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!

slong@portalarium.com!

stellareffect.com!

shroudoftheavatar.com!