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美聯(lián)英語(yǔ)提供：娛樂(lè)英語(yǔ) 電玩行業(yè)的數(shù)碼分水嶺隨這個(gè)圣誕假期而至

SEATTLE — This holiday season could be remembered as a digital watershed for the games business, the moment when the old way of selling video games — on discs in boxes — finally gave way to downloads.西雅圖——這個(gè)圣誕假期可以被視為游戲行業(yè)的數(shù)碼分水嶺，以盒裝光盤銷售游戲的舊方式最終被下載取代。

The industry has been pointed in this direction for years.But the signs of a sharp turning point have piled up in the last month, as new data points have painted conflicting pictures of the game industry.多年前就有人指出，這是電子游戲行業(yè)未來(lái)的方向。但深刻變革的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)一直在醞釀當(dāng)中，直至上個(gè)月才真正到來(lái)。不過(guò)，新的數(shù)據(jù)為這一行業(yè)描繪了種種互相矛盾的畫面。

On one hand, recent market research shows that physical game sales declined in November, and GameStop, a leading retailer, reported disappointing earnings that made its stock tumble.一方面，最近的市場(chǎng)研究顯示，11月，實(shí)體游戲的銷量顯著下降，頂尖零售商GameStop的盈利令人失望，導(dǎo)致其股價(jià)下跌。

On the other, game companies swear that things are going great.Big titles are setting sales records, and Sony, the leading maker of game consoles, says the latest PlayStation has been selling at a faster clip than any previous generation of the hardware.另一方面，游戲公司說(shuō)他們的生意非常好。大公司創(chuàng)下了銷售記錄，電視游戲設(shè)備的頂尖生產(chǎn)者索尼公司稱，公司最新的PlayStation的發(fā)售比以往每一代的硬件都快。

Why the disparity?

為什么會(huì)有這種落差？

A number of factors are at play, but none as significant as the industry’s march toward a future of games downloaded over the Internet rather than bought in stores, analysts said.All mobile games are delivered over the Internet, as are nearly all PC games.But the transition for console games — the biggest segment of the business — has been far slower.Large game files could take hours to download and quickly fill a console’s hard drive.分析師們說(shuō)很多因素在起作用，但最重要的是行業(yè)的趨勢(shì)是從互聯(lián)網(wǎng)下載游戲，而不是從實(shí)體店購(gòu)買游戲。所有手機(jī)游戲都是從網(wǎng)上購(gòu)買的，大多數(shù)電腦游戲也是如此。但是電視游戲（這個(gè)行業(yè)最大的一塊）的步伐一直較為緩慢。大型游戲文件需要花好幾個(gè)小時(shí)下載，會(huì)很快裝滿電視游戲設(shè)備的硬盤。

Now, faster broadband speeds and the bigger hard drives in the latest generation of consoles are reducing those obstructions.現(xiàn)在，有了更快的帶寬，新一代的電視游戲設(shè)備也有了更大的硬盤，這些障礙就消除了。

“It finally feels like the inevitable is becoming the inevitable,” said Evan Wilson, an analyst who follows the game industry for Pacific Crest Securities.“It feels like this is the holiday season where it’s finally having a big impact.”

“最終，不可避免的變化好像真的變得不可避免了，”太平洋皇冠證券(Pacific Crest Securities)負(fù)責(zé)游戲行業(yè)的分析師伊萬(wàn)·威爾遜(Evan Wilson)說(shuō)。“好像就是這個(gè)假期，變革終于產(chǎn)生了巨大影響。”

Electronic Arts, the big games publisher behind Madden and Need for Speed, says about 20 percent of its new console games are now downloaded, compared with around 10 to 15 percent last year.For other publishers, the number may be 25

percent or more.游戲大廠藝電公司(Electronic Arts)曾經(jīng)推出《Madden》系列和《極品飛車》(Need for Speed)，它聲稱，公司推出的電視游戲中，目前有20%是通過(guò)下載購(gòu)買，去年這個(gè)數(shù)字是10%到15%。其他公司的下載銷售比例則占25%或更多。

As a result, it is becoming harder to judge the health of the industry based on sales of physical game discs.NPD Group, a research firm that tracks retail sales in the United States, showed a 7 percent decline in November game sales from the same month a year ago.因此，要根據(jù)實(shí)體游戲光碟銷量來(lái)判斷這個(gè)行業(yè)走勢(shì)是否良好，就變得更加困難。調(diào)查公司NPD集團(tuán)研究了美國(guó)的零售數(shù)據(jù)，表明今年11月，游戲銷量比去年11月下降了7%。

Mr.Wilson of Pacific Crest characterized the figures in the title of a research report: “Shockingly Bad NPD Data Shows Big Physical Challenges.”

太平洋皇冠證券的威爾遜在一份報(bào)告的標(biāo)題中概括了一下：“極糟的NPD數(shù)據(jù)表明實(shí)體銷售面臨巨大挑戰(zhàn)”。

A couple of weeks earlier, there was similarly grim news from GameStop, the

big specialty retailer, which blamed a disappointing earnings report for the period ending Oct.31 on weak new game software and hardware sales.幾周前，大型游戲業(yè)零售商GameStop也傳來(lái)類似的嚴(yán)峻消息，它認(rèn)為，盈利報(bào)表之所以令人失望，主要是由于截至10月31日，新的游戲軟件與硬件都銷量不佳。

Executives at GameStop caused a further stir when they said one of the most anticipated games of the season, Star Wars: Battlefront, had missed their internal sales forecasts during the quarter.The stock of Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, fell 5 percent the day of the remarks.GameStop的管理人員說(shuō)，本季最受期待的游戲之一《星球大戰(zhàn)：前線》(Star Wars: Battlefront)在本季的網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售沒(méi)有達(dá)到預(yù)期，這番話更加令人震驚。消息傳出當(dāng)日，該游戲的發(fā)行者藝電公司的股票就下跌了5%。

The numbers were particularly striking because if game sales are ever going to grow, the time is now.The biggest games of the year have just landed on store shelves — including Fallout 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and Star Wars: Battlefront — and demand for them is running high among holiday gift buyers.這些數(shù)字之所以令人震驚是因?yàn)椋绻f(shuō)游戲銷量有所增長(zhǎng)，那么時(shí)間就是現(xiàn)在。今年最大的幾個(gè)游戲都已經(jīng)上架，包括《輻射4》(Fallout 4)、《使命召喚12： 黑色行動(dòng)3》

(Call of Duty: Black Ops 3)和《星球大戰(zhàn)：前線》。為假日購(gòu)買禮物的人正好需要買游戲。

What is more, the industry is in the sweet spot of the hardware cycle, when the latest consoles from Sony and Microsoft are in plentiful supply and their prices have come down, and game publishers are cranking out titles that better exploit their capabilities.此外，在硬件更新的循環(huán)中，這個(gè)行業(yè)正處于有利階段，索尼和微軟最新的電視游戲設(shè)備供應(yīng)充足，價(jià)格有所下降，游戲生產(chǎn)商正在推出能盡量利用游戲機(jī)新功能的游戲。

Sony, for one, says its console sales have never been better.The company reported that it sold 30.2 million PlayStation 4s worldwide as of late November, just days after the second anniversary of the product.By comparison, it took around two years and two months for Sony to ship about 30 million PlayStation 2s — the previous high-water mark for Sony in the game business.比如，索尼說(shuō)，公司的電視游戲機(jī)銷量之好堪稱前所未有。11月，公司在全球售出了3020萬(wàn)臺(tái)PlayStation 4S電視游戲機(jī)，要知道這款產(chǎn)品剛剛推出兩年而已。與之相對(duì)照，此前索尼花了兩年另兩個(gè)月時(shí)間，才售出了3000萬(wàn)臺(tái)PlayStation 2S——而那是索尼在游戲行業(yè)內(nèi)的上一次高峰。

One factor in NPD’s declining game sales is that the research firm does not

include games that are bundled with consoles — an increasingly popular option for buying the machines — in its software sales data.But a much bigger reason is that it does not include digital downloads of games in its monthly tallies of the industry.NPD統(tǒng)計(jì)出游戲銷量下降還有另一個(gè)原因，那就是該調(diào)查公司沒(méi)有把和電視游戲設(shè)備捆綁銷售的游戲統(tǒng)計(jì)入軟件銷售數(shù)據(jù)，而這種捆綁銷售方式已經(jīng)日益為電視游戲機(jī)買家所青睞。但是，還有一個(gè)更大的原因，那就是它沒(méi)有把通過(guò)數(shù)字下載銷售的游戲計(jì)入每月賬目當(dāng)中。

Liam Callahan, an analyst at NPD, said the firm includes digital sales in a game report that comes out every quarter.For the first nine months of the year, game spending on physical formats was flat compared with the same period in 2014.When digital sales were included, there was an 8 percent increase, he said.NPD分析師連姆·卡拉漢(Liam Callahan)說(shuō)，公司把網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售計(jì)入了另一份每季度發(fā)表的游戲業(yè)統(tǒng)計(jì)報(bào)告中。他說(shuō)，在今年的前9個(gè)月里，游戲業(yè)的實(shí)體光盤銷售是和2014年同期持平的，如果把網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售數(shù)據(jù)加進(jìn)來(lái)，就有8%的增長(zhǎng)。

“It’s clear digital downloading is becoming a bigger deal,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.“顯然，數(shù)字下載成了更大的交易，”韋德布拉什證券(Wedbush Securities)的分析師邁克爾·帕奇塔(Michael Pachter)說(shuō)。

After GameStop’s comments about Star Wars: Battlefront rattled investors, a senior executive at Electronic Arts, Peter Moore, said at a conference that there was “no weakness that is perceptible yet in the title.” He reiterated the company’s previous projection that it would sell 13 million copies of the game during its fiscal year.GameStop對(duì)《星球大戰(zhàn)：前線》的評(píng)價(jià)令投資者深感不安，其后，藝電公司的資深執(zhí)行官彼得·摩爾(Peter Moore)在一次會(huì)議上說(shuō)，“迄今這個(gè)游戲沒(méi)有什么明顯的弱點(diǎn)，”他一再重申了公司之前的預(yù)測(cè)：這個(gè)游戲?qū)⒃诒矩?cái)政年度售出1300萬(wàn)份。

The bigger threat appears to be for retailers that fail to adjust to the changing market.The list of retailers that have been vaporized by the Internet is long, including Blockbuster in movies, Tower Records in music and Virgin Megastores in both.對(duì)于零售商來(lái)說(shuō)，更大的威脅在于它沒(méi)有能夠針對(duì)變化的市場(chǎng)進(jìn)行調(diào)整。受網(wǎng)絡(luò)沖擊而消失的零售商是個(gè)很長(zhǎng)的名單，其中包括銷售影碟的Blockbuster，銷售唱片的Tower Records，以及二者兼顧的Virgin Megastores。

GameStop has increased its own presence in Internet-delivered games, but those changes have not moved the needle much.The company’s digital revenue in its last quarter amounted to less than 2 percent of its total revenue.There are limits to how much the company can sell digitally, though, since Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo operate the online portals from which the games are downloaded.GameStop也參與到網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售游戲中來(lái)，但這個(gè)舉措并沒(méi)帶來(lái)多大改變。公司上季度在網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售方面的業(yè)績(jī)僅占總收入的不到2%。不過(guò)，公司的網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷售是受到限制的，因?yàn)槲④洝⑺髂岷腿翁焯冒殉种螒蛳螺d的門戶。

GameStop has tried to diversify beyond video games by acquiring one retail chain that offers wireless products and another that sells and repairs Apple devices.Joey Mooring, a spokesman for GameStop, said the company’s in-store staff members provide guidance for customers.And through its trade-in program for used games, customers can get credits toward the purchase of new games.GameStop試圖令商品多樣化，跳出游戲光碟的范疇，它收購(gòu)了一個(gè)出售無(wú)線產(chǎn)品的零售連鎖，以及另一個(gè)出售和維修蘋果設(shè)備的連鎖店。GameStop的發(fā)言人喬伊·莫寧(Joey Mooring)說(shuō)，公司的店內(nèi)職員會(huì)指導(dǎo)顧客購(gòu)物。而且，通過(guò)舊游戲的以舊換新服務(wù)，顧客還可以得到信用點(diǎn)，換購(gòu)新游戲。

“Customers cannot access that expertise downloading a game, nor can they

trade in a digital game for currency that can be applied to the purchase of their next game,” Mr.Mooring said in an email.“有的顧客不具備下載游戲的知識(shí)，而且顧客也不能把網(wǎng)絡(luò)版本的游戲換成現(xiàn)金購(gòu)買下一個(gè)游戲，”莫寧在電子郵件中說(shuō)。

Eric Lempel, senior vice president for marketing at Sony’s American games division, agreed with the idea that many gamers want to talk to store staff members before making a purchase.The convenience of downloading a game directly to a console is appealing too, though.索尼美國(guó)游戲分部市場(chǎng)部門的資深副總裁埃里克·蘭佩爾(Eric Lempel)說(shuō)同意，很多玩家在購(gòu)買游戲之前，都想先和店員聊聊。不過(guò)直接下載游戲到電視游戲設(shè)備的便利性也很誘人。

“A lot of people are finding it easier to buy online,” Mr.Lempel said.“It’s open 24 hours a day.”

“很多人都覺(jué)得，還是在網(wǎng)上買更方便，”蘭佩爾說(shuō)，“它是一天24小時(shí)開張的。”