The Games Industry 12 Step Recovery Plan
Senior marketing exec applies AA philosophy.
Geoghegan, Irish fan of AA-philosophy
At this week’s Game Marketing Conference over in the States, John Geoghegan, former VP Global Sales and Marketing for LucasArts, respected business journalist and currently Executive Director of the shady ‘SILOE Research Institute’ in Marin County (phew!) proposed the following '12-Step Self-Esteem Recovery Program' programme in his keynote speech to the assorted game marketers in attendance.
Sounding somewhat like Ned Flanders off of The Simpsons, Geoghegan (Pron: Go-Heegan) exclaimed, "It's time for us to wake up people! We are in deep doodoo." Son of a gun diddly-un! Whats up John? Mixed up your conference speech with something you might hear at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?
Why, you may even ask, do we need a Self-Esteem Recovery Program? Is this American therapy talk gone mad? Read on, and decide for yourself. Here, for your delight, is Geoghegan's 12-Step Self-Esteem Recovery Program:
Well, that all seems pretty much like 'common-sensical' stuff to SPOnG - the ESRB needs to publicise its ratings systems to parents in much better ways, parents need to be more responsible for their children, and games companies need to not make rubbish games. What was going through Geoghegan’s mind when he decided to show a slide of David Hasselhoff in Speedos to illustrate a point about sex and violence in prime network TV, God only knows!
Geoghegan has served nearly 20 years as a senior level marketing executive, most recently for LucasArts, helping the company achieve record revenue and profits. He’s also managed offices for professional marketing service companies including WPP, IPG and Saatchi, plus his articles on business and marketing have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and other publications.
In his spare time, Mr. Geoghegan serves as non-executive Director of The SILOE Research Institute in Marin County, CA. Which, as it doesn’t appear to exist on the Internet, could well be a made up organisation which he runs out of his den as some kind of tax dodge.
Sounding somewhat like Ned Flanders off of The Simpsons, Geoghegan (Pron: Go-Heegan) exclaimed, "It's time for us to wake up people! We are in deep doodoo." Son of a gun diddly-un! Whats up John? Mixed up your conference speech with something you might hear at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?
Why, you may even ask, do we need a Self-Esteem Recovery Program? Is this American therapy talk gone mad? Read on, and decide for yourself. Here, for your delight, is Geoghegan's 12-Step Self-Esteem Recovery Program:
1. Promote the ratings system. We’ve got a good system by the ESRB, make sure people know about it. It worked for movies, the recording industry and TV. It can work for us. Parents don’t know about it.
2. Evangelize the benefits of videogames. Book: Everything Bad is Good for You, by Stephen Johnson. Videogames not only help children to compete more effectively, they make kids more intelligent. Videogames involve data pattern recognition, and tracking multiple characters in multiple storylines. They require sustained concentration and complex problem solving. Also, games are interactive, not passive like music or reading. There's more open-ended gameplay than ever before. Johnson shows videogames teach the brain to process information that conventional media doesn't, and prepares kids for the way our world is evolving. It teaches kids to concentrate, learn, and problem solve. We need to tell the world about this.
3. Do more quantitative research with leading universities to prove the positive impact of videogaming (and quantify any negatives). We need to share both the good and bad news. We could dispense with most negative mythology; see if there are negative attributes, what are they and how serious are they.
4. Publicize that history shows we never embrace new media. This is true for silent movies, radio, pulp magazines, comic books and every new music wave including Mozart. Videogames are not the devil incarnate, and not capable of half the deviltry our critics claim for them. Book: Savage Pastimes by Harold Schechter, which says that whenever popular entertainment is embraced by the young, there is a terrible reaction. We need to stand up and point that out. For the first 100 years of its existence, the novel provoked such same hysterical denigration as videogames. Man is hardwired to be violent, and evolution hasn’t caught up to society’s peaceful mores. Videogames allow us to [experience violence]. What is wrong with that? Videogames are a solution to the problem of aggression, not a creation of the problem of aggression.
5. Preach moderation and promote good parenting. Remind parents moderation in all things, including videogames, is important. You're responsible as parents to oversee this.
6. Benchmark against sex and violence in prime network TV and movies. I don’t think videogames have cornered the market on sex and violence. [Showed slide of David Hasselhoff in Speedos!]
7. Embrace the Constitution. We have a right in this industry to make and market our product in an unregulated manner. We should be talking about what our rights are. Videogames are part art and part commerce; both parts are protected.
8. Lobby. Make political donations.
9. Harness our best spokespeople. Have them talk about why they like videogames. We have high-profile celebs that like videogames. Have them talk about the benefits. It’ll have crossover appeal and bring new people to the category.
10. Demonstrate our most creative games. Halo and GTA represent us in the marketplace, and we need to show people it’s not all about guns and boobs. Katamari Damacy, DDR, Parappa, Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero are games the whole family can enjoy and play.
11. Put the problem in statistical perspective. Less than 20 percent of all games released are M-rated; a minority of the product.
12. Be proud. Don’t be ashamed to say you like videogames. Just be sure to tell people why you like videogames.
2. Evangelize the benefits of videogames. Book: Everything Bad is Good for You, by Stephen Johnson. Videogames not only help children to compete more effectively, they make kids more intelligent. Videogames involve data pattern recognition, and tracking multiple characters in multiple storylines. They require sustained concentration and complex problem solving. Also, games are interactive, not passive like music or reading. There's more open-ended gameplay than ever before. Johnson shows videogames teach the brain to process information that conventional media doesn't, and prepares kids for the way our world is evolving. It teaches kids to concentrate, learn, and problem solve. We need to tell the world about this.
3. Do more quantitative research with leading universities to prove the positive impact of videogaming (and quantify any negatives). We need to share both the good and bad news. We could dispense with most negative mythology; see if there are negative attributes, what are they and how serious are they.
4. Publicize that history shows we never embrace new media. This is true for silent movies, radio, pulp magazines, comic books and every new music wave including Mozart. Videogames are not the devil incarnate, and not capable of half the deviltry our critics claim for them. Book: Savage Pastimes by Harold Schechter, which says that whenever popular entertainment is embraced by the young, there is a terrible reaction. We need to stand up and point that out. For the first 100 years of its existence, the novel provoked such same hysterical denigration as videogames. Man is hardwired to be violent, and evolution hasn’t caught up to society’s peaceful mores. Videogames allow us to [experience violence]. What is wrong with that? Videogames are a solution to the problem of aggression, not a creation of the problem of aggression.
5. Preach moderation and promote good parenting. Remind parents moderation in all things, including videogames, is important. You're responsible as parents to oversee this.
6. Benchmark against sex and violence in prime network TV and movies. I don’t think videogames have cornered the market on sex and violence. [Showed slide of David Hasselhoff in Speedos!]
7. Embrace the Constitution. We have a right in this industry to make and market our product in an unregulated manner. We should be talking about what our rights are. Videogames are part art and part commerce; both parts are protected.
8. Lobby. Make political donations.
9. Harness our best spokespeople. Have them talk about why they like videogames. We have high-profile celebs that like videogames. Have them talk about the benefits. It’ll have crossover appeal and bring new people to the category.
10. Demonstrate our most creative games. Halo and GTA represent us in the marketplace, and we need to show people it’s not all about guns and boobs. Katamari Damacy, DDR, Parappa, Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero are games the whole family can enjoy and play.
11. Put the problem in statistical perspective. Less than 20 percent of all games released are M-rated; a minority of the product.
12. Be proud. Don’t be ashamed to say you like videogames. Just be sure to tell people why you like videogames.
Well, that all seems pretty much like 'common-sensical' stuff to SPOnG - the ESRB needs to publicise its ratings systems to parents in much better ways, parents need to be more responsible for their children, and games companies need to not make rubbish games. What was going through Geoghegan’s mind when he decided to show a slide of David Hasselhoff in Speedos to illustrate a point about sex and violence in prime network TV, God only knows!
Geoghegan has served nearly 20 years as a senior level marketing executive, most recently for LucasArts, helping the company achieve record revenue and profits. He’s also managed offices for professional marketing service companies including WPP, IPG and Saatchi, plus his articles on business and marketing have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and other publications.
In his spare time, Mr. Geoghegan serves as non-executive Director of The SILOE Research Institute in Marin County, CA. Which, as it doesn’t appear to exist on the Internet, could well be a made up organisation which he runs out of his den as some kind of tax dodge.
Companies:
LucasArts
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Comments
OptimusP 10 Mar 2006 18:24
1/1
You know what ticks me off... that this guy probably gets 5000 dollars per session for saying that crap... crap that anyone on these forums can probably come up with anyway.
Damn you capatilistic bastards!!
Damn you capatilistic bastards!!