TakeAway: Board game manufacturers are taking advantage of technology to not only breathe new life into the board game market, but also to enjoy enormous price increases.
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Excerpted from WSJ, “New Twists to the Games People Play,” By Ann Zimmerman and Joseph Pereira, December 9, 2009
Mattel and other makers of traditional games these days are increasingly turning to technology to attract a new generation of players. Hasbro has updated the classic Clue with a Secrets and Spies edition … Monopoly became the No. 1 paid application in the iPhone app store … One of the hottest games this holiday season owes its life to medical science. Part high-tech Ouija board, part Mousetrap, Mattel’s Mindflex purports to allow you to move objects with your mind through the technology in an EEG …
Toys “R” Us, which chose the Mindflex as a hot Christmas toy, is also selling a similar product, Star Wars The Force Trainer, by toy maker Uncle Milton Industries , which claims that players can levitate a ball inside a clear plastic 10-inch tower with their minds. It sells for $100.
“It is the first time you actually can use the force,” says VP merchandising at Toys “R” Us, adding that the toy is selling well despite its steep price tag.
With titles like these, toy manufacturers are experiencing something of a game renaissance. While sales of toys in the first nine months of the year were down 2%, board-games sales rose 8%, ahead of almost every category …
It’s unclear if high-tech board games will have staying power, but they’ve definitely created a certain buzz. Despite its $80 price tag, Mindflex is almost sold out. Panicked parents have been writing pleading messages on Twitter and other social-media sites, followed by triumphant posts when they secure a game … The mother of a 9-year-old girl says she didn’t mind paying $110, or a 38% premium, for the game online …
The recession has given a big boost to board games in general—even low-tech ones—as families forgo vacations and costly outings in favor of spending more time at home. Hasbro, the largest board-game seller with 53% share of the market, has capitalized on the hunkering-down effect, partnering with food companies and retailers in 120 countries to sell products as part of a “Family Game Night” promotion in the past year.
To entice new sales of traditional games, Hasbro has tried to spice them up with modern features …
The board-game business is also getting a boost from some parents who resent the growing popularity of electronic games …
At $10 to $35 a pop for most traditional games, board games are cheaper alternatives to vacations, ski-trips or even visits to the movies …
“To tell you the truth,” says Mrs. Murphy, a real estate agent, “we had forgotten how much fun games like Clue and Scrabble and Uno can be—not to mention how much money we saved.”
Edit by TJS
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Full Article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703558004574583922534512310.html#mod=todays_us_personal_journal
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