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Vivendi considered digital distribution for WoW expansions
Amidst all the talk of digital distribution versus retail sales at the LA Games Conference today, one big reason arose for game publishers to keep the retail channels open: the midnight launch. While a lot of gamers might tell you that it's a pain for them to schlep out into the cold to pick up the latest game or expansion, publishers actually prefer it. Pascal Brochier was the president of Global Retail at Vivendi Universal Games when it released World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade expansion (one of the biggest retail launches ever), and he says that while Blizzard had the option to digitally distribute that game, it chose not to. "We were patching all the time," he told Joystiq. "It was always in the discussions internally; 'Should we go direct digital or should we go both with retail?'" In the end, the company wanted the extra exposure that a big retail launch provides. "When you're at the store with all of the events, you actually have people who've dropped [their subscriptions] come back." And being in the stores doesn't just drive return players, it drives new players as well. "The midnight events and all of the functions help people come back who've stopped playing, but also guys who've wanted to try it will be attracted to the event and become new-found players." A few weeks after launch, says Brochier, Vivendi did enable digital distribution quietly. But even for a game so tied to the online experience, he adds that "retail is a very important critical part. There's also a significant percentage of players who just play through pre-paid cards, and that's retail, that's a retail model. So you've got to find the balance."
Marvel planning Flash game adaptations for download platforms
Marvel executive vice president Ira Rubenstein says that the comics company has been experimenting in-depth with Flash games (not to be confused with games about DC's The Flash), and that it's looking to bring some of its most popular online minigames to console download services. The comic book company's strategy in terms of gaming was "like a TV pilot system," he told an audience at today's LA Games Conference. The plan was to come up with lots of Flash games and deploy them on Marvel's websites very quickly. Now, some hits are emerging (he gave the example of the Super Hero Squad Stark Tower Defense game), and the next step for the company is to focus on improving and supporting those hits on platforms like XBLA, iPhone, and iPad. Rubenstein says "the combination of classic gameplay with a brand twist" like that found in Stark Tower Defense is what's selling with audiences. And he says that big sales like those of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 prove that there's a space for Marvel games on the downloadable game platforms, so it makes sense to invest in Flash "hits" by taking them there. Which is fine by us -- let us know when we can pay our $10 for our Deadpool Match-3 on PSN.
CEA survey: Gaming to drive 3D TV purchases
According to a new survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, one in four respondents who identified as a "gamer" is interested in 3D gaming at home. In a presentation today at the LA Games Conference, Shawn DuBravac, CEA's chief economist, suggested that gaming would strongly drive the adoption of 3D televisions. Of those surveyed who'd seen a 3D movie, half said they would be interested in 3D games, and one in five gamers surveyed said that 3D-gaming support was the factor most likely to drive their purchase of a new TV. "It's the first time I've ever seen new televisions coupled with games as a promotion," said DuBravac, "and that's really exciting." Additionally, DuBravac suggested that the gaming demographic at large would grow with the sale of new devices in the iPad-size category. There's currently a "device void" in the 8–12-inch screen space, according to CEA's research, but DuBravac expects that to fill up with approximately 20 million units sold of these mid-size devices just this year -- and those sales will lead to new gamers. As seen in the slide above, when the CEA asked consumers why they don't play games, almost 20 percent identified themselves as "not a gamer." DuBravac and company believe that these respondents are likely to become "gamers" through their purchases of new devices and technologies, like 3D. As for dismissing 3D as a fad? Try it first, said DuBravac, who admitted that the technology is far from widespread adoption. By the CEA's count, roughly eight percent of consumers claim to have doubts about 3D technology, but, "it's about half of that, around 4 percent, after they see it in action." %Poll-45605%
Dave Perry details Gaikai's server plan, teases E3 announcement
Dave Perry is dreaming big with his Gaikai streaming service. He went into a little more detail on just how it will at work at today's LA Games Conference. The company is still planning to kick off its service with 300 data centers, and while he admits it will have "much more traffic than the servers can handle," Gaikai will limit early users to those closest to the centers. If you're close enough to the server to have only about 5-10 milliseconds of lag, you'll get in. If not, Perry told Joystiq, then you won't even see the embedded window -- but your request will be logged anyway. That way, he said, Gaikai will be able to track not just where people are using the service, but where they want to use it. If a bunch of users in Alaska try to play, but can't connect because they're too far away, then "we know we're losing money in Alaska," he says, and Gaikai will set up more datacenters there. Perry says Gaikai will help with security as well -- he suggested that companies might even be able to release their E3 demos to the world just during the week of the event, allowing press or the public to play them online for a limited time, with the code securely held on Gaikai's servers. It's all speculation at this point, though -- a service like that won't be ready to go by this year's E3 in June. But stay tuned anyway: Perry also promised us an announcement about Gaikai at E3. "We got some cool stuff to show off," he confirmed with a knowing nod.
Playdom CEO: 'Core gamers are playing this stuff'
Social gaming is bigger than ever. Playdom CEO John Pleasants gave an interview on stage at the LA Games Conference today, and said that while the western market for Facebook and social games currently pulls in over $750 million, it's going to balloon to as much as $4 to 5 billion in the next five years or so. His own company is developing at an extremely rapid pace -- it's purchased and acquired enough companies and studios to have ten different teams developing, and they plan to release ten games, "all original ideas," in just the next five months. So why aren't you "core" gamers playing these games yet? Pleasants says you are. He told Joystiq after the presentation that "If you look at something like Mobsters 2, and you go look at the boards where people are talking about it, they're like, 'Look, I love this game, but I have to go back and play Halo.' Core gamers are playing this stuff." He said that the numbers alone prove that traditional gamers are already on board with social games. "This business is bigger than that business, in terms of reach," he told us. "By definition, those circles overlap." Pleasants also believes that the core game companies like Sony, EA, and Microsoft already know that -- in the next year or so, he said, almost 20% of the social gaming market will be owned by bigger brands. "This space has gotten enough notice now that people believe it's real."
