Simply Games takes on high street rivals

Vendor plans to sell heavily discounted titles over the web.

Clapham retailer Simply Games is attempting to beat the high street giants at their own game by competing on the internet with discounts of up to 51 per cent on the latest Playstation titles.

Simply Games will launch a marketing blitz that promises savings on the most recent games of between 25 per cent and 51 per cent.

James Bagshot, content manager at Simply Games, said: "We are making very little, if any, margin on the actual product. The high street price war in which titles hit £29 will be blown away by us selling, for example, Syphon Filter for £22."

Mark Kotecha, managing director of Simply Games, added: "We saw a huge gap in the market. Games are a far better product to sell on the web than books. More of the product can be shown and the customers are going to be more net-savvy than book buyers."

He claimed that because postage and packing would be free for orders, high street organisations would struggle to compete because of their overheads.

"I don't think the high street can respond. There's nothing extra it can offer. We've cut our prices right back to the wire. We're going for the kill with this."

A spokeswoman at Virgin Megastore said: "We do not have a web presence in the UK, although there are plans to launch to extend the brand online." She declined to comment on the pricing issue.

Nick Gibson, analyst at Durlacher, said: "It surprises me that it has taken this long. Publishers will welcome the move as it will increase the market and demographics. Games are a logical choice as an internet commodity that has been overlooked."

- Gameplay.com, the online games retailer which merged with BT's Wireplay, raised £31m through its flotation last week with institutional investors on AIM.

The firm sold 57.9 per cent of its stock and was valued at £53.6m.