A new video game startup company is developing a low cost console targeted at developing countries like Brazil, Russia, China, and India. Named "Zeebo" the console will run older games such as Resident Evil 4, Quake, and Sonic Adventure, all video game classics which have sold millions of copies in the US alone. The company has an innovative distribution model that they hope will both drive sales and reduce privacy. Rather than having gamers go out and buy physical copies of the game or set up broadband connections to download the latest games a-la Steam or Xbox Live Arcade, Zeebo wants to use the existing cell phone networks in place to sell games.
On paper the idea seems to be sound but I have my reservations...
For one, the makers of Zeebo hope to sell it at about $199 to make it relatively cheap and affordable. Yet $199 is still extremely steep for many inhabitants in the developing world not to mention that due to recent price cuts the Xbox 360 is now only $150 in most locations.
Secondly Zeebo is trying to sell classic games at 10 dollars a pop, yet the games vary wildly. For very old games such as Quake and Sonic Adventure this seems doable, yet I doubt companies like Capcom would want to sell their recent hits like Resident Evil 4 for the same amount.
And finally most games are written specifically for the consoles they will be released on. The Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo all have different coding systems requiring each game to have a team of developers porting it for secondary systems. The possibility of developers hiring employees to port their games to the Zeebo is slim.
Yet who knows, the Zeebo can be the next big thing, revolutionizing the way video games are marketed in developing countries. For now all we can do is wait and see if the makers of Zeebo can solve their significant and many obstacles.
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