Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1706
10 July 2009 Eventually the footwear designers decided to visit the art department, to see the tool in action. Not long afterward, the Skechers design department upgraded to Cintiqs as well, where 10 technical designers are using them to create the 2D shoe designs. As a result, new footwear designs are taken to completion much faster than in the design department's previ- ous workfl ow, which included pencil and paper and Intuos tablets. This has greatly increased productivity and design fl exibility. Outside of Skechers, Madrigal is also using the Cintiq for his personal artistic endeavors. One of his passions is comic- book art, and he is currently using the Cintiq to develop a comic book called TechSupport. "I'm excited about it, and the Cintiq has made things much easier for me in that regard, too," he says. "I love the freedom of experimenting on the Cintiq to develop characters." That kind of versatility has made the Cintiq an essential tool throughout the Skechers organization, freeing artists and designers to concentrate on their craft while boosting their productivity. And the results are apparent, with Skechers offer- ing some of the strongest graphics and shoe designs in the competitive footwear industry. ■ Skechers artist Anwar Madrigal was so taken by the Cintiq at work that he is now using it for his own artistic endeavors. NEWS: GAMING NEWS: GAMING PC Gaming Daunted but Unbowed by Recession According to recent market reports, consumer spending has slowed in all markets, but less so in the gaming industry, and in particular, less in the PC gaming segment. Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry's research and consulting fi rm for graphics and multimedia, recently announced the market forecast for PC gaming hardware, and the results are encouraging overall, even with the modest drop due to economic conditions. The total PC gaming hardware market is expected to drop roughly $1.4 billion (down 7 percent) in 2009 versus 2008, from $20.07 to $18.65 billion. The decline is due to reduced sales because of the recession and lower prices on PCs and components, also due to the recession and competitive pres- sures. But, in such an environment, PC gaming systems seem to have suffered the least discounting, which illustrates the value consumers place on such systems. Furthermore, in 2009, the PC gaming hardware market, approaching $19 billion, is expected to eclipse the hardware market for all gaming consoles combined by almost $2 billion. (Console costs include the console, a certain amount of accessories, and a factor for the cost of an HD TV on which to display the games.) The "JPR PC Gaming System Hardware Market Report" is a unique analysis that does a bottom-up forecast of systems based on GPU and PC shipments, and a macro-economic top-down forecast, based on the eco-demographics, which covers 36 countries. JPR updates the data in the PC gaming report every quarter to compensate for changing economic conditions, GPU and PC shipments, and the information in this release refl ects the latest results. The report shows the expected shipments in three classes: enthusiast, performance, and mainstream for both desktop and the newly emerging notebook category. It shows the distribution of branded sales (HP, Alienware, and so forth), non-branded (so-called "white box") after-market component sales, and DIY sales, as well as peripheral sales of gaming components. The PC gaming market is dropping a little in 2009, just like all other industries are forecasting, and yet, less so—but why? The conclusion the researchers at JPR have made is that people are staying home more—less movies, less dinners out, postponed vacations—and turning to other forms of entertain- ment. PC gaming is a very economical form of entertainment: A $50 game can provide hundreds of hours of play, and it's not uncommon for a person to replay a game. Also, purchases of a PC for gaming can be shared since the machine can be used for watching (and creating) videos, as well as offi ce work and Web browsing—something consoles can't offer. It took nearly fi ve years to bring this comprehensive report to life. Individual segments can be purchased separately from JPR for $5000, and the whole set is available for $12,000, which includes a bonus total market summary report. ■