GAME DAY: Safe bets blamed for lack of growth in gaming

SAN FRANCISCO-TRIP HAWKINS last week sounded more like an exasperated coach than a mobile gaming executive. And he wasn’t alone.
“We just keep selling to the same customers,” the CEO of Digital Chocolate told software developers during his keynote address at GDC Mobile. “Clearly, every new medium has to find what it’s good at. There’s definitely room for more originality.”
U.S. consumers increasingly are using their phones to send photos and experiment with the wireless Web. But less than 5 percent of all wireless users download a game, according to recent figures, while
more than twice as many share photos or search for news or information on their handsets.
So Hawkins and others urged developers to be innovative in creating new wireless games, building titles that take advantage of the strengths of a mobile phone instead of trying to minimize its shortcomings. Hawkins, who founded Electronic Arts before moving into wireless, struck several familiar themes during his speech, including the need for mobile gaming to be connected and socially focused. And he slammed some of his competitors for churning out branded titles and investing more in licensing than in building quality games.
“That giant sucking sound is money leaving the mobile ecosystem,” said Hawkins, citing an unnamed “major license holder” who demanded a 50-percent royalty share for mobile while settling for a fraction of that for games on other platforms.
“Developers and publishers are starving to death,” he added.
Mobile gaming revenues continue to climb steadily, if slowly. U.S. gamers spent more than $750 million on wireless games in 2006, according to Telephia, and iSuppli predicts the global market will surpass $6 billion by 2010. But the space has failed to gain the mass-market traction analysts have long predicted, leaving insiders to question why mobile gaming has yet to realize its vast potential.
There was no shortage of theories at last week’s conference.
“Innovation’s been scarce,” said Robert Tercek, the founding chairman of GDC Mobile. “Most (publishers) have been focusing on safe bets; basically, anything they can count on to move merchandise and secure deck space.”
Carriers themselves drew much of the blame, also. Gaming executives criticized cumbersome carrier decks that make discovery nearly impossible, onerous revenue-share models and the lack of marketing muscle-in the form of dollars-to promote titles.
The most common theme at last week’s show, though, was the need for mobile games to be connected. Wireless gaming will never reach the mass market, some said, if phones are treated as nothing more than portable mini-consoles. Even familiar, console-type titles should offer functionality that allows gamers to create profiles, compete against each other and recommend games.
“Mobile phones in general are to connect people,” said Antoine Doumenc, Nokia Corp.’s head of game sales for SNAP Mobile, the handset maker’s connected-gaming division. “I think this is absolutely fundamental . but we need to make sure it’s as easy as possible.”
And publishers should work to add cross-platform capabilities, other executives said. Gaming environments should offer players the freedom to create profiles online-eliminating the need for painfully triple-tapping data on a mobile phone-while exploiting the networked elements of mobile phones. Game-makers should also take note of successful Internet sites such as MySpace and YouTube, according to gaming consultant Amy Jo Kim, and create simple, seamless ways for gamers to personalize games and meet new people.
“Start really, really simple,” urged Kim, creative director for ShuffleBrain, a California-based gaming consultant. “Be in the loop with your users. I can’t stress that enough.”