GEMA LA HOSTS FALL SPEAKER SERIES EVENT

A DISCUSSION ON THE FUTURE OF VIDEOGAMES AND THEIR IMPACT ON ENTERTAINMENT

On Sept 17th, the Los Angeles chapter of the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance (GEMA) hosted a discussion panel at the ICM Screening Room in Century City which focused on the business of interactive entertainment, its future and its impact on entertainment in general. IGN Entertainment kindly sponsored the event which was attended by 100 GEMA members, Alumni, family and friends who enjoyed a 60 minute discussion followed by a catered reception.

John Rosenberg (B ’92) who heads the leading entertainment marketing agency for the videogame industry moderated a panel that consisted of some of the industry’s brightest leaders including Phil Marineau (B ’98) Director of Marketing, Electronic Arts, Jon Estanislao (B ’94) Director Digital Distribution, Activision, Ted Price Founder/CEO, Insomniac Games, Roy Bahat, GM IGN Entertainment, Steve Beinner, Sr Group Product Manager, Xbox, and Tabitha Hayes, Director of Marketing Black Box/Electronic Arts.

Topics of discussion ranged from the current state of the videogame industry and the effects of the recession to the opportunities and challenges facing the gamemakers and publishers alike over the next 10 years. Undoubtedly this industry is inexorably linked to advances in technology and the panelists discussed the advent of business models such as premium downloadable content (PDLC) and user generated games as the big growth areas for the industry. All agreed that games would continue to migrate from the gaming platforms to other distribution points such as mobile devices and cell phones and the panelists debated the relative merits of digital versus analog distribution. Community was the big buzz word as the panelists pointed to consumers’ ever growing influence over the development of hit games and how those games are marketed.

Many thanks to IGN for sponsoring the event, all the panelists and to all the GEMA volunteers for their invaluable help.