DOCSLIB.ORG

Video Game Industry No Longer a ‘Boys Club’

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Video Game Industry No Longer a ‘Boys Club’ Business VIDEO gAmE INDUstRy no longer a ‘Boys Club’ By ROBBIE kEy [email protected] CONtRA elieve it or not, video games have “I can remember playing ‘Contra’* and A side-scrolling shooting game that come a long way since Pong machines ‘Duck Hunt’** for hours and hours as a originally released on the NES in 1988. Bswept American homes. Although the child,” Wager said. gaming industry has changed in many ways, “Borderlands 2” is one of Wagar’s favorite DUCk hUNt one of the biggest differences is how it is no games because of how much the player can An arcade shooter where players plug longer a ”boy’s club,” as women are involved customize the experience and how well it in a plastic gun and shoot ducks on now more than ever. plays. “I have just over 200 hours played on home TV screens. It released on the Of the 155 million people who play video that game.” NES in 1985. games in the U.S., 44 percent are women, Kelley Rehmet, a part-time employee at which is about 65 million people, according the local Hastings and student at Angelina BORDERLANDs 2 to a 2015 study by the Entertainment College, is also video game enthusiast. A cooperative shooting game from Software Association titled “Essential Facts “I’ve played them since I was probably 5. a first-person perspective with role- About the Computer and Video Game My first video game was one of those little playing game elements. Industry.” SpongeBob faces that you plug into your TV Toni Wagar, an SFA senior majoring in and the nose is a joystick,” she said. thE ELDER sCROLLs V: computer information systems, has been While women are welcomed in the skyRIm playing since she was a kid. “I was an only industry more than ever before, the An open-world role-playing game, child with a single parent, which I feel is why acceptance has not been without struggles meaning players have a wealth of op- I was so drawn to them. They were a great along the way. tions to choose what they want to do, how different tasks can be approached source of entertainment for me,” she said in An infamous event known as Gamergate and how to grow their character. an email. particularly focused on how women are 42 | January 2016 the Best of Nac 2 0 1 5 treated in the industry. It began with game designer Zoe Quinn, a developer FeelIng uneasY who is perhaps best known for creating “As a trope the Damsel about PrePlannIng? “Depression Quest,” a text-based game in which players experience what it’s like for in Distress is a plot de- Show your loved ones how someone to go through depression. Quinn’s vice in which a female much you truly care by offering ex-boyfriend accused her of allegedly great emotional and financial secu- cheating on him with a journalist from a character is placed in a rity. Your family will find great com- video-game-focused website so she could fort in knowing that you took the get better reviews for “Depression Quest.” perilous situation from responsibility for your funeral plans Gamergate not only sparked a which she cannot escape to reflect what you wanted. controversy over the ethics of gaming It will give your loved ones peace of journalists, but women’s presence in on her own and must mind not to have to make those im- gaming. Quinn has received death and rape portant but hard decisions at a most threats not only because of the question then be rescued by a stressful time and it will spare them of her ethics, but also simply for being a additional emotional grief. woman in the industry. Wagar has also male character, usually experienced harassment while playing providing a core incen- Preplanning provides cost protection games online. and freezes the cost to today’s price. “The moment I would talk to people tive or motivation for they would realize I was a girl and begin asking how old I was, where I lived, if I had the protagonist’s quest.” a boyfriend, what I was wearing, even ask ANItA sARkEEsIAN, BLOggER very ‘personal’ questions,” she said. “It got to the point that I would leave the (game).” Danny g. Mounger and lynn M. laird Anita Sarkeesian, who has an online blog or motivation for the protagonist’s quest.” called Feminist Frequency that critiques In the video, she gives various examples at Laird Funeral Home and explores the roles of women in gaming, of games that centralize around the idea we make it easy for your wishes has received similar threats. Sarkeesian that women are helpless prizes, including to be appreciated and honored. said she had to flee from her home because Princess Peach from “Super Mario Bros.” of threats. Rehmet believes viewing games in this Call us for your appointment at The description on the first part of one manner is what drives women away from 936.569.1366 of Sarkeesian’s video series, Damsel in gaming. Distress, reads “As a trope the Damsel in “Feminists think that video games are 2116 south st. • nacogdoches, tX Distress is a plot device in which a female horribly representing women, and so it www.lairdfh.net character is placed in a perilous situation seems some women just don’t want to be in taylor Corrigan from which she cannot escape on her the video game world. I think they should funeral home funeral home own and must then be rescued by a male be more open to not take everything so 511 ross graves Dr. 204 e. Front st. timpson, tX Corrigan, tX character, usually providing a core incentive literally,” she said. 936.254.2424 936.398.4141 January 2016 | 43 Business ViDEO GAME INDuSTRY Overall, Rehmet believes women are well represented in gaming, particularly in “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” a favorite of hers. “In ‘Skyrim’ and ‘The Elder Scrolls’ games, women are represented the best because … of the Nords. The Nords are based off of the Vikings. Viking women actually went out and hunted and were warriors just like the men. There wasn’t really discrimination there,” she said. Main character from E3 game Horizon Zero Dawn Rehmet has experienced both acceptance and resentment for enjoying gaming. “I have a group of friends that I play Outside the games themselves, a study my tAkE with online, and for the longest time they from the International Game Developers It’s fantastic to see more women in gaming, didn’t know I was female just because we Association released in June 2014 whether they’re behind the scenes making didn’t ask those questions, because it didn’t revealed that 22 percent of the game the games or starring as protagonists in the matter to us,” she said. developers in the industry are female, next big hit. But in the grand scheme of the On the other hand, she has also been which doubled from a study conducted in gaming industry, I’m simply happy to see told, “I must really hate myself because I’m 2009. more people getting into video games. One of a woman playing video games.” This kind of progress in gaming pumps the coolest games I saw while watching E3 Despite males still holding the majority up Wagar. this past year was a PlayStation 4 game called presence and all of the disgusting attacks on “I am excited that women are taking “Horizon Zero Dawn.” In a quick summary, it people like Quinn and Sarkeesian, gaming a bigger role in the video game industry. features a female character in the stone age, is seeing a welcoming increase in women It’s breaking up the ‘boy’s club’ that it but simultaneously future-esque world where participants. This past year at the Electronic has been. One of these days the running robotic dinosaurs and animals roam the Entertainment Expo, or E3, saw the biggest joke that girls don’t play video games Earth. And honestly, I didn’t care about how inclusion of women leads ever. Out of the won’t be a thing anymore, along with the the game features a strong female lead who estimated 120-plus games at the expo, 13 awkwardness and harassment that comes can hunt these robotic beings. I cared because or more starred female leads, and that with being a girl when playing online. All the game simply looks awesome in several doesn’t include the dozens of games with it takes is more of us joining the hobby different ways. My excitement wouldn’t be numerous playable women characters. and making an impact.” ■ any different if it was a man starring in it. The video game industry – and the world in general – is taking small baby steps each day Game from E3 2015 to accepting and seeing women as equals, and it’s about time. I just hope that in this process, compelling stories or well-constructed mechanics in video games are not sacrificed for political correctness. Besides, I don’t know why anyone would want to shut the doors to the wonderful world of gaming. More people involved means more nerdy conversations. How could anyone not want that? Robbie Key is the assistant news editor at The Daily Sentinel. With a passion for the gaming industry, his dream is to one day become a video game journal- ist; that and get superpowers. 44 | January 2016 INtERESTINg Gaming FACTS The first video game to ever feature a female protagonist was “Me- By 2010, the high- troid.” It first released est paid professional for the Famicom Disk female gamer, Katherine System on Aug.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • California State Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media
    California State Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Video Games: The Quintessential California Industry Erik V. Huey Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Entertainment Software Association August 21, 2015 The Entertainment Software Association Serves business and public affairs needs of U.S. computer and video game publishers • 34 member companies • Activities include: o Business and consumer research o Government relations o Legal and policy advocacy . Global anti-piracy program . Domestic and international IP policy . Technology policy • Also operates E3, Video Game Impact, Video Game Voters Network, ESA Foundation The Entertainment Software Association E3 2015 • Generated more than $40 million for Los Angeles • 6,500 hotel rooms on peak • 52,200 attendees • 300 exhibitors • Media o More than 60 billion media impressions generated o More than 4,000 journalists attended E3 2015 Consumer Engagement Enhanced Consumer Engagement • On Twitch, more than 21 million people watched E3 • More than 1 million E3 videos posted on YouTube • 6.3 million tweets with #E3 • 50 unique E3 topics trended worldwide and in the U.S. on Twitter • More than 7.5 million Instagram “likes” Not your Father’s Video Games 1972 1981 1980 How Video Games are Made • Creating a modern game is similar to creating a blockbuster movie in terms of how it’s made, time, cost, and scope • Designers, actors, musicians, artists, and more are all used That was then, this is now… That was then, this is now… 2001 2013 150–250 million
    [Show full text]
  • Star Fox Zero E3 2015
    Star Fox Zero (E3 2015 !) 1 / 3 Star Fox Zero (E3 2015 !) 2 / 3 ... are Falco Lombardi from Star Fox, Bandanna Dee from Kirby, and (at last!) how do you ... Jul 11, 2015 · A mod for the famous flash fangame, Super Smash Flash 2! ... of Super Smash Bros Ultimate at E3 2018 and Nintendo pulled no punches! ... NEWS Jan 08, 2019 · Year 2: Events of Banjo-Tooie, Metroid: Zero Mission, .... (We love our fans!) ... version shows it must have been worse than star fox zero because if that game can make it. ... At E3 2011, it MENU.. We Can Rebuild Him: In Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Zero, all of the defeated Star Wolf pilots return ... It was announced at E3 2014 for the 2015 holidays, but that sort of fell through. ... (Love Goggins in The Shield and Justified — dark dramas!). First released bundled with Star Fox 64, the accessory gave a more realistic ... Fox Team (bottom right) at E3's Digital Event 2015 for the launch of Star Fox Zero" .... STAR FOX ZERO Gameplay - E3 2015 Nintendo Direct (HD) ... Star Fox Zero - Gameplay Trailer (Nintendo .... The Electronic Entertainment Expo for 2015 is over and now the wait is on for the new games coming soon to a console near you! Brett Larson .... 119 Star Fox Zero, Konami leaves Consoles, & PS VR. ANTiFanboy Podcast • By ANTiFanboy • Sep 21, 2015. Share. Loading… 00:00 ... (Listen to this one just for our reaction to the Best Picture winner!) 2:10:42 ... 306 E3 2019 Hype-O-Meter.. Check out all Nintendo @ E3 2015 updates here: http://e3.nintendo.com/ Subscribe for more Nintendo fun ...
    [Show full text]
  • Insights from the California Energy Policy Simulator
    ▪ INSIGHTS FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY POLICY SIMULATOR On the state’s current greenhouse gas emission trajectory and six policy opportunities for deepening emission reductions JANUARY 2020 BY CHRIS BUSCH AND ROBBIE ORVIS Acknowledgments Jeff Rissman is the chief architect of the Energy Policy Simulator. We thank him for his work developing the model structure and the California adaptation. Ginette Chapman contributed editorial review of multiple drafts. Jeffrey Greenblatt, Ph.D., of Emerging Futures, LLC, provided valuable research inputs during preliminary model specification. We are grateful for helpful feedback from numerous colleagues at Energy Innovation and seminar participants at the Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis. Helpful input was provided by: Don Anair (Union of Concerned Scientists), Panama Bartholomy (Building Decarbonization Coalition), Derek Broekhoff (Stockholm Environmental Institute), Pierre Delforge (Natural Resources Defense Council), Jamie Fine (Environmental Defense Fund), Steven Geiger (Innova Partners), Justin Gillis (New York Times), Larry Goulder (Stanford University), Alex Jackson (Natural Resources Defense Council), Simon Mui (Natural Resources Defense Council), Amber Mahone (Energy + Environmental Economics, Inc.), Colin Murphy (University of California, Davis), Michelle Passero (The Nature Conservancy), Dan Sperling (University of California, Davis), Zach Subin (Energy + Environmental Economics, Inc.), David Weiskopf (NextGen America), and staff at the California
    [Show full text]
  • 'Star Wars' to 'Star Fox,' 5 Expectations for E3 12 June 2015, Byderrik J
    From 'Star Wars' to 'Star Fox,' 5 expectations for E3 12 June 2015, byDerrik J. Lang organizes the industry trade show. "We have more than 270 exhibitors at E3 this year showing over 1,600 products, including 100 of them that haven't even been teased. It's meant to be a very diverse environment. This will probably be the most diverse E3 in the show's history." Here's a look at what's likely to unfold during gaming's biggest week: ___ VIRTUALLY HEAD OVER HEELS With virtual reality systems like the Oculus Rift, In this June 11, 2014 file photo, a man tries out the Project Morpheus and HTC Vive scheduled for Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at the Oculus booth at release throughout the next year, game creators the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles. From are expected to heavily tout their VR experiences in virtual reality headsets to the latest installments of "Halo" an effort to wrap the immersive technology around and "Uncharted," the newest hardware and software will consumers' noggins. Microsoft might similarly use be hyped by nearly 300 exhibitors at the 2015 Electronic its presence at E3 to hype HoloLens, the Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade augmented reality headset it unveiled earlier this show held June 16-18, 2015, in Los Angeles. What will be this year's game changers? (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, year with a rendition of "Minecraft" set amid the real File) world. At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, video games alone won't soak up all the attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Video Games and the Burden of a Tax on Brazil
    Video Games and the burden of a tax in Brazil: how has the market responded? Jeffrey Pang Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Analysis and Conclusion Introduction Today How has the consumer responded to the burden of a tax? While the Brazilian Government strives to protect its Domestic Industry At the mall in São Paulo where we exchanged money, I The Consumer has responded to these high prices in one of two and Economy with High Tariffs, it is the average Brazilian consumer, the As we learned from our visit to Salcomp, the government stumbled across a store named Playfields, a Brazilian ways. people that the laws are designed to protect, who are the ones that today continues to be very protective of Domestic Gamestop Equivalent. At that store, I noticed that the prices suffer the consequences from the Government’s Policies. Those Manufacturing. There are still very high tariffs on imports. for the Gaming Consoles and Video Games were very high First, a black market was created for the cheaper sale and imported Gaming Consoles only are accessible to those who could One of the most notable examples of this is with our Video compared to their cost in the USA. The Economist in me distribution of Video Games and their consoles. Reports suggest afford them, the very wealthy. This is the same demographic that Games in Brazil. International Video Games such as those came out and I became interested in learning more about why that 80-90% of all video games in Brazil are illegally obtained.
    [Show full text]
  • Activision Opens E3 2015 with Most Impressive Lineup in Company History
    Activision Opens E3 2015 with Most Impressive Lineup in Company History Offers Ultimate Hands-on Experience for All Four Tentpole Franchises Call of Duty: Black Ops III Delivers First-Ever Multiplayer Hands-on Reveal at E3 Worldwide Hands-on Debut of New Destiny: The Taken King First Hands-on with Skylanders SuperChargers Including Newly Revealed Nintendo Guest Stars Premiere of GHTV, the World's First Playable Music Video Network in Guitar Hero Live; Fans Who Pre-Order the Game Get Access to Bonus Premium Content from Multi-Platinum Artist Avenged Sevenfold SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), for the first time on next-generation consoles is delivering hands-on gameplay across all of its franchises at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo) taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 16-18. Starting today, June 16, the company will debut the highly-anticipated follow up to the most played series in Call of Duty® history - Call of Duty®: Black Ops III, while showcasing a completely re-imagined Guitar Hero with true, breakthrough innovation in Guitar Hero® Live and GHTV, the world's first playable music video network. Additionally, Skylanders® returns this year bringing a new category of toys to life - vehicles. Skylanders® SuperChargers expands the franchise's signature gameplay with an entirely new way for fans to experience the magic of Skylands. Show attendees will also be able to play the next evolution of Destiny, The Taken King, which is the first major expansion for the franchise, featuring a new story campaign and quests, new enemies to fight, new locations to explore, new Strikes and Crucible maps, and an all-new Raid.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Driven Development
    Hi, I’m Rok Erjavec, and today I’ll be talking to you about VR, and the associated challenges of developing against market expectations from a ‘AAA’ developer, while working with the market and budgetary constraints of this new medium. 1 Postmortems of Climb/Robinson will do a bit of a dive into some of the tech-successes/innovations we delivered during this period as well. 2 2016 was a year of many firsts for Crytek: First VR release, and consequently first in-house PS4 (and PSVR/Oculus) releases, first game with no weapons (2x), first commercial game with Dinosaurs (given the history, a bit of a surprise), first console release from Crytek to run at 60fps and many more. Last and not least – the experience of going through shipping 2 full-priced launch titles on a new medium on two separate launch platforms, from conception to release – in just a bit over a year, is one that no one in the teams would have predicted when we started all this. Given all that – we felt it would be worth sharing the experiences of doing all these firsts while simultaneously trying to hit market-expectations on some very constrained timelines and with limited resources. Obviously this also coincides with many things in 2016 being game industry firsts – and VR as a medium creates so many new unknowns, that just talking about how we dealt with them on first try is a learning experience into itself. 3 Also – before moving forward – lets clarify the vocabulary of the talk-title used – “AAA” being rather poorly defined as a term.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Bethesda Game Studios Game Making Faltering? by Michael Lane
    Is Bethesda Game Studios Game Making Faltering? By Michael Lane Source: https://www.gamerant.com (Pete Hines talking to fans at E3 2015) Bethesda Game Studios. When you hear this name, some people will more than likely remember of one of the following games: The Elder Scrolls Morrowind (TES III); The Elder Scrolls Oblivion (TES IV); Skyrim (TES V), Fallout 3; Fallout: New Vegas; and, Fallout 4. These games are universally praised for their rich story-driven worlds, letting gamers play hundreds of hours of tactical action, dive into intriguing plots, submerge themselves in ambience that is superb, and explore environments that are spectacular. I first played TES V: Skyrim. My mother bought it for my father for Christmas in 2011, and being curious, I asked my dad if I could play the game, and after he said yes, I popped the disc into my Xbox 360. I was blown away by the content. I was amazed by how big the map was and where and what I could do. Since then I have been a huge fan of BGS video games. I have played Fallout 1, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and TES IV: Oblivion, and TES V: Skyrim. Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) first franchise, The Elder Scrolls, allows you to explore the vast continent of Tamriel, where you can adventure into the wilderness and become whoever you want in this fantasy world. With five games in the series (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim) and TES: Online allows you the player to explore a fantasy world rich with lore and meet very interesting characters along the way, such as Paarthunax or M’aiq the Liar.
    [Show full text]
  • From Virtual Reality to Androids, Five Expectations for E3 11 June 2016, by Derrik J
    From virtual reality to androids, five expectations for E3 11 June 2016, by Derrik J. Lang CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes E3. "There's tremendous momentum going into E3." The festivities will spill out onto nearby streets and venues in downtown Los Angeles with companies such as Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Sony hosting fan-centric events. The organizers of E3 are joining them for the first time with their own public event, E3 Live . Gallagher expects 20,000 fans to show up for game demonstrations and other revelry. Here's a look at other E3 prospects: ___ In this June 15, 2015 file photo, Andrew House, president and global CEO of Sony Computer SECOND WIND Entertainment Inc., talks about the Sony Morpheus virtual reality headset at the Sony Playstation at E3 2015 news conference in Los Angeles. From virtual reality to As has become familiar practice at E3, a litany of the latest installments of "Gears of War" and sequels and prequels will be on hand at the "Battlefield," the newest hardware and software will be convention, including several sophomore outings. hyped by nearly 300 exhibitors at the Electronic They include the stealth adventure "Dishonored 2," Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade mech-heavy shooter "Titanfall 2," superhero mash- show kicking off Sunday, June 12, 2016. (Photo by Chris up "Injustice 2," hacker tale "Watch Dogs 2" and sci- Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) fi strategy game "Halo Wars 2." There will likely be many more franchise follow-ups unveiled at publishers' splashy press conferences Sunday and Monday.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloading a Bedrock Minecraft World to Java
    downloading a bedrock minecraft world to java How can I import worlds from Minecraft Bedrock into Minecraft Java? Can I get my Minecraft Bedrock Edition worlds onto my PC to play in regular Minecraft? If so how? I have used iExplorer to transfer files from my iPad but that was no help. Any suggestions? 2 Answers. Please note that I used Bedrock 1.14.60 for Windows 10 (B2004) and Java 1.14.4, newer versions might break this process. I'm gonna try and keep this answer up to date. Is possible to convert Bedrock worlds (previously called Pocket Edition or PE) to Java Minecraft with a tool called MCC ToolChest - PE. Please note that the conversion process is not perfect, some blocks will become corrupted or be missaligned: Item Frames will be detached from the wall that they were in Stairs connected in 90° bends will not stay like that Potions and Arrows will become their "Uncraftable" versions The Enchanted Books will have all of the enchantments removed. You can download it from http://mcctoolchest.com/Download by clicking "MCCToolChest PE (Bedrock version)". After downloading MC ToolChest PE, open the compressed file and double click the EXE. Then, follow the steps to install the program. Once the program has been installed, go ahead and open it. You should see the following window: Go ahead and click the Folder icon to open your Bedrock World. You should see a window like this: If you are trying to convert a world from Bedrock for Windows 10, it should be visible in the list of worlds, so just go ahead and click it.
    [Show full text]
  • Serious, Authentic and Grim? Not This Second World War VR Shooter
    The Independent Games Magazine Issue Six, Spring 2015 Serious, authentic and grim? Not this Second World War VR shooter... ALSO IN ISSUE FIVE FEATURES REGIONAL EVENTS NEXT GEN BATMAN: ARKHAM Beyond Flesh We talk to Allyza We were at E3 The Google KNIGHT ARK, THE and Blood, Taylor, Mineski’s 2015 in LA, the Play Store is WITCHER 3: WILD Super Dungeon Shoutcaster worlds’s biggest not without its HUNT, AND ARK Bros, and so from the and best games flaws, says our SURVIVAL EVOLVED much more Philippines event. Next Gen gamer REVIEWED 2 MARCH 2015 ISSUE FIVE IND13.COM Contents Editorial Pages 38 - 40 Page 4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Indie games are going full Steam ahead... Pages 42 - 46 Ark: Survival Evolved IND13 Q&A Page 6 Allyza Taylor Can you tell us about a positive Pages 48 - 52 experience you’ve had working in We caught up with allyza Taylor, independent gaming? Mineski’s Events Team Commentator/ Shoutcaster to know if there’s more to Beyond Flesh and Blood “gaming” than what she has now as a Pages 8 - 11 shoutcaster. A new apocalyptic game set, of all places, in Manchester The Kraken Sleepeth Pages 54 - 56 Super Dungeon Bros. The new game from Team Pesky, the Pages 12 - 16 studion set up by Andy Gibson. A cross platform, rock music themed, co-op dungeon brawler Google Play Pages 58 - 59 War for the Overlord Google Play is the official go-to place Pages 18 - 24 for Android games. But, is it all that it Harry Cole and Lee Smith talk to seems? Lee Moon – Community Manager at Subterranean Game.
    [Show full text]
  • June 29, 2015 by Electronic Mail Jacqueline C. Charlesworth
    June 29, 2015 By Electronic Mail Jacqueline C. Charlesworth General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights U.S. Copyright Office Library of Congress 101 Independence Ave SE Washington, DC 20559-6000 Re: Docket No. 2014-7, Proposed Class 23: Abandoned Software–Video Games Requiring Server Communication Dear Ms. Charlesworth: On behalf of the Entertainment Software Association (“ESA”), this letter responds to your June 3, 2015 letter regarding Proposed Class 23. 1. Please explain whether, and under what circumstances, video game publishers reissue or repackage games where the publisher or developer has previously ended support for a server that enables single-player and/or multiplayer play. Please provide illustrative examples, including an explanation of the similarities and differences between the original and reissued products and the role of technological protection measures. How frequently does this occur? A video game publisher may invest millions of dollars developing a single video game. In order to obtain a return on this significant investment, publishers are continuously looking for ways to refresh these highly-valuable copyrighted works during their copyright terms, adapt them for different platforms, and reissue games after server support has ended. The following examples illustrate just a few of the ways in which publishers have reissued or repackaged their copyrighted video games:1 1 See also “E3 2015: Old Games Find New Life,” The Times of India (June 17, 2015), http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/gaming/E3-2015-Old-games-find-new- life/articleshow/47704590.cms. Jacqueline C. Charlesworth June 29, 2015 Page 2 • Worms was first released in 1995 as an artillery strategy game for personal computers with single-player and online multi-player functionality.
    [Show full text]