AIMIA Event – Tonight: Virtual Worlds and online games

Who’s going to Online Games drinkies tonight? Hmm Friends don’t let friends drink and game…

Online games going mainstream – the implications for the media and advertising industries

The Online games industry is morphing into a compelling new medium. We are seeing the convergence of games, movies, virtual worlds and social networking applications into an environment where the participant can create their own mash-ups of entertainment experiences. Many online games have the community as a major part of the entertainment and from this we are seeing new trends emerging about how we play and socialise.

These trends, along with powerful new technologies are changing online gaming from being a “geeks only” domain to a medium of mass appeal. Games developers are allowing players to socialise, personalise their experience, create their own games and content and then share it with other players by incorporating applications such as You Tube into their games. The boundaries also, between the real and virtual world are beginning to blur and MMORPGs, (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) will become a space for all human activity, business and pleasure, fantasy and reality.

The popularity of playing online games, both on fixed and mobile devices, is increasing with casual games leading the growth. Women now make up 50% of players. The average age of players is 33 yrs. Games developers are taking full advantage of the interactivity and connectivity that advanced web technologies provide and business is recognising the advantage that online games have in interacting with the consumer. As online games go mainstream, the advertising opportunities abound. The online games industry is expected to be worth $11.8 billion by 2011.

A panel of experts will discuss the evolution of online games from product to media and what this means to the media and advertising industries. Speakers are:

David Edery – Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner for Xbox Live Arcade

Janet Carr (wikipedia) – Series Producer, Good Game, ABC

Gary Hayes – The Project Factory.

Jean-Marie Guitera (LinkedIn) – Subversive Games.

Mark Fordham – Electronic Arts.

David Kainer – Viva La Mobile.

Come along and participate in the conversation and enjoy complimentary drinks to toast the first AIMIA NSW Intimates event for 2008.

The conversation will take a look at:

• How companies are already trying to capitalise on the new business opportunities that are opening eg. Google’s next frontier – TV and in-game advertising.
• The trends the game developers are incorporating into their new games.
• Monetising the new medium and where the advertising opportunities will be, such as “Advergames”.
• The role online gaming will play in Web 3 technologies.
• The strategic choices about business model innovation as online gaming boundaries blur.
• The drivers of the online gaming evolution, such as new consumer behaviour and the technologies, (Euphoria, Digital Molecular Matter).

Did you notice this line? Women now make up 50% of players. The average age of players is 33 yrs. Interesting no? By the way, I added ALL the links in the above – and I tried to find the personal details pages. I know how much we like to know the backstory to the company. 🙂

Event Details:
Date: Tuesday, 25th March, 2008
Venue: The Privilege Club
Address: 70 King Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Entrance in George Street.

Event Time:
6:30pm for a 7:00pm Start

*Special thanks to Subversive Games for providing the banner graphic.

I think you can register here.

David Edery is Game Tycoon. Heh.