E3 2010: ANALYSIS 36 MCV 11/06/10
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The State of Play
The industry that enters this year’s E3 is venturing into new territory. Gone is the traditional five-year console cycle and in its place approaches a wave of ambitious new technologies, principally Natal, Move and 3DS. As games firms prepare for one of the most crucial trade events in its history, James Batchelor takes a look at where the games industry stands today…
E3 ALWAYS UNITES the industry. All eyes are on Los Angeles, for the biggest event in the gaming calendar to see signs of hope and a glimpse at where we are heading.
The 2009 show carried the burden of returning this spectacular showcase to its former glories after a few quieter years. With the glamour now recaptured, the 2010 expo is under even more pressure: it has to show where gaming can go with tighter budgets and a lack of new consoles – something we would traditionally be expecting by now. “Last year’s E3 was a return to the excitement and energy that defines our industry,” says Take-Two’s CEO Ben Feder. “This year, we’re expecting even more and hope that the show will help to re-energise the industry.” Ubisoft’s UK marketing director Murray Pannell agrees: “The show itself seemed to get back to its best last year, and I’d hope that it continues. The industry needs to show new, exciting
innovative products – stuff that really captures the imagination and gets consumers clamouring for more.” It doesn’t help that the games industry has endured a tough twelve months. The market value has dropped, sales are fluctuating and even a blockbuster Q1 didn’t quite deliver. With the after-effects of the recession still being felt by the consumer, the
burden is on publishers and platform holders to show the public that there is still plenty worth investing in. “We are down year-over-year, and so E3 is about reinvention and telling consumers what we have an industry and showing them why they should spend more money with us,” says MTV
“ and
Games’ general manager and executive vice president Scott Guthrie. Key to this reinvention is new hardware launches and competing technologies that will fight to become our industry’s salvation.
3D VISIONS
Perhaps the biggest surprise in terms of hardware launches is the 3DS. Given
The industry needs to show new, exciting and innovative products that get consumers clamouring for more.
Murray Pannell, Ubisoft
Namco Bandai VP Olivier Comte adds: “I believe the next revolution will be 3D. I’ve tested some games in 3D and it is a very big change. There are some questions, such as what the long term effects on the eyes are, but I believe 3D is key.” However, publishers will be reserving judgment until the power of 3D has proven to be popular with consumers, warning that the industry shouldn’t rush into this area.
that Natal and Move have been grabbing headlines for the past year, Nintendo’s newly announced handheld is the only genuinely new first-party hardware due to be revealed at E3. In fact, given the renewed surge of interest in the tech, 3D may play a far more prominent role at the expo than expected. “Avatar has kicked this off and almost validated that 3D is where the technology in entertainment is headed,” says SCEE president Andrew House. “Thanks to Sony’s 3D resources, we are the only company that serves from the lens to the living room. Now, with PS3 you have the first mass-market device with a large install base that is 3D ready out there.”
”
“From a gaming perspective, we have to look at 3D the same way we would any type of technological innovation,” says Feder. “The use of 3D in gaming needs to be meaningful to the gamer and publishers will need to ask some important questions before investing in that technology.”
EA Sports boss Peter Moore concurs: “The one thing we are learning is that we can’t take the existing camera angles. I saw Madden in 3D, and there were some very cool cuts, but when the camera moved up high, you couldn’t tell so much, it wasn’t adding value to the experience You’ve got to look beyond just porting games to 3D.”
THE NEW MOVEMENT
But of course the technology that is on everyone’s lips this year is motion control. Natal and Move have been hot topics since their unveiling at last year’s E3, with everyone from consumer to publisher clamouring to know more about these devices.
The time for teasing is over. Microsoft and Sony now need to show the world how these peripherals will negate the need for a more substantial hardware shift and broaden the market’s audience further.
For all the hype they have generated over the last twelve months, will they have the impact that everyone expects? “Let’s hope so,” says Pannell. “There will have been significant
E3 SPECIAL
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