GameStop Execs Predict This Year's Hits (And Misses)
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
Consumers spent nearly $9 billion on new and used games, consoles and accessories at GameStop last year, so, when CEO Dan DeMatteo talks potential best-sellers (and flops, for that matter), people listen. DeMatteo and GameStop COO Paul Raines gave CNBC.com the rundown on what games and consoles will be hotor notthis year:
Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be big: "We think the new Call of Duty from Activision (NSDQ: ATVI) will be one of the best selling games of the year. People are dying to see footageor anything, reallyfrom that right now," DeMatteo said.
Music games will still be hot: Despite evidence of waning interest, Raines says in-store buzz is high for Activision's DJ Hero and The Beatles: Rock Band (from Harmonix/EA/MTV Games). "The Beatles is such a powerful brand. I'm restricted about what I can say about the game right now, but it is very cool and is a very thorough Beatles property," Raines said.
Both *Sony* and Nintendo need to cut console prices: DeMatteo said the PS3's $400 price tag is "clearly an issue in this economy"and that Nintendo may actually need to worry about the Wii: "I think [demand for] the Wii could slow down to the extent that Nintendo may want to cut the price," he said.
Photo Credit: Moe_
By Tameka Kee