2011. The world is constantly moving. The consumers of tomorrow will be our children as we, in his time, represented the future and grew up on bread, butter and bits. Today we are surrounded by social media, 3D wherever you are, services in real time or almost, wireless, comfort without effort, ... but above all we are addicted to normality and are constantly looking for new emotions. This is why we decided to visitE3! playing today is having an interactive experience. And from here many ideas can start on how to transfer these emotions elsewhere, to our consumers when they frequent stores, shopping centres, the streets of the centre, seminars and training courses, etc...
And at E3, one of the most important videogame and digital entertainment events in the world, what did we see? Well, the crisis has also been felt in this sector according to experts, but the videogames market continues its growth by evolving, maturing and above all by concentrating its vocation on the interactive experience. “Space Invaders” video games no longer exist. The ancestors have today left room for a new way of conceiving free time as an alternative to what is today defined as an interactive experience. We could already name a hundred, but games like Fable, for example, Mass Effect 3, Star Wars, Dragon Age, Halo, Call of Duty, Bioshock Infinite, Assassins Creed Revelation, Final Fantasy XII, Gears of War 3, Sims, ... are true experiential, fantastic, realistic adventures. And so at E3 it seems like we are attending a film festival where we move from star wars to adventures set in fantastic landscapes a la Lord of the Rings and even life simulations a la Sims Life. The trailers are masterpieces of effects, music and interpretations. Some even propose innovations in story telling as happened with Dead Island, whose music accompanies the story of a family whose epilogue is dramatic in a succession of horror scenes in complete flashback with rewind. The characters make you dream, entertain, move and reflect. You feel immersed in these stories like in a book or watching a film. Experience! that's the word I heard the most at E3. And it's not just technologies that are needed. Content, stories and their power to get closer to the public count. Just as services, products and people try to be today. We all try to transform old actions into unique, emotional and engaging experiences so that they can then mean the FUTURE. Microsoft, for example, with the new Kinect controller system, after Nintendo, has allowed us to once again overcome the barrier of division between those who play and those who have never played. But still the iPad, the only tablet present with video games played, with its 25 million units sold represents with Casual Games the absolute novelty of the market, the one that has definitively made inroads into market segments and users entirely new.
So at E3 we were able to see previews of games like Halo 4, Mass Effect 3, Dead Island, Star Wars The Old Republic, Metal Gear Solid 4, Bioshock Infinite, Silent Hill, Hitman, Tomb Raider, The Darkness II, Tin Tin, Gears of Wars 3, Battle Field 3, Fifa 12, Batman Arkham, Skyrim, Lord of the rings War in the north, Modern Warfare 3.
Added to all this were the presentations of new technologies that enrich the user experience. Sony presented PS VITA a new innovative portable console equipped with display and touch system on the back. Nintendo presented the new controller WII U which presents itself as a portable console but is actually a new way of conceiving the video gaming experience in an interactive way. You move in space like with the old controller with the difference that the portable console becomes an extension of the screen, with new information. Almost a second virtual space in which to immerse yourself. Among the less publicized news, we have picked up some gems worthy of being communicated. First of all, from the Ostrendo company, a wonderful and very interesting CRVD 43-inch Curved Display to take the gaming experience to the extreme. A curved display with a width of 43" embraces a gaming area equal to two traditional 20" monitors and allows total immersion in the adventure. INDIECADE, on the other hand, is an initiative dedicated to independent video game developers. We are talking about small software houses that do not have contracts with international publishers and independently manage the marketing and distribution of their creations. Some of the funniest and most innovative video games seen today are "hidden" here.
Obviously all seasoned with social media (you can now share everything with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, ...) and with 3D screens and glasses, 7.1 headphones and traditional joysticks or the Kinect which in Mass Effect 3 will allow you to interact both vocally and with gestures in Captain Sheppard's story. Beautiful experiences.
Now! to conclude a question to which we have already given an answer: "...will games also converge towards experiences of purchasing and using services, or vice versa?". We will continue to deal with Proximity Marketing because if they converge they will certainly do so in store too!
