Conference Will Offer a Sneak Peek at Future of Video Games 23 March 2009, by Troy Wolverton

Conference will offer a sneak peek at future of video games 23 March 2009, By Troy Wolverton

The video game business has come a long way other Web sites. from the original Atari console or even the original PlayStation of a decade ago. • Online games.

Where it's likely to head next should become clear This is a broad category that includes everything this week at the Game Developers Conference in from lightweight Flash-based games to the so- San Francisco. The annual confab serves as a called massively multiplayer online games such as place for game makers to honor their peers, swap "World of Warcraft." Likely to draw special interest ideas and talk about issues of the day. are new business models that allow game makers to sell and distribute new game levels or game Thanks to announcements or presentations at the content over the Internet. show, consumers will get glimpses of some of the products slated to hit store shelves later this year. Game makers are also likely to discuss the They'll also get an inkling of ideas, themes and possibility that games will go in the direction movies technologies that will impact gaming in coming are headed _ where content is stored on a years. computer somewhere on the Internet and accessible from anywhere, said Michael Pachter, a "It's really a sneak peek at the future of games," financial analyst who covers the video game said Meggan Scavio, the GDC event director. industry for Wedbush Morgan.

Among the topics likely to get particular attention at "We're seeing a migration to far more digital and this year's conference are: online content than we've seen in the past," Pachter said. • Social games. The conference comes at an uncertain time for the These are titles made to be played with other video game business. The industry's growing at a people, whether in the same room or across the healthy clip, making it one of the few bright spots in Internet. Nintendo's Wii console helped popularize an otherwise bleak economy. But at the same time, the concept with games such a Wii Sports, which many of the industry's traditional leaders are allows family members to compete against each struggling. other in virtual bowling or tennis matches. But social games also include those made for social Nintendo has displaced Sony as the leading networking sites such as Facebook or those console maker, which has been something of a incorporating social networking features. mixed blessing for the industry. Nintendo has clearly expanded the video game market, but the • New platforms. top-selling games on its machines have tended to be those made by Nintendo itself, rather than those Apple's iPhone is getting a lot of attention from made by outside developers such as Electronic game developers these days. But other new Arts. opportunities are emerging for game makers, including Zeebo, a new console aimed at the Meanwhile, the Wii and other platforms and models developing world; downloadable games for the PC have opened up new, lower-cost opportunities for and consoles such as Microsoft's Xbox 360; and developers to create games. But the low barrier to Flash-based games embedded in Facebook and entry has meant fierce competition and some

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developers accustomed to working on costly, graphics-intensive blockbusters for hard-core gamers have resisted making less-ambitious games for the hoi polloi.

"Evolving business models are coming to fruition," said Billy Pidgeon, a game industry market analyst for research firm IDC. "Every change has got a positive and a negative."

The upshot of the upheaval is that consumers are likely to see a lot of experimentation in coming years. In addition to exploring new game platforms and new business models, game makers are introducing new styles of games rather than just updating older ones.

The days of going to the local GameStop to buy the latest version of "Madden NFL" for your PlayStation may soon look quaint.

"There's a big shift in the business model," said James Lin, CEO of Digenetics, which has developed technology that developers can incorporate in their games. "Companies are trying figure out what to do."

Or, as Scavio put it, "There's exciting stuff happening" in the industry.

Gamers can only hope.

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