Media Centre: In the News

Monsters in the gaming Industry
Published June 12, 2010

David Wylie, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, June 12, 2010

All eyes in the video game world are about to turn to Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo -- the biggest video game trade show in the world.

And Canada plans to take its share of the spotlight.

"E3 is the single most important forum for video game makers to showcase their games to a global audience," said Danielle Parr, executive director of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada. "Year after year, a significant proportion of the hottest, most talked about games at the show are made in Canada, cementing Canada's reputation as one of the best places in the world to make video games."
Parr said Canada's performance at the show helps attract investment and high-profile projects, as well as top-tier talent in the $60-billion industry.

Canada is the world's third-largest maker of video games behind Japan and the U.S., and more than 14,000 people are directly employed in video-game development in Canada.

The world's two largest game development studios have a substantial Canadian presence -- Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. They operate two of the biggest booths at E3 to show off their games, including a number of made-in-Canada blockbusters.

EA, which has studios in Burnaby, B.C., and Montreal, will show off the second title in its hit workout video game franchise, EA Sports Active 2.0. The company will also show its popular stable of upcoming seasonal sports titles, including NHL 11, NBA Elite 11 and FIFA 11 -- all made north of 60.

"It's a huge stage to not only put forward our products, but also our people . . . the amazing creative talent that make our games," said EA spokesman Colin Macrae.

"On another level, it's cool to look around the show floor and realize that so many of the games are coming from Canada and that we're such monsters in this industry."

Meanwhile, Ubisoft -- which has studios in Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver and Toronto -- will show off Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the third instalment in the blockbuster historical action franchise, as well as its upcoming entry into the increasingly competitive skateboarding genre, Shaun White Skateboarding.

Christophe Grandjean, spokesman for Ubisoft Canada, said the company also has other Canadian games up its sleeve that have not yet been announced.

"E3 is obviously an outstanding showcase opportunity for video games," said Grandjean. "But beyond that media dimension, it's the biggest meeting of passionate gamers and game makers in the world. Hundreds of major projects started as a simple E3 chat."

Other big Canadian titles to be showcased at the event include Eidos Montreal's third game in its popular futuristic first-person shooter series Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and its crime-action sequel Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Vancouver's Propaganda Games will be showing off two games based on Disney movies -- Tron: Evolution and Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned.

Finally, Canada's biggest independent video game maker, Montreal-based Artificial Mind and Movement, will be showing off its soon-to-be-released title, Naughty Bear, about a maniacal teddy bear.

Some say this year's E3 is do or die for the traditional console video game industry, which has been stuck in an economic rut.

Video game industry analyst, Jesse Divnich, said the industry has been shrouded in worry about the "long-term viability of the traditional video game market."

"Because the technologies and the games being launched at E3 are going to drive this industry for the next three years, this does make the E3 Expo probably the most important show in the last 10 years," Divnich said.

Traditional gaming is being threatened by mobile applications and social networking games, he said, which is why video game consoles have turned to new hardware to keep them competitive.

Divnich said this year's E3 will be driven by the launch of four new technologies: PlayStation's new Wii-like motion controller; Microsoft's motion-sensing Natal, which lets players control video games without a controller using only their body and voice; Nintendo's hand-held 3-D console that works without the use of 3-D glasses; and general advancements in 3-D console gaming.

"There's never been an E3 before where we've seen four new technologies all being unveiled at once," said Divnich, an Ontario native who works in the U.S. as an analyst for Electronic Entertainment and Design Research.

"The console manufacturers need to constantly refresh their hardware to keep it relevant to consumer demands," he said.

While Divnich said all of the new technologies are exciting, he's most fascinated by Nintendo's hand-held 3-D console, currently known as the 3DS.

"When -think about 3-D gaming on a portable platform without glasses, I think for most of us it's physically impossible to even picture it. So I think we're all at the edge of our seats waiting for Nintendo to unveil its product. How's it -to look, how's it going to interact with consumers, what are people going to think about it?"

EA couldn't comment on whether the company would be showing off games at E3 - for any of the new technologies. Ubisoft's Grandjean was a bit more generous: "E3 2010 will give us the opportunity to show that we are a step ahead of the game, but I cannot go -more details right now."