Last week we were joined by Dan Hsu, former Editor in Chief of EGM and Co-Founder of the recently launched, Bitmob. Dan spoke with us about his extensive experience in game magazine publishing, the challenge of incorporating casual game coverage with a hardcore voice, the role he feels community has in the editorial process, what he believes the future of video game reporting will be, and much more. Please enjoy the video, and be sure to check out the unique community features Dan is developing at his new site, Bitmob.
Tag: video game
Chinese Online Games Market Grew 63% In 2008 [Pearl Research via Gamasutra]
Gamastura reported today that Pearl Research’s new “Games Market in China” report forecasts the online games market in China will exceed $5.5 billion in 2012. The market grew more than 63% to reach $2.8 billion in 2008. According to Pearl Research:
Many Chinese game operators continue to be optimistic in 2009, stating that the worldwide economic downturn has had little effect on their business. Games constitute a small-ticket item and users have not cut back as much on this type of discretionary spending.
GDC Europe Registration Open
Online registration is open for this year’s GDC Europe conference. The conference will take place August 17-19 at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne.
For more information, visit http://www.gdceurope.com/
The OnLive Game Service and OnLive MicroConsole™ Revealed at GDC
OnLive Inc. announced their on demand video game platform at GDC this week. The OnLive service and console streams advanced video game instantly to any TV using their inexpensive MicroConsole.
The new platform is supported by many of the top names in the video games industry including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, THQ Inc., Epic Games, Eidos, Atari Interactive and Codemasters. According to the press release, “it typically only takes a few weeks to extend an existing version of a game to work on the OnLive service, so there is little cost incurred by developers and publishers to support the OnLive platform.”
Speaking to Edge Online, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter commented, “We don’t expect an immediate impact [on console sales] (the service likely will be rolled out in early 2010), but think that if priced right, OnLive could favorably compete for 1-2 percent of the overall games market.”
Traffic Increases to Casual Games Sites [eMarketer]
eMarketer reported today that ad-supported game sites, or commonly known as casual gaming sites, saw “27% more unique visits and 42% more total playing time in December 2008 than in December 2007.” According to Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst:
“comScore’s measurements highlight the ongoing shift from high-cost, console-based gaming toward free, browser-based alternatives. This trend has been underway for some time, but the economic crisis has accelerated it. Given current economic and consumer behavior patterns, we expect to see ad-supported, casual games continue on an upward trajectory in 2009.”
Some of the sites highlighted included Yahoo! Games, WildTangent Network, and TriplePoint client Spil Games.