电子艺界前CEO仍然力撑游戏

    里奇泰洛说：“现在，整个移动游戏产业都盯着手机和平板电脑的硬件性能，我对此持不同看法。我们应该更关注怎样才能开发出‘突破性’的游戏。什么样的游戏能为用户带来前所未有的体验？如果你能回答这个问题，那投资就是物有所值。如果不能，最终只会落得个投入增加，产出却不变的下场。而这样根本就行不通。”

    业界关注的另一大热点是双屏游戏。市场上已经有不少这样的游戏设备了：任天堂（Nintendo）推出的Wii U在游戏手柄上安装了一块显示屏；Xbox SmartGlass软件允许用户通过智能手机和平板电脑操作Xbox 360游戏；Playstation Vita掌机能与PlayStation 3的游戏互动。

    里奇泰洛说：“我每时每刻都在使用多个显示屏，我们中的绝大多数人也都如此。我惬意地坐在家里的沙发上玩电视游戏，PC机上运行着Outlook；而与此同时，我还可能在平板上玩《糖果粉碎传奇》（ Candy Crush）。当手机或平板作为辅助输入设备，与游戏主机相配合时，我从中看到了双屏游戏的巨大优势。任天堂是这个领域的先行者，不过，我认为我们在这方面才刚刚开始起步，可以说连皮毛都还没有摸到。”

    今年，电子艺界将迎来《劲爆美式橄榄球》（Madden NFL）25周年庆。里奇泰洛认为移动产业可以从主机游戏的成功中吸取经验，学习如何打造经久不衰的全球游戏品牌。“《糖果粉碎传奇》到了明年夏天是否还能大红大紫？传说中即将上市的King公司是否想好了如何开发2.0版本？我在目前的移动领域只看到极少的动态表明人们在打造经久不衰的品牌。主机游戏产生了电子艺界、任天堂、动视（Activision）等知名公司，也有诸如《使命召唤》（Call of Duty ）、《战地》这样的知名游戏品牌。他们为什么不在移动领域打造同样大获成功的品牌？他们能否保持领先优势，很大程度上取决于他们能不能再次获得幸运的垂青。”

    里奇泰洛称，尽管游戏行业发生了巨大变迁，但游戏开发商仍有大量尚未开发的收入潜力。证据是什么？过去五年，苹果和谷歌股东价值的增长，有一半或三分之二直接来自移动产品，其分销平台由此创造了近3,000亿美元的资金。鉴于游戏约占移动应用总创收的近三分之二，里奇泰洛相信内容，即游戏，创造了高达250亿美元的股东价值。

    里奇泰洛说：“可以这么说，平台创建者创造的价值可达到平台上内容所创造价值的10倍，过去的游戏机和个人电脑不是这样。但如今的移动设备绝对是如此。等式的另一边将有1,000亿至3,000亿美元的价值。这些价值不会都进入游戏业，但其中一大块需要流入游戏行业。”（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    "If I were to come up with one piece of good advice as the mobile industry is looking at more powerful phones and tablets, it's to think more about how that creates the opportunity to develop an experience we've not seen before," said Riccitiello. "What gameplay mechanics weren't possible before that can now be opened up? If you can answer that question, the investment is worth it. If you can't answer that question, you'll end up spending more money to generate the same revenue, and that doesn't work very well."

    Another area of intense focus: dual-screen viewing. The video game industry is already experimenting with multiple screen gameplay with devices like the Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii U, which comes with a tablet-like controller, Xbox SmartGlass, which connects smartphones and tablets to Xbox 360 games, and the Playstation Vita, which allows games to interactive with their PlayStation 3 games.

    "I'm using multiple screens all the time, and most of us are doing that in many different ways," said Riccitiello. "I sit on my couch at home running Outlook on my PC, playing a console game up on the TV, and I might be playing Candy Crush on my tablet. I see some absolutely stupendous experiences with dual screen with console games where you're using tablet or a phone as a secondary game input device. Nintendo was the first innovator in that arena, but I don't even know that we're scratching the surface as much as we're waving our hand above the surface."

    Electronic Arts is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Madden NFL football this year. And Riccitiello believes the mobile industry can learn from the success console games have had in building global, sustainable brands. "Will Candy Crush Saga be around next summer? Will King, which is heading towards the fabled IPO, figure out how to do a 2.0? I see precious little going on right now in mobile to suggest people are building multi-year brands," said Riccitiello. "Console gaming brought us EA, Nintendo, Activision (ATVI), and brands like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Why don't they make great brands like that in mobile? The big question for whether they stay at the top is whether they can either get lucky again."

    Despite massive industry shifts, Riccitiello says there is plenty of untapped revenue potential for game developers. His point? Over the past five years, Apple and Google have seen half or two-thirds of their increase in shareholder value come directly from mobile products, resulting in approximately $300 billion of capital created by the distribution platform. With games making up roughly two-thirds of all mobile app monetization, he believes that as much as $25 billion of shareholder value has been created by content, i.e. games.

    "Arguably ten times more value can be created by the platform creator than by the content that goes over it, that wasn't the case with consoles or PC," said Riccitiello. "But it's absolutely the case in mobile today. There should be $100 billion to $300 billion of value on the other side of the equation. It all won't go to games, but a big chunk of it needs to go to games."