Gaming Trends

Danny Lange VP AI Machine Learning Unity @ IOT World 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Sat, 20 May 2017 15:07:00 +0000

Atlantic: Virtual Reality Can Leave You With an Existential Hangover

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:20:00 +0000

Interesting Article from The Atlantic: Virtual Reality Can Leave You With an Existential Hangover

International CES 2014: Muse and Gaming Innovations

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 18:22:00 +0000

Photo: Mary Vincent

Interaxon's Muse was one of my favorite technologies at International CES 2014. Sensors in the headband measure EEG, detecting five individual bands of your brainwaves and measuring changes while you focus on different things. These changes are converted into digital signals that Muse sends to a Tablet, Smartphone or PC. If your mind focuses, you see and hear calm, lapping waves on a beach. If your mind wanders you see and hear thunder and cloudy skies. Muse launched at last year's CES and raised $300,000 on Indiegogo, then $6 million dollars in funding in August. They also received the CES Innovations 2014 Design and Engineering Award.

As for other CES 2014 Gaming News, check out these great articles from VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi and Engadget's Ben Gilbert.
1. The DeanBeat: The gaming innovations at CES that go way beyond the console
2. CES 2014: Gaming roundup

Kunal Malik CTO San Francisco 49ers Creating Green & Software-Driven Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 16:16:00 +0000

Kunal Malik

Kunal Malik, San Francisco 49ers CTO (previously Facebook Director of IT), keynoted at the December 2013 SV Forum Technology Meets Sports Conference, and is rethinking new fan experience by making it into 'one awesome UI' by creating a software-driven stadium.

He and his team created some of their own technology because the technology didn't exist and has been using open source scalable platforms.

Highlights include:

1. Big suite tower to bring people closer to the action
2. Make it green: Solar panels, Energy-Neutral on game day, and first NFL Stadium to be LEED certified
3. Bringing new dimension to fan experience: Open space and lots of concession stands to avoid long lines
4. Challenge: Integrate disparate tech systems including point-of-sale systems, video displays, ticket purchase systems
5 Build out data platform so person cooking knows how many items to make
6. Mobile priority including ticket scanning and game center with instant replay
7. Personalization: When arriving at the stadium, the Greeter/System knows who you are, i.e. This is your 25th game and we're going to reward you with 29 percent off
8. Find your seats and your friends: Give recurring value to fan; want a scarf and it will tell you where to find it

Game on: How can we bring an experience so you don't miss a play?

1. Game Center mockup: Here's a quick score; Friendly icon showing the Replay; Tap screen and watch the play again in landscape view; Multiple angles; Do all of it in real-time as fast as possible .. Get replay before next play starts
2. In the meantime: Order food and beverages - Go into mobile device, Select food an drink, submit, says order is being processed and order sent directly to kitchen, Kitchen expediter receives order and runner delivers items to seat with notification sent to customer that order is on its way; Mobile workflow notifications; Delivers to 70000 seats; First time that this scale of order-and-delivery has been done in a stadium
3. Order a game jersey - Same concepts apply to merchandise

As a result, food is not stale due to Operations Optimization, Uses data to optimize staff; Can't predict everything but prepared for various scenarios.
When you go to the online store it will know you to improve experience. Kunal's Team will build out predictive analysis and run fan experience that's very informative including creating behavior and loyalty programs for people who have favorite players. They are looking at fans and seeing what they want.

Susan Forsyth's Smoking & Video Gaming Experience Research

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 03:44:00 +0000

Photo: Susan Forsyth

Susan Forsyth, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF School of Nursing, has designed and implemented a quantitative pilot study to explore "how adolescents experience tobacco imagery in video games, how it relates to their virtual role-playing and practice in games, and how it may influence health practices and risk decisions."
Susan cites that "research suggests that the prevalence of smoking imagery in video games is rising. A 2012 article in The Lancet Oncology found that in games rated as appropriate for everyone over the age of 10, reported tobacco content increased nearly 16-fold, from being in 0.8 percent of games in 2005 to 12.6 percent of games in 2011."
You can read more about her research here.

Stanford: Study Shows Women Who Wear Sexualized Avatars in a Virtual Reality World Feel Objectified

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 18:24:00 +0000

Photo: J. Fox et al./Computers in Human Behavior

Here are some highlights from a recent Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Study:

1. "...after women wear sexualized avatars in a virtual reality world, they feel objectified."

2. "Researchers at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab are delving into questions posed by sexualized depictions of women in video games.
Specifically, do female players who use provocatively dressed avatars begin to see themselves more as objects and less as human beings? Jeremy Bailenson, the director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford, has found a way to use virtual reality to answer that question."

3. "The Entertainment Software Association estimates that across mobile, PC and console platforms, 45 percent of American gamers are female. But few game titles feature female protagonists. In many popular games in this fast-growing industry, female characters are in the minority; more often than not, they are sexualized. Many female gamers assert that gaming culture is not welcoming to women."

More information on the study is here and the Computers in Human Behavior Journal article is here.

AppAnnie: International App and Publisher Revenue Trends

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Here's a great AppAnnie article discussing International App and Publisher Revenue Trends
http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-index-january-2013/

Videos: Vator Spark Get Game? How to Gamify Your Start-up

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:52:00 +0000

On May 1, 2012 Vator Spark held an event called Get Game? How to Gamify Your Start-up where they gathered thought-leaders behind these start-ups for a full-day learning event to explore how to incorporate the science of behavior and human motivation to achieve best practices around product design and marketing.

The science behind applying these kind of engagement techniques is called Gamification.

I've previously written about Gamification relating to Energy Reduction.

I recorded a few video excerpts from the event where you'll learn the latest insights into this space. Enjoy!

1. Video Excerpt: The Science of Gamification", Dr. Michael Wu, Chief Scientist, Lithium Technologies
Gamification made it into Gartner’s Hype Cycle as an Emergent Technology in 2011. But what is gamification? It is certainly not about social games like FarmVille, or the blind application of badges like FourSquare. More importantly, why does it work? What’s the magic behind gamification that can apparently make people do something that they normally don’t? This session not only addresses these questions, it will do so through the lens of behavioral economics and psychology. It will provide you with a framework, which you may use to evaluate the effectiveness of any future gamification strategies. Moreover, you can use it as a design paradigm to create your own gamification.

2. Video Excerpt “Why People Play: A Player Personality Map for the Digital Age” by Jonny Shaw, Founder NakedPlay and Chethan Ramachandran, Founder and CEO Playnomics
This session will examine why people play and what their play patterns reveal about them as human beings. Based on real data examples drawn from active social and online game environments, the presenters will introduce a comprehensive player personality map that will help anyone using game mechanics segment and target their customer base. The session will be jointly presented by Playnomics and Naked Communications, the pioneers in predicting player behavior for game publishers, brands, and e-commerce companies.
Part One

Part Two

3. Video Excerpt "Designing Enterprise Applications that Stick" by Chris Duskin, Vice President of Products, Badgeville.com
Part One

Part Two

Webinar Recording: Tony Ventrice Badgeville

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Tony Ventrice, Badgeville spoke at the recent Green Star Solution International Digital Commerce Webinar where he talked about Building a Gamification Program.

He discussed overall goals, game dynamics, implementation examples, user experience advice, and each step of the Gamification process.
You can access the Webinar Recording Here.

Video: Jesse Schell Keynote - Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business - 10th Annual Women In Gaming (GDC)

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:04:00 +0000

I was fortunate to be invited to Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business' 10th Annual Women In Gaming (WIG) GDC Lunch March 3, 2011. Jesse Schell CEO, Schell Games & Professor of Entertainment Technology Carnegie Mellon University was a speaker and discussed several positive Women & Engineering Product Team examples. Enjoy the Video.

Background on Jesse Schell:
Prior to launching Schell Games in 2002 and subsequently growing it into the largest and most successful game development company in Pittsburgh, Jesse was the Creative Director of the Disney Imagineering Virtual Reality Studio, where he worked and played for seven years as a designer, programmer and manager on numerous projects for Disney theme parks. Upon founding Schell Games he has continued to help design and develop interactive theme park attractions as well as widely recognized mass market MMOs and other projects.

Jesse also currently holds a faculty position as Professor at the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center where he teaches classes in Game Design and collaborative teamwork. Jesse recently authored the critically acclaimed book The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, which Game Developer Magazine named book of the year in 2008.

Video GDC 2011: Recruit Profitable Players through Advanced Multi-Channel Marketing Methods

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:07:00 +0000

SPEAKERS: Min Kim (Nexon America Inc.), Anthony Royce (SOE), Laura Naviaux (Sony Online Entertainment), Tom Nicolas (), Paul Thind (TRIGGERSPOT) and Eric Bethke (Zynga)
DESCRIPTION: Recruiting players with the highest return on investment (ROI) requires strategic allocation of marketing budgets and effective execution. Join Laura Naviaux, global vice president of sales and marketing at Sony Online Entertainment, as she leads a panel of industry experts responsible for acquiring profitable players through established and developing channels. Discussion will emphasize constructing marketing plans based on target audience and distribution methods, including metrics, offer management, campaign tracking, new user experience flows and promotional channels. This panel will give you a firm understanding of the techniques and channels marketing leaders use to deliver profitable players.

Video: GDC 2011 Turning Data Into Better Social Games - David Stern (Playfish)

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 07:03:00 +0000

DESCRIPTION: As a leader in social gaming, Playfish relies heavily on data to understand game play behavior and ultimately create meaningful and lasting social experiences for players. In this talk, David Stern, Playfish's director of analytics and strategy, will discuss how Playfish turns data into insights that help optimize the player experience.
TAKEAWAY: Attendees will learn best practices for analytics and how to apply these insights to creating innovative and meaningful social game experiences.

Tony Bartel, President, Gamestop (ETail West Feb 23 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Vincent) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Tony Bartel, Gamestop President, starts his ETail West presentation with a great gaming timeline video, and the tagline: "We Sell Fun". They're in the midst of a channel transition and are moving into the fast-growing (exploding) digital area.
Tony states that Gamestop is a $9.6 billion company doing business in 17 countries around the world, is number one in market share in most of these countries, and has been growing through the recession unlike other retailers. He gives his Reasons For Success, Multi-Channel Learnings and Actions during the video, and I've posted them below as well for your reference. You are welcome to Link to or Share this Article and mention 'Gaming Trends'.

Reasons for Success:
1. Culture is a Customer Centric, Roll-up your sleeves work-ethic
2. Specialist Focus:
Gamestop competes against a lot of big boxes; they don't make the games and sell them at the same price or a higher price so they make sure every gamer has a better experience; "we want to be the smartest and best way for them to access the rich benefits of gaming"
3. Unique Value Model Competitors Don't Have:
Gamestop has a 'Buy-Sell-Trade Model' that allows people to bring back games they've already played and convert them into currency to buy new games; this generated 1 billion dollars of credits last year through games traded in and were spent on new games.
4. Agnostic Aggregator - "We give gamers exactly what they want; We listen to them and seek to understand." They have the 17th most valuable brand in America and a Net Promotor Score (NPS) that rivals the iconic Harley Davidson brand. Their challenge is to take that great experience in all 660 stores and bring it into all channels.

Gamestop breaks-down Gaming into 2 areas:
1. Big Games (Console Games) 50% are 35 years and older; 50% are women; 65% households play; 120 million consoles/ 2/3 connected - (50 billion dollar business globally estimated) Console Gaming has slowed in the last 2 years.
2. Small Games - Facebook claims over 600 million users; over 61 million people and high as 90 are playing online and mobile qames (almost 1/3 of people say I have downloaded a game in the last month). Lots of growth and Gamestop is moving into the small game environment.

Growth
- Facebook/Zynga 9%/yr
- Online 11%/yr
- Mobile 14%/yr

4 Gamestop MultiChannel Learnings
1. Go beyond ECommerce Website
- 51% say they do online research before they buy in store; 46% go online buy online; 60% people go to store but buy online.
- Per Tony: "Where are people going online to look for us? What you see are Coupons, Facebook, Twitter. Here's the insight: People are not going to the website and we don't control reviews; they are going to their friends on Facebook, YouTube Videos to view products etc, and we need to be there." The Facebook Page has 1.8 million Likes and they find it's a great way to communicate and understand what's taking place in the minds of their customers. Mobile users are using GPS and directions but Tony says they need to do a better job of engaging customers in mobile world, and it's a huge opportunity to expand. 14% of customers are already transacting on mobile. 50% say they will transact on mobile in the future. Tony says they have to be there to address their customer's needs on a mobile basis. 38% users say that if a brand interacts with them in a social environment, that will influence their purchasing decision.
2. Go beyond MassMarketing (discounting)
- Gamestop asked customers "What do you want to do when you engage with the Gamestop brand?".
70% said 'Give me a Coupon'; 58% said if you listen to me and gave me an offer that was relevant but not necessarily a deep discount, I'd deal with you; 52% said give me services I'd like and I'll engage with your brand (1/4 of the people in the Gamestop loyalty program says the loyalty program drives their purchases).
- Gamestop wants a 360 degree customer view and in exchange will personalize deals, i.e. recommendations, promotions
- Gamestop launched the PowerUp Rewards Program 6 months ago and now has 7 million members. It's Points-Based; not Discount and 2-tiered (Free and Paid 14.99 with additional benefits in By-Sell-Trade Business). The Rewards Program Results Show that members shop 3 times as often; account for 25% Gamestop.com transactions; trade-in enough games to represent 1/2 of their purchases. Now there are 40 million games loaded into their libraries. What can you get with your points? They include: Rewards for Pizza etc, Epic Rewards like life-size character statues, trips, personalized game communications (skins)
3. Go Beyond Commoditization (Price discounting)
- Loyalty program
- Make more differentiated products and use product-exclusivity, i.e. working 6-12 months in advance with publishing partners to create specialized game content, i.e. special characters
- Bundled products for great gaming experience - make sure buyers have everything they need before leaving the store
- Midnight launch events
- Gamestop tournaments
4. Go Beyond Store and Get Into Digital Environment
- Discovery is very important i.e. iphone has 1,000 apps but only 1/3 have looked at 10 apps in the last month. It's about engagement, curation, personalization, monetization like a freemium model with micro-transactions and advertising.
**Gamestop found their customers were having a difficult time finding games, thus, Gamestop now helps customers Discover New Games.

As a result of these multi-channel learnings: Gamestop amended it's statement to:
Gamestop is the smartest and best way to experience the rich benefits of gaming anytime, anywhere, and on any device.