Analysts: 'Board'/Party Games The Next Guitar Hero?

Author: by Staff

As part of the latest Analyze This column, multiple analysts have been musing on the next genre to break out, following Guitar Hero and Rock Band's success, with the 'board game for a new generation' - seen in titles such as Buzz! and Scene It? their top pick. Weighing in on emerging genres, The simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich said: "For emerging genres, we will likely see an influx of "board game" type titles over the next few years. I expect Scene It? on the Xbox 360 to have moderate success. Study tools and educational titles [are] a definite, as those have already had great success overseas." Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies discussed the term "social gaming," as he offered his ideas on what the next big wave might be, coming to strikingly similar conclusions: "A number of hardware and software vendors have used this term with me, and I think it is very interesting. Since the Wii came out, I have called it the "board game for a new generation" -- using the metaphor of a board game that many families still [play] but did more often before TV. This is where we are at today: playing games as a group is still desirable, but what a logical place for this to happen now on a game console. Another good example is Scene It? for the Xbox 360. I took Scene It? to our family Thanksgiving, and everyone loved it. In my opinion, Scene It? on the 360 was way more fun and immersive than the DVD [version of the] game. I think expanding the category for people to get more out of their consoles and begin having fun together as a group is where some truly new innovations will come from." You can now read the full feature, in which each analyst goes in-depth on what the next Guitar Hero phenomenon might be, and discussing emerging opportunities for new niche genres (no reg. required, please feel free to link to this feature from other websites).