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针对不同技术水平的游戏领域发展策略

发布时间:2011-05-25 18:17:35 Tags:,,,

游戏邦注:本文作者为Jennifer Wang,文章根据不同技术水平的开发者提供不同游戏领域发展策略。

综述

2011年,身为渺小农户的你也许希望收获名声和财富。智能手机和社交游戏平台(Facebook)给予所有人通过推出热门游戏创收数百万的机会。

你肯定有听过Zynga和Rovio的故事。Zynga成立于2007年,如今发展为Facebook游戏霸主,《Farmville》和《黑手党战争》就是出自它手中,该公司目前市场估值达100亿美元。而Rovio的代表作当属iPhone游戏《愤怒的小鸟》(游戏邦注:游戏价值高达数百万),公司在短短1年半内陆续推出其他跨平台应用、毛绒玩具和掌机游戏,目前Rovio正在筹备一部故事片。

你也能够在这个领域有所作为。

参与形式:想要成为一名电子游戏企业家,就要参照以下3个模式,即入门者、中级者和高级者。

经验等级:入门者

描述:对于没有任何游戏背景的新手而言,休闲和Flash游戏是最佳选择,因为它们便于开发和推广。

代表人物:Robert van Gool,他能说会道,之前担任公关职位,2008年他自己创办了休闲游戏公司Gonzo Games。

驻扎地:旧金山市中心装潢明亮的两居室办公地点,在菲律宾马尼拉拥有10人办事处。

故事:Van Gool辞去公关职位,转而从事“富有趣味,能够抵抗经济衰退的职业”。他提出金钱游戏概念,即《Potty Racers》:游戏中火柴人开厕所车下山,玩家需尽可能快跳跃飞行,但同时需确保运输物不溢出。他的作品投放Nickelodeon的Addicting Games Network平台后大获成功。

Potty Racers from 4tnz.com

Potty Racers from 4tnz.com

统计数据

30多款已发行或正在制作中的Flash和iPhone游戏

14名雇员

明年1月初的营收将达50万美元

其他方面

开发商:Van Gool通过浏览FlashGameLicense.com资料发现了一位很棒的开发者。他做出明智决定:从始至终,公司花费6个星期完成游戏。

发行商:他同MTV Networks达成授权协议,幸运的是MTV Networks成功推广《Potty Racers》。但van Gool表示,公司愿意同任何发行商合作推广其首款游戏。除非公司打算免费提供游戏,获得足够关注度,进而帮助宣传下款游戏(游戏邦注:切记保留所有游戏的知识产权,游戏有可能大获成功,变得极富价值)。

Mochibot:Van Gool借助这个免费服务追踪游戏体验次数以及接受该游戏的网站数量。Mochi广告也是初期获得少量额外营收的途径。

挑战:为了把握Gonzo Games的知识产权,van Gool希望凭借微薄资本发展游戏,不寻求外部融资,这表示他得将所有营收投入公司发展,公司发展步伐将会更慢,风险更大。

策略:研究。所有游戏元素都具有策略性的。Van Gool研究热门主题、趋势和游戏机制(游戏邦注:火柴人、厕所和跳跃飞行)从而发现用户体验喜好。结果呢?他表示公司80%的游戏均获得成功。

更新:引入免费游戏元素,公司暑期将推出《Potty Racers 3》;计划于马尼拉新添5名员工,旧金山新添1名经理;试验不同平台以及更长久的游戏设置格式。

经验等级:中级者

描述:对于那些具备游戏开发技能的人来说,开发独特的掌机游戏能够获得主流掌机发行商的青睐。

代表人物:南加利福尼亚大学毕业生Kellee Santiago和Jenova Chen,二者都带有浓重学生气。他们2006年合作成立了thatgamecompany,并同索尼电脑娱乐公司达成协议,将3款游戏投放PlayStation Network平台。

thatgamecompany from playstationlifestyle.net

thatgamecompany from playstationlifestyle.net

驻扎地:公司位于加利福尼亚州圣塔莫尼卡的索尼二楼角落位置,同时拥有配备齐全的游戏测试室,这是公司办公地点的两倍,是公司员工每周三午间演讲的大厅(游戏邦注:Chen最后一次演讲的题目是《中国历史》,是的,中国拥有5000年的历史)。

故事:成立tgc源于他们的毕业项目《Cloud》,这是一款可下载免费PC游戏,采用的截然不同的游戏设置:没有结束或时间限制,但仍然能够提供情感体验。游戏内容是躺在病床的男孩梦见自己在云端翱翔,这款游戏获得病毒式传播,3个月内下载量就达35万次。于是索尼便开始伸出合作之手。

统计数据

3款制作中的掌机游戏:《flOw》、《Flower》和《the forthcoming Journey》

12名雇员

《Journey》的制作成本将比《flOw》高7倍

其他方面

模型:据Santiago表示,为了进军掌机游戏领域,他们推出了一款掌机游戏。(游戏邦注:也就是说你至少需要给早期Flash想法建模,才能在竞争和节日中有所展示)。

体验测试员:他们需要通过体验测试员确保玩家喜欢游戏。Santiago表示,他们通过校园和TIGSource之类的在线开发者社区招募新员工。

设计师-制作人:和其他工作室不同,所有tgc员工都是设计师和制作人。Santiago表示,想制作不同的游戏,你得采用不同的指导方法。

挑战:后PlayStation时代。Tgc未来将会同时开展多个项目,然后判断公司未来发展方向。

策略:定位。Tgc之所以能够脱颖而出是因为公司开发了其他工作室所没有的游戏——游戏拥有“独特世界观”。鹤立鸡群将会导致公司处于不利地位。

更新:瞄准手机和浏览器休闲游戏的大量机会。

经验等级:高级者

描述:此等级开发者,若其社交游戏理念能够吸引YouWeb创始人彼得·雷兰的人士,他将从雷兰的迈达斯点金术中受益,但压力也随之而来,雷兰表示,“我在寻找下个扎克伯格,下个改变世界的创造性天才。”

YouWeb from forbes.com

YouWeb from forbes.com

驻扎地:YouWeb坐落于加利福尼亚伯林盖姆市中心的建筑顶楼,其设有引以为豪的初创特权:工作午餐、储备充足的厨房以及开放工作区,此外大多数年轻人都戴着大大的耳机。

人物代表1:

CrowdStar联合创始人Suren Markosian,这家社交游戏公司的作品有《开心水族馆》和《It Girl》,它是Zynga的劲敌。

统计数据

实力:公司年底雇员将达150人,而其2008年还只有2名员工;公司营收可观,玩家数量突破1亿。

优势:CrowdStar瞄准不同平台,今年将推出其首款手机游戏。

评论

1. CrowdStar创造新娱乐而非复制既有游戏概念(游戏邦注:如《boyfriends》)。在《It Girl》中,玩家可通过摆弄风姿获得男友,男友或可靠但无法带来很多益处,或不可靠(因为他可能把你甩了)但会给你众多好处。

2. 聘用温饱成问题的精英。Markosian并没有游戏背景。他表示,“我接受这些精英。对这个行业怀有激情的人都是受欢迎的。我有幸聘用了很多年轻人,他们真的很杰出。”

人物代表2:

Jason Citron是2004年Full Sail University毕业陈词代表,他开发了iPhone游戏《Aurora Feint》,成立了世界最大的手机社交游戏网络OpenFeint。

说明:Jason Citron拥有超人力量。他能够连续几天不休息,投身项目之中。

统计数据

实力:公司约有7500万名玩家,5000款游戏,及1.8万名使用OpenFeint技术的开发商。

优势:公司最近融资1200万美元,且团队规模今年将翻一倍。

评论

1. Jason Citron思想开放。Citron表示,“我们不会从头至尾在做同一件事。”OpenFeint是他加入OpenFeint的第4个构思,继约会网站和纸牌游戏之后。

2. 充分利用趋势。Citron的观念随着市场的变化而变化。他表示目前最大的开发机会在于采用免费模式的手机领域(游戏邦注:诸如iPhone的数字下载平台)。

人物代表3:

Rajat Gupta,iSwifter创始人,iSwifter是个Flash游戏串流服务软件,支持智能手机和平板电脑即时体验。

说明:拥有变形术。Citron能够把企业家软件无缝隙转换成消费游戏。

统计数据

实力:公司成立于12月,但已和用户约达4000万的数家游戏公司签订合作协议。

优势:iSwifter的员工翻了一倍,增至10人。

评论

1. 提供解决方案。目前,将一款Facebook游戏投放至iOS平台只需几个月。公司无需预先投资或者等待苹果审核更新内容。

2. 灵活应对。Gupta表示,早期初创公司鲜少包揽很多事务。所以我们得学会辨别有用信息,不断调整方向实现终极目标。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

How to Be a Gaming Entrepreneur

By Jennifer Wang

Overview

It is the year 2011, and you are a cubicle farmer who dreams of fame and fortune. Smartphones and social gaming platforms like Facebook have given everyone–even you, especially you–a shot at making millions with a hit game.

You’ve heard the tales of Zynga and Rovio: The first rose from humble startup origins in 2007 to become the overlord of Facebook gaming with offerings like FarmVille and Mafia Wars, and now boasts a valuation of roughly $10 billion. The latter is responsible for the Angry Birds iPhone game, which morphed into a multimillion-dollar franchise, complete with multiplatform apps, plush toys, console titles and a feature film in the works, all within a year and a half.

Now it is your turn.

Play Modes: On your quest to become a video game entrepreneur, play using one of the three gameplay modes: beginner, intermediate or advanced.

Experience Level: Beginner

Description: For novices with no gaming background, casual, Flash-enabled game titles are best because they are easiest to develop and distribute.

Character: Robert van Gool, a smooth-talking ex-PR guy who founded and self-funded casual gaming company Gonzo Games in 2008.

Base: A brightly painted two-room space in downtown San Francisco and a 10-person office in Manila, Philippines.

Story: Van Gool quit PR to do something “fun and somewhat recession-proof.” He came up with a money game concept: Potty Racers, featuring a stick figure wheeling a porta-potty down the hill and jump-flying it as far as possible without–er, spilling it. Obviously, his pitch to Nickelodeon’s Addicting Games Network was successful.

Stats

30+: Flash and iPhone games published or under development

14: Employees

$500,000: Revenue by this time next year

Items

Developer. Van Gool found a great developer by browsing portfolios on FlashGameLicense.com. He chose wisely: From start to finish, it took six weeks to complete the game.

Publisher. He scored a licensing deal with MTV Networks, which, fortunately, promotes the hell out of Potty Racers. But, van Gool says, he would have taken any publisher for his first game just to get it out there. Barring that, he would have handed out the game for free and hoped it got enough attention to score him a deal on a second game. (Hint: “Hang on to as much intellectual property as you can, in case the game takes off and becomes franchise-worthy.”)

Mochibot. Van Gool uses this free service to track how many times a game is played and how many websites have picked it up. Mochi ads are also a way to earn a little extra money at first.

Challenge: To maintain control over Gonzo Games’ intellectual property, van Gool wants to grow with little or no outside funding, which means he has to plug revenues right back into the company, making growth slower and business riskier.

Strat: Research. Every game element is strategic. Van Gool looks into popular themes, trends and game mechanics (stick figures, poop, jump flights) to find out what people like to play. The result? He says 80 percent of his games are successes.

Upgrades: Introduction of freemium game elements, starting with the summer release of Potty Racers 3; plans to hire another five people in Manila and an executive in San Francisco; experimenting with different platforms and longer gameplay formats.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Description: For those with game development skills, creating a unique console game title could capture the attention of a major console publisher looking to stock digital shelves.

Characters: University of Southern California grads Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen, both still rocking the chill student vibe. They co-founded thatgamecompany in 2006 and scored a three-game PlayStation Network deal with Sony Computer Entertainment.

Base: A narrow, second-floor corner unit owned by Sony in Santa Monica, Calif., with a fully equipped test-play room that doubles as a lecture hall for staff lunch presentations on Wednesdays. (Chen’s last contribution: “The HiStory of China.” Yep, all 5,000 years of it.)
daji
Story: The pair spun tgc out of their final school project, Cloud, a free, downloadable PC game that experimented with a different kind of gameplay: one with no death or time limits that still provided an emotional experience. The title, about a boy in a hospital bed dreaming of flying through the clouds, went viral, with 350,000 downloads in three months. Sony came knocking.

Stats

3: Console games–in order, flOw, Flower and the forthcoming Journey

12: Employees

7x: How much more expensive the production costs were for Journey versus flOw

Items

Prototype. According to Santiago, in order to get into console games, they needed to have made a console game. (Hint: “At the very least, you should prototype early ideas in Flash to have something to show at competitions and festivals.”)

Playtesters. They had to prove that people wanted to play their games by getting them into playtesters’ hands. Santiago says they recruit from universities and online developer communities like TIGSource.

Designer-producers. Unlike at other studios, all tgc employees are designers and producers. After all, Santiago says, to make a different kind of game, you have to make it with a different methodology.

Challenge: A post-PlayStation future. Tgc will have to tackle more than one project at a time and figure out where to evolve next.

Strat: Positioning. Tgc stands out because the company deliberately makes games that other studios don’t–ones that have a “unique voice and viewpoint on the world.” Pitting themselves against everyone else would put them at a huge disadvantage.

Upgrades: Looking into rich opportunities in casual gaming on phones and browsers.

Experience Level: Advanced

Description: Developers with the skills to impress YouWeb founder Peter Relan with their social game concepts will benefit from his Midas touch. But the pressure’s on: Says Relan, “I’m looking for the next Zuckerberg, the next creative genius that will change the world.”

Base: The top floors of a downtown Burlingame, Calif., office, boasting all the standard startup perks: catered lunch, well-stocked kitchens, open workspaces–and lots of young people wearing big headphones.

Character 1: Suren Markosian, co-founder of CrowdStar, the social gaming company that developed Happy Aquarium and It Girl and is Zynga’s closest competitor.

Spec: Telepathy. Can sense what different markets want. Even middle-aged women from Texas.

Stats

Power: 150 employees by the end of this year, up from two in 2008; the company is profitable and has more than 100 million gamers.

Strength: CrowdStar is experimenting with different platforms and will release its first mobile games this year.

Attacks

1. Inventing new entertainment instead of cloning existing game concepts–like boyfriends. In It Girl, you “flirt” to get a boyfriend, who can either be reliable but not give much point advantage or unreliable (because he can dump you) but give you a lot of advantage.

2. Hiring hungry talent. Markosian didn’t have a background in gaming. “I picked it up,” he says. “People who have a passion in this industry are always welcome, and I’ve had a lot of luck hiring young people and being surprised by how good they are.”

Character 2: Jason Citron, 2004 Full Sail University valedictorian who developed the iPhone game Aurora Feint and founded the world’s largest mobile social gaming network OpenFeint (think Xbox Live meets Facebook for mobile).

Spec: Superhuman strength. Can stay awake for several days straight when working on a project.

Stats

Power: There are approximately 75 million players, 5,000 games and 18,000 developers using OpenFeint technology.
Strength: The company recently raised $12 million in funding, and is doubling team size this year.

Attacks

1. Being open-minded. “The thing you start out doing is never the thing you end up doing,” Citron says. OpenFeint was his fourth idea at OpenFeint, after a dating site and a card game.

2. Taking advantage of trends. Citron’s ideas evolved with the changing market. Right now, he says, the biggest opportunities in development are in mobile–probably on a digital download platform like the iPhone–using the “more forgiving” freemium business model.

Character 3: Rajat Gupta, founder of iSwifter, a Flash game streaming service that allows instant play on smartphones and tablets.

Spec: Shapeshifting. Can somehow switch seamlessly from enterprise software to consumer gaming.

Stats

Power: The company launched in December, but already has deals with game companies representing around 40 million players.

Strength: iSwifter is doubling the number of employees to 10, stat.

Attacks

1. Delivering a solution. Until now, bringing a Facebook game to the iOS took several months. Now there’s no need for upfront investment or to wait on Apple to approve updates.

2. Being nimble. Early-stage startups don’t have control over a lot of things, Gupta says. So you have to be able to separate the signals from the noise and shift directions to keep sight of the end goal. (Source:entrepreneur


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