“Game
designing and development is never going away. One per cent of the gross
revenue will change the whole economics of Jamaica. If you are creative and are
looking to do something, why not do something that brings your creativity where
you can play in?”
Founder and CEO of
Entertainment Arts Research Incorporated, Professor Joseph Saulter during the
first Digital Game Design and Development Conference, held at the CARIMAC
(Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication) at the UWI (University of the
West Indies)
Apparently
it takes a foreigner with a PhD and actual experience in the Video Game
industry to finally convince the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) that there is
potential money to be made in Video Game Design.
This
is the conclusion that I draw from founder and CEO of Entertainment Arts
Research Incorporated, Professor Joseph Saulter, during a presentation on Video
Game design and Video game development, both of which can contribute
significant funds to the Jamaican Economy as stated in the article “Prof: Game
Design Could Boost Economy'”, Published Monday October 20, 2014 by Kemisha
Anderson, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
He
was speaking at the CARIMAC (Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication) at
the UWI (University of the West Indies), Mona Campus during the Digital Game
Design and Development Conference, which is actually the first in the Caribbean.
Kinda
reminds me of the Inaugural opening of the KingstOOn Animation Conference and
Film Festival that was launched on Friday June 20th 2013, also held
on the grounds of the UWI as reported in my blog article
entitled “Inaugural
KingstOOn Animation Competition a boost to local Animation Industry - State
Minister Julian Robinson give Graphic Artists the chance to Feel this Moment
Pitbull and Christina Aguilera Style”.
Education and E-sports
– Video Games Potent Cocktail that Education Minister likes
His
intention is to start something similar in Jamaica, possibly with a focus on
Education Games, as they present a potential market that's less fickle and with
a lower upfront capital investment than designing Console Games as noted in my blog article
entitled “Animation
after KingstOOn - How to make a Video Game for PC, Smartphone and Tablet”.
Minister
of Education Ronald Thwaites, who was also in attendance at the Digital Game
Design and Development Conference, sees the educational potential of Video
Games, quote: “The technology and
educational games are extremely important, as they serve as mediums through
which learning and all its aspects can take place, and also a means by which
those who are unable to be attracted to formal educational pursuits can learn”.
In
fact, Console Gaming is dying, being slowly replaced by Cloud Gaming as
detailed in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Console
Gaming’s Downfall – Future is up in the Clouds”. The future is in
developing Video Games for Education and which encourage team play as opposed
to individual excellence.
A
trend that’s developing with the rise of E-Sports as noted in my blog article
entitled “The
E-Sport Phenomenon and Amazon's Twitch Aquisition - How Amazon’s Twitch creates
Video Gaming Celebrities and jumpstarts Jamaican Game Development”, where
the emphasis is more on Teams than individual Gamers.
Casual
Gaming on smartphones has potential, already being exploited by a local
independent Developer and one-man Developer 24 year old Stephen Williams owner
of Pandosoft and Developer of the Google
Android Game TapKat
Fiesta as I'd reported in my blog article
entitled “Stephen
Williams' Android Game TapKat Fiesta - Social Media Marketing even as VoIP for
Corporate and Enterprise untapped Telecoms Opportunity”.
A
very simple argument I’m sure, but evidence that there is Game Development in
Jamaica that just needs more encouragement…..and some VC (Venture Capital) Seed
money would be helpful as well!
Digital Game Design and
Development Conference - US$112 Billion Gaming Industry is open to Jamaicans
Professor
Joseph Saulter, a twelve (12) year African-American veteran in the in the Video
Game Industry in the US of A, pointed out that as far back as 2011, analyst
Gartner Inc had projected earnings of US$112 billion by 2015 as stated in the
article entitled “Global
games business to hit $112B by 2015”, published July 6, 2011 1:21 AM by
Dean Takahashi, Venturebeat and “Video
game spending set to hit $74 billion this year”, published July 6, 2011
5:21 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News.
These
projections are clearly bang on target, as he's pretty much reiterated what I'd
already been saying on my personal blog; Video Game Design (making of
characters and backgrounds) and Development (the actual programming of the Video
Game), is a potential source of foreign exchange for Jamaica.
In
fact, those Gartner projections aren't too far off, as analyst Netzoo and their
Newzoo’s
Live Interactive Data Resource puts it at US$82 million for 2014 already as
per my blog
article entitled “Netzoo's
2014 Global Games Market Report - Developed World idle time Opportunity for
Jamaicans in Video Gaming Design”. Currently it's clocking some US$82
billion has been spend up until June 2014 of this year, making 2014 the year
that revenue from Casual and Console Gaming could pass the US$100 billion mark.
Investment in Video
Game Development in Jamaica – Animation poor ambitious stepchild
Investment
from Multi-lateral agencies is potentially available, as Animation isn’t very
far off from Video Game Development, requiring basically the same type of gear
as noted in my blog
article entitled “Animation
after KingstOOn - How to make a Video Game for PC, Smartphone and Tablet”.
With
the World Bank investing some US$20 million over the next five (5) years in
Animation to develop it into the next BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) as
predicted in my blog
article entitled “Animation
after KingstOON - World Bank Invests US$20 million in Jamaican Animation BPO
Brother from another Mother with Great Expectations”.
Video
Games deserve equal attention. Especially as there is extra money coming from
the very SAME World Bank in a total package of US$105 worth of loans that also
covers SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) as reported in my blog article
entitled “Jamaica's
World Bank's US$105 million Loan – All My Children Animation, SME VC's and
Public Sector get Second Chance at Economic Redemption” that can be used as
VC (Venture Capital) Seed money to
develop Video Gaming Industry in Jamaica.
Minister
of Education Ronald Thwaites sees the educational potential of Animation.
Perhaps a Joint Video Game Competition will be in the works as well, this time involving
the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining and the Ministry of
Education in much the same way they’re both supported Animation since June
2013?
This
is definitely worth following, as potentially founder and CEO of Entertainment
Arts Research Incorporated, Professor Joseph Saulter may be the one to
jump-start Video Game development in Jamaica, hopefully with some VC (Venture
Capital) funding, training and support from the Ministry of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining and the Ministry of Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment