13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Video game market heats up for holiday season

Video game market heats up for holiday season

There are more choices than ever when it comes to video games and the biggest names in the business will be facing more competition than ever this holiday.

Inside his game arcade on wheels, Brent White demonstrated the latest generation of video game fitness from Nintendo, called Wii Fit Plus.

"So it has all the same great strength training exercises and yoga exercises that were in the original Wii Fit, with some additional workouts as well," White said.

With two months until Christmas, he is on a corporate cross-country trip to get the word out on Nintendo's newest games. Nintendo has been riding the wave of the Wii since its rollout three years ago, but the system isn't selling as well as it once did. The company recently cut the price of its Wii system by $50 and its chief competitors, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 have cut prices as well.

Video game systems are feeling the squeeze from the pervasive availability of video gaming. You don't need a standalone system anymore, you can play video games on your cell phone, iPod or MP3 player. Even social networking Web sites like Facebook are inundated with games like Mafia Wars, where users constantly call on each other to play.

But there is a solid core of gamers who prefer the dedicated video game system like the Nintendo Wii, along with its handheld system, the DS. One strategy to boost sales is bringing back classic titles like Super Mario Brothers.

"For the first time, its up to four people at the same time, so four people can play at the same time, either cooperatively or competitively," White said.

This holiday season, game makers will look to classic titles and themes to draw in more of the mainstream. If anything, it's nostalgia they're counting on to appeal to the grown-ups who will do the bulk of the buying for their kids this holiday.

Video game analysts say they expect healthy sales of music-based video games over the holiday, in particular, "Beatles - Rock Band" and the fifth generation of "Guitar Hero."