu, Sep 15 2011 Buenos Aires Fashion week sizzles Mon, Aug 22 2011 Shares of video game companies swing on reviews Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Nintendo faces end of era after 3DS flop Tue, Sep 13 2011 Google buys Zagat to vie with OpenTable, Yelp Thu, Sep 8 2011 United States loses video game jobs to Quebec Fri, Sep 2 2011 Sony tablets fail to impress on price, hardware Wed, Aug 31 2011 GameStop's profit beats Street, shares recover Thu, Aug 18 2011 Analysis & Opinion Can Netflix still win when cable TV loses? PlayStation attempts fashion makeover, hires a Kardashian Related Topics Technology » Hot Stocks » Asian Markets » Media » Eighteen gamers demonstrate Electronic Arts' soon to be released Medal of Honor's online multiplayer feature during their press briefing ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, California June 14, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Gus Ruelas By Liana B. Baker NEW YORK | Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:50pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Want to know why video game stocks pop or drop? Check the reviews. For years, investors have turned to video game reviews to help make buy or sell decisions, moving the share prices of some video game companies higher or lower. They consult the website Metacritic, which tracks a large amount of reviews and comes up with an average score, as well as reviews from top video game outlets such as News Corp's IGN.com and GameStop Corp's Game Informer. And with the holiday shopping season approaching, when companies in the $64 billion video game industry generate the bulk of their sales and earnings, investors will be scouring reviews more closely than usual. "The review scores are a first indicator of how a game will perform commercially," said Jesse Divnich, a consultant and analyst for EEDAR, a research firm focused on the video game industry. "Investors will keep a close eye on them to measure potential success of a game." Shares of Electronic Arts fell 6 percent last October after review scores for "Medal of Honor," a military game in which EA had invested millions of dollars, came in below rival shooter games such as Microsoft's "Halo" and Activision Blizzard's, "Call of Duty." In March, "Homefront," a first-person shooter game from THQ Inc received weaker-than-expected reviews and scored 75 out of a possible 100 on the website Metacritic. Analysts called the scores disastrous, sending THQ shares down 20 percent that day. Just as negative reviews can harm video game stocks, positive reviews can boost them. Shares of Take-Two Interactive surged 10 percent over three sessions and reached a 52-week high in May after its crime solving game, "L.A. Noire," received glowing reviews and achieved a high score on Metacritic. One of the reasons why video game reviews carry so much weight with investors is because avid gamers tend to rely on them to help make purchasing decisions. Case in point: Eric Choi, a 23-year-old Chicago resident who buys between 10 and 15 games a year. After having fond memories of playing the action shooter title "Duke Nukem" growing up, he was happy to spend $60 on the latest edition of the game, which Take-Two released in June. That was until the reviews changed his mind. "When the reviews came in about how it was apparently a terrible game, it influenced my opinion and my decision not to buy," Choi said. Investors also took note. Take-Two shares fell as much as 5 percent on June 14 after the game scored in the low 50s out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviews have become so influential on sales, Divnich said, that his firm has been hired by major video game companies to write mock ones so that they can anticipate what real reviews might say. Divnich, who said he consults for about 90 percent of video game companies, brought in a former video game critic from a top website to both play the game and write the review, which is designed to look like a review coming from a large video game publication. The reviews are then sent to video game makers and never appear in print. "We'll type up a review as if it would be in a magazine," he said. "It's critical for them to know how well their game is going to be received before they launch a title." While Frank Gibeau, president of EA Labels, agrees that game critics and reviews play an important role in consumers' buying decisions, he also said that they are not always indicative of a game's success. "There is a correlation between the critical index and sales of any given game, but there are exceptions to the rule - games that don't score high marks in reviews but sell well and others that critics love but gamers ignore," Gibeau said. For example, THQ has said "Homefront," which received poor reviews, may end up selling 3 million copies, which would make it a commercial success. THQ and Take-Two declined to comment on this story. A poor review of a highly anticipated game may not be enough to convince an investor to sell off shares of a company entirely either, said Ted Pollak, portfolio manager of the San Francisco-based Electronic Entertainment Fund, which focuses on video game investments. Besides reviews, Pollak does other research to figure out if a game might sell well, including beta testing or monitoring early versions of games. He also considers the development teams behind the game and even looks at what type of technology was used in its creation. "If I was in a situation where I needed to trim a position, reviews could have an influence. But I wouldn't completely dump a company because one game didn't score well," he said. HOLIDAY SPOTLIGHT ON REVIEWS When publishers release their biggest games of the year -- the games that are expected to have a major impact on a company's bottom line -- the importance of reviews is heightened. "If 'Call of Duty,' which is half of Activision's earnings, gets a poor review this year, it will be bad," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, referring to the possible impact on Activision's stock. Activision will release the latest version of the game, its biggest video game franchise on consoles, in November. Last year, the game set a new record by selling 5.6 million copies, or $360 million worth, on its first day. Pachter says he considers review scores on websites Metacritic and Gamerankings.com, which are both owned by CBS Corp, for his investment recommendations. EA is mounting a challenge to Activision with its own first-person shooter game, "Battlefield 3," which comes out in October. Divnich, from EEDAR, expects Activision's game to sell twice as many copies as EA's game. But, he added, "if EA can gain higher review scores, it shifts the momentum in EA's favor." (Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Peter Lauria, Dave Zimmerman) Technology Hot Stocks Asian Markets Media Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Mobile Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Contact Us Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Newsletters About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Saturday, 17 September 2011
Stars agree to sell team to Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi
Novak Djokovic pulls out of Davis Cup match, Argentina takes advantage
Oman government assisting U.S. to release hikers in Iran
Ex-Cavs guard Mo Williams stands behind former boss
U.S. stocks trade in a tight range on Friday after 4 days of gains
Magnitude 6.6 quake hits Japan, no damage reported |
Supreme Court to decide whether ministers avoid job lawsuits
Google search page honors Vitamin C discoverer
U.S. says Algiers embassy alerted to al Qaeda threat |
White fruits and veggies may lower stroke risk
Europe dominates second day, pulls within a point at Seve Trophy
One-third of Americans think Hillary Cilnton would be better president
World reacted too slow to East Africa crisis: DEC head |
Berlusconi woes mount as suspected pimp faces trial |
Pakistan army doubts Afghanistan ready for pull-out |
France bans street prayers |
Ex-IRA guerrilla McGuinness to run for Irish president |
Blackberry Messenger disrupted in the Americas |
Seven states join effort to stop AT&T/T-Mobile deal |
BlackBerry maker's missteps stir talk of its sale |
Twitter's board loses two early investors |
Shares of video game companies swing on reviews |
Irish startup sells translation for app developers |
Software helps government track recovery funds |
Bluesman Willie Big Eyes Smith dies at age 75 |
Charlie Sheen admits he was not winning but losing |
Bocelli marks another milestone with NYC concert |
Contract reveals Beatles' anti-segregation stance |
Exclusive: Haqqanis to follow Taliban on Afghan peace |
Overnight shooting in Yemen's capital wounds 8 |
Wausau woman hooks national fame; hauls artificial leg in Minnesota lake
WNBA playoff: Harding pumps in 21 points, Dream tops Sun in series opener
Non Artest: Lakers star gives Metta World Peace a chance as new name
Emirates, Virgin America top Airline Passenger Choice awards
Youngster Lexi Thompson leads by two at LPGA Navistar Classic
Leafs sign defenseman Luke Schenn to five-year, $18M pact
U.S. confirms veto position if Palestinians move UNSC for statehood
Court clears Venezuela candidate to challenge Chavez |
No Doubt to delay album release until 2012
150 Jobs Available In $300m Iowa Aluminum Plant Expansion
Mark Wilson, Justin Rose share halfway lead at BMW championship
PE firms circling AOL turn attention to Yahoo |
Hulu sale at risk even as new bids are due |
EBay builds new division to woo developers |
Reality TV's Tareq Salahi seeks divorce from Michaele |
Ryan Gosling turns tough guy for thriller Drive |
Pearl Jam opens up on 20 years of rock fame |
Gaddafi loyalists resist and say NATO kills 354 Libyans |
Attack in western Ivory Coast kills 15: state TV |
Michael Allen moves in front at Songdo IBD championship
Mideast Quartet envoys to meet in New York on Sunday |
Small blast injures three people in India's Agra |
Jim Thome enjoys Target Field return, homers as Tribe edge Twins
Toledo crushed by Kellen Moore, Boise State at home
Austin Dillon wins Chicago Truck race
Somalia bans foreign aid workers from rebel areas |
Oregon State Divided over Approved Minimum Wage Hike
23,000 California nurses to go on strike Sept. 22
Accused Nigerian bombers are junior: government official |
Greek PM cancels U.S. visit to focus on debt review |
Chinese artist Ai weighs future as activist: report |
Movie slams pink-washing in breast cancer campaigns |
Paul McCartney posts wedding banns in London |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01