作者：John Hill

《Farmville》之类社交游戏的风靡不仅改变了人们体验游戏的方式，而且也改变了行业未来的运作模式。

farmville from zuige.net

美国电子游戏设计师及Westwood Studios联合创始人Louis Castle常年供职于主流游戏公司，曾是EA游戏开发副总裁。但如今担任Zynga副总裁，其认为行业未来将发生重大变化。

他表示，“我并不是说盒装游戏会消失，但我觉得大型传统游戏公司的发展之路无法延续很久，除非其调整推广模式。我认为这一模式很快会发生变化。这些公司的当前发展路线无法维持很久。”

此外，社交游戏的出现也改变了既有游戏发行模式。但工作室会将投入大量时间和金钱完善作品，Castle认为如今游戏应加快发行步伐，若待到一切就绪才发行游戏，那“你就需要等待很长时间”。

他表示，“若你考虑搭载下个推广媒介，就需权衡速度问题。想想你脑中闪现的最快决策过程，这还不够快。很多人批评社交游戏存在漏洞，但这不过是个权衡过程。”

Castle认为，社交网络功能未来将是所有游戏的“必需品”，但行业有待探究如何有效使用这个新型社交空间。

他表示，“就人类关系的理解程度而言，行业还处在初级阶段。”

虽然他本身不会下载盗版媒介，但Castle承认盗版内容能够有效体现大众需求。

他表示，“提供盗版电影的网站通常在推广电影方面比电影行业做得更好。”

“若你所处行业存在盗版现象，那是因为有些元素出现断层。你需仔细研究，观察盗版内容提供的信息。这不仅是因为内容无需掏钱（游戏邦注：人们通常都不喜欢偷盗），而是因为他们无法在大型电影网站找到所需内容，所以他们只好另觅他处。”

“打击盗版的方式是免费提供内容，提高抄袭难度。这样一来，你就能够推广游戏内容，用户也无需寻求盗版内容。”

Castle补充表示，游戏开发者“不得不”推广游戏，因为用户希望立即访问内容，而不是“通过层层关卡”。

他表示，“他们最终会愿意掏钱，但只有等到他们沉浸游戏当中，希望得到某道具。一旦他们发现自己喜欢的东西，他们就会掏钱购买。不是人人都会掏钱，但大部分用户都会愿意掏钱。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Speed is key to success in the future of gaming

by John Hill

THE surge in popularity of social networking games such as Farmville is not only changing the way people play games, it’s also changing the way the business will work in future.

American video games designer and Westwood Studios co-founder Louis Castle has worked for the major games firms as VP of development for Electronic Arts. However, he’s now VP of studios at Farmville creator Zynga, and sees major changes brewing in the future for the industry.

He said: “I’m not saying packaged games are gone, but I expect the big ones will get bigger and stronger for a while until the distribution model changes. I think it will change very suddenly. That course is unsustainable.”

The demands of social gaming appear to have also shifted the thinking behind releasing games. Whereas a studio would spend huge amounts of time and money refining a game, Castle now believes that games should be released quickly and that, if you release a game and you feel you’ve finished, “you’ve waited too long”.

He said: “If you’re thinking about getting involved in the next distribution medium, you’ve got to think about speed. Imagine the fastest decision-making process you can think of and that’s still not fast enough. A lot of people will criticise social games for having bugs, but it’s a trade-off.”

Castle believes a social networking feature will be a “necessity” for all games in future, but that the industry is yet to figure out how best to use the new social space.

He said: “The industry is in its infancy in terms of understanding the power of connection between people.”

While he doesn’t download pirated media himself, Castle admits that the pirates may be able to provide some insight into what the public wants.

He said: “The pirate sites that give away films are often better at distributing films than the film industry.

“If you have piracy in your industry it’s because there’s something broken. You need to look at it and see what they’re giving people. It’s not just about the fact it’s free. People don’t generally want to steal things. They go to the big movie sites and can’t get what they want, so they go somewhere else.

“The way to beat piracy is to make the access free at the same time as you make copying hard. That way, you’re giving the experience away and there’s zero value for the consumer to use a copy.”

Castle added that game creators “have to” look at giving games away, as users want immediate access rather than having to “go through some sort of gate”.

He said: “They will pay eventually, but they’ll only do that once they’re engaging with the experience and getting what they want. Once they have something they like, they’ll pay. Not everyone will, but a lot will pay.”（Source：nebusiness）