Video games have come a long way since the arcades of the 1980s. Far from being a pastime for spotty geeks hunched over a bleeping screen in darkened rooms (ahem), it's now a mainstream medium. Last year the computer games market was estimated to be $74billion and in 2008 UK sales amounted to $6billion – one of the largest markets in Europe.
Indeed the games industry is estimated to have become the leading form of entertainment globally sometime between 2005 and 2007. Growth in the industry continues to exceed expectations after a gaming renaissance in the early 2000's and the success of next generation consoles like the Xbox 360. The demographics of games has changed too. Although being seen in the past as a largely male pursuit, 40% of gamers are female as of 2010 and the average age of a gamer was as high as 37 in 2011 according to an American study by the Entertainment Software Association.
This doesn't mean that the gaming industry has "survived" the recession – games sales fell consistently throughout 2011, buoyed only by the release of "blockbusters" like Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. If you want a comparison with the film industry, one of the largest game companies - Activision - is cited in the New York Times as saying combined box office revenues for 2011 was $9.4billion.
Modern Warfare 3 sold $1billion worth of copies alone in just over a fortnight. Only 10 films have grossed more than that in cinematic history. Gaming is serious business.
Game "franchises" like The Sims or MMORPGS like World of Warcraft can easily sell millions of copies. Groundbreaking games like LA Noire are beginning to blur the boundaries between scripted entertainment and immersive interaction.
Meanwhile major film studios churn out sequel after sequel hoping the fickle public are guaranteed to like them. This is something the game industry is in danger of repeating it has to be said – franchises and series games are vitally important to major game developers. Indeed many smaller game developers have been swallowed by giants like Electronic Arts (EA), Activision and Take-Two Interactive down the years, especially if they get into financial difficulty after "flops". There are also long-established "survivors" like Sega and Nintendo who usually make their own consoles as well as the games.
The UK capital of game design is arguably Dundee, which spawned Grand Theft Auto publishers Rockstar (since decamping to Edinburgh). There are also noticeable hubs in Liverpool, Manchester and....Guildford. The nature of games design used to mean that a company can set up anywhere. The ever successful Football Manager franchise (formerly Championship Manager) began life in a bedroom. However with increasing complexity of game mechanics and demands from consumers, many new games now require large teams of highly-skilled designers, coders and engineers.
Developing these high-end skills is critical. In Wales this has been damaged by the University of Wales, Newport's decision to axe it's Games Development and Artificial Intelligence degree early last year, although they retain a general Game Design degree. Aside from Newport, four other Welsh universities (Aberystwyth, Swansea Metropolitan, Glyndwr, and Glamorgan) offer some sort of game design degree. Far from being a doss subject or a hobby degree – the figures I listed earlier should underline the importance games are to creative industries at present let alone the future.
Wales can't keep missing out but has a blind spot to software development - in particular gaming - despite being home to big IT companies like Logica in Bridgend and EADS in Newport. There are exceptions to this. Cwmbran has a noticable cluster of software companies like Comtec, Tribold, Isca Networks and CIS Healthcare. The skills and expertise are there to a certain extent.
While there are glimmers of hope with an emerging group of Welsh "indie" game developers, the fact remains that Wales doesn't have much of a games industry. For example it's rather ironic that Mabinogi - a MMPORPG based on the medieval Welsh literature classic Mabinogion – was developed in South Korea. It's since become a hit and spawned a spin-off as well as a sequel currently in development.
The popularity of mobile games like Angry Birds and stripped down Facebook games like FarmVille shows that demand for "casual" on-the-go entertainment shows no signs of slowing down despite the economy. While Wales might have missed the boat when it comes to traditional console and PC games, we are at least playing a role in the development of smartphone apps.
At the University of Glamorgan, a £5million Centre of Excellence in Mobile Applications and Services (CEMAS) was established by the previous Welsh Government and EU Convergence funding to take advantage of the growing use of smart phones. CEMAS aims to help SME's take advantage of phone apps or assist in developing new ones and is a example of productive collaboration between higher education and business. Could CEMAS turn to mobile games too?
While it's all well and good that the Welsh Government and business brains focus on big-box, high-tech manufacturing, they also have to help Wales claim a slice of this ever more lucrative, and foolishly ignored, part of the technology and creative sectors.
I'm not suggesting that cheap Android and iPhone games are a magic bullet. With the news that Wales struggling to retain graduates compared to other Home Nations it's important Wales and Welsh business create and sustain these highly-skilled, highly-relevant and potentially well rewarding jobs.
Well it'll be easier than space wouldn't it?
Indeed the games industry is estimated to have become the leading form of entertainment globally sometime between 2005 and 2007. Growth in the industry continues to exceed expectations after a gaming renaissance in the early 2000's and the success of next generation consoles like the Xbox 360. The demographics of games has changed too. Although being seen in the past as a largely male pursuit, 40% of gamers are female as of 2010 and the average age of a gamer was as high as 37 in 2011 according to an American study by the Entertainment Software Association.
This doesn't mean that the gaming industry has "survived" the recession – games sales fell consistently throughout 2011, buoyed only by the release of "blockbusters" like Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. If you want a comparison with the film industry, one of the largest game companies - Activision - is cited in the New York Times as saying combined box office revenues for 2011 was $9.4billion.
Modern Warfare 3 sold $1billion worth of copies alone in just over a fortnight. Only 10 films have grossed more than that in cinematic history. Gaming is serious business.
Game "franchises" like The Sims or MMORPGS like World of Warcraft can easily sell millions of copies. Groundbreaking games like LA Noire are beginning to blur the boundaries between scripted entertainment and immersive interaction.
Meanwhile major film studios churn out sequel after sequel hoping the fickle public are guaranteed to like them. This is something the game industry is in danger of repeating it has to be said – franchises and series games are vitally important to major game developers. Indeed many smaller game developers have been swallowed by giants like Electronic Arts (EA), Activision and Take-Two Interactive down the years, especially if they get into financial difficulty after "flops". There are also long-established "survivors" like Sega and Nintendo who usually make their own consoles as well as the games.
The UK capital of game design is arguably Dundee, which spawned Grand Theft Auto publishers Rockstar (since decamping to Edinburgh). There are also noticeable hubs in Liverpool, Manchester and....Guildford. The nature of games design used to mean that a company can set up anywhere. The ever successful Football Manager franchise (formerly Championship Manager) began life in a bedroom. However with increasing complexity of game mechanics and demands from consumers, many new games now require large teams of highly-skilled designers, coders and engineers.
Developing these high-end skills is critical. In Wales this has been damaged by the University of Wales, Newport's decision to axe it's Games Development and Artificial Intelligence degree early last year, although they retain a general Game Design degree. Aside from Newport, four other Welsh universities (Aberystwyth, Swansea Metropolitan, Glyndwr, and Glamorgan) offer some sort of game design degree. Far from being a doss subject or a hobby degree – the figures I listed earlier should underline the importance games are to creative industries at present let alone the future.
Wales can't keep missing out but has a blind spot to software development - in particular gaming - despite being home to big IT companies like Logica in Bridgend and EADS in Newport. There are exceptions to this. Cwmbran has a noticable cluster of software companies like Comtec, Tribold, Isca Networks and CIS Healthcare. The skills and expertise are there to a certain extent.
While there are glimmers of hope with an emerging group of Welsh "indie" game developers, the fact remains that Wales doesn't have much of a games industry. For example it's rather ironic that Mabinogi - a MMPORPG based on the medieval Welsh literature classic Mabinogion – was developed in South Korea. It's since become a hit and spawned a spin-off as well as a sequel currently in development.
The popularity of mobile games like Angry Birds and stripped down Facebook games like FarmVille shows that demand for "casual" on-the-go entertainment shows no signs of slowing down despite the economy. While Wales might have missed the boat when it comes to traditional console and PC games, we are at least playing a role in the development of smartphone apps.
At the University of Glamorgan, a £5million Centre of Excellence in Mobile Applications and Services (CEMAS) was established by the previous Welsh Government and EU Convergence funding to take advantage of the growing use of smart phones. CEMAS aims to help SME's take advantage of phone apps or assist in developing new ones and is a example of productive collaboration between higher education and business. Could CEMAS turn to mobile games too?
While it's all well and good that the Welsh Government and business brains focus on big-box, high-tech manufacturing, they also have to help Wales claim a slice of this ever more lucrative, and foolishly ignored, part of the technology and creative sectors.
I'm not suggesting that cheap Android and iPhone games are a magic bullet. With the news that Wales struggling to retain graduates compared to other Home Nations it's important Wales and Welsh business create and sustain these highly-skilled, highly-relevant and potentially well rewarding jobs.
Well it'll be easier than space wouldn't it?
Too right, the loss in Newport was a great shame, and smacks of short sightedness, or just general ignorance towards the importance of this field.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Recent video games cum computer games missed some things. Technically games are totally changed. But the gamers enjoyed all games it is more important.
ReplyDeleteNewport did keep the general BA Game Design at least, but it's no help losing a degree relating to the more technical side of things, especially if there are transferrable skills.
ReplyDelete