Megarom is one of the biggest distributors of games in SA. They are responsible for the distribution of a number of great titles across the country, including World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Guild Wars, Fallout 3 and Aion.<\/p>\n
We caught up with Jason Borea, Megarom’s head of marketing, to discuss the game industry in SA, piracy and gaming in general.<\/p>\n
Hi Jason, would you like to start with a brief introduction of Megarom and yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n Hi Nic, Megarom Interactive Pty is quite simply a game distribution company where we have the exclusive right to distribute games into Southern Africa for a number of different publishers. I feel one of our key advantages is that we “only” distribute games and many of us here also actively play games passionately. (Sometime the passion can be quite competitive haha) I have personally been with Megarom from the start and worked my way through different facets of the business to settle nicely in my current head of marketing role.<\/p>\n How long has Megarom been operating for?<\/strong><\/p>\n Megarom has actually been running since 1995 where it started off as a single man operation run by Philip Court our current Managing Director and then changed around 9 years ago to Megarom Interactive Pty which allowed us to expand to where we are today as one of South Africa’s leading game distributors.<\/p>\n Which Publishers do you guys handle?<\/strong><\/p>\n We handle Activision\/Blizzard, Ubisoft, Namco Bandai, Take 2, NC Soft and Koch Media.<\/p>\n How would you describe the growth of gaming in SA over the past three years?<\/strong><\/p>\n The growth of gaming in South Africa in general has been fast and natural. As technology develops so does gaming as gaming is one of the key industries that utilizes new tech first. Take one of our new up and coming titles for example, James Cameron’s Avatar which utilizes brand new 3D technology for PC and console, we know that a fraction of purchasers will actually experience this mind blowing tech globally. In South Africa the numbers will be even fewer as I have not once instance of the required technology in SA and I have been looking. Gaming is also one of the primary drivers of HD technology; you only have to see how many HD screens are being purchased at the moment to realize the growth in this sector.<\/p>\n On a social note, when I got into the industry almost 10 years ago gaming was considered a niche’ pastime, undertaken by nerds living in dark dank dungeons. It’s good to see how times have changed.<\/p>\n Gaming is definitely here to stay and I don’t see it slowing down. I would say piracy is our biggest threat, mainly on PC and it seems there is a strong trend now on the Xbox-360 too. I also feel it’s a legacy or mindset that has been carried over from the good ol’ days when gaming titles weren’t always available locally and the only way to get them was to pirate. Piracy is a huge problem in all digital business and maybe that’s the reason; its digital you can’t touch it like a chocolate bar or car and maybe that’s what shields people’s consciences when pirating. I am sure most pirates would feel much worse stealing a ‘bar one’ from a supermarket, what makes piracy different?<\/p>\n Another hindrance is South Africa’s economic legacy whereby large sectors of our population live below the poverty line, gaming is just too expensive for large parts of our population. Hopefully with time this will improve and with this we will see a new growth sector form for gaming.<\/p>\n Other than this gaming locally is healthy and provided we have a constant flow of ‘good’ titles I don’t see a slow down.<\/p>\n How is it that PC game prices in SA are so competitive with international prices, but console game prices are more expensive?<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. PC games are not subject to royalties as are Xbox-360, Nintendo and Sony platorms. Therefore there are extra costs incurred for all games developed for Xbox-360, Nintendo and Sony.<\/p>\n 2. There has been a pricing legacy carried over the years whereby PC games have “sometimes” enjoyed more competitive pricing from publishers to help curtail the piracy problem on this platform. However this is not always the case.<\/p>\n 3. Also remember our local pricing should be compared with UK pricing as that is our channel of distribution and under closer investigation there should not be large variances in pricing. Some of the international e-tailers can be very aggressive with pricing and this would seem to be their strategy to build a strong customer base quickly. I have at stages had to look twice at their pricing and can honestly say have no idea how they sometimes get there. I’m an old school PC gamer as I find it a far more absorbing and personal experience for me. At the moment my limited gaming time is 90% consumed by Heroes of Newerth which I am totally in love with even though I never played DOTA. I often bear the brunt of raging gamers and am often called a n00b in-game hahaha. I am also currently weaning myself of WOW which I am sure I’ll get into again at a later stage. I’d say my favorite genre’s are RPG’s (Baldur’s Gate is still the best game I have ever played), RTS (Starcraft, C&C) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Starcraft II, Splintercell Conviction and in the distant future Diabilo III and Guild Wars II.<\/p>\n
What do you think is the biggest thing holding the SA gaming industry back from growing?<\/strong><\/p>\n
What is your favorite gaming platform, and what are you playing at the moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n
What soon to be released game are you most excited about?<\/strong><\/p>\n