Exclusive: How Nintendo Can Win E3

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Is there really such a thing as ‘winning’ E3 There is the external victory of being the thing most talked about in the mass media, in the game media, and on social media. Those are really three different audiences: The broadest possible audience of anyone who sees, hears or reads news; the audience of gamers who are always interested in game news, and hardcore Nintendo fans. Then there’s victory internally for Nintendo, by whatever standards it chooses to set. Ultimately, it’s the votes cast by consumers in the form of spending that counts.

Nintendo is heading into this E3 in a difficult position. Sales of hardware and software have not been meeting the company’s projections. CEO Satoru Iwata has gone on record that he intends to deliver a billion yen in profits for Nintendo this fiscal year, and implied that he may step down if that’s not achieved. This puts Nintendo in a difficult position for marketing strategy, since any marketing spending has to return a profit within the fiscal year. No long-term brand-building here; Nintendo will be looking for marketing efforts that can produce solid short-term results.

This may be the reasoning behind Nintendo’s decision to forego the usual massive E3 press event, instead having a smaller media event and a separate event for trade partners and analysts. Nintendo also announced it will step up its production of Nintendo Direct videos, a cost-effective way of directly reaching Nintendo fans.

Nintendo has not shared any more about its marketing strategy, but we can make some guesses. Nintendo put out a flyer at PAX East that compared the Wii U to the Wii, clearly indicating Nintendo feels gamers aren’t really sure of what the Wii U is or why they should own one. Worse, if gamers are confused, the mass market must be completely baffled. Effectively, Nintendo needs to relaunch the Wii U and make sure the audience understands what it is. Unfortunately, Nintendo will have to do this in the face of what is sure to be a major push from Sony and Microsoft for their next-gen consoles. Nintendo will need to have clear, focused television ads hitting the key demographics, and those ads will need to be memorable to overcome the barrage of ads hitting the same audience.

One of the biggest weapons Nintendo could use in this battle is a price cut for the Wii U, but that is unlikely. Nintendo’s already losing money on each one sold, and dropping the price $50 would just mean an additional $50 loss on each unit. That might get made up in software sales eventually, but it would have to be at least three or four titles during a time when Nintendo doesn’t have all that many compelling titles for the Wii U. Hopefully we’ll see some strong Wii U software for the holiday season, more than just Pikmin 3.

The best asset Nintendo has right now is the 3DS. This handheld console has been selling well (though still under Nintendo’s projections), has an impressive array of good games, and a price point that’s not too high. Nintendo will probably put more emphasis on the 3DS for the holidays, as a way of keeping Nintendo fans spending money on Nintendo when they can’t afford a Wii U.

Key things to look for at E3: How much space in the Nintendo booth is devoted to the Wii U versus the 3DS That will show you where Nintendo hopes to make the most revenue over the holidays. What key software titles are showcased for the Wii U and the 3DS, and how compelling are they If Pikmin 3 is the best Wii U title for the holiday, Nintendo will have a difficult time. What genres are being given prime marketing support This will tell you if Nintendo believes the Wii U’s market is primarily the casual gamer that was the mainstay of the Wii market, or if Nintendo is hoping to get a more hardcore audience excited about the Wii U. What third parties are being showcased at the Nintendo booth, if any This will tell you how much third party support Nintendo has been able to attract, and how important it may be to Nintendo’s holiday sales.

Also look for the presence of the Wii U in the booths of other publishers like Activision, EA, and Ubisoft. If the only Wii U titles you see are stuck in a dark corner, that means Nintendo won’t be getting much help from that publisher. Ubisoft will likely have some space devoted to the Wii U, but you may have to look hard to find it at the EA or Activision booths.

If the Wii U can’t have a price cut, and Nintendo can’t spend huge amounts of money on advertising, what marketing options does Nintendo have Increase the value of the Wii U by bundling in more software. This can be in the form of digital downloads, or a disc pack-in. Perhaps NintendoLand will be included with the $299 Wii U, and the $349 Wii U could get that plus another title or two.

Nintendo has put itself into a tight corner by setting the billion-yen profit goal. The company has $10 billion in cash, but can’t spend it on marketing unless the return is short-term. The usual way to increase sales easily, a price cut, would therefore seem unlikely. The most powerful tool of all would be a must-have game or three for the holidays; can Nintendo come up with some game magic that will have the Wii U flying off the shelves this Christmas It’s a long shot, but Nintendo has pulled off such surprises before. There’s a saying around the game industry: “Never count Nintendo out.” Good advice for this E3 as we wait to see if Nintendo can surprise us all.

Exclusive: The Other Consoles To Watch At E3

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All gamer eyes will be focused on the E3 show next week to see what the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have to offer. Nintendo will also be hoping to renew interest in the Wii U with announcements of upcoming games. But there are other consoles that will be at E3, and the revenue generated from them may be greater than the revenue from next-gen consoles. Keep your marketing sensors tuned for these other consoles, and see what may be The Next Big Thing.

First off, there are the portable consoles from Nintendo and Sony to look at. Nintendo’s 3DS line, after a rocky start, has gone on to become a solid replacement for the aging DS line. Nintendo is continuing to expand the software lineup, and with more impressive titles the 3DS looks to generate some welcome profit for Nintendo this year. Expect Nintendo to devote a fair piece of its E3 marketing effort to the 3DS lineup; judge for yourself how impressive it looks.

Sony has the opportunity to relaunch the PS Vita at this E3, and the company has already shown the PS Vita as a remote player for PS4 titles. The big question is this: Can Sony generate some serious sales energy around the handheld console Many expected a price drop after Sony cut the price in Japan, but prices in the Americas and Europe remained unchanged. Watch for a price drop to be announced at E3 if Sony is serious about giving the PS Vita a boost. More importantly, what sort of software lineup can we expect The titles so far have not been real system-sellers, much to Sony’s disappointment. Has the company been able to generate some third-party enthusiasm Can smaller developers show the platform some love Does Sony have a killer title or two of its own to show off Examine the Sony event and the Sony booth to see what percentage is devoted to the PS Vita; that will tell you just how important Sony thinks the PS Vita will be going forward.

Beyond those two obvious consoles, though, we have some serious contenders from left field. The Ouya, the GamePop and the GameStick represent the first Android-based consoles, and the pricing represents a serious challenge to the established console business. The Ouya is priced at $99, the GamePop at $129 (with a $6.99 per month subscription to all the games you want) and the GameStick at $79. That’s not so far off from where the Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are headed (they may all have a version at $99 by Christmas) — until you consider the price of games. True, for older consoles you can find classics or used games for $20, but Android is awash in free games, or games priced at just a dollar or two, or free-to-play games. Casual gamers, or families interested in getting a simple gameplaying solution, may well be interested in these alternative consoles.

Expect to see all of these consoles at E3 in some form or other. Ouya will be conducting a guerrilla marketing operation outside the convention, symbolizing the company’s strategy as being outside of the . . . conventional game industry. Android consoles may not be inside the halls, but their shadow will be falling on the show. Android has thousands of casual games, and developers are busy crafting more hardcore experiences for mobile platforms. Over the next six months, the titles available for Android platforms will continue to increase. The graphics may not be next-gen, but gameplay can generate great sales — just look at Minecraft.

The final console to watch for is quite possibly the biggest one of all: The Tablet. Whether Android or iOS, 7 inch or 10 inch, tablets are growing at an astounding rate. Tablets have already reached the size of the largest console installed base, and estimates show tablets will continue to grow rapidly. Companies like Supercell have shown there are tremendous profits to be made with tablet games; Supercell is looking at an estimated $500 million in profit for this year on just two games. Every game publisher is either developing tablet games, or at least thinking about it. Blizzard will be showing a tablet game at E3, and that should be a clear indicator that this platform has truly arrived.

As you look at what E3 has to offer, look to see what tablet games are being offered up. While tablets may or may not have much of a presence on the show floor, they are exerting tremendous power in the marketplace. Even the next-gen consoles will be acknowledging the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets with initiatives such as Microsoft’s SmartGlass. Sony’s PlayStation Suite is already making classic PlayStation games available on Android tablets. The rise of the tablet gaming platform is inevitable; the only question is how fast revenue from tablet games will surpass revenue from traditional console games. It may take a year or three, but the trend lines are impossible to ignore.

The Biggest Hidden Story Of E3: Mobile

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The most important story for the game industry may not be what you saw at E3. Maybe it’s what you didn’t see– or rather, what you didn’t really notice. Like a black hole, it may best be detected by its invisible pull on its surroundings. On the surface E3 is all about consoles, the current ones and next-gen consoles arriving this fall, and to some extent about PC games (usually versions of console games). Look closer and a different picture begins to emerge amidst all the noise and visual clutter.

The massive and continuing growth of smartphones and tablets has resulted in enormous revenue from games on those platforms. In turn, that has lead to mobile games being developed by leading publishers like EA, although mobile games are still a small part of EA’s overall revenue. If you look closely you can see a number of mobile games being shown at E3, mostly in meeting rooms rather than the show floor. Some of them are from major publishers (like Blizzard’s upcoming tablet game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, or Zynga’s Solstice Arena), and others are from newer publishers (like Outfit 7’s Talking Friends series, celebrating 1 billion downloads). Mobile game publishers like King are even taking out booths at E3, the show supposedly about console games.

The interesting thing happens when you look closely at key new console games. Destiny, the game from Bungie that Activision is hoping will be an enormous franchise, has a mobile app that allows you to do important things in the game. EA’s FIFA is now deriving a lot of revenue from mobile apps that give you access to your teams. Sony is making old PlayStation games available on Android devices. Microsoft’s SmartGlass integrates tablets and smartphones into the Xbox and Xbox One experience.

From using mobile devices as controllers, to having mobile apps extending console gameplay, to mobile devices plugging into a TV to act as consoles, it’s clear that mobile devices are fundamentally changing the console game market. The influence is here, it’s growing, and companies that deny that mobile is important or that it affects the console business (and especially the handheld console business) are deluding themselves. Savvy companies are trying to figure out how to turn the continued success of mobile platforms to their advantage.

It’s not just gameplay that mobile is changing in the console business; it’s game marketing as well. The majority of Americans now have a smartphone, and it’s with them generally every waking minute. A smartphone is checked dozens or even hundreds of times in a day. What better place to contact an audience about your game The marketing potential in an intelligent device that already engages you multiple times a day is huge. Advertising and marketing on mobile are still evolving and changing, but it’s already an important marketing tool. New forms of marketing are being developed and tested, and the field is wide open for creative experiements.

It’s clear, though, that with all of this that mobile is exerting a huge influence on the gaming industry in every way, from marketing to game design to revenue. As the world continues to embrace mobile platforms, game companies and game marketers need to be prepared to do the same.

EA’s Wilson: Transforming Origin To Provide Choice

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Electronic Arts has put executive vice president of EA Sports Andrew Wilson in charge of Origin, the company’s digital distribution service that looks to compete with Valve’s popular Steam platform. It’s a measure of both the confidence placed in Wilson and the size of the task ahead. EA’s Origin system has grown to over 40 million users on the strength of such titles as Battlefield 3, but Wilson sees plenty of work ahead.

Wilson is attempting to transform the focus of Origin back to the original vision of a service for gamers that would enhance EA’s games for consumers. Read about what Wilson says about Origin’s roots and his goal of making Origin into a ‘gracious host’ on GamesIndustry.biz here.

The [a]list daily sat down with Wilson at the E3 show to talk about Origin and the challenges ahead for Wilson. He not only has to change the nature of the service, he has to change the perception of the service that already exists in the minds of gamers.

Currently when you go onto the Origin web site, it’s a store front. Wilson has to change that image and the onboarding experience, then you those changes have to be communicated to the audience. The plan is re-focus Origin on the customer experience. “There’s going to be three manifestations of Origin based on who you are,” Wilson explained. “One manifestation of Origin is for the person that just wants to download a game and play it. Origin will act as that consistent downloader and installer, so that if you ever buy another game you don’t have to do it again, which is of value. Then it can be completely silent and you never have to deal with it again.”

Wilson continued, “Then there will be the stage where people have more than one game and they have a fairly extensive friends list, and that concept of a game library with friends’ presence and understanding where their friends are will become valuable to them. So now, rather than just clicking on the game icon on their desktop with Origin completely silent after the download and install, they might use the application then to managing their game library and managing the interaction they have with their friends, to make sure they don’t have to click and log into and open three games to find the friend they want to play with.”

“The third is the consumer that wants a downloader and installer, wants to use the library, and wants to know about the greatest deals or promotions that are available at any given time, and they will have that storefront available to them as part of that application. There’s going to be any combination of those three factors that are important to a given consumer. What we’re committed to is figuring out a way to architect to facilitate that. Complete silence past the initial download/install; enhancement of friends, library, presence and the services that go with that; and then they opportunity to participate in great promos by virtue of the application and storefront being there for you. We’re trying to give you choice.”

Wilson sees providing options for consumers as a key to appealing to the audience. “The important thing for us is choice,” Wilson said. “I think one of the things that people perceived about Origins was that we were trying to choose for you. The big shift that we have is we want to give you choice. It’s going to take some re-architecture, it’s going to take a little bit of time. That is certainly our intent.”

When GamesIndustry International interviewed David DeMartini (then head of Origin) last year at E3, he was asked about how Steam attracted sales with very deep discounts on games ““ for example, ‘this weekend 75 percent off on XYZ.’ DeMartini’s response was that EA felt it was damaging to the IP to discount games, and that EA would look for other ways to provide value to people rather than cutting prices. Has that perception changed On the Origin web site there’s a survey asking what game you’d like to see priced at $5. Has EA’s position on pricing and discounting changed with respect to Origin

With digital downloads, it would seem that pricing is less important than the overall revenue generated since cost of goods is no longer a factor. The remainder is just transaction costs which are a small fraction of that of the normal retail price. Wouldn’t EA rather sell 100,000 of something and make $10 on each one than sell 1,000 of something it makes $40 on

“The first thing I would say is I would counter the perception that the provision of a digital service is free or even necessarily cheaper than cost of goods over time,” Wilson parried. “I think when you get to scale there are certainly potential economies that you gain there, but it’s not free.”

That makes sense with sports titles, for instance, where you have licensing costs that are certainly far from free. But the margins on digital products tends to be about twice the margin on physical products, from earnings reports that EA has provided.

Wilson fired back, “Depending on the product. But I don’t think that changes your question, which is ‘Do you have a strategy around discounting or not ‘ as enunciated by David DeMartini a year ago. Here is what I would say: Right now what I’m trying to do with a vision of Origin is abstract it from the transaction, or the business model that drives that transaction. I believe that element will be consumer-driven also; it’s a supply and demand piece.”

There’s a larger picture to examine, Wilson explained. “We have seen the business model on the iPhone change dramatically in the last twelve to eighteen months,” Wilson said. “We have seen the business model on PC games vary dramatically in the West now, not just in the East. The vision that I have for the future of Origin is somewhat abstracted from the pricing or the transaction component, because that is something that is going to be very fluid based on consumer demand. What will be consistent, however, is the provision of service. What will be consistent is the need for us to continue to ensure the quality of that provision of service.”

Wilson continued, “With all honesty, our focus right now is on the underlying service provision. The nature of the transaction, the nature of the business model that drives that transaction, will likely change a hundred times in the next three years. But the desire of gamers to get access to their games easily, simply, seamlessly, consistently, will not change. The desire for gamers to connect with their friends and know where there friends are playing at any given time will not change. The desire for gamers to have their experience enhanced by virtue of services that automatically update their games, that allow them chat, VOIP, Skype, whatever it might be that’s part of that, that won’t change. All of the other ancillary stuff about transaction and business models likely will. Our focus has to be on building a service that doesn’t change based on what those ancillary things that change around them.”

The pricing is just part of why people choose a particular vendor, Wilson believes. “People buy for three reasons. One, price is a factor, absolutely; two, the credibility of the merchant is a factor (and the quality of the product they’re buying), and three, the value of the service they’re buying as part of that exchange or that transaction,” Wilson enumerated. “Price is absolutely a factor, but so is the content we provide and the credibility of us as a merchant and the credibility of Origin as the facilitation of that transaction, and the service that Origin provides could also be a factor in the future. We would be naïve to ignore any one of those three things.”

Read more about Wilson’s plans for transforming Origin here.

Grow Mobile Launches Mobile Marketing Dashboard

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Discovery and user acquisition are the key challenges in the mobile gaming market, and as a result mobile ad networks have grown in response. There are now well over a hundred different mobile ad networks, and game marketers are facing increasing difficulty in tracking and optimizing campaigns across so many networks. Enter Grow Mobile with its solution: A mobile app marketing platform that enables marketers to buy across more than 75 mobile advertising networks.

The Grow Mobile Platform is the first self-serve dashboard allowing marketers “to transparently buy, track, optimize and scale their advertising campaigns across the highly complex and fragmented mobile advertising marketplace,” as the company’s press release puts it. “By utilizing Grow Mobile’s Platform, marketers can now make more informed advertising decisions and increase their overall return on investment with one solution.”

Creating the app was a response to the situation that COO A.J. Yeakal and CEO Brendan Lyall, co-founders along with chief architect Minglei Xu, saw in the marketplace. The [a]list daily spoke exclusively with Grow Mobile about the app.

“There are so many different players in the market that we wanted to build a solution that would help with buying,” said CEO Brendan Lyall. More than that, they wanted an app “that would help with analyzing and tracking your data, creating a better situation to optimize the advertising spend.”

“There are well over 150 ad networks today,” Lyall noted. “It’s become increasingly fragmented, and it’s difficult for a user acquisition manager or a game studio to create enough coverage to test out all these different ad channels. It’s not as easy to decipher which one is the right network. Everyone wants to test, but it’s just very difficult to do technical integration and billing with all 60 of them or however many providers or ad networks you might work with.”

What’s the response been from ad networks?

“They’ve been very positive, actually,” said Lyall. “The core of our service is to not only scale our customers, but when you map the right campaigns to the right networks it nets out to better results on the ad network side. They’re very supportive of what we’re doing.”

Grow Mobile is focusing on larger developers as its target market.

“We focused on building a platform that appeals to tier 1 mobile app developers, which means that our average customer is spending a minimum of $20,000 a month,” said Lyall. “We find that’s an amount that gives an advertiser enough budget to really test out enough traffic sources to validate what’s going to work and what’s not going to work, and figure out which sources are going to scale best for their app.”

Grow Mobile’s proprietary Intelligence Directory and automated Media Planner give marketers the information they need to select the most effective traffic sources from more than 75 integrated ad networks, ad exchanges and direct publishers. The platform’s self-serve media-buying wizard makes it easy for users to syndicate campaigns live in minutes, without human interaction or signing multiple insertion orders. Grow Mobile’s lightweight SDK and API integration are available for Android and iOS and are available now at the company’s web site.

How Mattrick’s Move Affects Microsoft

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The sudden departure of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices president Don Mattrick, and his arrival as CEO of Zynga, have caused an excited buzz about what this means for Zynga. You can read a detailed analysis of the effects on Zynga (and the questions this move raises) here. There’s another side to this equation, though: What does Mattrick’s move mean for Microsoft

Mattrcik’s departure a scant few months before the launch of Xbox One has raised more than a few eyebrows in the industry. Usually an executive likes to finish a major project before departing. The situation here is anything but usual, though. Zynga needs effective leadership immediately, and waiting six months would seriously affect the business.

Microsoft by this point should have all the hardware issues for the Xbox One dialed in, policy changes notwithstanding. At this stage, the emphasis at Microsoft has shifted from product engineering to manufacturing and marketing. Mattrick left behind an experienced team, so any disruption should be minor. According to a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft senior vice president and Windows head Julie Larson-Green may add the Mattrick’s duties to her own.

At this point the biggest issue facing Microsoft is a public relations one. The company has still been dealing with the repercussions of its initial stance on connectivity and used games for the Xbox One. Mattrick’s shift to a policy resembling the Xbox 360 has quieted much of the controversy. Still, Microsoft has to contend with those initial impressions, and added to that Mattrick’s departure raising questions of whether he was pushed out because of that… it’s time for some positive messaging.

Microsoft needs a solid communication strategy for the fall campaign in addition to the marketing spend it’s already got in the works. Sony’s $100 price advantage has led to an early lead in pre-orders; Microsoft has to emphasize the advantages of the Xbox One’s Kinect bundle to overcome that pre-order disparity.

Microsoft also needs to get the message out that Mattrick’s departure won’t affect any of the Xbox One’s rollout plans, or the great games Microsoft has coming for it. It should be a non-event as far as consumers are concerned, and that’s the message that needs to be out there. Microsoft does have to be careful not to peak its messaging too early. That’s a danger considering how much time there is before the Xbox One launch.

Microsoft also needs to consider that while the Xbox One is important, the bulk of the division’s revenue and profit is still going to be from the Xbox 360 this year. The Xbox 360 received scant attention from Microsoft at E3. Yes, a new version was announced… but not priced, or a release date provided. The World of Tanks announcement for the Xbox 360 is potentially of huge importance, yet it hasn’t gotten much attention lately. Third-party publishers also have the best 360 titles ever coming up for the holidays, including Grand Theft Auto V.

Microsoft should shift resources into pushing the Xbox 360 for the next month or two, establishing when the new version comes out (hopefully with new, lower price points). Sony was careful to promote the PS3 as well as the new PlayStation 4 at E3. Microsoft should take a cue from Sony on this and give some love to the Xbox 360 lineup, making sure it will have a solid holiday selling season. There’s time enough to pivot to the Xbox One after that.

Inevitably, it all points to an increased marketing effort this fall. Microsoft should not pull back on Xbox 360 marketing, put instead should increase it. The marketing for the Xbox One should be in addition to this marketing effort, not a replacement for it. Microsoft needs to have a great Christmas for the Xbox 360 as well as the Xbox One. It’s a tall marketing task, made more difficult the later it gets started. We’ll be watching to see how Microsoft handles this.

Ubisoft Shows Off Companion Apps For Their Biggest Games

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Along with all of the new experiences and games being shown off at E3, Ubisoft unveiled a new common theme among all of their video games — a second screen experience. Four of the games they showed off on the show floor involved companion apps: Assassin’s Creed IV, The Division, Watch_Dogs, and The Crew all had second screens that played into the main game experiences.

In a Gamesindustry International interview with Yves Guillemot, he said “it gives you an opportunity to play from outside your home with friends who are playing from their homes. So I’m in an airport, and I can play with my friends using my iPad if I have a good connection. We think this is going to open lots of new possibilities to the industry, and to the type of gameplay that can occur.” The companion apps allow for each of these games to act both as a game for console, and in the mobile space. In addition, second-screen apps allow for users to constantly have maps and targets available for view without having to stop the game to see them.

Many of the games that are being made with the apps are spread across a number of different Ubisoft studios, but all of the companion apps with the exception of The Crew‘s have been developed by Ubisoft Quebec. The companion apps will be available to supplement the console version of the games, and in some cases act as standalone experiences. Currently, the second-screen apps are being developed for Android and iOS devices, but the number of devices is constantly evolving.

The [a]list Daily was able to get some hands-on and eyes-on time with all four of these apps and their respective games at E3, and the results are impressive. In The Crew, for example, players waiting in line were handed a tablet with the companion app running, where they were able to design their car from scratch using multiple parts and designs. Players were then shown a map of the US where they were able to select the city they wanted to play in. When players reached the actual console version, the cars they designed were playable in the game, showing off the app’s ability to act alone and simultaneously affect what happens in game.

Another app Ubisoft showed off at the conference was the app for The Division, which took the abilities the companion app had to new levels. Players on the app were able to join their friends in game and actually help out in combat. App players didn’t play as their characters — instead they played as a UAV drone with combat and target marking capabilities that helped out the human players in the game. In addition, any experience gained while playing as the drone actually carried over into the player’s character in the actual game.

The other two apps, the ones for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch_Dogs were functionally very similar based on the demos shown off at the conference, and acted more as second screens. Both apps featured a map of the game world that changed as the player played, and tracked their position inside of the game world, as well as objectives and objective positions that were available to the player. This eliminates the need for an in game map, allowing players to simply glance down at their tablet and see their position in the world, and in addition to that allows them to set targets in the app easily and see those targets reflected in game. For Ubisoft, they are trying to move beyond simply making their games. These companion apps are making mobile devices companions to their games that make not only enhance the experiences of their games, but can be whole experiences in themselves.

Source: GI.biz

Xbox Head Don Mattrick Now Zynga CEO

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A surprising hire yesterday grabbed headlines across the game industry and in the mass media, as Zynga announced that industry veteran Don Mattrick had accepted the position of CEO at Zynga. Earlier in the day, the Wall Street Journal broke the story, and Zynga confirmed it.

Don Mattrick is a veteran of Electronic Arts, having sold his company Distinctive Studios to EA back in 1991, and eventually Mattrick became president of Worldwide Studios for EA. He left EA and joined Microsoft, heading up the entertainment division for Microsoft and driving the Xbox 360 to its current status as number one console in the USA. Mattrick’s departure is surprising to many because the new Xbox One is still several months away from launch.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addressed the change in a note to employees: “This is a great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success. Don’s directs will report to me and will continue to drive the day-to-day business as a team, particularly focused on shipping Xbox One this holiday…Thank you, Don, for setting us on a path to completely redefine the entertainment industry. The strong leadership team at [Interactive Entertainment Business] and their teams are well positioned to deliver the next-generation entertainment console, as well as transformative entertainment experiences, long into the future.”

The change is also surprising for Zynga, which has remained firmly in the control of founder Mark Pincus, who has served as CEO and chairman of the board since the company’s beginning. Pincus has now left his CEO position to Mattrick and instead will become Zynga chief product officer, which from the sound of it would indicate that Pincus will focus on games instead of overall management.

“I’ve always said to Bing [Gordon] and our Board that if I could find someone who could do a better job as our CEO, I’d do all I could to recruit and bring that person in,” Pincus said. “I’m confident that Don is that leader.”

There are many questions left to be answered about both Microsoft and Zynga as this change is absorbed. Effective immediately, though, Mattrick is beginning his new role at Zynga, and we’ll be watching to see what changes take place.

Source: GI.biz

 

Next-Gen Consoles Not Expensive Compared To Past

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When Sony announced the $399 price tag for PlayStation 4, it was met with uproarious applause at their press conference and praise from watchers around the world. Whether $399 for PS4 or Xbox One’s higher price at $499, the points of next-gen systems may seem steep to some. According to data from Ars Technica, these next generation consoles are far from the most expensive ones relative to today’s dollars.

Ars Technica showed the price level at release and adjusted for inflation for a number of consoles beginning with the Atari 2600 and leading up to the next generation. This graph shows comparatively how expensive these consoles actually are in a historical context.

Even without adjusting for inflation, the Xbox One and PS4 are far from the most expensive console releases. The PlayStation 3 was initially released at $600 back in 2006, which raised a lot of eyebrows. Yet more than a decade before it, a couple of systems had already set a higher bar for launch day price tags. The 3DO was an astounding $700 at its release in 1993. Two years before 3DO, the Neo Geo came out at $650.

Based on Ars Technica’s chart, the average price consoles adjusted for inflation comes out to $498.63, which puts the Xbox One only about a dollar over the average. Still, the Xbox One is more expensive than the adjusted price of almost every system to come out since 1995, with the PS3 and Sega Saturn as exceptions. The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, is actually cheaper than every other previous PlayStation system when adjusted for inflation.

It’s worth noting that PS4’s $399 price point came at the expense of PlayStation Eye, which is now excluded from the launch bundle. Meanwhile, the Xbox One includes a Kinect, which is still retailing for more than $100 as a standalone unit. If the PS4 included the PS Eye, its launch price would have to account for its retail value, currently around $60.

When looked at through the lens of history, these next-gen consoles are relatively reasonably priced when compared to generations past. From a pricing standpoint, they’re certainly within striking distance of the most successful consoles.

Source: Ars Technica

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.