IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/eaiada/v23y2019i3p76-88n7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forecasting the Sales of Console Games for the Italian Market

Author

Listed:
  • Rossetti Renato

    (Ubisoft S.p.A., Milan, Italy)

Abstract

In videogames industry, time series analysis can be very useful in determining the general evolution and behaviour of the market dynamics. These methods are applicable to any time series forecasting problem, regardless of the application sector. This article discusses time series approaches to forecast the sales of console games for the Italian market. In particular two univariate techniques were evaluated, exponential smoothing and the SARIMA technique. The aim is to exploit the capabilities of these statistical methods in order to have a comparison of the results and to choose the most accurate model through an ex-post evaluation. Using monthly time-series data from November 2005 to September 2017, the selection of the most suitable model was indicated by the smallest value of the measures of accuracy (MAPE, sMAPE, RMSE) for the out-of-sample observations regarding the period October 2017-September 2018. The implementation of the models was done using Forecast PRO and Gretl. The time series involved is related to the sales regarding the first party manufacturers of consoles and handhelds (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo).

Suggested Citation

  • Rossetti Renato, 2019. "Forecasting the Sales of Console Games for the Italian Market," Econometrics. Advances in Applied Data Analysis, Sciendo, vol. 23(3), pages 76-88, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:eaiada:v:23:y:2019:i:3:p:76-88:n:7
    DOI: 10.15611/eada.2019.3.07
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.15611/eada.2019.3.07
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.15611/eada.2019.3.07?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Koehler, Anne B. & Snyder, Ralph D. & Ord, J. Keith, 2001. "Forecasting models and prediction intervals for the multiplicative Holt-Winters method," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 269-286.
    2. Peter R. Winters, 1960. "Forecasting Sales by Exponentially Weighted Moving Averages," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 324-342, April.
    3. Everette S. Gardner, Jr. & Ed. Mckenzie, 1985. "Forecasting Trends in Time Series," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(10), pages 1237-1246, October.
    4. Barrow, Devon K. & Kourentzes, Nikolaos, 2016. "Distributions of forecasting errors of forecast combinations: Implications for inventory management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 24-33.
    5. Robert Fildes, 1989. "Evaluation of Aggregate and Individual Forecast Method Selection Rules," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(9), pages 1056-1065, September.
    6. Spyros Makridakis & Evangelos Spiliotis & Vassilios Assimakopoulos, 2018. "Statistical and Machine Learning forecasting methods: Concerns and ways forward," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, March.
    7. Hyndman, Rob J. & Koehler, Anne B. & Snyder, Ralph D. & Grose, Simone, 2002. "A state space framework for automatic forecasting using exponential smoothing methods," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 439-454.
    8. E S Gardner & E McKenzie, 2011. "Why the damped trend works," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(6), pages 1177-1180, June.
    9. Qi, Min & Zhang, Guoqiang Peter, 2001. "An investigation of model selection criteria for neural network time series forecasting," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(3), pages 666-680, August.
    10. Fildes, Robert & Lusk, Edward J, 1984. "The choice of a forecasting model," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 427-435.
    11. Gardner, Everette Jr., 2006. "Exponential smoothing: The state of the art--Part II," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 637-666.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petropoulos, Fotios & Apiletti, Daniele & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios & Babai, Mohamed Zied & Barrow, Devon K. & Ben Taieb, Souhaib & Bergmeir, Christoph & Bessa, Ricardo J. & Bijak, Jakub & Boylan, Joh, 2022. "Forecasting: theory and practice," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 705-871.
      • Fotios Petropoulos & Daniele Apiletti & Vassilios Assimakopoulos & Mohamed Zied Babai & Devon K. Barrow & Souhaib Ben Taieb & Christoph Bergmeir & Ricardo J. Bessa & Jakub Bijak & John E. Boylan & Jet, 2020. "Forecasting: theory and practice," Papers 2012.03854, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2022.
    2. Petropoulos, Fotios & Makridakis, Spyros & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios & Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos, 2014. "‘Horses for Courses’ in demand forecasting," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(1), pages 152-163.
    3. Corberán-Vallet, Ana & Bermúdez, José D. & Vercher, Enriqueta, 2011. "Forecasting correlated time series with exponential smoothing models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 252-265, April.
    4. R Fildes & K Nikolopoulos & S F Crone & A A Syntetos, 2008. "Forecasting and operational research: a review," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(9), pages 1150-1172, September.
    5. Makridakis, Spyros & Spiliotis, Evangelos & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios & Chen, Zhi & Gaba, Anil & Tsetlin, Ilia & Winkler, Robert L., 2022. "The M5 uncertainty competition: Results, findings and conclusions," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1365-1385.
    6. Villegas, Marco A. & Pedregal, Diego J., 2019. "Automatic selection of unobserved components models for supply chain forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 157-169.
    7. Jennifer L. Castle & Jurgen A. Doornik & David F. Hendry, 2021. "Forecasting Principles from Experience with Forecasting Competitions," Forecasting, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-28, February.
    8. Snyder, Ralph D. & Koehler, Anne B. & Hyndman, Rob J. & Ord, J. Keith, 2004. "Exponential smoothing models: Means and variances for lead-time demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(2), pages 444-455, October.
    9. Bermudez, J.D. & Segura, J.V. & Vercher, E., 2006. "A decision support system methodology for forecasting of time series based on soft computing," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 177-191, November.
    10. Svetunkov, Ivan & Chen, Huijing & Boylan, John E., 2023. "A new taxonomy for vector exponential smoothing and its application to seasonal time series," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(3), pages 964-980.
    11. Ralph D. Snyder & Anne B. Koehler & Rob J. Hyndman & J. Keith Ord, 2002. "Exponential Smoothing for Inventory Control: Means and Variances of Lead-Time Demand," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 3/02, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    12. Dinis, Duarte & Barbosa-Póvoa, Ana & Teixeira, Ângelo Palos, 2022. "Enhancing capacity planning through forecasting: An integrated tool for maintenance of complex product systems," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 178-192.
    13. Gardner, Everette Jr., 2006. "Exponential smoothing: The state of the art--Part II," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 637-666.
    14. Ferbar Tratar, Liljana & Mojškerc, Blaž & Toman, Aleš, 2016. "Demand forecasting with four-parameter exponential smoothing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PA), pages 162-173.
    15. Ralph D. Snyder & Anne B. Koehler, 2008. "A View of Damped Trend as Incorporating a Tracking Signal into a State Space Model," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 7/08, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    16. Tashman, Leonard J. & Kruk, Joshua M., 1996. "The use of protocols to select exponential smoothing procedures: A reconsideration of forecasting competitions," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 235-253, June.
    17. Makridakis, Spyros & Hyndman, Rob J. & Petropoulos, Fotios, 2020. "Forecasting in social settings: The state of the art," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 15-28.
    18. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2020. "The methane footprint of nations: Stylized facts from a global panel dataset," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    19. J D Bermúdez & J V Segura & E Vercher, 2006. "Improving demand forecasting accuracy using nonlinear programming software," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(1), pages 94-100, January.
    20. Makridakis, Spyros & Spiliotis, Evangelos & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios, 2020. "The M4 Competition: 100,000 time series and 61 forecasting methods," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 54-74.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:eaiada:v:23:y:2019:i:3:p:76-88:n:7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.