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gameape总经理谈台湾手机游戏发展现状

发布时间:2011-06-11 12:51:37 Tags:,,,

游戏邦注:本文作者是Jeremy Brand Yuan,原文发表于5月27日,以下所涉数据均以当时为准。

从前,诺基亚手机自带《贪食蛇》这款游戏。游戏目标很简单,尽量吃屏幕上的圆点,但别撞到自己越来越长的身体。这款游戏似乎已经有很久的历史,很难理解为何如此简单的概念会成为价值数十亿美元的手机游戏行业的先驱者。《贪食蛇》面世不到20年,有个叫Luke Hsu的人坐在电脑前,用两个食指来打字。尽管有些怪异,但这确实是合情合理的做法。作为手机游戏网站gameape.tw的总经理,现在他可能多数情况下在触摸屏上打字。这并非特立独行之举。随着Zynga和Rovio等公司刮起的手机和社交游戏之风席卷全世界,触摸屏设备用户将游戏推向新领域。

他在Tech Orange的采访中阐述了游戏手机化的变革、手机游戏如何带来盈利、东西方的差异以及iTune上的问题。以下是游戏邦编译的相关访谈内容:

Gameape(from techorange.com)

Gameape(from techorange.com)

见解1:手机游戏取代控制器游戏是不可逆转的趋势

重磅手机游戏《愤怒的小鸟》开发公司Rovio首席执行官宣称控制器游戏的时代已经过去。由于价格昂贵且更新相对缓慢,他认为此类游戏终将被更具创新性的手机游戏所取代。我们询问Hsu对这种观点是否认同,他回答道:“公司高级编辑曾告诉我,他已经有半年时间没有打开自己的控制器了。在MRT(游戏邦注:台北地铁系统)上也不再看到有人玩PSP。”事实让我只能同意这种说法。任天堂DS和索尼PSP以往是家庭晚宴中孩子手上的玩物,但现在已被各种苹果产品所取代。

Hsu开始讲述游戏历史,他说道:“想想RPG最早的样式。”最早的角色扮演游戏是用骰子玩的桌游,这种令人费解的娱乐方式只适合少部分玩家。该样式随后被制成视频游戏的形式,渐渐能为更多人所接受。依Hsu的说法,其他人也可以享受其娱乐性。再往后,此类样式扩展成为MMORPG(游戏邦注:大型多人在线角色扮演游戏),《魔兽世界》之类的游戏将全世界玩家联系起来,吸引着大量从未玩过《龙与地下城》(游戏邦注:这款游戏是许多MMORPG的原型)的人群。这种样式正渐渐往手机方向发展,玩家可能在此平台上无意间接触到大量RPG游戏,而且这些游戏没有此题材游戏固有的瑕疵。他提出了自己的主要观点:这种变革使得游戏逐渐吸引更多的社会群体,真正成为原玩家群体外其他人的钟爱之物。这个变革使得控制器游戏玩家转向手机游戏,而且没有新生控制器玩家来填补这个空缺,因为即便是小孩子都随大流接受手机游戏。他的结论很简单:控制器游戏的灭亡无可避免。

见解2:明智付费结构对游戏成功的重要性

Luke的网站有三个列表:10大付费游戏、10大免费游戏和10大畅销游戏(游戏邦注:统计范围仅限台湾)。他指出,同时存在于“付费游戏”和“畅销游戏”排行榜的只有《愤怒的小鸟》和《Zenonia 3》。游戏畅销并非只是因为下载价格较高,而是因为玩家在游戏中花大量金钱购买商品。这是个开发商应该认真考虑的重要问题:你的目标在于通过下载盈利,还是制作精品免费游戏让玩家自愿付费购买更多内容?

台湾前10名游戏中仅有四者是付费产品(from techorange)

台湾前10名游戏中仅有四者是付费产品(from techorange)

Hsu十分喜爱游戏内付费模式,有数据证明这种模式的有效性。在台湾10大畅销游戏中,有6款是免费游戏。他说道:“用户更喜欢尝试免费游戏。如果他们真的喜欢,就可能付费。开发商仍旧可以盈利,而且可能比0.99美元还多。”他认为,游戏内付费首创于东方。亚洲MMORPG采用这种模式来补充订阅费用,这个模式在手机游戏中也获得了巨大的成功。他表示,技巧在于在营销中找到下载价格和游戏内付费价格的平衡点。

见解3:东西方玩家的付费意愿不同

提及东西方玩家的话题时,他激动地问道:“你知道《Pah》吗?”看着我一脸困惑的表情,他解释称这是款用声音来玩的新型游戏。开发者调查了游戏的9万个用户,公布各个国家付费下载正版游戏的比例。下图报告显示,亚洲国家和地区分属两个极端。日本和台湾分列第6位和第8位,比许多西方国家高。位于列表末端的是马来西亚、俄罗斯、澳门和中国,付费比例最低的只有2.66%。他说道:“台湾人愿意为游戏付费,但其他人并非如此。”他用从yatta.com.tw上遴选出的数据来支持自己的言论,这个MMORPG姊妹站是GameApe的前身。他说道:“台湾和韩国MMORPG的每用户平均收益是每月费用的3到4倍,而在西方国家,玩家的付费意愿并不像韩国和台湾玩家这么高。”

不同国家付费下量比例

不同地区/国家的付费下量比例(from techorange)

见解4:iTune的问题是GameApe的存在原因

GameApe之所以会出现,仅仅是因为它解决了许多iTune上的问题。

对游戏质量的不公正评判是iTune上存在的问题。他认为iTune就像个百货商店,当然不会承认自己出售的产品有缺陷。但是评论由用户来决定,而且会影响到发行商。他列举了某个位列百名之内的游戏,这款游戏获得6次五星评定和2次4星评定。他说到:“如果我是游戏发行商,我也会让朋友帮忙来做这些事情。GameApe上的真实评论才有真正的价值。”

发行商也可以在iTune上提供游戏相关信息。他指出,某款游戏向玩家展示的是丰满的卡通女性,但这并非真正的游戏内容。当然,只能说他们在描述上做得很好,用这样的截屏来吸引用户。

他认为,台湾iTune上的编辑推荐显然不适合台湾用户。台湾应用商店的编辑推荐窗口显示某款称为“Apps for the Great Outdoors”的应用,向用户提供冲浪报道以及动物追踪技术。但是对我们这些坐在9层楼高的办公室中的人或居住在市中心的用户来说,此类应用根本没有用处。他问道:“为什么不推荐那些麻将游戏呢?”

谈话临近结束时,我瞥了眼外面的办公室。成人们坐在桌旁,用他们的iPad测试手机游戏。在《贪食蛇》风行的年代里,付费购买游戏简直是种荒谬的想法。然而13年后,我们却看到这些人乐此不疲。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Feature Friday: Insights on Asian Mobile Gaming From GameApe.tw

Jeremy Brand Yuan

Once upon a time, there was a brick of a phone made by Nokia that came preloaded with a game called Snake. The objective was simple: eat more and more dots without running into yourself as you grow. This game seems so long ago that it’s difficult to fathom that such a simple concept could pioneer a multi-billion dollar mobile gaming industry. Not two decades after Snake, a man named Luke Hsu sits down to log into his computer and as he does so, one cannot help but notice that he types not by touch, but with his two index fingers. Thinking about it, though, it makes sense. As General Manager of gameape.tw, a website dedicated to mobile gaming, he probably does most of his typing on a touch screen these days. He wouldn’t be the only one. With companies like Zynga and Rovio taking the world by storm with addictive, mobile, and social games – and experiencing brisk business doing so – people and their touch screens have moved gaming into new territory.

In our continuing coverage of companies that presented at last week’s appWorks Demo Day, Hsu sits down with us for a chat. During our discussion, he’ll talk about the evolution of gaming into mobile, how it’s making money, differences in East vs. West, and the issues with iTunes. Get your fingers ready.

Insight 1: Mobile Replacing Consoles As a Logical Evolution in Gaming

The CEO of Rovio, the company behind the mobile blockbuster Angry Birds, declared that console gaming was out. With expensive and relatively static games, he predicted they would lose out to a more innovative class of mobile games. Asked whether he believes this to be true, Hsu replies “my senior editor told me he hasn’t turned on his consoles in 6 months. Go on [Taipei’s metro system] the MRT. Do you see anyone playing PSPs anymore?” I can’t help but agree with the anecdotal evidence. The Nintendo DS and PSP that used to be in children’s hands during our family dinners have been replaced by a variety of Apple products.

Hsu begins an allegory: “Consider the RPG in its earliest format.” The earliest Role Playing Games were played with dice on a board, esoteric pastimes accessible to a slim band of society. The format was later ported to videogame form, and became slightly more accessible; playable, he says, “for the rest of us.” That format then expanded to MMO (massively multiplayer online) RPGs, and games like World of Warcraft subsequently created global links and attracted throngs of people who would never lay hands on a D&D die. “For the rest of us,” he reiterates. The format proceeded to mobile, where a player can casually dabble in countless RPGs available, removed from any stigma that may have once surrounded the genre. He arrives at his main point: through this evolution, gaming continually attracts more segments of society and is truly becoming ‘for the rest of us’. Through this evolution, a generation of console gamers is graduating to mobile, without a new class of console gamers to fill the ranks, as even toddlers embrace the mobile format in droves. “The death of the console is inevitable,” he concludes simply.

Insight 2: The Importance of a Wise Payment Structure in a Game’s Success

Luke pulls up a table on his website with three columns, the top 10 games requiring payment, the top 10 free games, and the top 10 top grossing games in Taiwan. He points out that the only games that are on both the ‘requiring payment’ and ‘top grossing’ lists are Angry Birds and Zenonia 3. It’s not because the top grossing games simply cost more to download. Rather, it’s because of the high amount of in-game purchases its players make. This is an extremely important consideration for developers: do you aim to make money from downloads, or make a free game good enough that users are willing to pay for more content?

Hsu is a fan of the in-game purchase model, something that is backed up by the data. Of the top ten grossing games in Taiwan, six of them are free. “A user is more willing to try a free game. If they like it, they’ll perhaps make some purchases. The developers still make money, probably much more than $.99.” By his estimation, the in-game payment itself is an Eastern innovation. Introduced by Asian MMORPGs as a method to make subscription prices cheaper, it is a model that has seen great success in mobile gaming as well. “The trick is finding the balance between download price and in-game purchase price for your market.”

Insight 3: East vs. West, Willingess to Spend Money on Gaming is Different

When the subject of east and west is brought up, Hsu asks excitedly “do you know Pah?” Faced with a confused look, he explains that he is talking about a novel game that is played by voice. He brings up a table the creators released on individual countries’ payment/piracy rate based on its 90,000 users. The report (shown left) shows that Asian countries are at polar extremes. In 6th and 8th are Japan and Taiwan, respectively, higher than many countries in the west. At the bottom of the list are Malaysia, Russia, Macau, and China, the latter at a stunningly low 2.66% payment rate. “The Taiwanese are really willing to pay for their games. Others are not so much.” He bolsters his claim with data he’s culled from his MMORPG sister site and predecessor to GameApe, yatta.com.tw. “Taiwanese and Korean MMORPGs have an average revenue per user that is 3-4 times the cost to maintain a monthly subscription,” he says. “In many western countries, you do not tend to see the same Korean and Taiwan willingness to pay.”

Insight 4: The Issue With iTunes is GameApe’s Raison d’Etre

GameApe exists simply because it solves several problems with iTunes.

iTunes is in a bind with how honest it can be with regard to game quality. “iTunes is like a department store. What department store will admit they carry a dud product?” The reviews are instead carried out by users and are susceptible to publisher influence. He pulls up a top-100 game that has six 5-star ratings and two 4-star ratings in iTunes. “If I were a publisher, I could get 8 of my friends to do that. The honest reviews are the value added through GameApe.”

The publisher also provides the information about the game. He points out an example of a game featuring screenshots of buxomly cartoon women but none of actual game content. “Of course they are only going to say it’s a great game in the description and choose the screenshots that will attract users.”

“The Editor’s Picks for Taiwan are clearly not picked by or for Taiwanese people.” An app called “Apps for the Great Outdoors” scrolls through the Editor’s Picks window of the Taiwanese app store and I see what he means. The apps feature surf reports and animal tracking skills. As we sit in an office nine floors up, in the heart of an urban center (locales in which most Taiwanese live), I doubt we’ll be doing much surfing or tracking. He asks rhetorically, “where are the Mahjong games?”

As our conversation comes to a close, I peek at the office outside the meeting room. Grown men are at their desks, fingers dancing away as they test out mobile games on their iPads. In the days of Snake, the very thought of being paid to do this would have been preposterous. And yet, 13 years later, here we are with these men, tapping, tapping, tapping. For the masses, indeed. (Source: Tech Orange)


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