how new tech is innovating gaming experiences
TRANSCRIPT
How New Tech Is Innovating Gaming
Experiences
Starr LongExecutive Producer
Portalarium
Top Gaming Trends: Blurring Boundaries
• Play Anywhere !
• Gamification proliferation!
• Deeper Immersion and Lighter Games !
• Distribution / Developer Democratization!
• Monetization Models and Price Erosion
Top Gaming Trends: Blurring Boundaries
• AI: Machine Learning !
• Mashups: Digital + Physical + UGC + Makers !
• Interface/Display Proliferation & Evolution!
• New Cognitive Abilities!
• Digital Societies: Multiple Meaningful Identities
Play Anywhere: Any Device, Any Location
Play Everywhere: Now What?
• How do you keep people in real space while engaging them in virtual space?!
• How do you leverage co-play since users are rarely alone?!
• How do you reconcile negative perceptions of non-engagement with others?
Gamification Proliferation
World Gamified: Now What?
• How do you keep extrinsic rewards meaningful?!
• How do you keep users positive on games after getting bad gamification?!
• How can you leverage gamification for good?
Deeper Immersion & Lighter Games
Deeper & Lighter: Now What?
• How do you engage users at wildly different levels of immersion in same game world?!
• How can you leverage lighter while still providing deep immersion?!
• How can you “graduate” lighter users?
Distribution / Developer Democratization
Everyone Makes: Now What?
• How can you stand out in the mass of content?!
• What is role of retail? Can retail become more showroom / arcade than shelf space (ala Apple Store)?!
• How do you leverage collaborative production and consumption (crowd funding, crowd sourcing, etc.)?
Monetization Models & Price Erosion
0
30
60
90
120
1992 1997 2002 2007 2012
Dev/Mktg Costs (in M)Average Price Points/User
Everything’s Free: Now What?
• If success is basically a lottery how do you win?!
• How do you keep free to play from devolving to optimizing money flow vs. making compelling games?!
• How can you reduce production costs on deep immersion experiences?
Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning
Games Can Learn: Now What?
• How can you leverage this for deeper experiences?!
• How can you blur the lines of what is a player vs. a bot?!
• How can you use this to make every game session different?
Mashups & Crossovers: Digital + Physical + User Generated Content +
Maker Platforms
Mashed Up Makers: Now What?
• How do you engage Generation Maker?!
• How can you create crossover with digital and physical?!
• How do you balance designed experiences with UGC?
Interface / Display: Proliferation & Evolution
Interface Explosion: Now What?
• How do you combine immersive projection with new interface options?!
• How can wearable tech augment game experiences?!
• How much stimulus and output can a user manage?
New Cognitive Abilities
Thinking Expands: Now What?
• How can you keep building upon these new abilities to continue creating new experiences?!
• How far can this go?!
• Is this only a niche opportunity?
Digital Societies & Multiple Meaningful Identities
Gamers Are Multiple: Now What?
• How do you support multiple identities as gaming opportunities?!
• How can you better support crossovers between digital and physical gaming identities (cosplay + avatars)?!
• Can digital identity take precedence over physical identity?
Starr’s Design Principles
• Play Games!
• Make Something “you” want!
• Gameplay First: Define your game / compulsion loop and worry about rest after!
• Understand and build for your audience(s)!
• Intrinsic Rewards ≥ Extrinsic Rewards!
• Creation of fun should be fun!
• Iterate and Fail Fast!
• Evolution ≥ Revolution (Old is New)
Questions
• What makes for success? What makes a great game?!
• Is old new? If most game mechanics are fundamental what is innovation?!
• If change is the only constant then how do you keep from always getting reset? How do you manage the risk of your career when everything is in flux?!
• If everyone can make then what does it mean to be a maker?
Now is a great time to be a game maker
• New opportunities for new kinds of games & mechanics!
• New tech & new social forms enable this!
• We can enable new kinds of fun & new kinds of businesses
Contact Info
Starr Long!
Executive Producer!
Portalarium / Stellar Effect!
stellareffect.com!
shroudoftheavatar.com!