[casual_games] ESRB - new pricing now public

[Kim Pallister]

> The ESRB hopes that this will assist your goals of becoming Vista/MSN compliant.


I'm going to add my 2c since the above comment falls in my court on the MSN games front.

We too had numerous conversations with the ESRB, and are glad they see the casual games segment as important and realized that a different price structure was warranted. I personally am a bit apprehensive about the 'budget threshold' division, but am sympathetic that no approach is perfect, and this approach may be a better one than others proposed in discussions on this list and elsewhere (by segment, by tech platform, by business model, etc).

Anyhow, the points I wanted to add regarding the mail-quoted comment above.

- Vista-compatibility doesn't require ESRB ratings (nor any other rating body's). I covered this in some detail in the last casual games quarterly.

- 'MSN Compliance' (which I read as "to get your games on MSN Games") doesn't require ESRB ratings either. We *DO* require that games be Vista-compatible to be distributed on our site going forward. ESRB ratings are a nice to have. (They are a must-have for Xbox Live Arcade, for what it's worth). We *do* like to see games rated where possible, but at this time it's not a must-have.

Also, the ESRB announcement has some language in their announcement about display/prominence/etc of the ratings. In the casual space, they seem to have realized that how the game is merchandised on different portals may be out of the control of the developer, but require that best efforts be made to ensure its displayed properly. I encourage anyone getting their game rated to read through this stuff and ensure their distribution deals encompass the needed requirements.

My 2c,

Kim Pallister



-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 7:01 AM
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Subject: Casual_Games Digest, Vol 24, Issue 7

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Today's Topics:

   1. ESRB - new pricing now public (Jason Akel)
   2. IGDA Board Elections - Please vote (Jason Akel)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:49:22 -0700
From: "Jason Akel" <jasakel at hotmail.com>
Subject: [casual_games] ESRB - new pricing now public
To: <casual_games at igda.org>
Message-ID: <BAY122-DAV169EC9F8666E805D82234B4560 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

The ESRB has asked me to post to the list their new submission rates.

After hearing from the SIG committee, the IGDA and the industry at large,
they decided to create a new submission tier for games with smaller
production budgets (less than $250K).

After discussions with the president of the ESRB, she assured me that this
lower submission price puts them at an operational. Despite the economics
for them, they would like to see the casual games industry widely adopt ESRB
ratings. I inquired about bulk pricing to help y'all get your catalogs
caught up - not going to happen, sorry. Remember, they are a non-profit.

< $250,000 = $800 (I believe previously it would have been $2,500)

(See schedule below for > $250K)

The ESRB hopes that this will assist your goals of becoming Vista/MSN
compliant. In addition, they hope developers see the intrinsic value in
having your games rated - the reality being that the majority of parents,
find their ratings to be useful.? As you know, there is increasing (not
decreasing) regulatory pressure on the games industry to responsibly market
games.

Here?s the new submission pricing schedule and form that is now public:
http://www.igda.org/casual/esrb-RATING-FEE-SCHEDULE.pdf

-Jason

Jason Akel
Marketing & BusDev Consultant
Chair, IGDA Casual Games SIG
510 964 9094 (Office)
646 221 8885 (Cell)
510 722 1604 (Fax)
jasakel at hotmail.com (MSN IM)
jasakel5 (AIM)
jasakel (Skype)




------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:57:13 -0700
From: "Jason Akel" <jasakel at hotmail.com>
Subject: [casual_games] IGDA Board Elections - Please vote
To: <casual_games at igda.org>
Message-ID: <BAY122-DAV9BF373757B75223082C8FB4560 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Just a reminder that the election process for the 2007 IGDA Board of
Directors Election is underway. Make your voice heard by selecting leaders
to govern the IGDA for the next three years. The voting deadline is Monday,
April 30th.



 This link will take you to the login for your secure voting ballot:

 https://www.igda.org/login.php?pid=election





 IGDA voting is done on an "approval" basis. Vote for as MANY, as FEW, ALL
or NONE of the candidates as you like. The four candidates with the most
overall votes will be elected to the board.



 The following nine candidates are running for the Board. Please take a
moment to review their statements of candidacy, via the below link, before
voting:



 - Bob Bates, Independent Game Developer

 - Chris Charla, Director of Business Development, Foundation 9
Entertainment

 - Dustin Clingman, President, Zeitgeist Games, Inc.

 - Jen MacLean - VP and GM, Games, Comcast Interactive Media

 - Jay Moore - Head of Special Ops, The Strategery Group

 - Eric Nofsinger - Chief Creative Officer / Studio Director, High Voltage
Software

 - Brian Robbins - Executive Producer / Gaming Evangelist, Fuel Industries,
Inc.

 - Coray Seifert - Associate Producer, THQ Inc. | Kaos Studios

 - Gustaf Stechmann - Creative Director, Bigpoint.com



 http://www.igda.org/board/elections.php





 Thank you in advance for participating in the 2007 IGDA Board of Directors
Election! To reach a quorum we need over 2150 votes, so it is critical that
you vote.



 If you have any questions or run into any problems, please contact us at
elections at igda.org.





- Jason Akel

Marketing & BusDev Consultant

Chair, IGDA Casual Games SIG

510 964 9094 (Office)

646 221 8885 (Cell)

510 722 1604 (Fax)

jasakel at hotmail.com (MSN IM)

jasakel5 (AIM)

jasakel (Skype)





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