美国最大的休闲游戏开发商、发行商及分销商之一Big Fish Games已向手机游戏，尤其是iOS领域挺进，该公司不久前推出的第一款iPhone免费游戏《海盗大战》（Plunder!），引起了人们的兴趣和关注。

近日，Pocketgamer记者采访了该公司首席运营官约翰·霍兰德（John Holland），了解到Big Fish Games手机游戏发展方向的有关情况。下文为访谈内容：

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问：为什么说手机游戏对Big Fish Games这类PC/Mac游戏发行商也很重要？

对我们来说，手机游戏创造了扩大用户规模的好机会。具有丰富玩法，以及冒险、藏宝和益智等多种风格的游戏与手机平台的完美结合，可以刺激游戏下载量。

问：你们是怎么选择手机游戏发行作品的？

我们会挨个比较，我们手头上并不缺可发行的游戏，包括我们自主知识产权以及其他开发商伙伴的作品。

Big Fish Games一向以擅长跨平台开发游戏而著称，我们是多渠道的开发商，业务范围涵盖下载、手机、掌机和社交等游戏领域。无论涉足哪个平台，我们都会全力以赴开发优秀的作品。

所以，我们所做的不仅仅是将可下载游戏移植到手机平台，而是充分研究每款游戏的独特玩法和属性，找到最适合它们投放的平台，可能是iPad、iPhone，也可能是其他新出品的Android手机。

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问：以数量取胜的游戏发行对你们来说是不是也很有经济诱惑性？

我们在App Store发行了25款游戏，早期在iPhone推出的是《秘密探险：珠穆朗玛峰》（Everest: Hidden Expedition），我们还是iPad的发行合作商。我认为25款是一个健康的发行量，虽然这只能反映我们所有可发行作品的冰山一角，但我们无意靠数量闯天下。

我们会根据不同的手机平台重新设计游戏，比如说《秘密探险：珠穆朗玛峰》和《秘密探险：亚马逊》（Amazon: Hidden Expedition）这两者的移植，我们就增加了多人游戏模式这一功能。在《都市冒险：旧金山》（ Big City Adventure: San Francisco）中，还引进了在线语音聊天系统，我们奉行量体裁衣，因地制宜的游戏发行原则。

从这个角度上讲，这些推向市场的作品也反映了我们对游戏质量高度重视的态度，无论是自产自销还是为别人发行游戏都不例外。

我们以发行优质游戏而立世，所以绝不会为了推出更多游戏而在这一立场上退让。

问：对手机游戏价格有何看法？

根据我们在iPad的发行所见，发行商在手机游戏价格上的立场都比较坚定，不会轻易大打折扣。

但在iPhone领域，手机游戏都在竞相杀价，不过因为有更多解决方案和不同用户群体，iPad游戏的价格还是维持比较高的水准，我们对iPad游戏发行的零售价很满意。

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问：为何推出第一款免费的iPhone游戏？

因为我们想尝试不同的游戏玩法和营收渠道，其他游戏功能选项我们也会考虑。

在开发游戏过程中我们喜欢创新，不同的用户会有不同选择，比如说有人喜欢付费下载游戏，有人则觉得社交游戏的内置付费功能更方便，我们希望可以满足所有群体的需求。当然，设置付费功能选项时，更要考虑游戏玩法和风格是否与其相配。

问：对Windows Phone 7这类新平台有何看法？

我们会对所有的新平台进行评估，认为如果不考虑手机的制造商或分销渠道等因素，我们有一大批原创作品都很适合投放到手机平台。

至于WP7，我认为微软在游戏推广和促销上确实很有一手。

但我们最关心的是手机平台在国际市场上的销售情况和覆盖率，我们很强调本土化，所以新平台覆盖率最大的那些国家对我们来说尤其重要，我们正准备向那些地区投入资源。

问：会考虑平板电脑和网络电视市场吗？

我们是多渠道的游戏开发商和分销商，新渠道只要能开拓投放优秀游戏的市场，对我们来说都是一个绝好的机遇。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译）

Big Fish Games on why mobile is a fantastic audience expansion opportunity

But it’s all about redesigning, not porting

One of the largest casual game developers, publishers and distributors, US outfit Big Fish Games has steadily been building up its mobile business, especially on iOS.

However, it was the news that it had released its first freemium iPhone game – Plunder! – that really got us interested in what it was up to, and where it was going.

We caught up with COO John Holland to find out more.

Pocket Gamer: Why is mobile important to a casual PC/Mac publisher such as Big Fish Games?

Holland: It’s a fantastic audience expansion opportunity for us. Many of the attributes that have driven our downloadable business in terms of rich, immersive gameplay, across genres such as adventure, hidden object and puzzle game lend themselves incredibly well to mobile devices.

How do you decide which games to release?

We look at it on a game by game basis. We have a wealth of opportunity, whether our own IP or that of our development partners, to bring games to mobile.

We’re known for making great games irrespective of platform. We’re a multi channel developer in terms of download, mobile, console, and social. We try to make great games for the platforms we’re delivering on.

So rather than just looking at porting downloadable games to mobile, we view it as a different exercise – looking at each game and considering what gameplay and attributes will lend themselves best to a particular mobile device, whether iPad or iPhone or some of the emerging Android devices.

Isn’t there a financial temptation to release as many titles as possible?

We have 25 titles on the App Store. We were early with Everest: Hidden Expedition on the iPhone. We were a launch partner on the iPad. I think 25 is a healthy number, although it is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the number of games we could bring to the iPhone. But it’s not a race to get games to market.

We have a very well curated and thoughtful approach to redesigning game for new devices. For example in Everest: Hidden Expedition and Amazon: Hidden Expedition, we’ve introduced multiplayer features. In Big City Adventure: San Francisco, we introduced live voice chat. We’re really trying to design for the platform.

In this way, the games we’re brought to market are indicative of our attitude in terms of the high quality we focus on every day, whether it’s from our studios or our portal business.

We’re known for delivering great games every day, and we’re not going to compromise that strategy just to get more games out there.

What’s your view on the price of mobile games?

I think publishers in the mobile space are very positive in terms of the price integrity we’ve seen on iPad.

There’s a race to lower price points on the iPhone, but with larger resolutions and a different audience, the price for iPad games has settled at a higher level. We’re really encouraged by the price points that iPad continues to deliver.

Why have you released your first freemium iPhone game?

We want to experiment in terms of monetisation and gameplay mechanics, and we will continue to test different options.

We like the ability to innovate when it comes to an evolving ecosystem, where you have very different consumers making very different choices – from people who are very happy to make an individual download purchase to social gamers who are much more comfortable with in-app purchases.

We want to be able to deal with the full range of consumers. Of course, certain gameplay and genres make more sense than others in terms of the pricing options they lend themselves to.

What’s your view on new platforms such as Windows Phone 7?

We’re evaluating all of them. We feel very strongly that mobile, irrespective of manufacturer or distribution network, lends itself very well to a large swath of our IP.

In terms of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft seems to be taking a much more curated approach in terms of how it’s merchandising games.

More generally though, the really interesting thing for us is the distribution and penetration these devices are getting internationally. We have a very strong emphasis on localisation – we do our own localisation – so countries that have a strong presence with these emerging devices are very important to us in terms of where we’re looking to invest resources.

What about markets such as tablets and internet TV?

We’re a multi channel developer and distributor of games. New channels that allow us to expand, and to continue to bring the best games to market, are a great opportunity for us.（source:pocketgamer）