What Can We Learn from the Success of Videogames?
Recently, the videogame industry has begun to rival Hollywood in terms of consumer dollars spent, and even in terms of cultural influence. Chances are that today’s children will have fonder memories of Mario and Pikachu than of Big Bird and Barney. Mid-level companies in the videogame industry routinely post the kind of revenues that make even the wildest projections on Pseudo’s and DEN’s business plans look puny by comparison. Whatever we did wrong, obviously, the videogame industry has done right.
I spoke with Bernard Yee on this subject a few days ago. Bernard is the former director of creative development at ABC Online, and former director of programming at Sony Online Entertainment. During his tenure, and under his direction, Sony launched
Everquest, an online game that currently has more than 425,000 subscribers paying $10 per month for the privilege of playing the game. Bernard has written for The Washington Post, PC Magazine, USA Today, Time Digital, Jupiter and IDC. Bernard is now seeking funding for a new online gaming venture.
Bernard’s analysis of the videogame industry, and its younger sibling, the streaming media industry, is as intelligent as it is provocative. Here are some of the highlights from our 30-minute conversation (or you can scroll down to listen to the whole interview):
On the subject of streaming media entertainment start-ups that failed:
"One of the democratizing features of the Internet – that a lot of people get to access an audience – was counterbalanced by the fact that a lot of people creating content weren’t creating anything very compelling."
On the appeal of interactive games over non-interactive Web entertainment:
"Sony Online’s original mandate was to provide online entertainment experiences with [the company’s] film, TV and music groups. But in reality, everyone who came to Sony Online just wanted to play "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" online. The Web is a good place to interact."
On true interactivity:
"Using a remote control or a navigation metaphor is not interactivity, and I don’t think that a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ is interactivity, either. Interactivity has to be granular enough so that you feel like you are able to form a certain intention … like, I’d like to open the door, or, I’d like to talk to the bartender … and the environment will react back to you … interactivity requires a very tight feedback loop."
On the limitations of interactive art:
"It’s hard for games to elicit emotions other than adrenaline-crazed destruction and competition. People don’t cry when they’re playing games."
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