Dr. Ernest Adams is one the world's foremost experts on video games. In fact he's one of just a handful of people with a PHD in video gaming. And he says the industry is booming. "This is a very exciting time. We're seeing an explosion of growth in independent game developers" he says.
The reason? Smart phones and social media. Popular and inexpensive gaming apps, like Angry Birds, are fueling the industry's growth. These so-called mobile games are outpacing more traditional games played on gaming consoles or online. "We're no longer expecting people, as frequently, to spend $40 on a game. They're very used, nowadays. to spending $3 or $5, or sometimes 99 cents" says Adams. And that's opening up huge new markets around the world.
Not only are video games more accessible and easier to play, they're also easier to make thanks to new, downloadable software. Middleware, as it's known, can help anyone create their own game "I can't just go off and build a game for XBox that you can buy at EB Games. You can't do that. But I can build a game and just put it in an App store and you can download it and play it tomorrow" says Microsoft’s Susan Ibach.
Michael "Mickey" MacDonald is taking full advantage. The Brantford native isn't even out of college yet and he's already started his own independent game company. He says the trick these days isn’t learning how to write computer code. It’s coming up with that next great idea for a game. "Something like the Angry Birds idea. It doesn't have to be something completely out there. But it's got to have a hook. And that's the hardest thing is finding that hook."
Industry experts from around the world will talk about doing that and more at the Ottawa International Game Conference, a gathering sponsored by some key companies in Ottawa’s own blossoming video game industry. It runs this Thursday and Friday at the Ottawa Convention Centre.
