Dubai: Local gaming enthusiasts have a lot going for them this holiday season. The upcoming Sony PlayStation 4 launch in the second week of December apart, a slew of coveted gaming titles are headed their way.
“Gaming enthusiasts are counting down to the launch of the much-awaited Gran Turismo 6 (GT6) — the latest version of the most popular racing game from Sony PlayStation — on December 6 and two years after the launch of GT5 which has sold over 10 million copies,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, head — retail, Jumbo Electronics.
“The 70-million selling Gran Turismo (GT) series is PlayStation’s best-selling franchise ever since debuting in December 1997. It offers a unique level of realism and the incredible attention to detail means that the sound of the engines in the game is based on recordings of actual vehicles.”
Spike in software sales
As such, retail market sources believe that gaming market will have a good run. “We expect to see a spike in software sales in 2014 and 2015,” said Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer of Jacky’s Electronics. “Of the franchise titles that exist, we expect Fifa, Forza, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, Battlefield and Just Dance to continue to do well.
“EA’s NBA generally does well in most other regions, but has never been a major draw in the UAE. Angry Birds Star Wars may gain some traction as fans of the smartphone version of the game who aren’t hardcore gamers may find it more appealing.
“The appetite for gaming console gaming in the UAE has traditionally been quite large due to the fact that we’ve got a relatively young population that is also fairly affluent. Most research reports have traditionally shown that this region ranks amongst one of the fastest growing for console gaming and thus we expect the Sony PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to do well in the UAE.
“We’ve also several gaming software houses customise games for the region by adding features such as Arabic commentary on titles like Fifa 14 or PES 14.”
And a word of caution for those buying consoles from the grey market. “It is important to check whether you’re buying a PAL or NTSC console and whether the games available locally work with the regional settings of the purchased console,” said Panjabi. “Local warranties would also not be available on grey stocks... customers are urged to proceed with caution when buying through an unauthorised source.”