Electronic Arts se “suédifie”
This Is War (for a Game Industry’s Soul) - NYTimes.com 19/10/13 by DAVID STREITFELD
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/technology/this-is-war-for-a-game-industrys-soul.html?pagewanted=all
Like big-budget movies, newspapers, printed books, DVDs and other once-dominant means of conveying information and entertainment, traditional video games like Battlefield — played at home, with a special console or maybe a souped-up PC and the biggest possible screen — are under digital assault. A handful of programmers in a garage can put together a crude but compulsive smartphone game in a few weeks. These games are designed to be played in snippets, anytime and anywhere, making them ideal for a busy modern life.
Mobile games are not exactly complicated. Fruit Ninja involves slicing animated fruit in half. ActionPotato is all about trying to catch potatoes. Candy Crush Saga consists of rearranging pieces of candy — and is played 700 million times a day, its creator says.
Immersive games like #Battlefield, on the other hand, require years of intricate work by hundreds of software engineers and artists. They demand an investment by players, too: $60 plus quite a few moments of attention. And they are tied to technology going the way of the rotary phone. PC sales are dropping as users migrate to tablets, while sales of the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation consoles have wilted 40 percent in the last two years.
#Industrie #jeux_video immersion vs #mobile
But it is a gun. The number of shots fired in Battlefield 3 during the last two years is 4.2 trillion.
“We have experts in every area working to create this bigger whole,” Mr. Bach said. “I sometimes compare it to building the Pyramids.”
Tobias Dahl, a producer, noted dryly, “The Pyramids were built by slaves.”
Mr. Bach needed to improve his game, and he will work relentlessly until he does. But a successful launching of Battlefield 4 next week will merely bring a new set of struggles. The game needs to be extended to smartphones, but even EA’s Mr. Gibeau is unsure it can have enough of a presence there to fully engage players.
