“...it doesn’t matter that there’s no Wi-Fi or online multiplayer.”
July 13, 2018 7:41 PM   Subscribe

The video games of Ecuadorean fishing village Santa Marianita [Polygon] “Yet wherever you go, people seem to find ways to play video games here, despite odds like agonizingly slow internet, limited technology access, low wages and even lower computer literacy. If someone in Santa Marianita was able to research the games they wanted, it’s unlikely they’d have the PC or console to play them, much less the internet speeds to keep them updated or play online with friends. But thanks to those small electronics stores in nearby Manta and the occasional console shipment on trucks inbound from distant Guayaquil, local kids and 20-somethings are circumventing some of these challenges and kindling a ferocious love for games.”

• When Arcade Games Meet Hipster Bars: The Resurgence of '80s Culture in Buenos Aires [Culture Trip]
“In the last couple years, Buenos Aires has seen a surge in arcade bars. These places attempt to capture the ’80s scene of video games as a social experience. With craft beer and excellent food, arcade bars have become a staple of the city’s millennial crowd, who can spend many nights a week trying to break that high score on Street Fighter or even Wonder Boy. Although in retrospect it may seem obvious to want a night spot devoted to the early-’80s golden age of arcade video games, Arcade Social Club only opened its doors in early 2017—and was the first of its kind in Buenos Aires. It’s placed at an undisclosed location, as the owners prefer to keep the whereabouts hidden, with only word-of-mouth directions, drawing inspiration from the Prohibition-era speakeasy bars. Part of the game is to find the address online or through someone that has been there before.”
• Where Video Game Conventions Draw 300,000: Not in the U.S. [The New York Times]
“The gathering is the Brasil Game Show, Latin America’s largest gaming convention, which has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2009. The event is one of several international video game shows that have swelled in size recently. Gamescom, held in Cologne, Germany, and generally hailed as the world’s biggest gaming convention, welcomed about 350,000 attendees this year, up from 275,000 five years ago. The Tokyo Game Show, which has been held annually since 1996, broke its attendance record last year with over 271,000 visitors, up from 224,000 five years ago. All of these exceed the biggest video game trade show in the United States, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, which is held in Los Angeles and has generally been closed to the public. This year, E3 opened up to attendees from outside the video game industry and had 68,000 attendees, compared with 45,700 five years ago. The size and spectacle of the international gaming shows underline how the video game industry is less and less American-centric.”
• The game industry is finally making its way into emerging markets [Venture Beat]
“We’ve been an important consumer region since more than 10 years ago. I don’t know how many of you know, but for Xbox, month on month, it’s sometimes among the top five or six markets in online revenue. We have the numbers. Latin America is close to 600 million people with high levels of connectivity, more than 30 percent all over the place. Southeast Asia is practically the same. Kuala Lumpur, cities in Vietnam, many other cities are growing in a very similar way, with similar numbers. One way to answer as far as where to start is a matter of first, mindset. Forget about the guy and his burro image when you think of Mexico. “Is there internet in Mexico?” Forget about that. We’re already there in many ways. But when it comes to games, the mindset is still not there. The mindset of considering that there are serious game developers in Latin America, amazing success stories happening in the last 10 years. The only thing that’s needed is to make sure that, from a mindset perspective – and I’m sure everyone here is open to that idea – we spread the word.”
posted by Fizz (2 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
This year, E3 opened up to attendees from outside the video game industry and had 68,000 attendees, compared with 45,700 five years ago. The size and spectacle of the international gaming shows underline how the video game industry is less and less American-centric.”

Well, PAX West is pretty much sold out, and generally does so immediately. If you measure by price, PAX tix are like 50 bucks for a one day pass, and is currently scalping for double, whereas gamescom is 15 Euro, and afaict, BGS is selling for 20. There's clearly demand in the US, but not sufficient supply. American venues could be bigger, but I just don't know where you'd pack 300k people. Or where you'd house attendees, especially if you want to do it outside of Vegas. PAX's strategy is to run multiple 'normal' events across the US and globe.
posted by pwnguin at 11:35 PM on July 13, 2018


I know exactly where that village is. I was in the area a couple years back right after (well, six months, but still) the earthquake near there, when they were kind of still getting back on their feet.

One thing that's not mentioned is that Ecuador does have problems with both some pretty significant tariffs on importation of electronics (including game consoles but also cameras, etc.) of about 20% plus a 12% VAT, which means that our friends in Ecuador often ask us to bring in stuff when we visit, because it's easier to get it through customs with this stuff personally than shipping it — a lot gets stolen in shipping.
posted by klangklangston at 1:33 PM on July 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


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