Exploring The New World: The 2009 LA Games Conference

The LA Games Conference is usually a bridging mechanism in terms of new social networking and game app technology integrating with major media to create new forms of revenue. The increasing propensity of technology and its ability to see connections that sometimes lacks a simple through line is always a basis for debate.Breaking Down Barriers Between Hollywood & The Game Industry This panel addressed the issues of communications and ease of integration in terms of well known and intermingling franchises. Spencer Hunt, VP of Games Production at Sony Pictures Television, explains that the initial upkeep affects the trajectory because each new iteration requires separate approvals. The toughest part he sees however is dealing with licenses because the challenge shifts in the game world with each emerging console. iPhone apps enter in every conversation nowadays. The difference from traditional gaming is that the companies now slowly dole out features instead of one massive push. It is no longer presented in conventional terms about creating a game but instead updating it. This keeps the venture as low risk as possible for the game publishers. Bill Kispert, VP of Interactive at NBC Universal, says that alot of time goes now into the pre-production period of such games. After a certain time, it simply becomes a matter of execution but spending the extra time if need be. The goal ultimately in a perfect world is to release day and date but with shifting elements of DVD/Blu Ray, it will be interesting to see how the industry will change that dynamic. John Kavanagh, SVP of Videogames at Paramount Digital Entertainment, says though that it is hard to address certain elements later than day and date because it depends completely on what you are doing. Timing is everything.The Latest Trends In Gaming & Mobile Phones The key with the emerging mobile game is interactivity and speed along with ease of use. George Kurtyka, 3P Account Manager at Nokia, wants to see the line between web and mobile blur as a starting off point. Kyu Lee, President of Gamevil, offers a different perspective existing in the foreign market since his company runs their own commercials for mobile games in the Far East. They sell their games from $3 in Korea with basic items starting from 10 cents US. He follows that the balancing part of the business is very important. Free play, in his mind, is definitely a trend that is huge but he thinks that it might be a little exagerrated in this current market. Only the big players can do it since it takes millions of dollars to develop. Most of the companies in terms of a general trend are using hybrid models between subscriptions and micro transactions to maintain the balance. The continued progression, Lee says, might involve tiers where you drop a price point after you launch a game which also happened in the creative online gaming space a couple years back. However then it becomes about bringing out another hit title consecutively. He believes though that after a couple of years, alot of the companies with the 99 cent apps will disappear. Apple for him has broken down the wall the carriers have built up. However the next wall will be built by the publishers. Every company, in his perception, has their own battlefield. The one who has the largest amount of reach in customers will be the leader. Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe, discusses his approach which takes other accounts into effect. His model uses aggregation of the network and selling the ads into the games as a pre-roll or intersticial ad with people buying the apps for as much as $50. David Zemke, Director Of Marketing at Glu Mobile, charges that emergence is still continuing. They reach out consistently but it is a continual process. He likes the fact of integrating the social connected apps because he would rather not have ads. Glu, he says, values the content of their games too much and would rather not give it out for ad support. The balance however seems to be between creative edginess and the bottom line.The Evolution Of Next Generation Virtual Worlds The emerging creation of more realistic or avatar highlighted worlds heading into the realization of holographics as a way of being envisions the future but possibilitues in this evolving market depend on standards. Home is going one way while Second Life seems to be teetering on the other. Steve Hoffman, CEO Of Rockworld, acknowledges this. He says that the virtual world can get old very quickly. The key for the business model to work is that you have to commit to learn the whole system. It becomes how simple you can make the world where people can pop in and pop out. He is interested actually in a "walled park" which is what they have been playing around with in which you place a layer over the internet. It comes out looking more like a structured quest across the web which is a new approach. The end-all though is that graphics do matter since that is what connects the user. There has to be an interaction and a style but it doesn't have to be 3D. The problem is standardization in terms of tracking views which, as always, has been the problem in reference to ad dollars.Teemu Huuhtanen, President, N.A. of Sulake Inc. (Habbo) says this discussion keys into the inherent diversity of these worlds. What Habbo is developing is based in what users wants, whether it be fashion or sports or beyond. For him in terms of the business model, there is only two types of revenue: transactions and sponsors. It doesn't make sense for Habbo in terms of their target audience to focus on microtransactions. Bob Ferrari, VP, Publishing & Business Development at Sanrio Digital, has a slightly different view but agreed on certain points. Virtual Worlds, for him, really depends on the business model and variances of choice in terms of marketing to that core demo. Matt Palmer, EVP & General Manager of Stardoll Network, adds that "accessibility is crucial [because] in virtual worlds it is [all] about dimensionalizing the space". Calibrating yourself, he believes, is the magic mix to be brought to the market. There has to be a semblance of alignment. The trick is bridging between the virtual world and the real world. Calvin Ng, CEO of iLemon, sees the creation as a more practical approach. They are doing the virtual world online for Jackie Chan's upcoming movie "Big Soldier" but it all becomes interrelated on budget to eyeballs which is the essence of the discussion in terms of perspective.Games Of Tomorrow The next question is where can the games evolve to or do we really have a perspective of what that is and where it can go? Jon Snoddy, Chief Technology Officer at Big Stage Entertainment, says what his company is doing in terms of avatars is allowing the user to integrate mapping technology to actually play yourself as a recognizable recreation. He says that this really changes the experience because you also recognize other people like in real life. As a result, the gameplay becomes different. Matthew Bellows, VP of Consumer Strategy at Viviox, comes at it from a different direction allowing the user to experience surrounding real world sound in a virtual world terms of voice recognition. He thinks that people form stronger bonds because they can hear each other speak as they truly speak. However, this is essentially the same side of two different coins. The whole experience though is where the journey needs to continue.The 2009 LA Games Conference spoke to the continuing emergence in technology and the prevalence of the next big jump. While social networking integration is accepted and assimilated, there doesn't need to be a bigger revalation in terms of promoted usage or feedback in a business sense. The key is simply lower budget and quicker turnaround which has been the mainstay for 20 years. The rub is that the technology shifts so much that an evolution might be skipped over because the road is moving too fast.