Press releases
“I want to be a train driver” enjoys revival
02/01/2004
It may sound like lunacy to the millions of reluctant travellers who cram themselves into a railway carriage every morning, but a growing army of Brits are recreating train travel in their living rooms.
Sales of train driving simulators for home computers are soaring according to research from GAME, the UK’s largest video games retailer.
The first surge in demand was spotted last May when Network Rail banned train spotters from railway lines because of terrorism fears.
Now two train simulator (sim) video games* have been released to go head to head for Christmas, and sales are soaring again. The most popular – ‘Trainz Railway Sim 2004’ from Just Trains – is even outselling games of popular Hollywood movie blockbusters like Black Hawk Down and Enter the Matrix.
The new games allow train fans to drive their favourite locomotives, design their own rail networks and even enjoy a reproduced view of Britain’s picturesque countryside from the virtual footplate.
GAME’s research into the railway revival reveals Southend to be the UK’s “train lover central”, with the GAME store in the town selling more train simulators than any other in the UK. (See below for full table.)
Anna Macario Marketing Director of GAME said, “These games are designed for the millions of people who grew up wanting to be train drivers. It sounds improbable nowadays, but it wasn’t too long ago that railways enjoyed a much more romantic image, and people had a soft spot for the rail industry. Just look at the former success of Thomas the Tank Engine, Ivor the Engine, Hornby train sets and even the Railway Children.
“Modern train sims feature over 15,000 different rail routes and 50 types of locomotive – so train lovers can drive along them in anything from the Flying Scotsman to a Union Pacific Big Boy.”
Anna continued, “Recreating the age of the train into a video game has proved incredibly popular. They use similar technology to that used to produce the state of the art graphics in games like ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘FIFA 2004’ to create every train fan's dream.
“Fans have told us they’re buying these games because they allow them to forget the bad image of modern day rail travel, and names like British Rail and Railtrack, and instead totally absorb themselves in the traditional old romantic image of the railways. With so few steam and classic trains left in the UK, and access to tracks now so limited, train fans are turning to technology to get their locomotive kicks.”
Over 50% of the train sim games have been bought by the growing army of ‘grey gamers’ – the over 50s who are taking the video game market by storm.
GAME stores that are selling the most train sim games are:
- Southend
- Falkirk
- York
- Canterbury
- Plymouth
- Colchester
- Worthing
- Eastbourne
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
* Trainz Railway Simulator 2004 – published by Just Trains – PC CDROM £29.99
Train Simulator – published by Microsoft – PC CDROM £29.99
About GAME:
GAME is Europe's leading specialist retailer of computer software and video games. The Group currently operates from over 350 stores in the UK and Eire, over 30 GAME stores in Sweden, over 90 CentroMAIL stores in Spain and over 55 ScoreGAME stores in France. It also offers on-line shopping and game play services.
For further corporate information log onto www.gamegroup.plc.uk, and for the new look on-line store log onto www.game.uk.com.
For further details please contact:
Simon Soffe / Lisa Artemis – GAME PR Dept
01344 464442 / 464512
