Tom Morrow
07-12-2007, 06:31 AM
Disney to announce new D-Gamer online community
Game plans touted at E3 conference (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/la-fi-games12jul12,1,2240025.story)
Orlando Sentinel - FL
Days after Disney Interactive Studios launched Spectrobes for the Nintendo DS hand-held game system this spring, it discovered that fans had posted hacks to the video game on the Web. But instead of calling their colleagues in the legal department, the Disney executives were thrilled. "Nobody goes to that amount of trouble to decode something unless they really liked it," said Graham Hopper, a Walt Disney Co. executive vice president and general manager of its game studio in Glendale.
Spectrobes awoke Disney to the possibility that it could become a bigger force in the rapidly growing game industry, which reached $12.5 billion in U.S. revenue last year. Disney is investing $130 million in games this year and plans to nearly triple that spending in the next five to seven years. The company is outlining its new game strategy today in Santa Monica at the E3 Media & Business Summit, the industry's annual get-together.
Disney's renewed focus on video games will be on display today, when the company plans to announce an online community called D-Gamer. The service, which is slated to launch next spring alongside the company's release of the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie and games next year, will let kids build their own characters and socialize around Disney's games.
Since launching in 1994, Disney Interactive has been content to quietly grow revenue by licensing its brands to other game publishers while developing a handful of its own kid-friendly titles. Now, under Chief Executive Robert Iger, the company has identified games as a key strategic business that's poised for double-digit growth for years to come. "The company is confident about the future of the video games business," Hopper said. "It's an area where we can see new intellectual property being birthed that can translate to other areas of the company."
complete article (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/la-fi-games12jul12,1,2240025.story)
Sent from Ezra (http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/z/Ezra/)
Game plans touted at E3 conference (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/la-fi-games12jul12,1,2240025.story)
Orlando Sentinel - FL
Days after Disney Interactive Studios launched Spectrobes for the Nintendo DS hand-held game system this spring, it discovered that fans had posted hacks to the video game on the Web. But instead of calling their colleagues in the legal department, the Disney executives were thrilled. "Nobody goes to that amount of trouble to decode something unless they really liked it," said Graham Hopper, a Walt Disney Co. executive vice president and general manager of its game studio in Glendale.
Spectrobes awoke Disney to the possibility that it could become a bigger force in the rapidly growing game industry, which reached $12.5 billion in U.S. revenue last year. Disney is investing $130 million in games this year and plans to nearly triple that spending in the next five to seven years. The company is outlining its new game strategy today in Santa Monica at the E3 Media & Business Summit, the industry's annual get-together.
Disney's renewed focus on video games will be on display today, when the company plans to announce an online community called D-Gamer. The service, which is slated to launch next spring alongside the company's release of the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie and games next year, will let kids build their own characters and socialize around Disney's games.
Since launching in 1994, Disney Interactive has been content to quietly grow revenue by licensing its brands to other game publishers while developing a handful of its own kid-friendly titles. Now, under Chief Executive Robert Iger, the company has identified games as a key strategic business that's poised for double-digit growth for years to come. "The company is confident about the future of the video games business," Hopper said. "It's an area where we can see new intellectual property being birthed that can translate to other areas of the company."
complete article (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/la-fi-games12jul12,1,2240025.story)
Sent from Ezra (http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/z/Ezra/)