Category Archives: Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2009

During Edinburgh’s Interactive Conference this morning, Peter Cowley, the digital media MD of Endemol, told attendees that due to the success of 1 vs. 100, the company is looking at bringing more TV-to-Game branding to Xbox 360.

“Microsoft approached us for a show for new service called Primetime. It has a live show with a host avatar and a voice over live, contestants can line up in a lobby in the game and could be picked, 100 are people picked to be an audience and the rest can play along,” said Cowley. “The game can take quite a long time and it has traditional ad breaks like TV, plus you have to be a gold member of Xbox.

“I’ve been playing against 84,000 people simultaneously. I’ve seen the beginnings of convergence from TV ideas to new ideas on a platform. It’s still unproven but I’m excited and can excite the TV guys about an Xbox game where they may have previously thought about it as a shoot up platform.”

Cowley also stated that one idea the company had was a “poker-type experience” that could be played “along to a TV show or a mix of video-based content and gameplay. ”

More over on Guardian UK.

At the Edinburgh Interactive Conference, BMO Capital Markets’ Edward Williams told attendees that the gaming market has suffered “significant disruption” to its business model.

“For Western publishers, profitability hasn’t grown at all in the past few years and that’s before we take 2009 into account,” he said while stating that the opposite could be claimed from the Chinese sector.

Chinese firms were seeing improved profits due to the PC market and direct download methods rather than the traditional way used by Western firms releasing titles on DVD per retail outlets. Developers in China also do not have to pay as much in royalties to console makers because of the low number of console users.

Three factors, Williams explained, are causing the Western games market to decline:

• Games are getting larger, which meant longer development time and larger staff costs.
• In the 1990s the PlayStation accounted for 80% of the market, today the console space is very fragmented, so developers have to work on many platforms at any one time.
• The cost of licensing intellectual property or gaining official sports body endorsement (such as FIFA or FIA) has gone up.

Speaking to the BBC, Peter Moore agreed that while there’s a difference in the markets, Westerner will start warming up to digital distribution soon.

“In China, PC and mobile platforms will continue to dominate,” he said. “There isn’t the necessity to buy other pieces of hardware and it is our job to service that. In Europe we are going to see more content that’s delivered electronically, be that through Steam, Xbox Live or whatever.”

“The release of Tiger Woods online as a free to play experience will be the real test of the Western consumer’s appetite for digital downloading.”

Peter Moore gave a keynote this morning at the Edinburgh Interactive Conference and discussed how EA Sports learned how to reinvent itself to women and embrace Nintendo’s Wii.

“The only time our testosterone-fuelled business talked to women was about games for their boyfriends, sons or fathers,” said Moore.

“The Wii came along and the dynamics changed. The audience changed radically – no longer interested in passive sitting down, it became more about getting up off the couch. We knew that if this is where the business was going, we were going to lag behind unless we changed our business model.

“Probably the most stark example of success on the Wii is the rise of health and wellness. We are EA Sports, where do we come in on this? We did $150m business in the first year in our case by talking to the female consumer and providing a solution to someone who perhaps can’t get to a gym, or afford one, through EA Sports active.

“It’s not only great business for the company but we are changing people’s lives through a game, and actually, it’s not just a game it’s an experience. It kicks your ass. We are delighted we are talking to girls, we are talking to women.”

More over on Guardian UK.

The Edinburgh Interactive Festival just confirmed its main keynote as Peter Moore.

Said the EA Sports boss: “I am honoured to be invited to deliver the opening keynote at the Edinburgh Games Festival. This event is a milestone on the interactive entertainment industry’s calendar, and I look forward to contributing to this year’s discussions.”

EIF chairman Chris Deering’s quite pleased about it, too: “We are delighted Peter has agreed to give this year’s Keynote. He is one of the industry’s global leaders and his presence at Edinburgh is an indicator of the importance and influence of the Festival.”

The show runs the week of August 10. Press release after the break.

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Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2009 will take place on August 10-16, the event’s announced this morning.

The Festival will also continue partnership with Abertay University and its Protoplay event which showcases talent as part of its Dare to be Digital programme.

The Screening Sessions will form the “most popular” part of the event again this year, “with several key games already secured,” according to the press release.

Full thing after the break.

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