The New Console Revolution Is Upon Us

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This is truly going to be a momentous year in gaming if the rumors are true — ones concerning possible console competition from major companies. We are awaiting the shipment of a new generation of gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony — the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 have been generating tremendous interest. At the same time, we’re seeing a wave of consoles based on mobile technology from smaller companies: Nvidia’s Shield, the Ouya, GameStick, and the Gamepop. So far those haven’t made more than a minor stir, probably because the marketing budgets are so small as to be invisible. There’s a chance one of these might sell well enough to be noticeable, but so far none of the traditional console companies appears to be concerned.

That may be about to change in a big way. Rumors are increasing that some very large players are about to enter the console market, effectively. That would be Google, Apple, and Amazon. Those companies can all deploy marketing budgets in the billions if so desired, and that should be enough to cause some sleepless nights among Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo executives.

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that Google is developing an Android-powered game console, saying that ‘people familiar with the matter’ have provided details to the newspaper. Google declined to comment. According to the WSJ, Google is “reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.†Apple also declined to comment on the matter. Google’s device is expected to ship this fall.

What about Apple Apple has sold over 12 million Apple TVs, but there’s no App Store for it. However, that could easily change with a simple software update. Apple could easily put an even more powerful CPU and GPU in the current Apple TV and add an App Store, all for the current $99 price point. The newest version of iOS (iOS 7) includes support for game controllers, and Apple has been rumored to have a controller in its labs.

Amazon has also been rumored to be working on a Kindle Fire TV box for this fall, which along with streaming movies would no doubt play games. The company has grabbed significant market share for the Kindle Fire Android tablets, and is expanding into 200 countries with its lineup. Amazon is also said to be working on its own smartphone, perhaps with a 3D display.

Lest you think this is all just speculation from bored tech journalists, it’s important to note that both Amazon and Google have hired veteran game designers (Jonathan Tweet for Amazon and Noah Falstein for Google). Why pay those guys a salary if you aren’t planning to do something with games?

This idea that Apple, Google and Amazon might make a play for the living room and directly assault the business of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft has come up before. Hardcore gamers tend to be dismissive, saying that mobile platforms (which would include consoles based on mobile technology) don’t play ‘real’ games. Stated more elegantly, mobile platforms lack deep, immersive games like the best console titles. Is that really true And if it is, will it necessarily remain that way

Power isn’t really the issue; mobile platforms are already around the power level of the Xbox 360, and we all know great games can be made for that console. Controls Yes, lack of classic controllers can limit some games, but now both iOS and Android have controller support. We’ll be seeing even more controllers available, and prices will dive because of competition. No hardcore games Many publishers are racing to fill that void with hardcore and so-called ‘midcore’ games for mobile. (Midcore games are just hardcore games made more approachable to attract a broader audience.) Check out Solstice Arena on the iPad or iPhone for an example.

Game size is perhaps a more substantive issue; many consoles games weigh in at multiple gigabytes, far beyond easy downloading or storage. Yet that’s really a design issue; often videos take up a lot of that space, and those could be streamed. Massive game content is included because games cost $60 and player’s expect their money’s worth. If you’re getting the game for free or only a few dollars, there shouldn’t be an expectation of a huge lump of content. With proper design all of that content can be parceled out over time, or for a fee.

Really, there’s no technical barrier to having $99 consoles from the new Big Three of Apple, Google and Amazon. The main difference between those and the $399 PS4 and the $499 Xbox One is sheer graphics rendering power. That may be critical to the hardcore fan, but there’s a far greater audience that’s perfectly happy with lesser graphic fidelity if the game is fun and the price is right. Check out Minecraft’s success if you don’t believe me, or Angry Birds.

The new Big Three are interested in selling movies and music alongside of games, though of course games are the biggest revenue component for mobile. If any or all of these companies decide to step into the market this fall, massive marketing budgets will come with them. That will certainly have some impact on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. How will they respond It’s going to be a very interesting holiday season. Better have lots of popcorn ready! The marketing battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of gamers this year will be more epic than ever before.

Sony’s Marketing Strategy: Greatness Awaits

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Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s brand marketing head, senior vice president Guy Longworth, sat down with the [a]list daily at E3 to describe Sony’s marketing plans for the fall. It’s a difficult challenge ahead, trying to launch the PlayStation 4 while also increasing sales on the older PlayStation 3 and the PS Vita. How does Sony plan to market the PS4

“The PlayStation brand has been a brand that’s always been a little bit of an edgy brand,” Longworth said. “It’s done some phenomenal advertising. Look at our reel over the years, not everything’s been perfect — there’s been some horrors in there — but there’s been some great stuff, too. We just launched our new campaign today — ‘Greatness Awaits,’ it’s a 90-second spot {link no longer active} — which is truly epic. It dramatizes the greatness that gamers can achieve playing games on PlayStation. Those heroic moments that people truly love, it’s so epic.”

Sony’s ‘Michael’ ad reached a different emotional spot in the viewer than the typical game ad, but Sony has since changed to a new agency (Bartle Bogle Hegarty) for its new ads. “When I saw our spot, I was totally and absolutely blown away,” Longworth said. “I was cautiously optimistic it was going to be well-received and really make a deep emotional connection to games. We’ve been working on it for a year. We did a ton of work to really understand the gaming community, their relationship with PlayStation, the tone of voice. We went to pitch and BBH came up with this line, ‘Greatness Awaits’ and then created this campaign. It’s a long-term campaign for us, and this launch spot is truly epic, but you just never really know until it gets out there. We haven’t even launched on TV yet, and we’ve got 250,000 views on YouTube [it’s now over 1 million views — Ed.].”

This is the new campaign theme for Sony’s PlayStation brand, and it premiered at E3. “Greatness Awaits is the line, and right outside the front door of E3 right now is the sign Greatness Awaits,” Longworth said. “We think it beautifully articulates what awaits you if you come to the PlayStation platform. You can achieve your greatness, you can be an NBA star, you can be a football star, you can kill dragons, you can go on adventures — you can be a hero. You can live your dreams when you’re playing games. Gamers are so passionate, they love this stuff so much, we really wanted to make an emotional connection and help them understand that we really care about them and everything we do is laser-focused on meeting their needs.”

Longworth was cautious about characterizing Sony’s marketing spend for the campaign. “Other people might have more hard cash, but it’s not just about paid-for media any more,” Longworth said. “The owned media channels that we have are incredibly significant. The earned media that we can get is huge, and the sharing that goes on there is very significant.”

Longworth gave an example of how earned media can perform for Sony. “We did this little 22-second video clip which they knocked up over the weekend, which basically set out our used games policy,” he said. “We were kind of debating whether to put it into the press conference but we decided not to. After the press conference Adam and Shu tweeted it out; that was all we did. It got 3 million views in less than 24 hours.”

Despite the efficiency of earned media, Sony won’t be neglecting other channels. “We will be using all the channels of media that we have, and we will be investing heavily in paid-for media,” Longworth said. “But we’re also very fortunate in this day and age with the connected consumer to be able to leverage the phenomenal affinity with our brand. We have 35 million Facebook fans. The video we launched after the New York press event, we had 25 million views in a week and we’ve added another four million views since. These are unheard of numbers for a marketer like me, and I’ve worked on some big brands and some big companies. It’s humbling to be part of a team that is responsible for managing this brand and making sure we have the right products and services and that we continue to build this brand. I’m convinced our best days are ahead. I’m absolutely convinced in my mind that this brand’s going to go from strength to strength.”

The PlayStation Plus service and its continuity with the PS4 (and to the PS3 and PS Vita) was an important part of Sony’s announcement. It seems like an important part of the value package. “It very much is, it’s a critical part of our value proposition, it’s a critical part of our business frankly, and it’s a business that’s doing extremely well,” said Longworth. “We relaunched it last year as the Instant Game Collection, and offered gamers for 50 bucks a year an incredible range of games to play. We launched this onto PS Vita as well and that’s been incredibly well-received. We don’t see why we should charge people twice for a service that is really about allowing you to access great content and allowing you to experience everything that PlayStation has to offer. That’s why decided to extend it, and we’re not putting the price up, either, it’ll still be $50.”

The one part of the revised PlayStation Plus that generated some pushback was that if you want multiplayer experiences you will have to be a PlayStation Plus member. Longworth acknowledged the concern, but feels it’s justified. “We’re significantly upgrading our networked services,” Longworth explained. It’s a massive upgrade and all the things that gamers have been asking for are coming, and we feel that now with the overall value proposition that it’s OK for us to do that. It’s not just multiplayer, there’s a whole bunch of other things that we are offering.”

The PlayStation Plus edition of DriveClub was a surprise to a lot of people, judging from the crowd’s reaction at the announcement. “We want to demonstrate the value of the new platform, and we think that DriveClub demonstrates the social connected features almost better than any other game,” Longworth said. “The ability to race in teams, to create your own teams, to create the communities around it — we think that’s a great trial strategy for that game, because it’s a slightly pared down version of the original game so we think it’s a great trial strategy. It shows off our platform at its best, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Putting out a free version of DriveClub points in the direction that Sony Online Entertainment has already taken, with free-to-play games that have the potential to sell virtual goods down the road. This business model has been successful on other platforms, and it looks like Sony is setting themselves up to try this more widely on PlayStation 4 if it’s successful. “Absolutely,” agreed Longworth. He also pointed out Sony’s support for indie developers in addition to new business models. “We’re huge supporters of the indies, they self-publish on our platform. It’s a differentiator. You saw again last night some incredible content from from some incredibly talented people.”

The up side for marketing is social media can amplify your message, but that can also be a downside if you make a misstep. The range of marketing channels also requires more creativity and effort to get the right messaging to the right places, and Longworth has a plan for that. “We very much have an integrated marketing communication approach,” Longworth explained. “We look at all different channels. The reality is that we don’t control the message any more. The community controls the message. What we can do is give our point of view on things.”

“I think the critical thing is to be authentic, to be true to who you are and what your values are, more than ever,” Longworth continued. “Any time you are not true to your values, not true to your identity, especially in an industry like ours you’re going to get absolutely nailed. They will literally call you, and they’ll email, and they’ll send you letters and come and stand outside your offices if need be. There’s no question we’re very, very conscious that this is a huge industry and people are passionate about it. What’s the right thing for gamers… That’s what I tell my team: Don’t come to me for a decision, ask yourself ‘What’s the right thing for gamers ‘ and that’s probably the right thing to do.”

Longworth puts the philosophy into perspective. “Obviously we’re a commercial organization and we have to pay the bills,” Longworth said. “If we want to keep delivering immersive experiences to gamers over time then we need to make some money. I think people understand that trade-off; we’re not a charity. But at the same time, if we really are laser-focused on understanding our gamers and understanding their needs and meeting and exceeding those needs, we think we’ll be successful for a long time to come.”

Read more of what Guy Longworth had to say on GamesIndustry International.

Microsoft Tries To Clear Up Xbox One Confusion

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A new site launched by Microsoft answers a series of questions posed by most gamers after their press conference two weeks ago. The site speaks about the need for an online connection (though not a persistent one), the ability to play used games and many other subjects. The Xbox One doesn’t require a persistent online connection as was previously thought, but in order to play games the system does need to be connected to the Internet at least once every 24 hours. The connection isn’t required to watch TV or movies, but even single-player games will mean you have to allow the Xbox One to make an Internet connection every 24 hours. Multiplayer online games will, of course, require an online connection; Microsoft says 1.5 Mbps is the speed you need for this functionality.

The delivery system for games has also changed. Discs were revealed to be only a means of installing games faster, and not necessary to run games; the disc provides the content and the license key. “The platform policies also contained something that will likely be viewed as negative: games will be made available via digital distribution through Xbox Live on the day of release of the packaged product,” points out analyst Michael Pachter in an investment note. The implications are, as Pachter points out, “this disclosure has the greatest potential to negatively impact GameStop’s business, as GameStop is unlikely to participate directly in these digital sales; however, we believe it is in the best interests of Microsoft and the publishers to integrate GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards currency into digital transactions in some manner. We think it is possible that either gamers will allowed to purchase digital content key codes from GameStop’s DLC kiosks, or that Microsoft will somehow allow the company to integrate its PowerUp Rewards program directly through Xbox Live.”

As far as users are concerned, you won’t have to get up to put a disc in the console every time you want to play. Microsoft has also made sure the whole family can play; games upload to a cloud storage where the owner and 10 family members log into the system and have access to all of the games uploaded to the system. Another piece of information added was the fact that there would be no additional fees to play used games, at the basic level. If developers allow it, games can be traded in and resold. Allowing friends to borrow games will also be possible, but only if the other person has already been on your friends list for over 30 days. However, while games can be given to a friend, each game can only be shared once.

Finally, the site clears up the system’s necessity to have Kinect connected at all times. While the device must be connected to the system, the Kinect can be turned off. In addition, the feature to turn the system on and off by saying “Xbox On or Xbox Off” can be turned off as well. All of these answer some very pressing questions gamers have had, but may not be the answers they wanted to hear. More information on the system will probably surface at E3.

The timing of this web site is no mistake. Microsoft is doubtless trying to put this issue behind them prior to E3, where the company will want to turn the focus to the Xbox One’s lineup of games. It’s going to work, too, at least for next week, when the audience will be focusing on the many shiny new games being dangled in front of them rather than details of licensing policy. The underlying question is just how many people care about this issue, and if it will really matter in the long term. Some commenters have pointed out that Steam has even stricter restrictions on software, and that hasn’t kept Valve from developing an enormous following. We also have yet to see Sony’s stance on these same issues, which may be similar to Microsoft’s. Gauging the real impact of this issue will take time.

Source: GI.biz

Keeping Magic Alive And Thriving

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As Magic: The Gathering turns 20 years old this year, its creators at Wizards of the Coast are showing that they have no intention of letting it slip into anything resembling niche fandom.  It easily could.  Despite still boasting millions of players – throngs of them were in the back hall at last month’s PAX East in Boston – the property continues to revolve around card games as its core product line.  That’s despite several attempts to bring it to video games over the last two decades.

Wizards finally got traction on that front with the release of Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, essentially a digital light version of the card game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.  The game and its update, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, are designed to introduce new players to the game play in Magic.  Wizards of the Coast brand manager Elaine Chase labels their development as “a marketing expense.”

“When we’re talking about getting new people into Magic, it really is a question of making sure that Magic as a game is relevant to today’s gamers because in its essence it’s a table top game.  Who plays table top games ” says Chase.  “So we took the game and we made an Xbox Live Arcade game out of it, and we did it initially as a marketing expense.  Let’s put the demo out there, let’s see what happens.  Next thing we know, we’re top of Microsoft’s charts, we’re number one on XBLA charts.”

Wizards is also trying to broaden Magic’s appeal in the way it markets the property, whether for video games or the core table top games.  The company is putting more effort towards video trailers and creative approaches, such as those at preorder, that try to capture peoples’ imaginations through Magic’s engrossing storyline and universe.

We talked with Chase about how they’re undertaking these efforts while continuing to keep core fans happy.

[a]list Summit – Using Games To Sell Games

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Game marketers have opportunities to use branded apps, augmented reality games, incentive-based social sharing programs to bring in fans. This session looks at various digital engagements that are online, on smartphones and elsewhere, and debates the right way to approach your product and target audience.

Panel participants include Warner Bros product manager Craig Mitchell, Sr. product marketing manager Microsoft Xbox Lori Neubauer, global brand director & head of PR & marketing for Tomb Raider at Square Enix North America Karl Stewart, and Fanzy Founder and CEO Tuhin Roy. The Moderator was Calvin Lui, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Unified.

Xbox One’s Ubiquitous Kinect The ‘Most Impactful Thing’ Says Phil Harrison

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Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business vice president Phil Harrison believes that the real game changer for the Xbox One will be the second-generation Kinect camera. He sees it not just altering the way people play games, but also the way users experience all sorts of content on the console.

“The fundamental, most impactful thing is that there’s a Kinect in every box now,” Harrison said. “There’s the ubiquity of the platform having Kinect, whereas before it was always a subset. That made it difficult for developers to invest against 20 percent of the installed base or whatever it was. Having it as 100 percent – that’s a game-changer.”

“One of the things that I don’t think we truly understand the significance of yet is automatic identity through Kinect,” Harrison added. “If your wife or your daughter or your son or yourself starts interacting with the machine, it instantly switches to their choice of content, their profile, their personalization, their recommendation. That alone, that simplicity, is going to dramatically increase the number of people who want to interact with Xbox One.”

Harrison believes the content customization and Kinect user identification will allow an entirely new market of consumers to be reached, which is one reason for Microsoft not concentrating on the Xbox One as solely a gaming console. “By making it simple and instant and complete, it means we can get men, women, old, young to enjoy playing and interacting with the device,” Harrison said. “It’s not just about core gamers; although, they are incredibly important to our future. It’s also about finding entry points for all members of the household.”

While much has been made over the fact that indies can’t self publish, Harrison suggested things might loosen up in the future. “We like an element of curation in the content landscape and the content experience, but that is definitely getting more broadly curated than it has been in the past,” Harrison said. “I’m not sure I would describe it as closed versus open because that implies a more binary shift. I don’t think you can be partly closed or partly open. It’s more about curating content.”

Source: VentureBeat

HTC Attempts To Usurp Attention On Galaxy S IV

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As Samsung was unveiling the Galaxy S IV in New York, HTC President Jason Mackenzie and his team stood outside Radio City Music Hall demoing the latest One series while handing out $100 coupons and hot cocoa to reporters and consumers gathering there. Mackenzie also took interviews, reiterating that HTC remained hopeful on its latest flagship smartphone.

HTC Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho also sent out an email just hours after the Galaxy S IV launch. “With a continuation of a plastic body, and a larger screen being the most obvious physical change, Samsung’s new Galaxy pales in comparison to the all-aluminum uni-body HTC One,” said Ho in the email. “This is more of the same. HTC remains the best option for those people looking for the best technology wrapped in premium design.”

This is a significant shift, as the Taiwanese firm has never commented on rival’s products before. The change is reflective of the company’s own tenuous position, after net profit shrank to the lowest in more than five years to a point where investors worry the company may soon slip into the red.

IDC states that the Galaxy S IV stands out with its software capability, although its plastic backing with a metal band is still not fancy enough compared with phones from HTC and other rivals. “The company has utilized the device sensors, including new features like temperature and humidity, to gain an advantage by differentiating from its competitors,” the IDC said. “Samsung clearly needs to innovate its device materials to keep up with the developments seen from HTC Sony , or even Nokia.”

Galaxy IV is set to hit the market in April, around the same time as HTC’s One.

Source: WSJ.com

Sony’s 4K Movie Streaming Service PS4 Bound

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Sony showed off 4K television displays running at a resolution of 3840 2160 at CES 2013. To complement this, Sony Electronics president Phil Molyneux says they’re working on a digital service to offer the content on both the PS4 and through the televisions themselves, since there is currently not a standard of physical media that can support a movie with such an advanced resolution.

“The size of a typical movie, depending on the length of the movie, you’re talking a 100 GB plus,” said Molyneux. “Then you come into variables: how fast is your broadband at home or do you have optical broadband like they do in Houston, Texas, where you can get the movie down pretty quickly. So, that is one of the challenges that we have to work through. Looking to the future, we need to develop as an industry new compression ratios and technologies. That dialogue is an active process for us at the moment.”

“Consumers are used to download and streaming,” he added. “I don’t want to discount the good work that’s going into potential physical media distribution, but that’s an industry association and they’re working hard.”

Source: The Verge

En Masse Promotes Chris Lee To CEO

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En Masse Entertainment announced that Chris Lee, formerly the company’s vice president of publishing, has been promoted to CEO. Also Soo Min Park, formerly a vice president at Nexon America, has been hired as COO and will report to Lee, while Bryan Koski, formerly the group marketing manager for the Halo franchise at Microsoft, has taken the role of director of marketing, and Brian Knox, who oversaw the North American development of Tera, has been promoted to executive producer.

“The additions to our management team are all about building the foundation for a strong future in 2013 and beyond,” said Lee. “Publishing games in today’s marketplace requires a group of leaders with diverse backgrounds in order to succeed. Now, En Masse is in an even better position to bring fun and innovative games to players.”

Double Fine Takes Advantage Of Early IOS Release

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Double Fine released its free-to-play game Middle Manager of Justice on the iOS App Store accidentally. Project lead Kee Chi claims responsibility for releasing the unfinished and buggy version of the game to the public before it was ready.

“Yeah, it was totally my fault,” he said. “With the way you submit things on the App Store, you have to specify what the release date is, and a while back we had set the date to September, but at the time we didn’t know if that would be final or not. Once we submitted the game, we realized we had a lot of things we still needed to tweak and fix, but at the same time, we didn’t want to remove it from the [submission] process in case Apple catches other things we need to take care of, and we didn’t want to do a double submission.”

While this was happening, the “tentative” September launch date was in effect for the game. “So I was on the train heading to work this week, and I get a call from our tech director saying, ‘Hey, um, so it looks the game is live in every territory.’ And I just went, ‘What! ‘” said Chi.

“It wasn’t what I wanted the world to see quite yet,” he said. “At Double Fine, we pride ourselves on putting a solid product out there, so having something out there that was buggy and not quite ready yet was really frustrating.”

Since many players had already downloaded the game, Double Fine reached out to players to get their feedback for what was going to be the full official release. “I guess it kind of just turned into a beta test,” Chi said. “I mean, if people find bugs that we haven’t found internally, I’d love to know about them so I can fix them.”

Chi indicates that Double Fine has received plenty of feedback to both eliminate bugs and make the game’s free-to-play elements less restrictive for non-paying players. “If anything, I welcome these suggestions from people, because we’re still learning and we plan to work on this well after it goes live to make the game deeper, and luckily this means we’ll get an early start on that process,” he said.

Source: Gamasutra