Tech Shout!

Today, Zapak together with The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) organized India’s first ever Gaming Summit. The day-long event titled India Gaming Summit 2007 took place in Mumbai, India.

The India Gaming Summit 2007 saw stalwarts from the gaming, media and advertising fraternities from the Indian as well as international industry, addressing important dynamics and trends in the gaming industry.

The early started off with a welcome address by Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Entertainment. In a short and sweet way he explained how the gaming industry has progressed right from the time when there were no multiplexes or even proper Internet connections available. He also said that India has the perfect youth demographics, and thus the platform of gaming is ideal.

We attended the first session called ‘East is East, West is West, and India?’ This overview on the gaming industry was aptly provided by three very perfect people. David Christensen- Sony Online Entertainment, USA and Desmond Lu Guanghang- Shanda Entertainment expressed their views on the gaming industry, while Venkat Mallik, Managing Direct, Level-Up India played moderator to this ping-pong session.

Desmond Lu who came all the way from China, shared his views and thoughts on the gaming industry. He said that in China, the number of online PC gamers outdoes the number of people who own consoles. This, according to him is because of a number of reasons.

In a slideshow, he explained the demand side of the online gaming market with regards to Shanda, his game publishing company. Demand for online PC gaming is mainly because it is treated as an alternative to traditional media like TV and also because it is more affordable. Secondly, in China fewer console games are available.

On the supply side of things, online gaming has succeeded in China while offline gaming has failed mainly due to piracy. Secondly, the government supports home-grown technology and provides funding for gaming technology. Lastly, China has the infrastructure and technology for this market. Also, in China Internet cafes are sponsored by the government, so that is why there are a huge number of online PC gamers.

David Christensen took all those present at the session for a trip down memory lane as he explained the history of gaming right from the release of the first Space Wars arcade game in 1962 to the release of the Sony PS3 and Wii in 2006.

Venkat Mallik aptly ended the session with a wonderful quote that sums up the current gaming situation in India, saying, “The existence of a gaming culture in India is now without a doubt.”

Other sessions during the day covered technology and innovation propelling the gaming revolution in India, a marketer’s perspective on understanding the mindset of a gamer and using gaming to promote a brand.

There were a number of stalls which showcased latest gaming technologies. Logitech had their gaming peripherals on display and gamers could actually test them out. NVIDIA also had a stall.

It’s really great that Zapak has taken this initiative to organize India’s very first Gaming Summit. Let’s hope the country will see more of these in the future because from the looks of things, the gaming scene in India has only one way to go i.e. up!