First Impressions
Walking into Macworld Expo I feel of two minds. I know that I will be meeting up with folks that I have known for years, but don’t get to see very often (maybe just during Macworld?). On the other hand, I turn on the street to the wrong side. It will take getting use to the fact that the convention is smaller. There’s only one hall for the Expo this year.
And yet, it feels cozy, like a community. I walk into the Expo floor and see many of the same people I’ve seen before. Exhibitors are showing off their wares to the same people as before. Really, the only thing that has changed is that Apple doesn’t take up a huge section of the floor, and some other booths have shrunk down a bit as well. But nothing seems to have been sacrificed. Everything has become more streamlined.
The floor isn’t too crowded, but it’s not open either. There’s just enough room to move around in, but you still have to bump some shoulders to do it.
But Where Are the Games?
But you won’t find a separate game section here. The days of the games pavilion are history, and I don’t know whether we’ll ever see them back. None of the old stalwarts of Mac gaming are here. Not Feral Interactive, Aspyr Media, Freeverse, Ambrosia Software.
There’s a section for iPhone apps. If you go there, you will find iPhone gaming companies. But none of the ones you’ve probably heard of. Gameloft isn’t here, or Hudson or Com2uS.
So, where are all of the companies that publish and develop Mac and iPhone games? Why aren’t they here? At a convention of Macworld’s type and size, they get an opportunity to sell a large number of games to a large audience who is focused on the world of Apple in a small location. Many if not most of Macworld’s attendees will probably stream past their booth. For iPhone developers this is especially important, considering the noise in the App Store.
One reason could be that some companies just weren’t certain how well Macworld was going to do this year. And for a small company on a tight budget especially, which most Mac publishers are, this is very important. “Pretty much the reason we are not going is just that we are taking a break and sitting this one out to see what happens with Macworld,” said John Champlin of Ambrosia Software.
Others may be reconsidering whether the price of a convention appearance is worth the compensation in advertising and sales with the explosion in online sales and downloadable content for games. Does a company like Aspyr, which now sells all of its games as downloads (with some retail as well) need to show up at Macworld to make a significant number of sales of Mac games?
A Community of Gamers
But there is also the community aspect. More than many other technology industries, Apple has created a tight-knit community of Mac lovers who value the connection they have with the companies who provide the products and services that they use. There’s an expectation that a relationship exists beyond just the impersonal seller/customer one. One way to encourage that relationship is for companies to appear at events such as Macworld to remind the community that the company does care. By not showing up, a company risks becoming more impersonal, and the community relationship can be broken down.
PAX is a gamers convention, but for all Gabe and Tycho’s support of the Mac, you won’t find Macs in the gaming rooms. Macworld was the only real place to do that, but gaming at Macworld has been dying for years. With the refocus of Macworld as less of Apple’s personal selling convention, and more about the Mac and the community in general, the environment is ripe for true community gaming to come again.
But that can only happen when Mac gamers and the companies that support them (and that they support) work together to achieve that goal.
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