The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) define themselves as:
“The U.S. association exclusively dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish computer and video games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet.”
Basically, this association helps the publicity and marketing needs of game development companies. Moreover they offer services like global anti-piracy program, business and consumer research, government relations and intellectual property protection efforts. I think that because of their interest on publicity, they also organize the world’s biggest game exhibition E3 Expo. With E3 Expo, most of the game development companies have a chance to show their products to the public.
Also, E3 Expo define themselves as:
“E3 Expo is the world's premiere trade show for computer and video games and related products. The show is owned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies, publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet.”
In E3 Expo, most game development companies shows their product and enter into a marketing race, which also involves dance show with beautiful girls. One of the important influences of E3 Expo is this marketing race. This race makes the competition between companies more creative. With this sentence I don’t mean just the dance shows, as marketing activity, there are more facilities and activities handled in E3 Expo. This race looks like a battlefield that every company shows their strengths and competes with each other. After everything is over most companies create more innovative features in their games to gain advantage from the competition.
Moreover, E3 Expo helps to the game development companies to position themselves for both their company and their products. They had a chance to see their competitor’s strength and their advantage against them. Thus, game development companies plan their marketing and business strategies accordingly.
In the conclusion, ESA influence game industry by organizing E3 Expo, which gives a chance to many game development companies to compete with each other in an arena and position their company policies depending on the outcome of this event.
12/16/2010
12/03/2010
Rise of The Machines in Game Industry
Peter Molyneux who is the head of the Microsoft European games division is working in a new project which may have a lot of impact in the future of game industry. Anyone who is interested in game industry, should recognize the name of Peter Molyneux. He is a game industry legend who has created many titles including one of the important RPG game: Fable.
His new project is about a virtual boy, Milo. In this project Peter Molyneux created a 11 year old virtual boy and he invites us to become a part of this boy's world. In his video, he describes unlike the other consoles you don't need a controller pad in order to interact with Milo's world. All you have to do is moving your body and the camera will recognize your moves and help you to interact this world even more realistic than Wii. The biggest technological achievement is how can you interact with Milo. You can use your voice for making a decision rather than click any button. Also, Peter Molyneux shows us that we can talk with Milo and he will talk back with us like a real person.
Another video about Milo was released a year ago. In that video you can see how a person can interact with Milo by talking and even receiving a paper (which he can even analyze what you draw in that paper) from you. However, In this last version Peter Molyneux didn't show that Milo still can analyze a paper and it's content and give a feedback like the old video. So, I didn't know that Milo still can do this trick but I am assuming that he still can do that if you have that scanner which make Milo to analyze the paper.
I know that this video will inspire many individuals who are interested on game industry and technology like me. Because, Milo offers too many technological improvement that it's hard to not getting excited especially if you think about what future will hold for us. Nevertheless, I don't think this technological improvement make an instant change in the game industry. It is too early to use the same or similar technology in AAA games like Mass Effect. But I think that we may see the baby steps of this technological improvement with more basic games like Milo. Of course this will all clear after how much Milo will be successful in the shelves after it was released.
You can watch this video;
and this was the video which was released one year ago;
His new project is about a virtual boy, Milo. In this project Peter Molyneux created a 11 year old virtual boy and he invites us to become a part of this boy's world. In his video, he describes unlike the other consoles you don't need a controller pad in order to interact with Milo's world. All you have to do is moving your body and the camera will recognize your moves and help you to interact this world even more realistic than Wii. The biggest technological achievement is how can you interact with Milo. You can use your voice for making a decision rather than click any button. Also, Peter Molyneux shows us that we can talk with Milo and he will talk back with us like a real person.
Another video about Milo was released a year ago. In that video you can see how a person can interact with Milo by talking and even receiving a paper (which he can even analyze what you draw in that paper) from you. However, In this last version Peter Molyneux didn't show that Milo still can analyze a paper and it's content and give a feedback like the old video. So, I didn't know that Milo still can do this trick but I am assuming that he still can do that if you have that scanner which make Milo to analyze the paper.
I know that this video will inspire many individuals who are interested on game industry and technology like me. Because, Milo offers too many technological improvement that it's hard to not getting excited especially if you think about what future will hold for us. Nevertheless, I don't think this technological improvement make an instant change in the game industry. It is too early to use the same or similar technology in AAA games like Mass Effect. But I think that we may see the baby steps of this technological improvement with more basic games like Milo. Of course this will all clear after how much Milo will be successful in the shelves after it was released.
You can watch this video;
and this was the video which was released one year ago;
11/15/2010
Small Games are Growing Up
Nowadays, you can easily find information about business in game industry if you attend conferences about games. GDC(Game Developers Conference) is one of these conferences which offers information about game market and business to the audience.
One of the main focus point in these conferences is about small social games like famous Farmville. The interest of the social games is growing in each day and this attract big designer who is famous about designing "old school" games in 80's and 90's similar to the today's social games.
The biggest differences between small social games and the today's big games are budget and their team work. A social game needs small teams and a very low budget. Thus, it affected the production time span of the games and makes it easier to funding the necessary resources. Social games can be created in six months with small teams however big games like "Dragon Age: Origins" needs more team work and a bigger budget around 40 million dollars. Chris Kohler, the author of GDC: Big Designers Find Satisfaction in Small Games, describes the comment of Brenda Brathwaite as:
“It feels to me like 1981 or 1982,” said designer Brenda Brathwaite at a Game Developers Conference panel here Tuesday afternoon. Brathwaite worked on the classic Wizardry role-playing games and is now creative director at San Francisco social media company Slide. “I remember, early in my career we would make a game in six months. I love the idea of just putting a game together with a small group of people. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do.”
Of course with the support of great designers, small games reach high quality. Small games attracts big designers for numerous reasons. Some of them like to work in small teams which, Eskil Seenberg implies that there is no office politics in small teams.
Even though small games are growing and they possessed more quality with the support of great designers, the big games (which described by the game industry as triple A games) still defend their throne with their physics (physx technology) and visual technological power.
One of the main focus point in these conferences is about small social games like famous Farmville. The interest of the social games is growing in each day and this attract big designer who is famous about designing "old school" games in 80's and 90's similar to the today's social games.
The biggest differences between small social games and the today's big games are budget and their team work. A social game needs small teams and a very low budget. Thus, it affected the production time span of the games and makes it easier to funding the necessary resources. Social games can be created in six months with small teams however big games like "Dragon Age: Origins" needs more team work and a bigger budget around 40 million dollars. Chris Kohler, the author of GDC: Big Designers Find Satisfaction in Small Games, describes the comment of Brenda Brathwaite as:
“It feels to me like 1981 or 1982,” said designer Brenda Brathwaite at a Game Developers Conference panel here Tuesday afternoon. Brathwaite worked on the classic Wizardry role-playing games and is now creative director at San Francisco social media company Slide. “I remember, early in my career we would make a game in six months. I love the idea of just putting a game together with a small group of people. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do.”
Of course with the support of great designers, small games reach high quality. Small games attracts big designers for numerous reasons. Some of them like to work in small teams which, Eskil Seenberg implies that there is no office politics in small teams.
Even though small games are growing and they possessed more quality with the support of great designers, the big games (which described by the game industry as triple A games) still defend their throne with their physics (physx technology) and visual technological power.
11/01/2010
Importance of Team-working in the Game Industry
Marc Mencher, the author of Becoming a Stellar Games Industry Manager, Part 1: Building a Great Team, describes the meaning of team as;
"A team is a group of people working together to achieve a goal, which can be anything from winning the World Series to creating the newest FPS. At its best, a team uses a ton of mad skills to come up with (hopefully cost-effective) non-traditional solutions that give their company a major edge on the competition. At its worst, it’s a bottomless pit with the potential to sink the company ship forever."
Team-working is a must in the game industry. This factor applies all games not just RPG games. Developing a game needs knowledge and skills that can not be provided by one person. Like designing, programming, testing. Also, it's too complex to handle by just one person. Because of these reasons a game can not be created by one person even you have the enough money to do it. So, you need to create teams and merge these teams with your leadership skills in order to create a game.
Creating these teams are also the crucial part of the game development for the leader of the project . A leader of the game project had to think about who he/she is going to work with. The most important requirement in a team is the fact that members must have skills and knowledge in their related fields. Especially they need to have problem solving skills because game development means: Solving various bugs as well as common problems that may occur in the development process.
After the process of creating teams, the most important process of the team-working in game industry is scheduling the meeting between team leaders and leader of the project. Because of the numbers of teams in the game development process, the communication between the team members and the leader of the project is nearly impossible. Therefore, the meeting between the leader of the project and team leaders is crucial part of team-working in the game industry. The Leader learn everything about teams and team members with these meetings or the reports of team leaders.
Also the video which is an interview with Patrick Curry shows the important factors about game development process as well as team working;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vassKL9bbbE
In the conclusion, team-working is an essential part of creating a game. But a leader of the game project have to understand the importance of recruiting team and communication between the team leaders in order to have maximum effect on their project.
"A team is a group of people working together to achieve a goal, which can be anything from winning the World Series to creating the newest FPS. At its best, a team uses a ton of mad skills to come up with (hopefully cost-effective) non-traditional solutions that give their company a major edge on the competition. At its worst, it’s a bottomless pit with the potential to sink the company ship forever."
Team-working is a must in the game industry. This factor applies all games not just RPG games. Developing a game needs knowledge and skills that can not be provided by one person. Like designing, programming, testing. Also, it's too complex to handle by just one person. Because of these reasons a game can not be created by one person even you have the enough money to do it. So, you need to create teams and merge these teams with your leadership skills in order to create a game.
Creating these teams are also the crucial part of the game development for the leader of the project . A leader of the game project had to think about who he/she is going to work with. The most important requirement in a team is the fact that members must have skills and knowledge in their related fields. Especially they need to have problem solving skills because game development means: Solving various bugs as well as common problems that may occur in the development process.
After the process of creating teams, the most important process of the team-working in game industry is scheduling the meeting between team leaders and leader of the project. Because of the numbers of teams in the game development process, the communication between the team members and the leader of the project is nearly impossible. Therefore, the meeting between the leader of the project and team leaders is crucial part of team-working in the game industry. The Leader learn everything about teams and team members with these meetings or the reports of team leaders.
Also the video which is an interview with Patrick Curry shows the important factors about game development process as well as team working;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vassKL9bbbE
In the conclusion, team-working is an essential part of creating a game. But a leader of the game project have to understand the importance of recruiting team and communication between the team leaders in order to have maximum effect on their project.
9/15/2010
Gamebanshee
Today, I want to write a review about one of the important website for getting news about RPG Games for PC. Of course, that website is Gamebanshee. Gamebanshee is one of the ordinary website that give information about RPG games for PC platform and they have an unique side which is different from other similiar website.
Basically, Gamebanshee provides news of upcoming RPG games and game industry for their readers. They also make interviews with the game developers which gave a new insight about the upcoming games. Also, you can find some articles in the "Editorials" section for just exclusive about RPG games. Moreover, Gamebanshee provides more for their reader to get more interactive. Readers can use "Forum" section for discussing about related topics and they also have an option of sharing their blog site in the "Community Blog" section. The other available section for the readers is the "Archive". Fans of RPG Games can find old news about the RPG and game industry. Gamebanshee also have a author staff who write review or preview about RPG Games. Furthermore, upload screenshots of the related game in that game section.
One of the biggest difference between Gamebanshee and the other RPG website is the huge database of the RPG Games. Gamebanshee has the largest database for the RPG Games in that platform. According to their website;
"At the time of its launch in September of 2009, there were a total of 1540 games in the database. If there are a handful of role-playing elements to be found within the game, you'll most likely see it in the database. There are a few exceptions to this rule (such as my reluctance to add anything but the most popular JRPGs), but for the most part I've stuck to the same entry requirements over the years.
This RPG database now forms the foundation of Gamebanshee. All of the news, editorials, previews, reviews, and interviews that we've ever published are now assigned to one or more games in the database, allowing you to browse any of our non-spoiler type content from the assigned games' profile pages."
The last difference is the quantity of the information for each game in the Gamebanshee website. Like most RPG website you can find reviews, previews, interviews, news for each game. However, in the Gamebanshee, you can also find walkthroughs, equipment lists and companion hints for about every indiviual game.
Finally, as a fellow RPG game fan for PC Platform. I highly recommend to visiting Gamebanshee website for getting more information about your favourite RPG game. Also, sharing or visiting the blogs of the community will be an interesting idea for having fun. Maybe, you can find an interesting blog for yourself.
Basically, Gamebanshee provides news of upcoming RPG games and game industry for their readers. They also make interviews with the game developers which gave a new insight about the upcoming games. Also, you can find some articles in the "Editorials" section for just exclusive about RPG games. Moreover, Gamebanshee provides more for their reader to get more interactive. Readers can use "Forum" section for discussing about related topics and they also have an option of sharing their blog site in the "Community Blog" section. The other available section for the readers is the "Archive". Fans of RPG Games can find old news about the RPG and game industry. Gamebanshee also have a author staff who write review or preview about RPG Games. Furthermore, upload screenshots of the related game in that game section.
One of the biggest difference between Gamebanshee and the other RPG website is the huge database of the RPG Games. Gamebanshee has the largest database for the RPG Games in that platform. According to their website;
"At the time of its launch in September of 2009, there were a total of 1540 games in the database. If there are a handful of role-playing elements to be found within the game, you'll most likely see it in the database. There are a few exceptions to this rule (such as my reluctance to add anything but the most popular JRPGs), but for the most part I've stuck to the same entry requirements over the years.
This RPG database now forms the foundation of Gamebanshee. All of the news, editorials, previews, reviews, and interviews that we've ever published are now assigned to one or more games in the database, allowing you to browse any of our non-spoiler type content from the assigned games' profile pages."
The last difference is the quantity of the information for each game in the Gamebanshee website. Like most RPG website you can find reviews, previews, interviews, news for each game. However, in the Gamebanshee, you can also find walkthroughs, equipment lists and companion hints for about every indiviual game.
Finally, as a fellow RPG game fan for PC Platform. I highly recommend to visiting Gamebanshee website for getting more information about your favourite RPG game. Also, sharing or visiting the blogs of the community will be an interesting idea for having fun. Maybe, you can find an interesting blog for yourself.
9/09/2010
New Rising Star: DLC
My first experience with a dlc started when I downloaded Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's dlc about horse armor. I liked it so much that I downloaded every kind of DLC I encountered for my RPG games. It was became an addiction to me to buy and play these DLCs. For me DLCs like a mods which were created by the developers instead of community. After I made some research and read some news about DLCs, I realized that DLC become an important part of the games. Especially for the RPG Games.
The first DLCs were only consists of some items like the horse armor, which I was talking about earlier. However when developers and producers realized that DLCs were getting more popular in the game industry, they invested more resources to create larger and deep DLCs which contains items and missions for the RPG Games like last DLC of the Dragon Age: Origin's Witch Hunt. This change can be observed just comparing the size of the DLCs. For example, the first DLCs like horse armor's size were around 10-30 MB but today most of the DLCs were around 1 GB.
Popularity of the DLCs comes from their low price and giving a chance to players for extending the life span of their favorite games. Most of the DLCs in the market are around 4-8 US dollars. Even though the cost seems low, because of the popularity of the DLCs the developers gain more money than the expansions. For example, Bioware announced that the company gain 1 million US dollars after they launch the original game a week ago. However, regardless of the cost some gamers seek to play DLCs whenever they launched. This was more likely that they wanted to experience their favorite games more. With the larger resources developers created more quality DLCs which contains items, missions, companions and even romance(last DLC of the Mass Effect 2). Thus, gave more opportunity to expand the new features of the RPG games.
"At this month's GDC Europe in Cologne, the game industry service Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) presented new information about the continued growth of digital downloads. Despite worldwide game sales now exceeding US$50 billion annually, EEDAR found that most consumers purchase only two to three games per year, a significant drop from the previous average of six to eight titles per year. However, in the DLC field, EEDAR found that 2009 was the biggest year on record in the industry for downloadable content sales, a trend that is expected to continue to rise through to 2011 and beyond as longer development cycle games come to market. EEDAR also revealed that regardless of cost, 28 percent of gamers do not check for the availability of DLC, while 22.5 percent actively seek it out before launch."
According to Laura Parker who is the author of the article called "The Future of Gaming: DLC".
In the conclusion, today DLC are very important because of these two features both for the RPG genres and the game industry. And there is no doubt that we will see more quality DLCs for the RPG games in the future because of their popularity. Which have been already released two promising DLCs by the Bioware for both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins for this week.
The first DLCs were only consists of some items like the horse armor, which I was talking about earlier. However when developers and producers realized that DLCs were getting more popular in the game industry, they invested more resources to create larger and deep DLCs which contains items and missions for the RPG Games like last DLC of the Dragon Age: Origin's Witch Hunt. This change can be observed just comparing the size of the DLCs. For example, the first DLCs like horse armor's size were around 10-30 MB but today most of the DLCs were around 1 GB.
Popularity of the DLCs comes from their low price and giving a chance to players for extending the life span of their favorite games. Most of the DLCs in the market are around 4-8 US dollars. Even though the cost seems low, because of the popularity of the DLCs the developers gain more money than the expansions. For example, Bioware announced that the company gain 1 million US dollars after they launch the original game a week ago. However, regardless of the cost some gamers seek to play DLCs whenever they launched. This was more likely that they wanted to experience their favorite games more. With the larger resources developers created more quality DLCs which contains items, missions, companions and even romance(last DLC of the Mass Effect 2). Thus, gave more opportunity to expand the new features of the RPG games.
"At this month's GDC Europe in Cologne, the game industry service Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) presented new information about the continued growth of digital downloads. Despite worldwide game sales now exceeding US$50 billion annually, EEDAR found that most consumers purchase only two to three games per year, a significant drop from the previous average of six to eight titles per year. However, in the DLC field, EEDAR found that 2009 was the biggest year on record in the industry for downloadable content sales, a trend that is expected to continue to rise through to 2011 and beyond as longer development cycle games come to market. EEDAR also revealed that regardless of cost, 28 percent of gamers do not check for the availability of DLC, while 22.5 percent actively seek it out before launch."
According to Laura Parker who is the author of the article called "The Future of Gaming: DLC".
In the conclusion, today DLC are very important because of these two features both for the RPG genres and the game industry. And there is no doubt that we will see more quality DLCs for the RPG games in the future because of their popularity. Which have been already released two promising DLCs by the Bioware for both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins for this week.
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