Christmas Will be a Blast! For Retailers!
Blast! Entertainment launches a brand new £9.99 PlayStation 2 games range for kids.
London - 21st September 2006 - Blast! Entertainment Limited part of the Mastertronic Group of Companies rolls out a pan European, original children's PlayStation 2 range for £9.99, all with strong licenses and recognisable characters.
Blast! Entertainment will be taking advantage of the 35 million PlayStation 2 European installed base by bringing out previously unreleased games with well known licenses on PS2 for £9.99 or the equivalent, giving retailers and consumers the mass market choice for Christmas.
UK Chart track research shows that the PS2 Budget market as a proportion of the total PS2 market has increased from 39.7% in 2005 to 54.1% in terms of units and from 23.4% to 35.1% in value. Also Quarter 4 2005 represented 45% of the years sell through and therefore a strong release schedule will take advantage of not only the seasonal upturn but also the growth of the Budget PS2 sector. In addition to this the Top 100 Budget PS2 titles for June 2006 reveals around 30% of which would be considered children's/family products.
Blast! believes that new formats will be great for early adopters but these consumers make up a small percentage of the Christmas present buying public and new technology may have limited hardware availability over this period, new affordable PS2 titles for children will provide the mass market choice and provide fantastic, branded games at stocking filler prices.
PlayStation 2 hardware has seen a further price reduction recently which means the console will appeal to a younger audience, the Blast! range of titles includes major brands such as - Casper the Friendly Ghost, Babe, Dr. Doolittle the Movie, Jumanji the Movie, The Flintstones, Home Alone, Thomas the Tank Engine, Captain Scarlet, Bob the Builder, Beverly Hills Cop and A.T.O.M (Alpha Teens on Machines).
Sean Brennan, Managing Director, Blast! Entertainment - "Our industry is great at jumping on the bandwagon of new technology however this can sometimes be to the detriment of a true mass market opportunity and this Christmas the retailers will see their best chance at achieving success through the Blast! range which has that mass market appeal, coupled with the impulse price point and strong licenses, it guarantees the range will move off the shelves in massive numbers."
Brian Foote, Senior Buyer - Games at Sainsbury's commented "While the introduction of next generation formats is hugely exciting, we will not let it distract us from the massive opportunity at hand with established formats such as PlayStation 2 and PC. With a huge existing customer base and genuine mass market presence, it is essential that we allow users of these formats access to credible, high quality, value products. At Sainsbury's, we'll be ensuring that these customers are catered for throughout the gifting period."
Blast! Entertainment are the only publisher to bring brand new licensed games to market aimed at children and families at a lower price point, as far as republishing on PS2 goes the suitable games are rapidly being exhausted which makes the Blast! range unique in it's approach of using new games with big brands attached all at the impulse purchase price of £9.99.
Blast! Release Schedule
For further information on the Blast! range of products www.blast-games.com
Blast! Entertainment will be taking advantage of the 35 million PlayStation 2 European installed base by bringing out previously unreleased games with well known licenses on PS2 for £9.99 or the equivalent, giving retailers and consumers the mass market choice for Christmas.
UK Chart track research shows that the PS2 Budget market as a proportion of the total PS2 market has increased from 39.7% in 2005 to 54.1% in terms of units and from 23.4% to 35.1% in value. Also Quarter 4 2005 represented 45% of the years sell through and therefore a strong release schedule will take advantage of not only the seasonal upturn but also the growth of the Budget PS2 sector. In addition to this the Top 100 Budget PS2 titles for June 2006 reveals around 30% of which would be considered children's/family products.
Blast! believes that new formats will be great for early adopters but these consumers make up a small percentage of the Christmas present buying public and new technology may have limited hardware availability over this period, new affordable PS2 titles for children will provide the mass market choice and provide fantastic, branded games at stocking filler prices.
PlayStation 2 hardware has seen a further price reduction recently which means the console will appeal to a younger audience, the Blast! range of titles includes major brands such as - Casper the Friendly Ghost, Babe, Dr. Doolittle the Movie, Jumanji the Movie, The Flintstones, Home Alone, Thomas the Tank Engine, Captain Scarlet, Bob the Builder, Beverly Hills Cop and A.T.O.M (Alpha Teens on Machines).
Sean Brennan, Managing Director, Blast! Entertainment - "Our industry is great at jumping on the bandwagon of new technology however this can sometimes be to the detriment of a true mass market opportunity and this Christmas the retailers will see their best chance at achieving success through the Blast! range which has that mass market appeal, coupled with the impulse price point and strong licenses, it guarantees the range will move off the shelves in massive numbers."
Brian Foote, Senior Buyer - Games at Sainsbury's commented "While the introduction of next generation formats is hugely exciting, we will not let it distract us from the massive opportunity at hand with established formats such as PlayStation 2 and PC. With a huge existing customer base and genuine mass market presence, it is essential that we allow users of these formats access to credible, high quality, value products. At Sainsbury's, we'll be ensuring that these customers are catered for throughout the gifting period."
Blast! Entertainment are the only publisher to bring brand new licensed games to market aimed at children and families at a lower price point, as far as republishing on PS2 goes the suitable games are rapidly being exhausted which makes the Blast! range unique in it's approach of using new games with big brands attached all at the impulse purchase price of £9.99.
Blast! Release Schedule
- Casper and the Ghostly Trio - Out Now
- Babe - Out Now
- Jumanji - Out Now
- AMF Xtreme Bowling 2006 - Out Now
- Dr.Dolittle - Oct
- Beverly Hills Cop - Nov/Dec
- Home Alone - Nov/Dec
- Captain Scarlet - Nov/Dec
- The Flintstones - Nov/Dec
- Xena Warrior Princess - Nov/Dec
- Bob the Builder - Nov/Dec
- Safari Adventures Africa - Nov/Dec
- An American Tail - Nov/Dec
- Thomas and Friends: A Day at the Races - Nov/Dec
- A.T.O.M (Alpha Teens on Machines) - Nov/Dec
- Casper Scare School - Jan 2007
For further information on the Blast! range of products www.blast-games.com