Can't make it to the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show? Never fear, the Fool is there to check out the tech and report back on who's there and what's new. With thousands of products in more than 15 categories, the next big thing is surely making its debut at the CES in Las Vegas.
Video gaming systems are evolving to provide more general entertainment. Fortunately, this turns out to be good news for consumption of both gaming and entertainment, and may open the door to lucrative crossovers.
There were countless trends emerging from CES 2014 this year, but the real question for investors is how to capitalize on these revolutionary opportunities. Fortunately for you, David Gardner has an idea or two on how to invest in these new emerging technologies -- and how you can profit. Get in on the ground floor now by clicking here.
A full transcript follows the video.
Eric Bleeker: Hey Fools, I'm Eric Bleeker from the floor of CES. One great part of CES is you get awesome access, especially to leaders of companies; they're talking at panels, they're making themselves accessible to media.
One leader I was just able to talk to was the head of Xbox, Marc Whitten. His discussion on the panel was regarding set top boxes and the future that video games can play there. With him were some other industry figures, such as YouTube channels, and also the head of Ubisoft's marketing.
One key point from this was whether or not video games turning into general entertainment systems, themselves, would cannibalize the act of playing video games; whether or not people would turn off video games and then move toward entertainment instead.
What they've seen is actually the opposite. The use of more entertainment factors in video game systems is driving more video game playing, as well as entertainment consumption; your very definition of a virtuous cycle.
What this means to investors out there is it furthers the concept of video game companies actually becoming full entertainment properties.
What do I mean by that? Look at an Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). You have these wonderful products, such as World of Warcraft, Skylanders -- the list goes on and on -- Call of Duty. As they become broader entertainment companies, the ability to maybe extend into television shows and movies, and very lucrative areas, is increased.
Or you could look at another company like Electronic Arts (EA -1.09%), which has its own fantastic IP.
One key learning experience from the conference so far, set top boxes and general entertainment in video games is helping push the publishers themselves closer to becoming broader entertainment companies. That's it for this take. For all your CES news, check back to Fool.com. Fool on!
