Since many are predicting that online game playing through the Internet may become a bigger industry than even Hollywood blockbuster releases, tomorrow's General Sessions (open to all attendees) on "alternate realities" and "gaming" will provide invaluable insights into ways this major interactive evolution will not only affect the entertainment industry in general, but can also be a benefit to our own personal lives.
The morning begins with the session "Jane McGonigal: Game Theory for Real Life," 9 a.m., with "future forecaster" McGonigal, who the MIT Technology Review named one of the top 35 innovators changing the world through technology in 2006. McGonigal will discuss how her pioneering work employs massively collaborative games to build communities to probe the future and solve its problems.
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| Jane McGonigal | |
The session is followed by "Alternate Reality Games: Telling Stories from the New Frontier" with moderator Brian Seth Hurst, CEO of The Opportunity Management Co., and second vice chair of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
"If people want to know where content is going and the integration of social media on entertainment, this session is a must-attend because from past experience I know they will walk away inspired. Alternate Reality Games (ARG) such as NBC's 'Heroes' sometimes introduce characters online even before they appear on TV," Hurst said, "and the ARG for 'The Dark Knight' attracted over 10 million players. So this is a huge trend that nobody is talking about yet."
This is the first time NAB has hosted a session on this kind of gaming, but it may be one of the most important.
"Gaming on this level takes the best of linear entertainment, video games, social media and mobile communication tools, and [unites] them into the Holy Grail of marrying content with interactive participation," Hurst said. "We expect this ARG panel to be very well attended."
One of the most popular ARG's is Second Life. Jon Alper, director of technology, research and development at WGBH Interactive, and Rita King, CEO and creative director at Dancing Ink Productions present the session on "Second Chances in Second Life," produced by Broadcast Education Association, 10:45 a.m.
"Second Life is a non-structured, three- dimensional modeling and interactive virtual world created by its 'residents' offered by Linden Lab as a commercial service that is surviving healthily online," Alper said. "A major part of the discussion will be whether Second Life is a viable part of the Metaverse where a real person can make money or market their own brand."
Alper feels that, in the long term, creating an identity in a 3D virtual space like Second Life could evolve into massive opportunities for information sharing, enhancing the Internet's ability to become a significant tool for social interaction.
"It is my hope that the creative people involved in the linear broadcast industry will begin to explore media creation and communication in ways that are completely nonlinear," Alper said. "This session will explain how our existing marketing methodologies, storytelling idioms and visual grammar are starting to move from television into the Internet, and the Internet is far more interesting. People attending this session will get an appreciation of how they can personally benefit from understanding the protocols of Second Life."
This morning's general sessions will wrap up with a discussion of "Games: Top 5 Trends Revolutionizing Entertainment Today" moderated by Dale Strang, executive in residence at Battery Ventures, and former managing editor, International Games Network.
Panelists will include Reto Bodmer, CEO at Evolved Games, and Glen Schofield, vice president and general manager, Electronic Arts Redwood Shores Studio.
Those attending this noon panel will learn how the video game industry is poised to double in sales from $32 billion in 2005 to nearly $70 billion in 2011 by some estimates.