Entries Tagged 'Practical information' ↓

Gameleon.net is a new social networking hub for both professional and volunteer members of the video game industry’s press corps and other videogame related professionals.

I just joined.

Pure speculation this, but more than eminently possible. Apple went from being a computer manufacturer to a consumer toy maker with the iPod. They then morphed into also being a phone manufacturer with iPhone. And in the process they have seen the massive profits that can be made by owning a proprietary gaming platform standard. Having seen what Apps store is making for them, they obviously want more. One obvious route this can take is to join Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo in the home game console market. Apple certainly have the technical expertise to do this.

It costs billions to launch into the console market, as Microsoft will tell you. Fortunately Apple have $29 billion in the bank. Yes, that’s right, $29 billion. You could buy a country or two with that. Also you need management who know what they are doing. Well Apple’s management seem to have had all the right ideas thus far. But that is not stopping them currently recruiting some of the top management in the console game industry.

Then there is the strongly rumoured takeover of Electronic Arts. Apple could very easily afford this and it would give them the guarantee of lots of content as and when iConsole is launched. In fact it wouldn’t make much sense unless Apple were launching a game console.

But the best thing about an Apple game console and the thing that makes it most likely is that it will allow them another opportunity to take on the old enemy, Microsoft.

The 1st Annual MIT Sloan BiG (Business in Gaming) conference will take place on Friday, May 8th, 2009, at the MIT Sloan campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The conference seeks to bring together industry leaders, game developers, professors and students from leading MBA institutions such as MIT and Harvard to discuss the future of the gaming industry.

The theme for this year’s event: “Marketing and Distribution in the Digital Age”, explores the current evolution of the gaming industry as it is set to exceed those of both the music and movie industries. Now especially, when the economy is slowing down, we will examine innovative ways to market and distribute games cheaply but effectively through the digital media.

The conference will include keynotes and panel discussions, which will provide an engaging and interactive forum for industry professionals and student leaders to share their views on these highly relevant topics.

I have written on here before about the Dizzy brand. It is one of the biggest ever video game brands in Europe and especially in the UK. There is a whole generation out there who are aware of the Dizzy brand. I am especially proud because I did the marketing that created the sales and built the brand. Though this was made a lot easier by the fantastic games the Oliver twins created. I am less pleased about the silly feuding that killed the brand off in its prime and the lack of vision to bring it back.

There is still a big and active Dizzy community out there, 20ish years after the event. A testament to the enduring quality of this brand. And the purpose of this little article is to publicise this by letting you see an email I received:

Hello Bruce,

I’m Alexandru Simion, author of the DizzyAGE engine. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s a set of tools designed to create classic Dizzy adventure games:

www.yolkfolk.com/dizzyage

Every year we have an Easter competition bringing in new and wonderful fan made Dizzy games. This year we’re happy to have The Oliver Twins among the sponsors. As in 2008, they offering three invitations to their Blitz Games Studios.

I saw your blog post about how you tried to put The Olivers and Code Masters together to bring Dizzy back and I’m sorry it didn’t work. When we visited them last year, Philip and Andrew told us how much they wanted to reach an agreement with Code Masters. Well, maybe one day we’ll see it done.

I was also wondering if, considering your interest in Dizzy games, you are willing to have a post in your blog, about DizzyAGE and our competition. It will probably bring in more people and who knows maybe some of them are going to create some great Dizzy games. If you need more details, please let me know.

Thank you!
Alex

Gaming in education is a subject I have written about frequently on here. It will grow to be bigger than recreational gaming, there is no doubt of this. Now there is a conference about it in London on March 19th and 20th. I will be there and so should you if you want to be up to speed on this amazing area of opportunity.

Here is some of their blurb:

The Game Based Learning Conference is the only event of its kind currently in existence that deals with all aspects of games in learning.

The huge surge of interest amongst education professionals, game companies, learners, employers, parents, public sector agencies and technology providers over the last 5 years has been demonstrated by the overwhelming success of the gaming strands in the Handheld Learning Conference.

Game Based Learning builds on this success whilst providing more depth by creating stimulating, challenging and provocative dialogue spaces at the intersection between the education, gaming, social media and consumer electronics sectors. Here, policy makers, thought leaders, innovators and key practitioners meet to exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences as part of a unique ongoing conversation.

Speakers include:

• Tom Watson, MP, UK Cabinet Minister for Transformational Government
• Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari, father of the video game industry
• Ian Livingstone, Co-founder, Eidos, Chair, Computer Games Skills Council, Skillset
• Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, Education, Channel 4
• Dr Richard Graham, Clinical Director of Adolescent Directorate, Tavistock Centre
• Marco Minoli, Director, Slitherine
• Sean Dromgoole, CEO, Some Research & GameVision
• Derek Robertson, Learning & Teaching Scotland
• Terry Deary, Author, Horrible Histories

The focus of this vital exploration is the impact that commercial off the shelf video games, “serious” games, virtual worlds and social networks are having on new learning and teaching practice in and out of formal education environments.

Game Based Learning 2009 will:

• Examine practical examples of how games and other entertainment software are being embraced in schools, universities and other establishments.
• Present and discuss latest market data, trends and behaviors.
• Debate the implications of video game and Internet rating systems in the context of learning and teaching.
• Provide valuable social and networking opportunities for all delegates.
• Create, capture and make available unique reference material for the interactive entertainment industry, policy makers, education professionals and the public.

The rest is up to you.

More than anything else, the Game Based Learning 2009 Conference will be an important, highly stimulating and engaging conversation between traditionally disparate sectors that must now recognize their intrinsic value to one another.

See you there!

I am looking for a challenge. I love the idea of marketing and managing during a recession to build a business and make profits. I have done it before and would love to do it again.

What we are looking at here is getting the maximum marketing impact for the minimum budget using the marketing mix creatively. Just as I did at Codemasters when we achieved over 27% of the total UK games market on a minimum budget. Or once again a few years later when we got Operation Flashpoint to number one in most world markets on a very small spend.

Now you might be looking for someone who understands the internet. Well the online community marketing department at Codemasters was my innovation, something that has now been widely imitated. And I run a successful forum and a successful blog. But I still have plenty of real word advertising and PR experience.

In this work I am your flexible friend. I could two two jobs for 2 or 3 days a week each. Or even fill an interim post for a few months. Just don’t expect me to burn through budgets spending by rote, lazy marketing like this annoys me. Expect instead creativity in reaching the right person with the right message.

One project that would be ideal would be setting up the UK or European office for an American or Asian company. I have a lot of successful startup experience so this would be right up my street.

If you are interested you can find my CV on Linkedin and more information here.

Just now tens of thousands of highly educated and commercially savvy people are losing their jobs in the financial sector and are looking for a job. (Some say they cannot be too clever because of the mess they got us all into). There are very few jobs going for them anywhere in the economy, everywhere is hurting. Except for gaming, which is booming.

So here are some little tips and hints to help them with their future careers.

1. The game industry is about entertainment, it is a good idea to remember this as even some who work in the industry seem to have forgotten.
2. Management ability and management structures are often little evolved from lemonade stands. You will be shocked when you see just how bad it can be. And how many people there are in organisations who are not needed.
3. Marketing is mostly very poor, by rote with little innovation and excitement. They usually just burn through the budget.
4. Development is incredibly inefficient. Every studio continually re-invents the wheel. Too much time is spent on technology and too little on creativity. It is as if the movie industry had to design and build new cameras for every movie they make.
5. Big budget console games mostly lose money. It is the occasional hit that pays for the rest. Maybe 7 out of ten are losers.  And these days the budgets are not dissimilar to the movie industry.
6. The big growth areas of iPhone, XNA/XLA, Flash etc are crowded because of low barriers to entry. This crowding can often lead to low quality and poor marketing. So it is obvious how to differentiate your offering.
7. High street game retail is dying, do not go there. Unless what you are doing is online you will have a very bleak future.
8. MMORPG games are all the fashion. The rate of failiure is even higher than for boxed console games. And to create one vaguely competetive game costs a lot more than making a Hollywood blockbuster.
9. The industry is incredibly fickle and fashionable. Guitar games are all the rage this week. They weren’t two years ago and they won’t be in two year’s time. Which is fine till you remember that two years is about how long it takes to develop a mainstream game.
10. No matter how good and clever and hard working you are piracy can just suddenly appear and wipe you out. This has happened many times and will happen many more times.
11. The route to success is product quality and looking after your customers. This has been proven repeatedly yet most in the industry still ignore the lesson.
12. Here are a big pile of really good industry resources. With these you should have no problem getting up to speed.

Don’t be put off. If anything be encouraged. If the industry is booming now, imagine how it would be with an influx of competent talent.