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人物专访:Mochi Media首席执行官评点Flash游戏峰会

发布时间:2011-02-24 16:40:18 Tags:,,,

GDC盛会下周即将开幕,在此之前Flash游戏团队也将齐聚一堂召开重要行业峰会。第三届Flash Gaming Summit将于2月27日在旧金山Mission Bay Conference Center举行。这个由Adobe公司赞助的峰会始于2009年,有望成为参与开发和传播flash游戏人士的重要会议。

在峰会开始前,CasualGaming.biz采访了承办此次盛会的多媒体公司Mochi Media首席执行官Jameson Hsu,讨论世人对Flash游戏观念的改变、HTML5对Flash游戏的影响以及峰会的进展情况。以下是游戏邦编译的访谈录:

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今年举办的第三届Flash Gaming Summit与2009年相比有何发展和进步?

今年的规模更大了,2010年峰会的举办地就迁往面积较大的Mission Bay Conference Center。搬迁使峰会售出的门票数量增加了一倍多,也使我们能够汇集更多来自各个领域的人商讨行业中的关键问题。去年,共有500多人出席峰会,门票更是在会议举行前数周便已脱销。今年,门票也是供不应求。

尽管大部分与会人员仍是游戏开发者和企业家,但是Flash游戏开发人员已取得多项成就,未来我们肯定能够吸引更大、业务更全面的公司前来参加,也能够提升游戏的质量。这种改变可促进我们举办话题更深、更丰富的讨论会。

近些年来,世人对Flash游戏的观点是否有所改变?

当然有,与两三年前相比,Flash媒介能够发挥更大的作用。总得来说,网页游戏的投资已有所增加,Flash游戏也更为出色,吸引大量玩家的同时盈利也在逐渐增长。大量Facebook流行游戏已制成Flash版本,游戏的发展空间越来越大。而且,像《Shadez 2》、《Bloons franchise》和《机械迷城》之类的游戏也值得玩家期待。

微交易系统给游戏业带来深远影响,开发者可以发现大量喜欢他们所开发游戏内容的玩家,也有足够的资金来将这些令人惊叹的游戏制成Flash版本。

Facebook和智能手机对Flash游戏的开发有何影响?

最近,我们刚刚调查了全球1400余个开发者,结果显示这些开发人员都很希望能够制作手机游戏。在调查中,51%的开发者计划明年起研发Android平台游戏,45%的人选择iOS平台,因此手机的确已引起开发人员的注意,造成的影响很大。Facebook使游戏融入社会性,也是首个社交游戏平台。这个平台能令人难以置信地把游戏转变为金钱,也为我们和其他公司开发自己的社会销售平台提供了经验。

今年你邀请了PopCap、Adobe、Casual Collective和其他工作室的人员前来演讲。你是如何看待这些人对峰会的支持呢?

所有这些公司都很支持Flash游戏的开发,我们由衷地感激他们对举办峰会的支持。事实上,三年前峰会举办之初,Adobe和Casual Collective就给予鼎力协助。PopCap和其他游戏公司也同样会给Flash游戏开发群体带来灵感,很幸运他们能够支持并有兴趣参加峰会。总而言之,有兴趣参加峰会的人很多,而且我们要讨论的议题也非常丰富,一天的会期远远不够。

今年将颁发第三届Mochis Awards,这个只为Flash游戏颁发的奖项意味着什么?

对我们来说,设立这个奖项收获颇丰,因为这很有趣!大奖使得Flash游戏开发群体有机会欣赏到那些绝佳的作品,并祝贺那些最好的游戏和开发者获此殊荣。一直以来,颁发该奖项都是Flash Gaming Summit的亮点,提名的选手和与会人员期待着此刻的来临。

与IGF或IndieCade相比,这个奖项是否有所不同?

由于Mochi Media只关注Flash游戏领域,因此我们可以看到这个开发群体某些十分优秀的作品。这些作品在IGF和IndieCade此类盛会上并没有得到大家的认同,虽然这些奖项覆盖各个领域,但是却唯独没有特别关注Flash游戏。我认为最大的区别在于奖项对Flash游戏特别的关注。我们在Flash游戏评审上眼光独到,因为我们发现许多团队的确异常出众,他们可能因某种原因并不为人所知。某些独立游戏开发群体过于显赫,掩盖了他们的光芒。

另一个不同点在于,我们见证了世界各地数千名游戏开发者的作品并与其保持联系。有时需要将奖品邮寄给开发者,这对我们来说是常事。我认为,Mochis从消费者群体中征求奖项提名者,而且还考虑到那些来自偏远地区、无法加入游戏开发群体的的开发者,这是其他奖项没有做到的。

HTML5即将面世,Flash游戏将会面临怎样的挑战?

我并不认为HTML5会给Flash游戏带来很大的影响。我们相信Flash游戏的实力,它是个绝妙的游戏媒介。目前有许多开发和营销游戏的新方法,我们认为有更多的选择是件好事,因为这意味着开发者能够以最适合自己的方式加入这个群体。

峰会上是否会体现支持HTML5的网页游戏开发者数量逐渐增加?

目前,我们还只是关注Flash游戏,但是我们也发现各种不同开发和营销游戏方式之间的界限已不再明显。今年的峰会不涉及过多HTML5的内容,但是可以看到峰会已经反映出在线游戏的发展趋势。比如,我们更加关注手机和Facebook平台上的游戏,因为过去一两年内这些游戏已日渐突出。

有没有计划在其他地方召开Flash Gaming Summit?

希望将来能够实现,但不是现在。

对未来的Flash Gaming Summit有何期望?

希望峰会将来能办得更大、更著名、质量更高。我们希望能够不断挖掘Flash游戏群体中的人才,成为创新和发展的平台。这也是Mochi Media一直以来强调的事情,也是我们努力工作所要达成的目标。随着Flash游戏产业不断发展,Flash Games Summit和Mochi Media也会有所进步。

虽然今年峰会的门票已售空,但我们鼓励那些对Flash游戏感兴趣的人访问网站www.flashgamingsummit.com并登录来查看峰会最新新闻和消息。我们也会在首席赞助商Adobe的支持下实时转播盛会,即使无法参加,人们也可以在当天关注峰会的进展情况。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Interview: Flash Gaming Summit 2011

GDC marks its 25th anniversary next week, before that however the Flash community will converge for another important industry event. The third annual Flash Gaming Summit takes place this Sunday, February 27th 2010 at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Beginning in 2009 with the help of sponsor Adobe, the summit promises to be a significant event for those involved in the development and distribution of flash games.

Ahead of the summit, CasualGaming.biz spoke to Jameson Hsu, CEO of Mochi Media, the multimedia company who organise the event, about changing attitudes towards Flash games, what HTML5 means for Flash and how the summit has progressed.

This is the Flash Gaming Summit’s third year. How has the event evolved since its premier year in 2009?

Well, it’s certainly gotten bigger. In 2010 we moved to a much bigger venue, the Mission Bay Conference Center. This move allowed us to more than double the number of tickets sold and allowed us to have a bigger and wider roster of people speaking on more issues important to the industry. Last year, we had more than 500 attendees and the event sold out weeks before the conference took place. This year, we’re already sold out again.

In terms of our audience, the majority is still made up of game developers and entrepreneurs. However, as Flash developers have seen more success, we’ve definitely seen the landscape for the event shift in terms of the size and complexity of the companies participating and the quality level of games. This shift has allowed us hold and facilitate deeper, richer discussions.

Have attitudes towards Flash games changed in the last few years?

They have. Flash as a medium is a lot stronger than it was, say, two or three years ago. As more money has flowed into the web games space in general, Flash games are getting better, attracting bigger audiences and generating more money. A lot of the top Facebook games are being created in Flash and really push the limits of what is possible. Similarly, games like Shadez 2, the Bloons franchise and Machinarium push the boundaries and therefore people can expect more out of Flash games today.

There’s also been a transformative effect with the use of microtransactions within games. Now developers are able to gather vast audiences of consumers that love their content and have the economics to support building amazing games in Flash.

What effect have Facebook and smartphones had on Flash development?

We just released a study of almost 1,400 Flash developers around the world and one of the most interesting findings was that devs are itching to develop for mobile. In the survey, 51 per cent of devs said they planned on making games on the Android platform during the next year, and 45 per cent were going to develop on iOS, so mobile has had a tremendous effect and has certainly caught developers’ attention. Facebook helped make social possible. It was the first social gaming platform and also an incredible way to monetize your games, and it paved the way for us and other companies to develop our social distribution platforms.

This year you have speakers from PopCap, Adobe, Casual Collective and a host of other studios. What has the process of getting speakers to support your summit been like?

All of these companies are strong supporters of Flash and we’re thrilled that they’re willing to support the Flash Gaming Summit. Adobe and Casual Collective have actually been supporters since the Summit’s inception three years ago. PopCap and other gaming companies are also sources of inspiration for the Flash games community, so we’ve been really fortunate to have their support and interest in participating. All in all, there’s a ton of interest and we have many more submissions to speak than we had spaces within the schedule to fill.

The Mochis Awards are taking place for the third time. Why are these Flash-only awards relevant?

It’s been a great success for us because it’s fun! It’s a chance for the Flash games community to recognise excellent work and celebrate the best games and the people that created them. It’s always a highlight of the Flash Gaming Summit and the people nominated, as well as the attendees, really like it.

Are you doing anything differently with the awards compared to the IGF or IndieCade?

Since Mochi Media has been focused on Flash games only, we see some really incredible work coming out of this community that doesn’t always get recognised at broader events like IGF and IndieCade, which have multiple categories but nothing that is very Flash-specific. I think the biggest differentiator is the specificity around the medium. We’re able to turn a keen eye on games just built in Flash within the last year and because of that we see some really amazing stuff that maybe doesn’t get recognized, since it’s overshadowed by many of the bigger names in the indie games community.

The other thing too is that we have relationships with and see games coming from thousands of developers from around the world. It’s often common for us to have to ship trophies to mostly international addresses. I think the Mochis is unique in how nominations are sourced from consumer communities and recognises developers that are often from far-off locations and don’t normally participate in the game developer community.

With the coming of HTML5, what challenges lie ahead for those in the Flash community?

I don’t really think there are too many challenges for the Flash community with HTML5. We believe strongly in Flash and think that it’s a great medium to produce gaming content. There are a lot of new ways to create and distribute games and we think more choice is great because it means more creators become part of the community based on what they are most comfortable with.

Is your summit likely to change to reflect the growing number of web developers who are supporting HTML5?

Right now we’re just Flash focused but see the lines blurring for game developers that are creating awesome content and choosing different ways to create and distribute it. This year we don’t have a lot of HTML5 content, but we certainly see the conference changing to reflect the trends within the online games space. For example, we’ve definitely focused more on mobile and Facebook platforms for game developers in the past year or two as it’s become more prominent.

Are there any plans to bring the Flash Gaming Summit to other continents?

Hopefully in the future, but not right now.

What does the future hold for the Flash Gaming Summit?

Bigger, bolder and better. We want to continue to draw the top talent in our community and be a host to innovation and progression. That’s what Mochi Media has always stressed and what we’ve been working so hard to do. As the Flash games industry continues to grow, so will Flash Games Summit and Mochi Media.

Although this year’s event is already sold out, we encourage people interested in Flash gaming to visit www.flashgamingsummit.com and sign-up for the latest news and updates on events. We’ll also be live streaming the event with our premier sponsor Adobe’s support, so they can catch up on the day even if they aren’t able to attend. (Source: CasualGaming.biz)


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