Studios Play for Winning Titles, Glory

Video game fanatics aren’t the only ones impatiently waiting for Nintendo’s Wii U game console and Sony’s PS Vita handheld game box to hit store shelves. Development teams at area gaming studios, including industry powerhouse THQ Inc. in Agoura Hills and Burbank-based Insomniac Games, also are anxious for the opportunities new gaming technology gives them to push the envelope through innovation. Gaming studios invest tens of millions of dollars into developing game titles each year. How creatively they respond to a new console format, or find a new twist on an existing one, can mean the difference between profitability and financial difficulty. “There is more investment (today) in the product and the marketing to become a Top 10 hit,” said Danny Bilson, executive vice president of core games at THQ. “You need to be making those, and if you are, it is a goldmine. And if not, it is difficult because they are expensive.” Hitting that jackpot requires a compelling story, an immersive environment, downloadable content and strong marketing, said Ryan Schneider, brand development director for Insomniac Games. “If it does reach beyond being just a video game and becomes a brand, chances are it has become a hit,” Schneider said. Historically, gaming companies would roll out new consoles every five years, forcing game developers to adapt with new titles to suit the features of the new console. But as gaming technology becomes more advanced and consistent across brands the cycle appears to be slowing down, experts say. Danny Bilson, executive vice president of core games at THQ. “You need to be making those, and if you are, it is a goldmine. And if not, it is difficult because they are expensive.” Hitting that jackpot requires a compelling story, an immersive environment, downloadable content and strong marketing, said Ryan Schneider, brand development director for Insomniac Games. “If it does reach beyond being just a video game and becomes a brand, chances are it has become a hit,” Schneider said. Historically, gaming companies would roll out new consoles every five years, forcing game developers to adapt with new titles to suit the features of the new console. But as gaming technology becomes more advanced and consistent across brands the cycle appears to be slowing down, experts say. New consoles It doesn’t make business sense for a new generation of consoles to debut every five years when performance can now only be improved incrementally, said Christopher Swain, director of the USC Games Institute at the University of Southern California. At the industry’s largest trade show, held earlier this month at the Los Angeles Convention Center, only Nintendo announced a new home console. The Wii U, scheduled to debut next year, features a controller with a built-in touchscreen that has game developers thrilled over the possibilities for new play features and the chance to do something groundbreaking. THQ is busy with “Darksiders II” one of the launch titles for the Wii U, which will support first-person shooter and action games, Bilson said. The game follows the exploits of Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as he embarks on a quest to restore mankind and redeem his brother, War. Bilson said developing for the Wii U is a big step for the company, considering the attention new consoles receive and the small number of games available to play. “That is the third platform we can build on rather than just two,” Bilson said, referring to Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. THQ developers are incorporating the Wii U tablet controller into the game play for “Darksiders II” with a live inventory screen showing the types of armor and weapons available to players. The first version of the game required players to switch from one screen to another to see their inventory. John Beck, the general manager at WayForward, said he hopes that his development team soon will have access to Nintendo’s technology to begin making games for the Wii U. The Valencia studio, which makes console and handheld games, has made several titles for the first generation Wii system, he said. “The magic happens when developers get a hold of the technology and expand the concept of these types of games,” Beck said. Insomniac Games had that sort of opportunity in 2006 when Sony released the PlayStation 3. “Resistance: Fall of Man” was a key game for the console, and it generated a lot of buzz for the company, Schneider said. “It became identified with the hardware and was a showpiece of what the PS3 could do,” he said. Gaming today Game studios say it takes about 18 months for a video game to go from conception to store shelves. The process is typically broken down into three phases: pre-production, which defines the vision of the game; production, which is when design, game play, art and animation teams take the game from a rough form into a polished one; and post-production, which is where final effects are added, testing is done and the game is fine-tuned. Design studios like Insomniac and WayForward have their own testers doing quality assurance. What may sound like a dream job can be awfully mundane and repetitive, Beck said. “You get to play video games all day, but it is the same game played for countless hours until your eyes bleed,” Beck said. Game studios say the process for developing and testing new games for new consoles can be especially time-consuming and costly. For that reason, there’s a benefit that comes from game companies keeping the older systems in place for longer, they say. “No one is losing by not having a new console,” every five years, Swain said. For one, game development staff is experienced with designing for those consoles. And designing for new systems may sometimes require studios to invest in additional software and systems just to begin the game development process. “Through the learning process it (the cost) goes down, especially with sequels,” Bilson said. The average cost to develop a major game title is between $50 million and $60 million, Swain said. Game developers say competition to produce games with stunning visual elements and new player interaction is fierce, especially in light of fewer console launches. Rockstar Games made strides this spring with the facial capture technology for “L.A. Noire,” which is played on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems, Bilson said. THQ made leaps with the technical destruction in the “Red Faction” game franchise, he said. “When we see something better we want to strive to be better,” Bilson said. “The competition drives the creative challenges.” The Video Game Industry by the Numbers $25.1 billion: Spending in the U.S. on video games, hardware and accessories in 2010 72 percent: Number of U.S. households that play video or computer games 267: Total number of game developers and publishers in California in 2009 13,041 : Number of direct employees in video game industry in California in 2009 $4.9 billion : Amount added to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product from the entertainment software industry in 2009 37 years old : Average age of a gamer 55 percent : Amount of gamers playing on phones or handheld devices Source: Entertainment Software Association