Monthly Archives: January 2007
Eidos surrender on champ manager?
I will belatedly comment on an item from a December ’06 copy of MCV (www.www.mcvuk.com/index.php), having just found the page that I tore from the paper. Page 12 of issue 415 (1st Dec ’06) featured an announcement by Ian Livingston (Director of Acquisitions) that Eidos are keen to create a Championship Manager game using Sony’s buzz peripheral. Seems to me that they are waving the white flag and surrendering in the Football Management wars. Champ Manager was the football management brand back when Sports Interactive were developing it. To describe its fans as die hard would be something of an understatement. It is also safe to say that Football Management games are something of a niche market (albeit a lucrative one) and that fans of a management game are unlikely to buy just any old Champ Man branded product. Yet here is Eidos announcing a Buzz quiz game – something much more likely to appeal to the casual FIFA/PES footy game fans (or just football fans in general). Maybe it will turn out to be a smart move that widens the brand out to the mass market but somehow I doubt it. It seems more likely that Eidos have realised they can’t compete with Football Manager and so want to transform the brand into a dumbed down quiz.
Intellectual Property in the digital age
The UK government have undertaken a review of Intellectual Property in the digital age. The Gower Report focuses on the future of IP law (from a UK stand point) in the digital age. Obviously the reality is that IP law is an international issue and an UK initiative will need to be fed up to Europe for haggling and then further debated at a global level (and even then Youtube users will just carry on doing what they want regardless). Still, it’s something to keep an eye on given that Intellectual Property is where the true value is for computer game developers and publishers .
Gowers Review of Intellectual Property
In December 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Andrew Gowers to conduct an independent review into the UK Intellectual Property Framework. The Review was published on 6th December 2006 and can be accessed at the links below.Intellectual Property is a critical component of our present and future success in the global economy. The UK’s economic competitiveness is increasingly driven by knowledge-based industries, especially in manufacturing, science-based sectors and the creative industries.
The IP framework must create incentives for innovation, without unduly limiting access for consumers and follow-on innovators. The Review examined the instruments of Intellectual Property i.e. patents, copyright, designs and trade marks, to ensure that they are balanced, coherent and flexible, and at the operations; how IP is awarded, used, and enforced. The Review also considered the governance of IP. The terms of reference are available.
Full announcement here http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pre_budget_report/prebud_pbr06/other_docs/prebud_pbr06_odgowers.cfm
Downloadable copy of the report here http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/583/91/pbr06_gowers_report_755.pdf
Publishers at GDC…. book early to avoid disappointment
Following the ESA’s decision to revamp E3 (which will probably result in some uncertainty about the new format), I think it is safe to assume that GDC will be the main developer networking/business event of ’07. Where previously there were two main events at which to meet publishers, this year only one will be meaningful and this will put pressure on developers to ensure they plan properly in order to meet with all the companies they wish to. At every trade show I attend I like to play spot the Muppet. That’s the person who spent money on a flight, hotel and show pass… but didn’t book meetings with the publishers. You will see them hovering around the reception desk at the publishers booth/suite/meeting room while the receptionist consults various schedules, before apologising because everyone is fully booked. They then dejectedly hand over a business card, brochure or demo CD (which will doubtless get lost before it ever reaches the hands of its intended recipient) before wandering off to try again at the next stand.
There are more developers than there are meeting slots at GDC so book early to avoid disappointment.
Edukayshun
In a follow on from my Feb ’05 thought for the month I attended a DfES (Department for Education and Skills) Game Summit last week. The focus of the event was the potential use of computer/video games in education. It seems that the DfES has been wrestling with the idea for some time but has so far not come up with a viable plan for the use of games in education. However there has at least been a sea change in the opinion of both educators and the games industry. Previous discussions hosted by the DfES resulted in both parties agreeing that games in schools were a dreadful idea. Now at least both sides agree that actually games are a viable teaching aid – it just remains to work out how a business model can be constructed that works for developers/publishers within a schools purchasing process. As is often the case several people expressed the opinion that the government would have to put its hand in its pocket to fund development and kick start the market. My personal view is that the governments best efforts would be directed towards educating publishers/developers on how education department purchasing works (so that they can work out a viable business model) and how to track down educators who can work with them to develop great games that meet a school’s curriculum requirements.
I am certainly a believer in the educational ability of great games. Not only do I know more about the Seven Wonders of the ancient world after playing Rome: Total War but my interest and knowledge of European Geography can be traced back to senior school, where my Geography teacher hosted an after-school Diplomacy club (a board game loosely based on a pre World War I map of Europe).