Lawlines Volume 9 Issue 4 - eOASIS

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LawLinesVol 9 . Issue 4 • December 2007Around Rajah & TannAll Abuzz About GamesRound Up – 2007 InPerspectiveFeature ArticlesTo Withhold Or Not ToWithhold – That Is TheQuestionAll Abuzz About GamesCorporate SocialResponsibility UnderThe New IndonesianCompany LawCase BitesLegislation BitesOverview2007 has proven to be an exciting year for the localgames industry. The inaugural Games ConventionAsia was held in Singapore in September 2007. TheConvention boasted a gathering of 81 exhibitorsfrom 13 countries, with the likes of Electronic Arts,Nintendo, Sony, Asiasoft and more.The Convention saw the signing of a Memorandumof Intent (‘MOI’) between the presidents of thenational game associations from ten countries inthe Asia Pacifi c region, namely Singapore, Thailand,Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Japan,Korea, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The MOI willseek to promote greater understanding betweenthe various national game associations, and thegames industry in each country. It will also pave theway towards closer networking and collaborationbetween the game associations and the membercompanies they represent.The Singapore government has spared no expensein nurturing this industry. In July 2006 it announcedthat S$500 million would be allocated over thenext fi ve years to fund Singapore’s research anddevelopment activities in interactive and digitalmedia.An initiative under the government’s researchand development programme is the MediaDevelopment Authority’s collaboration with theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (‘MIT’) todevelop the Singapore-MIT International GameLab, also known as GAMBIT (gamers, aesthetics,mechanics, business, innovation and technology)game lab, based in the United States. As a resultof this partnership, students and researchers fromSingapore have been able to work alongside MITprofessors and game professionals on researchprojects. Singapore’s GAMBIT game lab isexpected to be established some time this year.page 18 of 44 pages | print | comments | close
LawLinesVol 9 . Issue 4 • December 2007Around Rajah & TannRound Up – 2007 InPerspectiveFeature ArticlesTo Withhold Or Not ToWithhold – That Is TheQuestionAll Abuzz About GamesCorporate SocialResponsibility UnderThe New IndonesianCompany LawCase BitesLegislation BitesThe global games industry is expected to grow tomore than US$55.6 billion by 2008. The Asia Pacifi conline games market, valued at US$630 millionin 2003, is expected to hit an explosive fi gure ofUS$7.5 billion in 2008.This article is the second and fi nal instalment of atwo-part series. The fi rst article, which appearedin LawLines Vol 9 Issue 3, looked at some of theissues that may affect the producer of an animatedfi lm in its exploitation of the completed animatedfi lm. In this article, we will provide a brief overviewof the computer games industry and thereafterdiscuss distribution activities relating to computergames.Types Of GamesComputer games may be categorised as:• PC games;• console games, for example games designed tofunction on the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstationor Xbox;• arcade games;• handheld games; or• mobile games.With the ubiquitousness of internet accessibility andconnectivity, many PC games are now exploitedvia the internet such as the Massive MultiplayerOnline Games (‘MMOGs’). An MMOG is usually aPC game residing on the game publisher’s servers.Gamers access those servers to compete againstother players.Franchises are an important aspect of the gamesindustry. A franchise refers to a series of connectedgames – such as of the same principal characters orgame title, eg, the Mario Brothers game franchise.Upon the success of a released game, publishersoften leverage on its popularity by relying on it as agame franchise and creating sequels or exploitingit in different game ports or platforms.As opposed to franchises, brand new games carrywith them the risk of failure and the inability ofrecouping the development and marketing cost ofthe game. Similar to the release of a theatrical fi lm,the success of a newly released computer game isdependant on the tastes of consumers, which arepage 19 of 44 pages | print | comments | close
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