Group items tagged

"what makes a video game replayable and why exactly the replayability of a game should matter to the companies producing the games and the consumers buying them. Information on replayability is very important to both the companies producing games and the consumers purchasing them. It is necessary for companies to achieve a balance in the amount of replayability a video game possesses. In other words, companies should aim for a certain ―value‖ of game play per dollar. If a game is not replayable, consumers will quickly tire 7 of the game and discard it, as it does not have high replay value. This takes away from the popularity of the game and possible sales from future games in the same series. On the other hand, if the game is too replayable, the consumer may not feel a need to buy any more games and video game companies will be unable to generate a profit. For companies, the value of the game requires a delicate balance to produce a game which will keep players interested long enough for the company to develop a new game before they tire of the game they have, but not too long so that when the company release the new game the buyers are in line waiting for it."

Profiles an MIT grad Eitan Gilnert, founded company with new game "Slam Bolt Scrappers," using funding from friends and family. Gives his insights on entrepreneurship and why one should invest in his company. The company's web site: http://www.firehosegames.com/ features product information and an online community.

"One Shrewsbury company is bringing online, tech. and video game-related jobs to the area. Elevation Exhibits & Events, an exhibit design and event-planning firm, announced a new client, Rooster Teeth. The newly added user is one of the fastest-growing online communities in the comic book, video, film and gaming industry."

Employees from Curt Schilling's failed game company pursuing new opportunities

"Based on a year of research conducted by The Children's Partnership, this White Paper lays out the logic for game companies to play a leadership role on behalf of children, reviews the rich history of corporate social responsibility that has produced win-win results for the public and for businesses, and highlights early examples of such leadership by online game companies."

An evaluation of the company for a business course

Excerpts from the Innovation Economy blog. Company in Waltham, Mass. developing Facebook and mobile games as well as for its own web site.

" Apple's chief executive Tim Cook reportedly visited the Bellevue, Washington headquarters of Valve Corporation earlier today, inciting questions about new potential for collaboration between the two companies."

"One of the emerging fields in the Creative Industry is Serious Gaming. In the Municipality of Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, a small number of (Serious) gaming companies is established. One of the fields of Interest, the Municipality tries to develop, is the health care sector. Despite the foreseen growing demand for Serious game products in this sector, the Gaming segment of the Creative Industry has not developed to an economically sustainable entity yet. In this paper we will describe the efforts that were undertaken to develop the Creative Industry and especially the Serious Gaming segment. This choice was made because of seemingly inconsistent policy decisions of some key stakeholders concerning this emerging field. Following we will present a theoretical framework how a cluster could be formed that will be able to survive without governmental aid. This framework is based on a theoretical review and on two examples of existing clusters in Japan and Germany. The paper will end by raising some questions for future research and discussion."

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Mar 22, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- "The gaming industry is a harsh environment in which to start and to grow a business. It's risky, hits-driven, and traditionally receives minimal support from governments, banks, incubators, and most modern institutions devoted to nurturing new companies. How then does one survive and, ultimately, thrive? Thursday, April 5, 2012, the 4th Annual MIT Sloan Business and Gaming (BiG) Conference will gather industry insiders, independent developers, gaming enthusiasts, venture capitalists, attorneys, academics, and students from across MIT and other top-tier colleges for a day-long exploration into the business side of the gaming industry." MIT BiG is being held on the MIT Sloan campus in Cambridge, MA the day before PAX East -- one of the country's largest events celebrating gaming culture -- which takes place in Boston, making it convenient for participants to attend both conferences.

Compiled by the Serious Games Association and offering free listings in 2012 to companies producing serious games and simulations

Abstract: "The main goal of this research is to understand how Utrecht's business environment must be developed in order to increase the region's international competiveness in the gaming industry. Utrecht's aim is to specialize in the gaming industry. In this research it is estimated that Utrecht is focused on small digital development game companies. The results indicate that Utrecht's competitive advantages are in its policy intervention, low labor wages and real estate costs, well developed demographical factors and infrastructure compared to the other investigated European cities. However, Utrecht scores below average on the categories of investments, quality of life and human resources. Once Utrecht has a stronger promotional effort in the gaming industry, it enlarges its attraction to draw game companies and to better its international position."

Profile of former Ubisoft Games executive and his new mobile games company

Consideration of how Massachusetts will attract video game companies in light of the PAX East announcement and 38 Studios high profile departure to Rhode Island in 2010

"Problem-based learning is a pedagogical approach which started in early 1970s. It is well developed and established until now. Aalborg University in Denmark is one of pioneering world universities in PBL and has accumulated a huge experience in PBL for many different study lines. One of them is Medialogy education, which was established in 2002. This paper presents transfer of experiences from Medialogy education in Denmark to Game development education in Serbia - a new (2 years old) study line successfully developed in the country where game development companies hardly exist, but a need for newly educated programmers is evident."

An emerging game company in the Western MA area focusing on social games

"April 17 in San Francisco, CA at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. AOL's Digital Prophet David Shing will be the Marketing Keynote speaker and Electronic Arts Digital EVP Kristian Segerstrale will be the Innovation Keynote speaker. Additionally, Activision Publishing, Inc. Vice President John Coyne and LifeCourse Associates Founding Partner and President Neil Howe will be among a number of highlight speakers at the Game Marketing Summit, a full day event that brings together the leading companies and industry brand and marketing executives for discussion, deliberation and debate around the issues and opportunities in the video game entertainment industry."

Using social media, hashtags and collaboration to find employment for recently laid-off game company employees.

Links to press release, summary results and press coverage of Mass DiGi's survey of Massachusetts game companies documenting exceptional industry growth

Merger between two companies developing "mobile devices into wireless controllers" for game use and other applications