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Videogames

PR: Annual Revenue from Esports Betting Set to Reach $2.5 Billion in 2024

The rise in the popularity of Esports has also led to an increase in betting on its events. The esports betting market might still be in its nascent stage, but it is growing at an impressive rate. According to the numbers presented by NoKyc.com, the esports betting market is set to generate $2.5 billion in revenue in 2024.

Revenue from esports betting has grown more than four-fold in six years

Esports betting is a relatively new segment in the betting market, but it has already carved out a significant market share. All prominent betting companies currently offer betting on esports events. And as the popularity of esports continues to grow, as the number of esports every year grows, one can expect the same for the market size of esports betting.

As per the latest data from Statista Market Insights, the esports betting market is set to generate around $2.5 billion in 2024. An annual revenue of $2.5 billion would represent a healthy growth of $0.4 billion from $2.1 billion generated in 2023. Thus, on a year-on-year basis, the esports betting market is expected to grow by more than 19%.

If we go further back in time, the annual revenue from esports betting stood at just $0.6 billion in 2018. The growth of annual revenue from $0.6 billion in 2018 to $2.5 billion in 2024 means that the market has grown by more than 4x in the space of six years, which is an impressive growth rate for any market. However, as per the estimates from the report, the growth in esports betting is expected to plateau a bit in the coming years.

The market is expected to grow by another 12% to $2.8 billion in 2025. Over the course of the next four years, from 2025 to 2029, the esports betting market size is expected to grow to $3.5 billion.

As things stand, the United States represent the biggest market for the esports betting industry, followed by countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.

You can find the original story with graphs and statistics here: 

https://nokyc.com/blog/revenue-from-esports-betting-set-to-reach-2-5-billion-in-2024/

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Videogames

Hidden Gems for Ps4: Ender Lilies

Coming out this month for free on August 2024 in Playstation Store for the basic subscription was one game that I had been hearing about during some time and really wanted to purchase: Ender Lilies.

Though lately my taste has been trying to collect more physical copies of Ps4, this was an opportunity that I could not pass on (taking into account that 80% of the games that PS Store gives away with the subscription tend to be rubbish or mediocre, but from time to time they throw some gem like this or Streets of Rage 4) so I instantly started to play it after downloading it.

Now, after around 10 hours of gameplay (the full game to be completed as I did research online takes around 20-25 hours), I can say that this game is really a delight.

In its concept is a “Metroidvainia” game style, but the art and design of characters and scenarios are some of the most beautiful and exquisite I have seen on screen for a long time. Captivating atmosphere, not mentioning also an amazing music, I have had all day the music from some of the stages ringing on the background of my head.

The difficulty is hard but fair, and rewards a bit of tactics grinding some resources to enhance your weaponry. There is a vast map to explore and a wide array of enemies, and you will need to practice for a while until you master the best way to clear the path. The final bosses are quite tough when you advance in gameplay and I died multiple times, but really rewarding when you finally beat them. And you feel a special excitement anytime a new area/screen on the game is uncovered. The fast traveling in any of the saving checkpoints makes it also much more easier to explore around.

Although the artistic tone is different, I have been finding some similarities in style of play and in the toughness but excitement of defeating bosses with another jewel for ps4 that I completed last year: Tails of Iron, another game that can be considered as a great hidden gem. If you enjoy Ender Lilies, you will probably enjoy that one as well.

So is Ender Lilies recommended? Definitely yes! Just the art and design itself is worthy a try, but the more you advance in the game, the more you will feel motivated to lock hours of gameplay and discover more areas. I think that most of videogames fans will enjoy this, unless you are one that prefers easy games, cause Ender Lilies is definitely rewarding but not easy.

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Antonio's blog Blogs Videogames

Retro videogames prices in 2024. Speculation or normal?

One of my new hobbies during the last 3 years has been collecting retro-videogames. I consider videogames an important part of my life, as during my professional career I have worked with a couple of the biggest videogame companies out there in the world, EA and Ubisoft. It also brings a lot of nostalgia, as my first consoles were the Atari 2600 and the Sega Mega Drive. And Bangkok indeed is surprisingly a good place to collect, as it receives a fair amount of material from Japan with a decent price, sometimes with a really bargain price.

So during these years, I have been an avid consumer of material, specially on some specialized Youtubers collectors, as I wanted to learn more about the best games, the prices, the places to find good games, etc.
One recurring topic that comes again and again in the talks about collecting retro videogames is about the speculation. There seem to be a lot of polemic, and a fair amount of buyers, who are not happy with the current increase of prices in most of the retro platforms.

So is there really a problem? This is obviously my personal opinion, and you are welcome to disagree, so here is my take on the topic:

Videogames were never cheap. I was born in 1980, and when we had our first consoles (atari, NES, Master System, Megadrive, Super Nintendo) having own games was a treasure. You needed to save money for many months, or wait for a special occasion like a birthday or Christmas to get a new game. Nobody, except some children in families with a lot of money, had a collection bigger than what you could count with the fingers of one or two hands. What we used to do a lot was renting videogames during a weekend in the videoclubs. So taking that into account, it is still pretty incredible that a wide selection of those games can still be purchased 30 years later for 20/30/40/50 euro per unit.

Then there are a bunch of games whose price has already risen to the hundreds or even thousands of euro. Is that bad? Well I think that in the end it just applies a simple rule of offer and demand, like in any other area where people collect things, such as coins, music vinyls, stamps, etc etc. Some of those games were not produced in highly amount of units and therefore are difficult to find nowadays. You need to add that many of the original owners of those games were children that just wanted to play. Most of the original owners never cared much about the perfect conservation of their games, therefore countless boxes and manuals were thrown to the garbage. Add that to the idea that 30 years ago nobody thought that these items would be valuable, so it was very normal just to give your old console and games away to friends, relatives or they could perfectly end up in the garbage cans when the mothers were doing some spring cleaning in the house.

So why people complain about speculation? Well cause complaining is free. Of course everybody would love to have a vast collection with those amazing jewels per system per 5 euro the unit, but the reality of the market dictates that when an article is valuable and scarce, the price will increase as there will be some people always eager to pay more for an item. I do not think there is any secret conspiracy theory of collectors and companies storing secretly thousand of games for decades so just the prices increase. It is just how the market works with any other collecting item. And I think we are still very lucky to be able to buy and create great collections without spending a fortune.

Also, bear in mind that there are a lot of different ways of collecting retro games, and they are all valid. There is no particular rule, there is no official guideline. A collection is a personal choice, and the most important thing is to make you happy: some people are ok collecting only cartridges, some people want the CIB (Complete In Box) version with cartridge, manual and original box, some people pay a lot of attention to having the game in an inmaculate perfect state and some do not care, some people want to buy a game sealed and just put it on exhibition on the shelf… Remember, it is your collection, so just do what satisfies you more instead of trying to copy some famous Youtubers. You do not need to pay hundreds of euros for a perfect copy of a game to enjoy the hobby. And if you want to pay it, you are free to do it, but remember that the hobby should not create a problem in the economy of your life, as some people can go crazy and even get into money loans to buy games that cannot afford otherwise.

Also remember that at the end of the day, they are just physical items that are not needed as basics in your life. Nowadays you can play most of retro games in emulators, so you do not neccessarily need to buy the original games to enjoy the core of the hobby itself, that is no other than playing and enjoying the games. I collect games cause part of the fun is to search, compare prices, learn and the satisfaction when you find a great addition to your catalogue. But also do not get mistaken, if I would ever have the economical need, I would not hesitate to sell part or the whole of my collection if the shit hits the fan.

Meanwhile, enjoy this beautiful hobby, both if you are an old collector or you are just starting in the hobby. Be patient doing your purchases, and remember that, like in everything else in life, it is impossible to have it all. So just be happy and satisfied with what you have. When your collection grows too big, then you will probably not have even the free time to play to everything you wanted to.

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Videogames

Hidden Gems for Ps4: Souldiers

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Videogames

Hidden Gems for Ps4: Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron

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Videogames

Hidden Gems for ps4: Sine Mora Ex

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Videogames

Ps4 Hidden Gems: Hollow Knight

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Features Music Videogames

Megadeth Heads to Wargaming Metal Fest

Wargaming is proud to announce an electrifying collaboration with iconic metal band Megadeth. A multi-product music in-game event, called Metal Fest, will bring the thunderous power of metal to four popular products: World of Tanks Modern Armor, World of Tanks Blitz, World of Warships, and World of Warships: Legends. Scheduled to kick off on August 28th, the Metal Fest will be a celebration of the genre, featuring an exclusive voicer over by Dave Mustaine, the frontman of Megadeth, James Lomenzo, Dirk Verbeuren, Kiko Loureiro, and an array of Megadeth-branded in-game items including tanks and warships, in-game missions and quests, integrated songs and much more.

The highlight of this collaboration is the introduction of the band’s iconic mascot, Vic Rattlehead, who will be making his debut appearance in video games with a stunning 3D representation and unique voiceover.

“This is the first time our images have been immortalized in video games! Moreover, our mascot has unleashed its own roaring voice, adding even more metal mayhem to the games. We’ve laid down over 350 mind-melting voice lines, and players will feel the thunder as we command during the battles. We have tanks, we have warships, and we are ready for Wargaming Metal Fest!” said Dave Mustaine, the frontman of Megadeth.

Join Wargaming Metal Fest here: https://megadeth.wargaming.net/

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Videogames

Hidden gems for ps4: Blacksad

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Videogames

Hidden Gems for Ps4/Ps5: Never Awake