Brain Hood

The video game industry would like you to know that the video game industry is really, really important to the U.S. economy.

The Entertainment Software Association — the trade association that represents U.S. computer and video game publishers — has just released a report that outlines the impact the business of video gaming has on individual wallets and state economies.

According to the new the computer and video game industry added $4.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009. The study also found that the entertainment software industry’s real annual growth rate from 2005 to 2009 exceeded 10 percent, more than seven times the growth rate of the U.S. economy as a whole.

Some of their other key findings include:

• The computer and video game industry directly employs more than 32,000 individuals, a number that has increased by nearly nine percent annually since 2005.
• The industry directly and indirectly employs more than 120,000 people in the United States.
• Industry employees earned an average annual compensation of $89,781 in 2009.
• Total compensation for all workers directly employed in the computer and video game industry was nearly $2.9 billion in 2009.
• California remains the largest employer of game personnel in the nation, providing more than $2.6 billion in direct and indirect compensation to Californians last year.
• Entertainment software companies in the Golden State added approximately $2.1 billion to the state’s economy.
• The six states with the greatest number of entertainment software industry employees were, in order, California, Texas, Washington, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.

“Despite a challenging economic environment, the entertainment software industry continues to grow and create new jobs at a rapid pace,” Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, said in a statement. “Computer and video game companies have made an important contribution to our nation’s economy while stimulating technological innovations and expanding the impact of games on our daily lives.”

One of the leverage points Sony have had over Microsoft in the never-ending console war of the modern era has been the online free-to-play model.

While this isn’t about to change any time soon, it was inevitable that Sony would eventually incorporate a premium content service in an attempt to trawl the bottom of the ocean for any gamers who currently fulfil the description of “in a recession” and “has spare money”. They’re calling it PlayStation Plus, and we’ve spent a bit of time with it over the last few weeks to ascertain if it’s a worthwhile investment.

Released in PS3 firmware 3.40, and accessible through the PlayStation Store, Plus is a subscription service that allows gamers to access either free, exclusive, or discounted content. That’s really the service in it’s entirety, and apart from the additional “plus” symbol graciously granted to your profile, it’s a relatively low-key affair.

The cost for this subscription service is $89.95 for a one-year membership and $26.95 for a 90-day membership. This pricing was extracted from the NZ PlayStation website (with some difficulty, I might add) where, in addition, Sony have stated that your fee will provide you with at least $400 worth of value per year.

It’s really difficult to quantify exactly how accurate this is, given that some of the content is exclusive to PlayStation Plus and therefore doesn’t have it’s own RRP value anyway, but based on the offerings this month it’s clear that you’re going to get back more than you put in.

The current content available is comprised of 16 individual downloadable items, varying in scope from a free copy of 1998′s Medieval, a couple of free Mini games such as Blast Off and Alien Zombie Death, and a discount on GTI Club+ (was $18.90, now $9.45). There’s also a couple of Heavy Rain avatars, a $3.78 discount on the WipeOut HD Fury expansion pack, and a Playstation Plus Dynamic Theme pack, in case you wish to casually remind visitors that you are indeed a person of substance.

The quality and value of each item varies wildly. The free Mini games may encourage subscribers to check off their calender each month for new arrivals, but it seems pretty difficult to get excited about a $0.78 discount on Earth Defence Table Game Pack (down to $3.12 from $3.90).

It strikes me as somewhat unlikely that if you haven’t been compelled to spend $3.90 on this game already, the inclusion of it in PlayStation Plus will do anything to change your mind. It appears too that most international regions have different items on offer – it must be an unenviable task dictating the content for New Zealand, being next to impossible to keep everyone happy.

The introduction of full game trials is a positive step. This month, you can trial the 14-month-old inFamous for one hour, during which time any trophies you manage to pick up will remain your property, along with game saves.

You can also buy the game directly for $53.90 through the PlayStation Store, although with bandwidth costs factored in, you’re not all that far ahead of the retail $59.95 charges now that the game has gone platinum. A solid concept, all that’s needed really is to replace inFamous with something less than three months old, and it’ll have a lot more appeal.

The automatic download service, whilst a good idea in concept, seems a little redundant. PlayStation Plus subscribers have the ability to enable the PS3 to power up every 48 hours at a time of their choice and haul down PlayStation Plus content. This includes system software upgrades too, although these still need to be manually installed. It also seems like a way to rampantly download a heap of data without knowing, so you’d want to be cautious in enabling it.

This long-overdue subscription service from Sony isn’t as simple as it appears from the outset. Here’s the real problem; would you really have otherwise purchased the content you’re now getting for free?

Or, had you not been offered a discount item, would you have considered buying it in the first place? Are you setting yourself up for the expectation that you’ll need to take advantage of these discounts in order to justify spending the subscription fee in the first place?

PlayStation Plus doesn’t appear to issue a forward release schedule anywhere I could see, so the answer to these questions very much depend on the kind of gamer you are.

If you’re dedicated to blockbuster PlayStation releases and have never considered browsing the PlayStation Store for any reason other than to download specific avatar or map packs then it’s unlikely you’ll see much value in the content on offer. Likewise, if you use your PS3 as a media hub and rarely treat gaming as little more than a distraction, this isn’t for you.

However if you’re a real PS3 fan and spend the majority of your gaming life ensconced on the sofa, controller in one hand and perhaps some kind of voodoo doll in the form of Xbox’s Major Nelson in the other, you’ll want to subscribe.

Not because it’s a guaranteed treasure chest of bargains necessarily, it’s just that there’s enough variety on offer for those willing to invest the time that others with a more specific gaming focus simply won’t bother with. It’s also likely that you won’t be concerned about losing any of the content you’ve tirelessly collected should your Plus subscription lapse.

Complaining about the influence of video games on movies makes me feel more than a little like the old guy yelling, “Hey you kids, get off my lawn.” And besides, this summer at least, I’m not all that sure it’s a bad thing.

Now, to be clear, I’m certainly not talking about movies based directly on video games — I can’t think of the last one of those that was any good. In fact, movies “based” on another medium, particularly ’80s TV shows; generally raise a red flag for me (with this summer’s “The A Team” being a welcome exception … what a big blast of fun).

Instead, I mean movies that take on the feel of playing — or even better, somehow being in — a video game, with this summer’s best example so far being Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” Until being knocked from the No. 1 perch last week by the seriously funny and well worth seeing “The Other Guys,” Nolan’s flick rode a long winning streak to already more than $227 million at the domestic box office in spite — or perhaps because, your choice — of a plot that, like the best of video games, presents a puzzle with level after level of challenges for viewers.

And if all Nolan’s tricks don’t quite add up in your mind, you’re far from alone. It took me two viewings to accept that even if everything he’s cooked up doesn’t add up perfectly (and I’m fairly certain it was never designed to), it’s still pretty much a masterwork both visually and in terms of storytelling.

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Henry Jenkins, a professor of communications, journalism and cinematic arts at the University of Southern California, explained the video game influence on “Inception” perfectly: “Inception’ is first and foremost a movie about worlds and levels, which is very much the way video games are structured. Games create a sense that we’re a part of the action. Stories aren’t just told to us. We experience them.”

Just how much more of an appetite is there for this interactive kind of filmmaking?

That gets a major test this weekend with the release of “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World,” which packs the double geek bona fide of not only looking just like a really good video game but also being based on a fairly obscure series of graphic novels (and yes, though I’m well aware I should really be too old for “comic books,” I have read the first two installments of this, and it has a visual and verbal wit that should be just right in Edgar Wright’s flick.)

Like “Inception,” the tale of Scott Pilgrim is indeed also a quest with many levels, in this case battles with “seven evil exes” to win the heart of Ramona Flowers.

Even with this love story of sorts at its core, I’ll be curious to see how “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World” fares in a busy week that also contains all the action you can stand (and probably much more) with “The Expendables” and Julia Roberts starring in a more conventional romantic saga directed by “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy, “Eat, Pray, Love.”

As for the overall trend of interactive movies, brace yourself for more, because it’s not going away any time soon (there’s even a sequel of sorts to “Tron,” “Tron: Legacy,” coming in time for Christmas).

And as for me, well, as long as the ride continues to be thrilling, I’ll just be enjoying it while it lasts.

The computer and video game industry added nearly $5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009, according to a new study released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The study also found that the entertainment software industry’s real annual growth rate from 2005 to 2009 exceeded 10 percent, more than seven times the growth rate of the U.S. economy as a whole. The computer and video game industry directly employs more than 32,000 individuals, a number that has increased by nearly nine percent annually since 2005. Industry employees earn an average annual compensation of $89,781.

California remains the largest employer of computer and video game personnel in the nation, providing more than $2.6 billion in direct and indirect compensation to Californians last year. Entertainment software companies in the Golden State added approximately $2.1 billion to the state’s economy and grew by a real annual rate of 11.4 percent from 2005 to 2009, compared to a period of negative growth for California’s overall economy.

When Sony unveiled PlayStation Plus at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, it promised subscribers of the premium service would be granted early access to high-profile betas. One such beta will likely be for Killzone 3, the forthcoming 3D sci-fi sequel from Dutch studio Guerrilla Games.

A Killzone 3 beta test appears imminent.

Without any public fanfare, the official Killzone 3 site is now sporting a restricted-access page at the URL at “http://beta.killzone.com/kz3/beta-login.html.” Attempts to log onto the page redirect the visitor to the login page. The URL appears to confirm reports on the PlayStation Forums, which showed purported screenshots of a PlayStation Network page dedicated to a “Killzone 3 Beta Website.” Curiously, the launch date is listed as October 8, 2008.

There is no indication whether or not the beta will be open or closed. As of press time, Sony reps had not responded for requests for clarification. However, Killzone 2 had a public multiplayer beta before its launch in February 2009.

As the name suggests, Killzone 3 will serve as a direct sequel to 2009′s critically lauded Killzone 2. In last year’s title, the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance took the fight to the Helghan homeworld, where it achieved a measure of success against the Nazi-esque civilization that invaded Earth in the 2004 original.

As detailed by Guerrilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst last month, the Amsterdam-based studio will be fleshing out the Helghan homeworld with “more enemy types, massive environments, and a broader vision of the planet Helghan and its many terrains.”

Killzone 3 will introduce jetpack gameplay to the sci-fi shooter series, giving the ability to thrust skyward for a limited period of time. It will also add a platforming element of sorts, giving players access to heretofore unreachable locations and opening up the possibility of aerial gunfights.