andrew
09-10-2007, 06:24 PM
Everyone was talking about microtransactions. There was a lot of buzz about games like Habbo Hotel, Maple Story, and similar titles... specifically because they have huge user bases, make huge amounts of money, and are underneath the radar of most "mainstream" gamers.
There was a lot of debate about the "American" model (sell monthly subscriptions) versus the "Asian" model (give your game away for free and make money via small added-value transactions). There also seemed to be a difference in mentality -- the Asian studios create a social/web environment first, then put a game into it, where the US/European studios create a game first, then try to tack on a social/network layer.
There was a lot of middleware on display, specifically stuff that enabled a) online gaming, b) MMO creation, and c) payment transactions.
There were a lot of recruiters. Every major game company on the planet seemed to be there to try to find/hire programmers.
Both the "get your game on MSN casual", and "get your game on XBLA" presentations were completely full and they had to close the doors to prevent the rooms from overcrowding.
There were quite a few sessions aimed towards indie developers. I attended one called "Building buzz for the indie developer" which seemed to focus around the obvious points: make sure your game doesn't suck, create an innovative brand, and repeatedly pitch your brand to media. There was a lot of talk around the conference of how studio branding is even more important than the games themselves. For example, Mike Morhaime from Blizzard repeated that the Blizzard "brand" is more important than any of their titles, because it gives purchasers the faith to buy their new games practically sight unseen.
- andrew
There was a lot of debate about the "American" model (sell monthly subscriptions) versus the "Asian" model (give your game away for free and make money via small added-value transactions). There also seemed to be a difference in mentality -- the Asian studios create a social/web environment first, then put a game into it, where the US/European studios create a game first, then try to tack on a social/network layer.
There was a lot of middleware on display, specifically stuff that enabled a) online gaming, b) MMO creation, and c) payment transactions.
There were a lot of recruiters. Every major game company on the planet seemed to be there to try to find/hire programmers.
Both the "get your game on MSN casual", and "get your game on XBLA" presentations were completely full and they had to close the doors to prevent the rooms from overcrowding.
There were quite a few sessions aimed towards indie developers. I attended one called "Building buzz for the indie developer" which seemed to focus around the obvious points: make sure your game doesn't suck, create an innovative brand, and repeatedly pitch your brand to media. There was a lot of talk around the conference of how studio branding is even more important than the games themselves. For example, Mike Morhaime from Blizzard repeated that the Blizzard "brand" is more important than any of their titles, because it gives purchasers the faith to buy their new games practically sight unseen.
- andrew