Inside - Kidscreen
Inside - Kidscreen Inside - Kidscreen
Social E3 WRAP cli Interconnected play and mobile platforms came close to eclipsing console concentration at E3 2011 BY WENDY GOLDMAN GETZLER It’s likely that you won’t get to the top of the US$25-billion video gaming industry without making a few friends. The Los Angeles Convention Center was fi lled with echoes of that very sentiment last month as the gaming industry’s premier trade event got underway. This year’s E3, which drew 46,800 people from across the globe, was as much defi ned by its traditional draw of the latest and greatest in hardware and software as it was by a shift in focus from both large and small companies to more social and mobile game play. In fact, talk often revolved around Facebook and iOS device platforms, even though they didn’t have a physical presence on the show fl oor. With San Francisco-based Zynga, creator of the Facebook social gaming phenomenon FarmVille, valued at close to US$20 billion—almost double the value of gaming giant Electronic Arts—it’s easy to understand why social and casual gaming are now top of mind for entertainment software companies. And while traditional hardware and software are still king when it comes to young kids—it’s still E3, after all—companies are clearly making a large push to create and market games designed to keep the living room and families social through interconnected play. 34 July/August 2011
mbing Kid-friendly gaming experiences are fi nding their way onto new hardware like the Sony Vita (middle), the Nintendo 3DS (bottom) and, of course, Apple’s iPad (above). While the new hardware and software shown at this year’s E3 offer varying gaming styles, most seemed designed to be inherently social. July/August 2011 35
- Page 1 and 2: Toon houses transition to live acti
- Page 4: Watch for the next issue of Editori
- Page 7 and 8: moves 1Boys of summer? A recent art
- Page 9 and 10: HotStuff Finding home Canadian-scho
- Page 12: tv In living color Moving from anim
- Page 15 and 16: Whiteley, bringing animated charact
- Page 17 and 18: JustLaunched Jake and the Never Lan
- Page 19: Pipeline An Mademoiselle Zazie Base
- Page 23 and 24: Dinosaur Train hitches a ride on Am
- Page 25 and 26: Potato power The humble vegetable f
- Page 27 and 28: Photo: mitikusa Let’s get persona
- Page 29 and 30: The world of kids, tweens, teens an
- Page 31 and 32: A new study fi nds fathers are in c
- Page 33: TAC TELEVISION ANIMATION CONFERENCE
- Page 37 and 38: pushing the Kinect as a family-frie
- Page 40: Get in ’em to win ’em! Enter at
Social<br />
E3 WRAP cli<br />
Interconnected play and mobile<br />
platforms came close to eclipsing<br />
console concentration at E3 2011<br />
BY WENDY GOLDMAN GETZLER<br />
It’s likely that you won’t get to the<br />
top of the US$25-billion video<br />
gaming industry without making<br />
a few friends. The Los Angeles<br />
Convention Center was<br />
fi lled with echoes of that very sentiment last month as<br />
the gaming industry’s premier trade event got underway.<br />
This year’s E3, which drew 46,800 people from across the<br />
globe, was as much defi ned by its traditional draw of the<br />
latest and greatest in hardware and software as it was by a<br />
shift in focus from both large and small companies to more<br />
social and mobile game play. In fact, talk often revolved<br />
around Facebook and iOS device platforms, even though<br />
they didn’t have a physical presence on the show fl oor.<br />
With San Francisco-based Zynga, creator of the Facebook<br />
social gaming phenomenon FarmVille, valued at close to<br />
US$20 billion—almost double the value of gaming giant<br />
Electronic Arts—it’s easy to understand why social and<br />
casual gaming are now top of mind for entertainment software<br />
companies. And while traditional hardware and software<br />
are still king when it comes to young kids—it’s still<br />
E3, after all—companies are clearly making a large push to<br />
create and market games designed to keep the living room<br />
and families social through interconnected play.<br />
34 July/August 2011
Change language