India gets its ‘apna’ gaming brand. So gamers get set to enter the gaming world with our ‘desi’ gaming consoles.
Noida-based HCL Infosystems has launched its gaming sector and has become India’s first company to enter the gaming zone. Having launched handheld consoles, HCL is now ready to pit against brands like Sony and Nintendo. IT experts say that since the company plans to expand its business, they have taken this move.
The executive vice president of the company, George Paul said, “
We believe that casual games still have a huge market in the pre-teens segment and HCL is readying various devices and games to target this segment
.”
HCL ME is designed for kids between the four and 15 age group. The prices range between Rs799 and Rs4, 990, which is less expensive than Sony PSP and Nintendo DS which cost Rs5, 000.
The company has also improved its technology by launching two new HCL ME-converged devices that include multimedia options like imaging, recording TV programmes and voice recording on the consoles.
The HCL ME F25 and the HCL ME D75, K28 are for girls and boys respectively. The ones launched for the girls are heart-shaped and that for the boys is robust in black. Moreover, HCL is also packaging about 25-100 game titles free with its consoles bundle.
The Indian gaming industry is gaining impetus. Reports by industry analysts predict that the entertainment industry in India is going to be a Rs1, 160 crore market by 2014. Currently, there are about 300,000 handheld consoles in the country with an annual a 35 % growth rate.
HCL’s move has given its competitors some jolts as rival company Nintendo now eyes at 3D gaming. Sony, too, is coming up with a portable device that has features of a handheld game machine, netbook computers and an E-book reader.
Now with the launch of gaming consoles by another biggie, the competition is going to get fierce. We don’t know who is going to take the lead. But what we do know for sure is that with better technology, wider range and effective pricing, the gamers are going to win this game because they have so much more to choose from.
