Matt Story, a gaming professional and director of Play, a division of Denuo, has had a long and rich experience in the gaming industry having also developed unique gaming integration programs for major companies. Matt Story has put together his thoughts on some of the recent trends in the gaming industry, Here’s a gist.

Matt Story’s insights into the gaming trends, while admittedly not a comprehensive list, still aims at giving brands some tips on connecting with their customers. Here are some.

Beyond winning and losing

Matt’s first point is the new definition of a game that developers are exploring. According to him, a game is no longer just about scoring point or chasing some target or competitive challenges. There have been some new games that focus more on giving customers a certain novel experience. This kind of integration apparently also helps in building better partnerships in the industry.

Mobile gaming devices

The availability of portable gaming devices is one of the most important recent developments in the industry, according to Matt. This means no longer being stuck in a room in front of the computer or TV playing games. Major franchises have begun to release across smart phones in addition to gaming consoles and portable gaming devices are beginning to look just like other portable electronics with increased feature sets. This means, he says, more number of people playing and therefore more opportunities.

Dynamics of used games

The recession spares no one, and certainly not the gaming industry. So even as gaming retailers suffer sluggish business, selling used video games has proved to be an alternative profitable model for some, says Matt. That is, gamers can exchange their games for credits that can be applied to new video games, While game publishers apparently and obviously aren't too thrilled with this model because it cuts into their profits, it definitely is a workable option according to Matt. He says even brands like Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Toys have decided to venture out into the used game market. For, as he says, the used game gives more exposure and access to more consumers to enjoy one of their favorite forms of entertainment at a reduced cost.

Guiding the customer

Tying up with companies that provide a guide to the customer on various video games makes a lot of sense for any gaming developer/marketer according to Matt, because most users are at a loss when it comes to choosing the right game especially for their kids. Thus guiding them on the right choice would add value and make your brand trust worthy according to Matt.

Leveraging brand following

Matt also feels that since gaming titles associated with brands such as Lego have done extremely well over the past years, it would do well for any popular brand to explore opportunities to tie their properties to game play. Another example he gives is that of Burger King which used its "King" character in a custom Xbox game a few years ago, resulting in a significant sales lift. This, according to him, can be a very good marketing as well as additional revenue generating strategy.

Well, the above are only some of the points raised by Matt and obviously there may be other observations by many other gaming industry professionals. But these can be used as a good pointer.

A book on the mall mania gives a sobering verdict on malls, the latest star in the retail world – too many of them and not enough novelty to survive!

‘Retailscape’ today can almost be defined as ‘mallscape’ as more and more malls dot our landscape. No wonder a few years ago, Paco Underhill set out to study the mall fixation and converted his findings into a book -- The Call of The Mall – How we Shop.

Paco Underhill who earlier wrote the book ‘Why we buy?’ visited thousands of malls across the world and realized that almost all malls give an indifferent, unfriendly and monotonous experience to the customer/shopper and are far too similar and therefore cannot survive too long into the future! Well, that’s the gist at least. So even as we in India still revel in the novelty of the mall experience, those in the mall business could do well to pull up their socks and ponder on how they can carve a niche going by Paco’s observations.

Meanwhile, here are some excerpts from the book.

“...The retail arena is still the best place I know for seeing what people wear, eat and look like, how they interact with their parents, friends, lovers and kids. If you really want to observe entire middle-class multigenerational American families, you have to go to the mall. It's also not a bad place to shop.

A French historian I like named Daniel Roche wrote a book called A History of Everyday Things. In it, he examines and reconstructs the lives not of kings, queens, and generals but of ordinary French people in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries -- what they ate, what they wore, what they knew, and how they acquired what knowledge and possessions they had. In the spirit of Daniel Roche, this book is not about the official history of shopping malls and the tycoons who build and manage them. This is about malls, stores, and parking lots as experienced by us consumers.

Studying shopping provides the rhythm that governs my life -- pack, leave home, fly somewhere, pick up a rental car, check into a hotel, then drive to a mall or store. For myself and my colleagues, it's a life of science and research, except instead of going to an excavation site in Peru, we end up at Tyson's Corner, a mall outside Washington, D.C. It's an unusual way to make a living, and an even odder way of experiencing and understanding a time and place.

The morning of September 11, 2001, I was stranded in Dallas, unable to get home, which is a twenty-minute walk from what was the World Trade Center. On September 12, 2001 I spent the day wandering around the new mall in Plano, Texas. I just gravitated there. I needed to be around something familiar. It was the eeriest thing, though -- a sparkling mall, in the middle of a beautiful September afternoon, with all the stores open and not a single shopper in the place. Around one-thirty I walked into a RadioShack and asked the clerk, "Am I the first person you've had in here today?"

"Yup," he said.

Strolling around got too lonely, so I decided to see a movie. I was just in time for Tortilla Soup. I was the only person in the theater. They screened it for me anyway. After the show I returned to my hotel, but I still had lots of time on my hands, so a few hours later I drove back to one of the mall's restaurants for dinner.

I was the only customer, but by the end of my meal the manager and the waiter had joined me at my table, and we three sat around drinking and talking, just the same as many people across the United States did that night. It felt all right to be doing it in a mall.

As I said before, I've devoted a lot of my life to malls, and in a few minutes we'll begin spending another Saturday in a typical one. We'll have lots of company.

Look up ahead -- you still can't see it, but take my word, we're almost there.”

This information shared through emails teaches us something valuable – that challenges help us life fully and creatively.

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went further than ever. The further the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring the fish. If the return trip took more time, the fish were not fresh.

To solve this problem, fish companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go further and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, they were tired, dull, and lost their fresh-fish taste. The fishing industry faced an impending crisis! But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan.

How did they manage? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but with a small shark. The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move. The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh!

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired and dull? Basically in our lives, sharks are new challenges to keep us active. If you are steadily conquering challenges, you are happy. Your challenges keep you energized. Don't create success and revel in it in a state of inertia. You have the resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

All the wise men got puzzled by King's question: One answer for all questions? Something that works everywhere, in every situation? In every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? They thought and thought. After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on paper. But the condition was that king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the king found himself alone and there seemed to be no way, only then could he see it. The king put the papers under his Diamond ring.

After a few days, neighbors attacked the kingdom. It was a collective surprise attack of the king's enemies. The king and his army fought bravely but lost the battle and he had to flee on his horse even as enemies followed him. His horse took him far away in the jungle. He could hear many troops of horses following him and the noise was coming closer and closer. Suddenly the king found himself standing at the end of the road - that road was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a rocky valley thousand feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished…and he could not return because it was a small road… The sound of enemy's horses was approaching fast. The king became restless as there seemed to be no way.

Then suddenly he saw the diamond in his ring shining in the sun and he remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message. The message was very small but very great. It message was – "This too will pass."

The king read it and again read it. Suddenly something struck him-“ Yes! It too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the kings. Yet today, the kingdom and all the pleasure have gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies. However when those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass.” He then felt calm. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty and he had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of his kingdom. The revelation of the message and the surrounding had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about those following him. After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and were not on that path.

The king was very brave. He reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire after the victory, he was received with much fanfare at the door. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Everyone was in a festive mood. Flowers were being thrown on the king from every house, from every corner. People were dancing and singing. For a moment the king said to himself, "I am one of the bravest and greatest kings. It is not easy to defeat me.” Thus, with all the reception and celebration he saw an ego emerging in him.

But suddenly the diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again: "This too will pass." He became silent. His face went through a total change -from the egoist state he moved to a state of utter humility.

The lesson:
“If this too is going to pass, it is not yours.
The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours.
You are just a watcher. Everything passes by.
We are witness of all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes.. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.
Now as you have read this story, just sit silently and evaluate your own life.. Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moment of sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent? They all come and pass away. Life just passes away.
There is nothing permanent in this world.
Every thing changes except the law of change.
Think over it from your own perspective.
You have seen all the changes.
You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows.
All have passed away.
If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. Because nothing remains forever.
Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will pass away..
Who are you in reality? Know your real face. Your face is not your true face. It will change with the time.
However, there is something in you, which will not change. It will remain unchanged.
What is that unchangeable? It is nothing but your true self.”