Member Article

Meadowhall game for retail intelligence

Meadowhall shopping centre has been running in store events following National Video Game Day on Thursday.

They coincide with a major survey conducted by the giant retail attraction that profiles gamers and reports their choices so that its retailers can gain greater insight to their customers in the vital run up to Christmas.

The centre is home to gaming stores HMV, Gamestation and GAME, which are gearing up to what is predicted to be the biggest gaming period ever this autumn and will make use of the survey material to better target shoppers.

Meadowhall’s research reveals that the average gamer is 32-years-old and spends a staggering 18 hours a week playing video games.

South Yorkshire gaming fans were most likely to be hitting their consoles to play Gears of War prior to the GTA launch, with 33% of shoppers picking GOW as their game of choice, beating Auto to a close second.

Forty per cent of South Yorkshire gamers voted the Mario franchise their challenge of choice, according to the Meadowhall study, which chimes with the fact that Mario remains the most successful game series worldwide, with over 225 million games sold.

Armed with the research, Meadowhall’s GAME outlet has undertaken a five-day countdown to the launch of the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 on 17th September, which will be one of this year’s major releases.

The idea is to boost footfall and sales, engage with gamers and raise awareness of the latest version of the legendary title - the first the big game in the pre-Christmas market. The store will also be opening its doors at midnight Tuesday to provide access to GTA 5, as well as conducting previews for other new launches at student events in Sheffield.

Trevor Oldroyd, GAME manager at Meadowhall, said: “This autumn has been hailed as the Epic Season of Gaming, with Xbox 1 and the Sony PlayStation 4 launching one week apart in November, along with a large number of gaming companies also planning to launch massive gaming titles in tight succession.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .