Invest virtual cash in game sales

by Justin Murray { Dec 6th 2006 at 10:55AM }

Fanboys may have a serious fling with their various system, but are they willing to put their money where their mouth is? Apart from the indignity of having to go with a competitor (or give up on gaming entirely) if their choice fails to materialize as a big winner, most of the fanboy community doesn't have any tangible stake in the entire system; that is, they aren't going to be losing their livelihood over the downfall of one system or another.

A new site, The simExchange, asks fanboys of all stripes to ante up and bet on who is going to be the best; albeit, without risking any real money. The simExchange is set up as a stock exchange where users can "invest" fake money in consoles and individual game titles. Game values are based on sales levels or anticipation level for those that aren't yet released/currently in short supply; Red Steel is a perfect example, rising sharply until Wii launch then nose diving afterward.

The simExchange looks to be an entertaining diversion between your regularly scheduled gaming sessions and scouring Joystiq for news. The site could be a perfect way to test your ability to predict what's hot and what's not. Sign up and see if you can make a big profit, or you may end up diving off the top of the virtual stock exchange when you lose your eShirt.

[Thanks, Matt B.]

Tags: console wars, ConsoleWars, game sales, game stock market, GameSales, GameStockMarket

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Matti @ Dec 6th 2006 11:02AM

My stock is going all into Duke Nuke Forever!!!!!!!

Agent MOO @ Dec 6th 2006 11:03AM

Wow, this is obscenely pointless

crono141 @ Dec 6th 2006 11:32AM

No, buying porn is obscenely pointless.

Get it, because porn is obscene, and its pointless to buy it because you can get it free on the internet.

Yuk yuk yuk.

Ruan Caiman @ Dec 6th 2006 11:37AM

Predictive markets can be pretty accurate, actually, in predicting actual trends. Just do a web search on "predictive market", you'll see a lot of articles. Typically, they'll be good indicators of the future if -
1. The market's system is simple to use.
2. The market/game is used by experts.

I read an article once (can't remember the source) about big companies using "idea markets" for new ideas to invest in. It worked better than deciding at meetings around a table, because individual personalities were not as much of a factor.

Yahoo's had a "predict search trends" game set up at buzz.research.yahoo.com for a couple of years, with higher dividends going to those items that are more popular searches.

StalkerB @ Dec 6th 2006 12:04PM

Awesome. Like celebdaq but for games. If this kicks off it'll be pretty awesome.

Buy Halo Wars and Halo 3, through the roof I tells ya.

brad @ Dec 6th 2006 11:57AM

Im invested in Nintendo in real life and the stock has taken off for the past 4 months, espically this November. As a matter of fact it just hit a record high two weeks ago.

WatTsu @ Dec 6th 2006 2:26PM

This is actually pretty entertaining. I can see myself checking this daily.

*crosses fingers that Elebits and Lost Planet are big hits*

Drew2u @ Dec 6th 2006 2:10PM

"Apart from the indignity of having to go with a competitor (or give up on gaming entirely) if their choice fails to materialize as a big winner..."

Uh, whut? Seriously? So if your console isn't "The Big Winner" you will sheepishly buy "the winning console"? How much of a moron is the person that thinks and does this!?

Just get the system that plays the games you like, how hard is that?
I've stuck with Nintendo because it has the game brands that I like. The PS2 has a huge selection of games that I'd like to play/get, but if I'm not even anywhere near catching up to my Gamecube wishlist, why would I want to buy a second console? I don't want that much money and time invested in video games (but more power to ya if you do...yeah...)

Paul @ Dec 6th 2006 10:38PM

A few months back I invested in NTDOY, and so far I'm very pleased with the results. I'm hoping to cover the costs of a motorcycle sometime in the first quarter of '07. Whatever is left can be put to something 'more reasonable' like my college education.

Go Nintendo. It's all about the Benjamins.