Is The iPhone Damaging The Mobile Gaming Market?

from the not-really dept

It's amazing how much stuff gets blamed on the iPhone on a regular basis. The latest is that some "industry experts" (which, in this case, actually means very biased people) are claiming that the iPhone is hurting the mobile gaming market, by not letting users download games to their phones. Of course, that's about to change as Apple finally opens up its SDK, and more importantly it's actually a more fundamental problem than one that is just about the iPhone. It is rather difficult to move games from one phone to another, and at the rate that many people (especially the early adopters who are more likely to buy games for their phones) changes phones, it can be a pain to have to constantly rebuy mobile games that people want. Of course, that goes beyond mobile games to just about any mobile application. Right now there are so many different devices, operating systems, platforms and network operators, it's nearly impossible to feel comfortable that a single app will work anywhere but where you first set it up. It's a problem that the industry is going to face more and more as they push for people to use their phones as more than just phones.

Filed Under: iphone, mobile gaming
Companies: apple, ea

EA Boss Recognizes The Economic Trends Of Infinite Goods

from the don't-hear-that-every-day dept

At this point, we're so used to execs from big entertainment firms denying the existence of the inevitable trends impacting their industry, that it's truly a surprise when someone appears to clearly understand what's happening. Slashdot points us to the shocking news that EA's CEO knows that the business model for his industry is changing, and that the current one is becoming obsolete:

"In the next five years, we're all going to have to deal with this. In China, they're giving games away for free. People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for others to disrupt."

Can you imagine hearing the same thing from the head of a movie studio or record label? It's nice to finally see a CEO who recognizes the economics at hand -- even if it means his former cash cow will be obsolete and his company will need to embrace entirely new business models.

Filed Under: business model, economics, free, infinite goods, video games
Companies: ea

Another Big Energy Company Playing Video Games With Climate Change

from the please-don't-blow-it dept

As posted today on BoingBoing, the upcoming release of SimCity Societies asks game players to consider how their city-building choices affect (virtual) climate change. Upping the ante on Chevron's online game Energyville, Societies was developed in collaboration with BP, nee British Petroleum. By piggybacking on the success of the SimCity franchise, BP will gain access to a much larger audience than Chevron's strategy of hoping users find its standalone game. While their stated goal of raising awareness of climate change issues and energy alternatives is admirable, BP's in-game branding smacks more of marketing than of educating. The real missed opportunity, however, would be if BP just uses the game to talk at players, even if what they have to say is informative. The SimCity community is one of the oldest and biggest "connected" communities around, and the very nature of the game brings together millions of individuals who enjoy solving problems. Rather than creating a glorified brochure, BP should leverage their participation in the game to foster a conversation between the company and individuals. That could mean allowing players to provide feedback on their experiences with in-game climate change or even (at the player's discretion) sending back entire game-play sequences that could be compiled and dissected by the company. BP, which faces changing realities of the energy industry, would do well to consider that they might learn more by listening to their customers than by telling their customers what the company already thinks. No such intent is obvious from what BP is saying about the game, but maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

Filed Under: energy, simcity, video games
Companies: bp, ea