Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Gaming Industry Coup: A Revolution

When I was born, the face of the gaming industry was ATARI. Games like Pacman and Galaxy were instant sensations. Growing up as a kid I remember buying my first gaming console. Mario, Street Fighter and Mortal Combat were trending games among kids. The latter two mostly involved two fighters beating each other to pulp until one of the two was knocked out. A player could rip off the head along with the skeleton which my mother thought was really disturbing and she was worried it might have a negative effect. Understandable on her part, their generation grew up with board games! Howsoever funny it may sound in context with today’s times, but this issue was even taken up by US courts and a regulatory body (ESRB) was formed which decided the age group for the audience of video games. But since then the gaming industry has come a long way. As the resistance to gaming started fading away, the number of game developers also started growing and gradually gaming industry became a major part of the entertainment industry.

Dependent completely on technology, developers were banking upon ideas and innovation which is clearly visible in the beautiful SEGA games that were developed with the limited resources developers had, and hence I prefer to call myself a SEGA kid. Gradually, marketers spotted opportunities in this industry and funds started flowing in and hence a lot of talented game developers and freelancers. Gradually consoles started getting better and the transition of console gaming to PC gaming happened simultaneously. Sony’s PlayStation (PS) and Nintendo took the gaming experience to newer levels. Today, a 5 year old handles a cell phone which can offer a gaming experience far richer and complex than one could have ever imagined in the 1990s. From a business point of view, the industry is full of opportunities to earn a lot of capital. Some programmers even live off pity cash while working on creative and innovative games that they hope will fetch them a handsome amount. Gaming today has become an effective form of story-telling and education, and business organisations realize this with even digital service providers like Tata Sky using Educational games to lure customers. Furthermore, with new technology elements helping to bring to life more virtual reality forms, the gaming experience has started to become more intense and addictive with a promise of roping in even more customers, and the ease of access of programming tools for programmers and feature rich devices for consumers, acts as a catalyst in this scenario. 

From the game of Checkers that my parents used to play to the 2D Checkers that I used to play on my SEGA to the 3D Checkers my niece plays on her dad’s iPad, the concept from a marketer’s point of view is the same – to sell entertainment. And clearly, marketers in this field of technology need to identify their audience as no matter which generation, not everyone loves Checkers as a game. Wise to remember, ‘what is tech for some, maybe yuck for others.’ I guess that is the prime reason we have genres, different people liking different kind of stuff. My mother hates gaming to the extent to which I love it. Generation gap, cultural gap, thinking differences and what not, all contribute to the formation of new streams of technology. It is exciting to think what kind of technologies (not only gaming) future has in store for us. Just thinking of theories which say humans are nothing more than characters in an infinitely graphic-rich computer simulation gives me goosebumps. Now, whether such a technology makes a person lazy as some say, or intelligent as I say, one can’t deny that it has become an essential part of our life, and we are addicted and somewhat dependent upon it. Or as Kelly Clarkson would say ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, right?!

ARAAF AFZAL
Marketing and Finance (Batch of 2016) 
SITM

Maladies of the Mobile Wallet


Nowadays mobiles are being used as GPS navigation devices, TV screens, music players and so on. But the reality is that it has failed to create a mark as a mobile wallet. Despite being the easiest method of payment considering the fact that people carry smart phones all the time, mobile payment has not gotten its fair share amongst the consumers.
The marketplace is flooded with mobile payment applications. Three years ago, Google introduced Google Wallet, a mobile app that lets consumers transfer money, redeem coupons or pay for purchases with a tap of their smart phones. Consumers can also store their credit, debit and retail loyalty cards as well as other information in the app. AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile launched a mobile wallet called Isis. Amazon is testing Amazon Wallet now, and Apple is rumored to be introducing one as part of iPhone 6. But despite this easy availability, mobile wallets are in a dormant state. According to a study by mobile research firm Yankee Group, a mere 16% of consumers used their phones to make an in-store purchase between December 2013 and February 2014. Among these buyers, 73% made fewer than five purchases a month. Such low rates of adoption have already killed off the Square Wallet, a mobile app that was introduced in 2011.
It is fairly clear that the developers of mobile wallet have not been able to create trust in the minds of consumers especially regarding the security of their account details. People are still skeptical about it. According to a 2013 study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) people trust storing their loyalty cards and discount coupons in a mobile wallet, but when it comes to money or digital house keys, they will take a big step back, the PwC report says. Their main concerns are theft and loss of access, such as when their phone loses battery power or hits a technical glitch. They also do not want their mobile carriers knowing what they are doing with their funds.
There is hesitation in the adoption of any new innovation which involves money but that is overcome by the efforts put in by the developers.
Another problem is that people do not feel the need of mobile wallets. Their life is going on perfectly fine with either cash or debit/credit cards. Hence, for its success, the current payment methods need to be broken. If not, then there will be less compulsion to have to adopt.
A new entrant in this segment is the NFC. The focus is shifting to NFC since it is enjoying a lion’s share in the market. According to the latest reports, the new iPhone will reportedly come equipped with a near field communication system that powers a brand-new payment platform. People need to get a taste of this wonderful technology and then will they realize its benefits. And once they get addicted to its comfort, the demand for it will increase leaps and bounds.  
POOJA SONI 
Systems and Finance (Batch 2014-16)
SITM