Bernaisesource

[This is the first in a two part postings of my introduction to gaming and the Atlanta gaming community.]

• Games and game theory help drive the growth of social networks.

• Georgia is making inroads in its efforts to build a gaming industry.

• Digitainment or the marriage of music, games and digital technology can help drive Atlanta’s high tech industry.

• The first step is bridging the gap between high-tech and gaming communities.

I took last week off from blogging but I wanted to write about the South Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo (SIEGE 2008) that I attended last weekend with more than 300 gamers here in Atlanta.

Founded in 2007 and run by the Georgia Game Developers Association, SIEGE has established itself as the largest video game trade show in the southeast.

Over cans of Monster, I had a chance to meet some of the players in the industry as well as learn more about the Atlanta gaming community. It was also a chance to hear about the latest industry trends like casual gaming, MMOGs, advergaming, and serious games.

For anyone who knows me, I am not a gamer. But what I lack in hours played with a console or online with a keyboard, I make up for in the belief that games and interactive entertainment are playing a critical role in the adoption of social media.

In addressing the games, online promotions and sweepstakes, Hector Pages, COO of Brandmovers wrote:

“The Web 2.0 explosion has created unprecedented opportunities for brands to engage consumers in the digital spaces where they work and play. Brand marketing budgets increasingly reflect this trend as dollars continue to shift away from ‘traditional’ advertising into new media.”

That’s clearly the case with games. Games are now serious business. Advertisers now place ads in games much the same way they do in movies and television. Games not only contain ads; they can also be ads themselves and are increasingly making their way to social networks.

Games and the theory behind them are a clear influence on social networks. Rankings and the accumulation of points and status play an important role in driving member participation. Games in the form of promotions can draw traffic to sites and engage users at a deeper level. Games can also contain viral elements that can help spread the reach of the promotion. Some social networks like Atlanta-based Kaneva even have the look and feel of a gaming environment. In fact Kaneva’s co-founder Greg Frame is its chief gaming officer.

In speaking to GGDA Co-Founder Clinton Lowe, SIEGE Conference Director Andrew Greenberg, Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Celia Pearce and Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of the state’s Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, I have begun to understand how gaming is changing, and how Georgia and Atlanta are embracing the gaming industry. Overcoming negative stereotypes, gamers and gaming are seen as an engine for economic growth and job creation.

Georgia still lags behind states like California, Washington, Texas, New York and Massachusetts. But today 60 game companies operate in Georgia employing approximately 2000 employees. Schools like Georgia Tech, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and the Art Institute of Atlanta are spawning a new generation of game developers and designers.

Atlanta includes homegrown companies like Tripwire Interactive, Hi-Rez Studios and Turner’s GameTap franchise. Prominent gaming companies like Iceland-based CCP Games, one of the top ten MMOG developers in the world, set up their North American headquarters here after acquiring White Wolf Studios. So did CDC Games, China’s largest video game company, and Electronic Arts, America’s largest video game development companies has an R & D lab in Savannah.

To promote the gaming industry, the entrepreneurs like Chris Klaus worked with state officials to help pass the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which offers the highest level of incentives for the video game industry in the nation.

Clearly, Atlanta’s gaming industry is gaining influence and getting the attention of the business community. Personally, I think the marriage of music, gaming, and digital technology – known somewhat inelegantly as “digitainment,” can help form the basis of Atlanta’s high-tech future.

While promising, that future faces hurdles. For the Atlanta high-tech industry in general, there continues to be a shortage of investment dollars. The startup culture is still fragmented and struggles to define itself and get the visibility it deserves.

Digitainment may be the digital glue that helps shape Atlanta’s high tech identity.

Unfortunately, the software, Web development and gaming communities still seem worlds apart. At least that seems to be the consensus based on meetings I attend and discussions I regularly have with leaders in the Atlanta startup community. Based on my experience, I can’t recall meeting a game developer at a startup event, and I didn’t encounter any of the high-tech software entrepreneurs I know at SIEGE.

To me, that’s a lost opportunity given that Web 2.0 seems like the logical connection between the two cultures and two industries. At a certain level, software developers, gamers and Web designers are all part of larger high-tech ecosystem.

There are efforts underway to help bridge that gap. I am participating on a committee to promote digitainment through a planned event next year. Members from the Technology Association of Georgia, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office are working to create awareness, attract and retain young talent, and foster economic development.

Gaming has come a long way in overcoming long held stereotypes. And with the advent of Web 2.0, gaming is finding a new place to spread its influence. But in order to for the concept of digitainment to take hold, more needs to be done in breaking down barriers and using Web 2.0 to bridge Atlanta’s gaming and software communities.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: SIEGE; Southeastern Interactive Entertainment Game Expo; Georgia Game Developers Association; GGDA; Clinton Lowe; Andrew Greenberg; Celia Pearce; Bill Thompson; Gaming; GameTap; Tripwire Interactive; Hi-Rez Studios; CCP Games; CDC Games; Electronic Arts; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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