Video games have emerged recently as one of the biggest industries in the world, but the category is yet to take off in emerging markets like Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Zeebo Inc is set to change this with the launch of its inexpensive and accessible new console.
“Due to rampant piracy, steep import duties and high retail prices, today’s popular gaming platforms aren’t affordable for the rising middle class. Top games aren’t available in legal, localised versions,” said Zeebo on its website.
According to Zeebo, a huge market is going untapped by consumer electronics companies and content providers, and the potential for the gaming category to grow in these emerging markets is incredible. Zeebo is estimating a possible 800 million potential users.
Zeebo is launching what they call the “video game console for the next billion” in Brazil next month for $199 and other countries later in the year for $179.
The main draw card for the new console is the fact that it uses mobile phone technology to allow users to download games for just over $10 a piece.
The fact that this new console uses mobile phone technology to connect to the internet is a huge benefit for Zeebo, due to the fact that mobile phone service is much more readily available in emerging countries.
The Zeebo is not aimed at competing directly with the major players Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, mainly due to the fact that it simply doesn’t compare in terms of technical specifications.
When it comes to specifications, the Zeebo comes somewhere between the original Playstation and the Playstation 2, which is quite outdated in western nations. But in emerging countries around the world most people have never experienced video games or are currently playing consoles which are two decades old.
Therefore the Zeebo has huge potential to tap in to these relatively new markets, and introduce a whole new level of gaming to the rest of the world.
Some big game publisher’s have already signed up for the Zeebo, including Electronic Arts Inc, THQ Inc and Activision Blizzard Inc, so the industry has definitely seen potential in this new format.
But one of the main areas the Zeebo has to overcome is piracy, which is rampant in the targeted countries. The massive losses software piracy has caused has discouraged many content providers away from emerging markets, but the Zeebo is keen to fix this due to the fact that it is very cost effective and will only cost a couple of dollars more than an average pirated title on the market.
Expanding the immensely popular video game market to previously untouched markets is a bold idea and Zeebo is hoping it will pay off. If anything the recent popularity of Nintendo’s Wii should give hope to the company, due to the fact that it has opened up the category from a once niche market to a staple in the typical home.