Playing for Profit : How Digital Entertainment Is Making Big Business Out of Child's Play

by LaPlante, Alice; Seidner, Rich

• ISBN13: 9780471296140
• ISBN10: 0471296147
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-26
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

A little over a century ago, an intense explosion of technical innovation transformed the way we spent our leisure time. Inventions like the phonograph, television, radio, and motion pictures sparked a revolution in entertainment that captured the hearts-and the wallets-of the average consumer. In recent years, we've seen some improvements on these feats: LPs disappeared and made room for CDs, movies were augmented by computer-generated special effects, and video games became a staple for home computers. But for the most part, few modifications have been made to our traditional forms of entertainment for almost 100 years. That's about to change. With the exciting emergence of digital interactivity, we're about to take a huge leap forward, reshaping and reinventing virtually every form of entertainment we know. Veteran technology journalist Alice LaPlante and technology consultant Rich Seidner explain the massive changes in technology, entertainment, and culture that are forcing this latest revolution, opening up a whole new market that extends beyond electronics-savvy teenage boys. Playing for Profit examines how digital interactivity will affect the future of the technology and entertainment businesses, demanding new rules, different players, and bigger profits. It takes an insightful look into the strategies and methods that are driving the digital entertainment and interactive gaming industries, dissecting the thinking behind such issues as product innovation, market domination, risk taking, attracting and nurturing visionary employees, and unparalleled customer service. This engaging book outlines how the entire entertainment industry will be redefined and how the current business models found in radio, recorded music, television, and computer games will be affected. The authors explain how rapid and powerful changes in technology are already shaking up the status quo: In the music business, for example, Internet-savvy musicians are becoming Web-based recording labels, and traditional recording labels are beginning to irk radio conglomerates by broadcasting over the Internet, selling directly to consumers via e-commerce. You'll learn how the forces of evolution are creating new roles for all entertainment providers, especially the computer games industry, which is finally maturing as it reaches a new audience-girls and adult women-and makes a home in cyberspace. This lively account of the fast-paced, high-risk world of interactive entertainment also includes: Candid, compelling interviews with industry insiders. Dramatic examples of how innovators in the entertainment business are breaking all the rules and ignoring traditional industry boundaries. A behind-the-scenes look at groundbreaking digital entertainment start-ups. Playing for Profit offers valuable lessons for managers in entertainment and technology companies and will dazzle the enthusiasts who follow the successes and failures of this remarkable industry. An inside look at how emerging digital technologies are revolutionizing the entertainment business. "LaPlante and Seidner are master storytellers of the events of the digital age."-Steve Fowler, Senior Vice President, The 3DO Company "LaPlante and Seidner take us on a whirlwind tour of entertainment possibilities in the new millennium."-Bruce Leichtman, Director, Media & Entertainment Strategies, The Yankee Group "A must read for anyone in, or interested in, the [digital entertainment] industry. Armed with this book, you can feel confident that you are prepared for the digital revolution!"-Ken Rutkowski, CEO Tech Talk Broadcasting, Inc. "The authors deliver keen insights into the value of interactivity, including the technologies and fascinating people who are changing the way we are entertained, informed, and educated."-Gary H. Arlen, President, Arlen Communications, Inc.

Author Biography

ALICE LaPLANTE is an award-winning computer industry journalist. Formerly the news editor for InfoWorld, her technology and management articles have appeared in Forbes ASAP, Business Week, ComputerWorld, and PC World. RICH SEIDNER is an international media consultant with more than thirty years in the technology business.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART 1: EVERYTHING'S UP FOR GRABS	1	(62)
What's Going On?	3	(16)
Why Everythings's Up for Grabs	5	(3)
California Dreaming	8	(2)
Adapting like Crazy	10	(5)
It's Hard to See What's Coming When You're Focused on the Past	15	(4)
The Wild, Wild West	19	(16)
Net Worth	23	(3)
The Sheriff Takes a Holiday	26	(4)
The Biggest Landgrab Ever	30	(2)
A Different Kind of Network, A Different Kind of Person	32	(3)
Let's Get Personal	35	(16)
Don't Look Now	37	(1)
It's All about Relationships	38	(3)
Would You Watch More TV If Someone Paid You to?	41	(2)
Such a Deal	43	(3)
Great Service Keeps Customers Coming Back	46	(2)
The Dark Side of the Force	48	(3)
It's a Small World after All	51	(12)
Baywatch Meets Niemann-Marcus	53	(2)
Local Will Now Mean Global, and Vice Versa	55	(4)
Act Globally, Think Locally	59	(4)
PART 2: NEW TRICKS FOR OLD PETS	63	(110)
Stop Making Waves	65	(24)
Just Imagine	65	(6)
Something's Coming, Something Big	71	(5)
It's Global---It's Everywhere---It Really Is a Small World, after All	76	(3)
An Unlimited Smorgasbord	79	(1)
Interactivity Gets Us What We Want	80	(3)
It's Amazing That It Flies at All	83	(1)
It's All for Real	84	(1)
Brave New World	85	(4)
It Ain't Groovy	89	(30)
Twenty Billion Records, Give or Take a Few	93	(3)
The Next Big Thing	96	(1)
A River Runs through It	96	(2)
A River Runs over It	98	(1)
Bit by Bit	99	(3)
``To Every Man Is Given the Key to the Gates of Heaven. The Same Key Opens the Gates of Hell.''	102	(3)
Old Friends, New Enemies?	105	(5)
Artists as Labels	110	(1)
Everybody's Doing It	111	(1)
It's Groovy That It Ain't Groovy	112	(2)
An Epic Story	114	(1)
Cents and Sensibility	115	(4)
Tube or Not Tube	119	(26)
And Something Completely Similar	122	(1)
You Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet	123	(3)
It's Been a Long Time Coming	126	(1)
A Government Mandate	127	(3)
Godzilla Gently Places a Toe in the Ocean	130	(1)
Some More Quickly Than Others	130	(4)
A New Kind of Television	134	(3)
Our Programming Can Generate More Money Than Your Sludge Can	137	(1)
I Like Aggregators So Much, I Became One	138	(5)
Tube or Not Tube---That Is the Question	143	(2)
Computer Games for the Rest of Us	145	(28)
Avoiding the ``G'' Word	148	(3)
Choose Your Platform	151	(4)
Games for the Rest of Us	155	(2)
Breaking the Gender Barrier	157	(4)
Breaking the On-Line Barrier	161	(4)
Continued Questions about Revenue Opportunities	165	(2)
Breaking the Mold	167	(6)
PART 3: ADAPT OR DIE	173	(90)
Brought to You by...(Ads)	175	(22)
Let Me Tell You a Story	178	(3)
The Right Information, to the Right Person, at the Right Time	181	(7)
Getting More Respect	188	(1)
As Long As It Results in More Profits	189	(1)
Broad or Narrow	190	(1)
Stolen Streams	191	(2)
A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place	193	(4)
Brought to You by...(Networks)	197	(16)
Tell Me---Oh, What Can I Do?	200	(1)
Easy Enough for Even Dad to Use	201	(1)
Availability	202	(3)
Bandwidth	205	(1)
Reliability	205	(1)
Last, but Not Least, Price Matters	206	(1)
And the Winner Is...?	207	(2)
Open and Closed	209	(4)
Family Feud	213	(16)
Before and After	216	(1)
The Entrepreneur Formerly Known as Prince	216	(3)
We Want Our Rights. And We Don't Care How. We Want Our Revolution, Now!	219	(3)
So, What's the Story?	222	(4)
Limited Time, Limited Money, (Increasingly) Limited Consumer Attention Spans	226	(3)
So, What's the Story?	229	(18)
A Nation of Control Freaks	231	(1)
Six Degrees of Interaction	232	(4)
Build Your Own Movie	236	(7)
The Notion of Transmedia	243	(1)
Finding a Form That Suits Us	244	(3)
New Playrooms	247	(16)
Get Out of the House!	249	(2)
The Games People Play (Together)	251	(5)
Challenges Abound	256	(2)
Portents of the Future	258	(5)
Epilogue: Expect the Unexpected	263	(8)
Index	271	(16)
About the Authors	287