Are we reaching the tipping point at which the downloading of games begins to dominate the industry? And will it be more about old games than new ones? Some interesting events this week suggest we’re close

During a conference call to investors and analysts on Wednesday, Electronic Arts revealed some rather impressive – and telling – figures. Apparently, the company’s revenue from digital games exceeded $1bn in 2011.

Its controversial download service Origin generated $100m through the year, its social and casual games performed well, and its online multiplayer release – Star Wars: the Old Republic – managed to attracted 1.7 million paid subscribers barely a month after its launch.

Of course, the publisher’s boxed big-hitters – Fifa 12 and Battlefield 3 – did good business too, selling 10m units each, but the thrust of the company’s attempts to claw back into profit are coming from the digital sector.

Meanwhile, fellow publishing veteran THQ is reported to be in dire straights, cutting staff and facing a Nasdaq delisting.

Although the company was one of the first publishers to recognise the rise of mobile gaming with its THQ Wireless arm, it has not succeeded in transferring major brands such as Saints Row and Darksiders to mobile and social platforms. In fact, it sold its Wireless division in February 2011, while a lacklustre Facebook version of Saints Row did little to take on the likes of Mafia Wars at its own game.

THQ’s problems no doubt run deeper than failing to exploit the rise of digital downloading, but it seems as though the future of traditional publishers is going to rest on how well they’re able to explore the online, mobile and downloadable possibilities of their brands.

Physical media, though beloved of hardcore gamers, is generally suffering. The high street chain Game is facing its own major difficulties – financing problems have led to rumours that its stores would be unable to stock the week’s new releases; though the company has since confirmed that the likes of Metal Gear Solid HD and Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be on sale this weekend, and that it has secured new deals with lenders.

Meawhile, digital newcomers are flourishing. Freemium publisher BigPoint announced on Tuesday that it now has 250 million users of its free-to-play online games; on the same day, web gaming company Spil Games, revealed that it now boasted 170 million unique users, with many of its customers spending up to £38 a month on virtual goods. A recent report by Juniper Research claimed that in-game purchasers would be spending $4.8 billion by 2016.

“My basic argument for digital generally is that, first, it allows the publisher to reach a massive audience at no marginal cost, by going free,” says games industry analyst Nicholas Lovell.

“Secondly, it allows you to let the people who love what you do to spend lots of money – for example, the Bigpoint users spending €1,000 on a drone.”.

Unsurprisingly then, smaller developers are increasingly adopting digital-only agendas. On Monday, the UK game developer trade body, Tiga, released a report showing the impact of digital downloads on British studios.

Apparently, 102 British games companies are currently developing browser and download-based casual online PC games. These studios released more than 600 titles in 2011 and employed nearly 700 development staff, contributing £70m to the UK’s GDP.

“We are fast approaching the tipping point,” says Tiga managing director Dr Richard Wilson. “UK retail sales figures for video games have been in decline for several years now, but all the indications are that digital consumption of games is increasing.

“Tiga research from 2011 shows that 50% of UK developers regard retail as the largest monetisation mechanic for their games. However, 47% say their games are also sold via online stores such as XBLA and the Apple App Store. 13% generate money from subscriptions, 26% via micro transactions and 29% use free-to-play mechanics.

“Additionally, almost half of UK developers are now self-publishing online or on mobile. The shift towards digital distribution is enabling developers to become self-publishers and reduce their dependency on publishers. It should also allow more innovation and choice for consumers.”

But more telling than new titles and fresh ideas are the possibilities for older brands in the digital space.

Earlier this week, the veteran MMORPG Everquest became a free-to-play title after 15 years as a subscription service. Long past its incredible peak as a massively multiplayer phenomenon, profit can still be made via a freemium model that will make the game more attractive to casual users.

Meanwhile, publishers such as Ubisoft, Konami and Capcom are busy filling the online stores of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles with spruced up versions of classic titles, as well as fresh additions to nostalgic lines such as Rayman.

While the ability to sell DLC and create free-to-play titles is enticing, it might be that the real driver into a digital-first business is the ability to exploit that old internet chestnut, the long tail.

In packaged-goods retail, games have a very short shelf life and need to make all their money in the space of a couple of weeks. After that, titles get shoved into the back catalogue. Years ago, there was another opportunity to make money here via special cheaper editions of old games – the PlayStation Platinum range, for example.

However, that market has been all but destroyed for publishers by the rise of the pre-owned sector. Go into any branch of HMV or Game and you’ll usually only see a chart display of new titles, and then a huge area dedicated to second-hand titles.

That’s because retailers make 100% of the revenue from these second purchases – there’s little benefit for them in providing shelf space to first-hand copies of older titles.

In the digital space, though, publishers can keep flogging old titles indefinitely. When the title is out of the charts, it can be kept alive with DLC; after this, there are price reductions on digitally distributed versions of the original games. And then, on titles like Everquest and Lord of the Rings Online, there’s the option to convert to a freemium model.

For new titles, the digital arena is more complex. As Lovell points out: “Chris Anderson’s original definition of the long tail is that in a world of infinite space, everyone can get on the shelf. But the App Store shows that just being on the shelf is no guarantee of sales.

“The App Store has hundreds of thousands of apps, and the long tail players are not making much money.” Indeed, research released last autumn by developer Owen Goss showed that 50% of game apps on the App Store make less than $3,000 (£1,900).

And over in the social and casual gaming spaces, it’s not old brands that are being regurgitated, it’s old ideas. Zynga’s release of Dream Heights on iOS has prompted a furious response from bloggers who feel it is effectively a rip off of NimbleBit’s hugely successful iphone game Tiny Tower, merely adding a social layer.

The cloning of games has become a huge issue in the sector, but with little in the way of legal recourse, it is running amok.

And really, the digital gaming princples behind continually re-inventing old brands for new business models and continually “borrowing” other studios’ successful ideas are the same.

It’s all about mining proven concepts for all they’re worth in a marketplace that allows swift development, easy distribution and lightening fast iteration based on rapid customer feedback.

Those who imagine that the tipping point from physical media to digital distribution will herald a new era of fresh innovative gaming experiences could well be hugely mistaken.

We may be about to enter a new epoch in which the digital sector transmogrifies into one giant thirft store – your favourite game ideas served back to you in different forms on different platforms by different publishers, forever.

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Slim-PS3 is updated regularly every day with all latest Free Sony Slim PS3 news, reviews and features.

In the game you take contol of both the Doctor and companion River Song, voiced by Matt Smith and Alex Kingston, to unravel the mystery of The Eternity Clock. Players sneak, run, swing and jump across rooftops and fog-shrouded London streets, heading “into the belly of the beast” to defeat the nefarious plans of the new-look Cybermen, Daleks, and Silurians, as well as the Silence. Er… what were the Silence supposed to be again?

The trailer offers little clue to the latest travails of the Time Lord, aside from telling us that the TARDIS is at the heart of the maelstrom. Ruined London streets and what looks like a mission into a vast Dalek spaceship have got us a wee bit excited about the game: Allons-y! Er, we mean, Geronimo!

There’s no sign of Amy Pond in the trailer — sorry dads — but you do see plenty of River Song. Press play below to see the action:

There are a bunch of options for Gallifreyan gaming, including cartoony online game Worlds in Time, iPhone and iPad puzzler The Mazes of Time, and various interactive episodes.

You can also play Evacuation Earth on the Nintendo DS and Return to Earth on the Wii.

For all your gaming goodness, check out our button-bashing buddies at GameSpot UK. They may not wear bow-ties very often but they all look great in a fez.

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock materialises on the PS3 and PS Vita via the PlayStation Network in March 2012, with a PC version to follow later.

Are you hoping to get your hands on a copy of the game? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Facebook page.

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Available to download from PlayStation Store now

Excited about PS3′s upcoming mega-exclusive, The Last of Us? Course you are, which is why you need to watch episode 17 of Access TV when it hits the PlayStation Store today, as Naughty Dog’s cinematic survival romp stars as Game of the Week. The Access TV crew go behind the scenes at Naughty Dog HQ in LA and chat to creative aces Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley – you seriously don’t want to miss it.

And LA isn’t the only place Access have been to this week – the team also jetted off to Canada for a first look at Radical Games’ action-heavy sequel, Protoype 2. The game is looking fantastic and there’s exclusive insight from the developers.

Fans of Spawn and Spider-Man will be excited to see Todd McFarlane on the show – he brightens up this week’s Bonus Level by talking about his latest creation – sprawling fantasy RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Todd serves as Art Director on the project, and designed everything from the gruesome monsters to the lush scenery.

As always there’s a blast through the weeks news and best PlayStation Store content, including info on Access’ ongoing Vita Rooms events, where you can get hands-on time with Sony’s brand new handheld as well as a shed load of launch titles.

Access TV is available on the PlayStation Store every Wednesday, free to download for all UK PSN users.

To sign up for future Access events or to hang out and chat with other members of the Access community, then visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/PlaystationAccess, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PSAccess. 

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Live Qualifiers available in Manchester, Glasgow and London.

Fancy a shot at $20,000? Of course you do, read on…

Every year PlayStation, EA and FIFA host the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC). This tournament sees gamers duke it out on the latest EA SPORTS FIFA title to determine which player is the greatest in the world. The prize? $20,000 USD and an invite to the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2012.

This year there’s 2 ways to get started in the competition. First, you can try your luck competing in online matches, using EA SPORTS FIFA 12 and a PS3. The second is by participating in a Live Qualifier event.

At a Live Qualifier you’ll be pitted against 32 fellow FIFA players in a knock-out tournament. Reach the final fixture of the Live Qualifier tournament and you go through to the UK FIWC Final. Win the UK final and we’ll fly you out to NYC to face finalists from the rest of the world. Beat them all and the $20K is all yours!

Details of this year’s UK Live Qualifiers can be found below:

16th January 2012: Manchester | 63 Deansgate, Manchester28th January 2012: Glasgow | 211 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow19th February 2012: London | Venue TBC

To register you’ll need to drop us an email during the registration periods listed below. If you’re selected, we’ll reply to your email with an invite to the Live Qualifier!

Manchester registration window: 12PM – 1PM Thursday 12th JanuaryGlasgow registration window: 12PM – 1PM Wednesday 18th JanuaryLondon registration window: 12PM – 1PM Wednesday 1st February

You should send your email to accesslive@scee.net with the subject line FIWC [VENUE] (replace VENUE with the venue you wish to register for – Manchester, Glasgow or London). Emails sent before or after the registration periods, or which don’t use the correct subject line, will not be counted!

You should join us on the PlayStation Access Facebook page and we’ll remind you when the registration windows are about to open, as well as provide you with loads more information about the FIWC Live Qualifiers: http://facebook.com/playstationaccess

A whole host of other information about the live qualifiers can be found on the FIWC website: http://www.fifa.com/interactiveworldcup/index.html and you can keep up with the FIWC on twitter by following http://twitter.com/FIWC

Good luck!

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Download it from PlayStation Store now

There will be blood when you check out Episode 16 of Access TV on the Store tonight. And torn limbs. And (if you’re squeamish) lots of wincing. So make sure you watch Game of the Week – which is the The Darkness II by the way – before you’ve eaten your supper. If you’ve got the stomach for it, the game is looking thoroughly excellent.

A bit more family friendly is the Access team’s visit to Elstree Studios to watch the Celebrity Special of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ being recorded live. Competition winner Rama Dainton won a spot at the recording, and also got to try out the new Millionaire game – available from the PlayStation Store right now.

Elsewhere there’s a review of western sci-fi blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens, which has Daniel Craig looking excellent in a fedora and Harrison Ford showing he still knows how to do that thing called acting.

Then there’s your roundup of PlayStation Store content to look forward to, which this week includes JRPG action in the form of Final Fantasy XIII-2′s playable demo, plus PSOne classic Wild Arms. And be sure to check out info on the Access Vita Rooms tour, a countrywide selection of public events that give you the chance to have a crack on PlayStation Vita before its UK launch in February.

Access TV is available on the PlayStation Store every Wednesday, free to download for all UK PSN users.

To sign up for future Access events or to hang out and chat with other members of the Access community, then visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/PlaystationAccess, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PSAccess. 

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The update to the dashboard of the Microsoft Xbox games console arrives tomorrow, with a swathe of apps giving you access to on-demand music, movies and more, as well as the usual gaming goodies. While iPlayer isn’t on board yet, it will be added to the service in 2012.

Apps will be searchable via Bing and controlled both by your voice and your flailing arms, thanks to the Kinect motion-control gaming system.

Telly channels offering access to their online catch-up and on-demand services include Channels 4 and 5, with 4oD and Demand 5 apps launching later this month. ITV is expected to bring its ITV Player service to the party next year.

Blinkbox, Vevo and YouTube also hit the Xbox in December.

Apps launching in the US include sports channels ESPN, streaming services Hulu and Netflix. Netflix will launch in the UK next year, but there’s no word yet on whether it’ll come to the Xbox when it does.

Meanwhile, Sky customers can watch their satellite sports, news and movie channels on their Xbox — in Germany. Sky Go, which lets you watch Sky channels on your phone, tablet, games console or laptop, is launching on the Xbox for our teutonic chums this month. Sky Go is already available on the Xbox in the UK.

Microsoft has also built a companion app for Windows Phone that allows you to use your phone as a TV remote, as well as searching and finding more information on what you’re watching or listening to.

The Xbox Live update goes, er, live tomorrow. What services would you like to see on your Xbox? Tell us in the comments or on our Facebook page.

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Hundreds of fans packed out the Assembly House pub in Kentish Town last weekend for a marathon two-day viewing session. They watched pro players compete in the Major League Gaming Starcraft II tournament held in Providence, Rhode Island. At stake was a $50,000 first prize and a serious buff to their reputations.

Competition among elite Starcraft II players is fierce, with top-ranking gamers such as Huk, Idra and Leenock performing upwards of 300 in-game actions every minute. But putting in the hours to master the game can reap great rewards, with the best players earning hundreds of thousands of pounds in prize money and endorsements.

Barcraft London organisers say convincing pubs to show their sport wasn’t easy. They approached 40 establishments in the capital before they found one willing to put Starcraft II on their plasma screens. But the landlord who said yes is reaping the benefits — he says Starcraft fans are better behaved and stay longer than fans of other sports. Since Starcraft tournaments are screened free of charge, he can also avoid licensing fees.

But what is it about Starcraft II that makes it such a popular spectator sport? How do the pub’s regulars react when they stumble upon hundreds of fired-up fans screaming at a computer screen? And should traditional sports be worried about this new trend? Find out all this and more by watching the video. You can hear more on this week’s CNET UK podcast, where we’ll be discussing the future of digital sports.

And if you want to attend or set up a Barcraft event in your area, you can contact the organisers on Facebook or Twitter. Let us know what you think down in the comments, or over on our own Facebook page.

Our site is updated several times every day with all latest gaming system news and console reviews.

Catch Access TV Episode 10 on PlayStation Store now.

In the words of undisputed champion of the internet, Zack Ryder – “It’s time for the latest episode of Access. Woo, woo, woo. You know it.” The wrestling superstar features heavily in Episode 10, as THQ’s grapple-heavy WWE ’12 goes under the Game of the Week spotlight. There’s also insight from lead gameplay designer, Bryan Williams – you don’t want to miss it.

Gran Turismo fans are in for a treat too, as Access visits the elite gamers of the GT Academy and gets whizzed round Silverstone by current champion Jann Mardenborough. Plus you’ll get an inside look at how the GT Academy programme plucks mega-skilled gamers and transforms them into professional racers.

Access Game of the Year voting also starts this week, so make sure you check out the reel of 2011′s very best games, before heading to http://facebook.com/playstationaccess to have your say.

Elsewhere there’s the usual round-up of what’s hot on PlayStation Store, featuring Batman: Arkham City downloads and Rayman Origins, plus a quick blast through the latest PlayStation 3 news which this week includes a very special cosplay lady.

To see Access TV before anyone else, download the latest episode from PlayStation Store every Wednesday – it’s free for all UK PlayStation Network users.

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Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we want to know — is the Xbox 360 still suffering from those infamous hardware meltdowns? Help us find out by answering our Facebook poll on the subject.

Two years ago we conducted a spot of research that showed an astonishing 60 per cent of UK-based Xbox 360s had managed to bork themselves, flashing up the terrifying red ring that indicates a hardware failure. Compared to its rivals, the PlayStation 3 and Wii, that’s an astonishingly high figure.

That was two years ago though, and since then have things changed? The Xbox 360 Slim that came out last year has a front display that means it can’t technically display the Red Ring of Death that has horrified gamers for years, but is it still failing regardless? Or has Microsoft managed to confine the 360′s unpleasant failure rate to the history books?

We want to know: if you’ve bought a new Xbox 360 in the last two years, has that console suffered from any hardware failures? Or has it been devoid of hardware hiccups, bringing you many hours of uninterrupted gaming bliss?

Both options are covered in check-box form in our poll, so head on over there and tick a box. And feel free to leave any additional thoughts you might have in the comments box on the poll itself.

We’re big Xbox 360 fans — nothing pleases us more than to settle down for the weekend with a brand-new game and a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Although we inevitably end up scalding ourselves with said cocoa while trying to remove that irritating layer of plastic wrap on the game, seriously, what’s with that stuff?

If you’re not a huge Facebook fan you can also tell us about your experiences with Xbox reliability in the comments below, via Twitter, or on our Google+ page.

Vote in our Xbox 360 reliability survey

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