Confessions: Big Portals. Part 2

Confessions: Big Portals. Part 2 Audio & slides (50 MB)

Come hear representatives from some of the biggest distribution portals in the casual games space as they openly share their thoughts and ideas on its current state and future and ask them the trickiest, most burning questions you can think of again this year.

A lot has changed in the course of these 12 months. Let's hear this year's revelations and discuss the current trends in the casual games industry including life-cycle Management, exclusivity, pricing as well as social games as a potential threat to the downloadable space and a lot more.

Delivered at Casual Connect Europe, February 2010

DOWNLOAD

Vincent CARRELLA (email)

Vinny Carrella wrote and directed Bad Mojo, the 2004 Adventure Game of the Year and has written and designed award-winning games such as Iron Helix and Space Bunnies Must Die! He is also a fiction writer whose debut novel, Serpent Box is now available. He works at Shockwave.com and can be reached for comment at vinny@shockwave.com.

Terri HARDIE (email)

Terri Hardie is the Arcade Producer at Reflexive Entertainment and is responsible for evaluating and accepting all of the games launched in Reflexive’s online game distribution portal. Hired to help manage and grow the Reflexive Arcade, Terri has seen the industry, as well as the Arcade, take off like a rocket with more game submissions than are even feasible to launch. Her passion for games is exceeded only by her desire to bring the best games to the people who matter most, the gamers! Prior to working for Reflexive Entertainment, Terri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent too many years in a boring law firm, playing any game she could get her hands on in her free time, until she landed her dream job at Reflexive Entertainment. Now, she plays games for a living and couldn’t be happier!

Rick MARAZZANI (email)

Rick started his career in mass-market games at Maxis working on Sim City 3000, and spent several years at EA/Maxis/Pogo. Later, as a founding employee at Digital Chocolate, and then at Hands On, he championed casual gameplay for mobile phones. As Director of Content and Programming at Exent, Rick licenses and promotes the best games to delight and entertain Exent’s Games on Demand audience. With rich experience as developer, publisher and now distributor across platforms, Rick has deep insight and a long view of the game industry.

Jeremy SNOOK (email)

As the director of digital distribution for RealGames (the games division of RealNetworks), Jeremy Snook manages the content acquisition and post-production teams responsible for distributing casual games through Real’s worldwide games services to over 45 million monthly users. He joined RealNetworks in 2006. Prior to joining RealNetworks, Snook was the marketing manager at Gas Powered Games, the award-winning developer of the Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege franchises. Previous to his turn towards marketing, he held various producer positions at Gas Powered Games. Snook holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and is currently working on his graduate degree in digital media from the UW.

Sean ELLIOT (email)

Yuri Labintsev (aka Sean Elliot) is VP of Business Development with Playrix Entertainment, a top 10 casual games developer and publisher. The team behind such solid titles as The Rise of Atlantis, Fishdom, and many others has grown fivefold over the last 2 years and significantly expanded its production and publishing operations.

Sean has been with the company since its inception in 2004 and helped grow a startup into what is now a serious casual games developer and publisher with an extensive network of distribution partners, an experienced in-house development team and a number of talented external studio partners. His responsibilities include identifying new business opportunities as well as building key partnerships in publishing and distribution across multiple platforms.

He has a degree with honors in English and German languages and also completed coursework at Michigan State University where he picked up the name Sean Elliot that has been his work alias ever since.

Paul HERRON (email)

Heading Oberon Media’s Global Business Partnerships, Paul Herron works with some of the internet’s top brands and helps to bring compelling casual game experiences to millions of users a month through Oberon’s unique white-label Game Centers. Paul joined Oberon Media in 2008 and is based out of their London office. Paul began his career in finance before joining the games industry. Before joining Oberon, Paul was the Games Manager for a top UK online retailer. With a passion for gaming and a background in boxed and digital distribution in core and casual games, Paul brings with him a varied experience and valuable insights.

HOME \| LECTURES & ARTICLES \| INDUSTRY ANALYSIS \| Confessions: Big Portals. Part 2 Audio & slides (50 MB) Come hear representatives from some of the biggest distribution portals in the casual games space as they openly share their thoughts and ideas on its current state and future and ask them the trickiest, most burning questions you can think of again this year. A lot has changed in the course of these 12 months. Let's hear this year's revelations and discuss the current trends in the casual games industry including life-cycle Management, exclusivity, pricing as well as social games as a potential threat to the downloadable space and a lot more. Delivered at Casual Connect Europe, February 2010 DOWNLOAD Vincent CARRELLA (email) Vinny Carrella wrote and directed Bad Mojo, the 2004 Adventure Game of the Year and has written and designed award-winning games such as Iron Helix and Space Bunnies Must Die! He is also a fiction writer whose debut novel, Serpent Box is now available. He works at Shockwave.com and can be reached for comment at vinny@shockwave.com. Terri HARDIE (email) Terri Hardie is the Arcade Producer at Reflexive Entertainment and is responsible for evaluating and accepting all of the games launched in Reflexive’s online game distribution portal. Hired to help manage and grow the Reflexive Arcade, Terri has seen the industry, as well as the Arcade, take off like a rocket with more game submissions than are even feasible to launch. Her passion for games is exceeded only by her desire to bring the best games to the people who matter most, the gamers! Prior to working for Reflexive Entertainment, Terri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent too many years in a boring law firm, playing any game she could get her hands on in her free time, until she landed her dream job at Reflexive Entertainment. Now, she plays games for a living and couldn’t be happier! Rick MARAZZANI (email) Rick started his career in mass-market games at Maxis working on Sim City 3000, and spent several years at EA/Maxis/Pogo. Later, as a founding employee at Digital Chocolate, and then at Hands On, he championed casual gameplay for mobile phones. As Director of Content and Programming at Exent, Rick licenses and promotes the best games to delight and entertain Exent’s Games on Demand audience. With rich experience as developer, publisher and now distributor across platforms, Rick has deep insight and a long view of the game industry. Jeremy SNOOK (email) As the director of digital distribution for RealGames (the games division of RealNetworks), Jeremy Snook manages the content acquisition and post-production teams responsible for distributing casual games through Real’s worldwide games services to over 45 million monthly users. He joined RealNetworks in 2006. Prior to joining RealNetworks, Snook was the marketing manager at Gas Powered Games, the award-winning developer of the Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege franchises. Previous to his turn towards marketing, he held various producer positions at Gas Powered Games. Snook holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and is currently working on his graduate degree in digital media from the UW. Sean ELLIOT (email) Yuri Labintsev (aka Sean Elliot) is VP of Business Development with Playrix Entertainment, a top 10 casual games developer and publisher. The team behind such solid titles as The Rise of Atlantis, Fishdom, and many others has grown fivefold over the last 2 years and significantly expanded its production and publishing operations. Sean has been with the company since its inception in 2004 and helped grow a startup into what is now a serious casual games developer and publisher with an extensive network of distribution partners, an experienced in-house development team and a number of talented external studio partners. His responsibilities include identifying new business opportunities as well as building key partnerships in publishing and distribution across multiple platforms. He has a degree with honors in English and German languages and also completed coursework at Michigan State University where he picked up the name Sean Elliot that has been his work alias ever since. Paul HERRON (email) Heading Oberon Media’s Global Business Partnerships, Paul Herron works with some of the internet’s top brands and helps to bring compelling casual game experiences to millions of users a month through Oberon’s unique white-label Game Centers. Paul joined Oberon Media in 2008 and is based out of their London office. Paul began his career in finance before joining the games industry. Before joining Oberon, Paul was the Games Manager for a top UK online retailer. With a passion for gaming and a background in boxed and digital distribution in core and casual games, Paul brings with him a varied experience and valuable insights.