| Desroko said: How could NPD not foresee a service like VGC arising? Blogs have been driving the old media batty for at least five years, and this situation is analogous. |
Old business dinosaurs never see the new model arising in front of them, especially if it is a completely different model. The NPD has a business model that works, so why would they assume a better business model would arise that could obsolete them. The idea of a site like VGChartz forming would have been unfathomable even a few years ago by a company like NPD.
Don't get me wrong. The NPD won't be obsolete. But for some customers, they'll have to compete more aggressively. This is a headache for them, because they either shrink the size of their client pool, they adjust their prices, or they adjust their services. Of course, they *should* be able to open their methodologies and match VGChartz for services but it isn't easy making changes.
NPD will be fine, but they'll run into new challanges. To be fair, predicting something like VGChartz requires understanding the way the Internet makes available the ability to immerse yourself into your interests and share them with the world. The bottom line is that there exist people who are willing to do something like VGChartz for free -- at least at first -- and once their service becomes viable they're able to switch to a profitable company.
I don't know if VGChartz pays ioi's bills yet, but it will in the future if he continues doing what he's doing and continues improving the service.
