“Birth of a New US Force!” (#484)

Main REPORT:
Looking at the industry at general, we are greeted with a cluster of activity emanating from one of the North Americans' largest developers - Global VR.

Having been the centre of a laborious internecine battle of investors and executives - all these problems were cleared by the appointing of a new managing director with a proven commercial track-record and a focus to maximize the corporation’s potential.

Global VR, has rationalized their market position as the result of the changed management, and taken some flak for their stance. Those that threw scorn at the low-key ASI appearance also tried to question validity of a flurry of press releases. Such a deluge that many have missed; TSR takes the time to dissect the ramifications of these announcements.

When the consumer game industry’s largest publisher - Electronic Arts – supported the amusement industry through a groundbreaking relationship with Global VR, the skepticism regarding what would actually be achieved was high. But this effort has encouraged others to look seriously at amusement presentation of profitable consumer titles. In announcements EA decided to follow their licensing of ‘EA Sports PGA Golf’, ‘Need for Speed’ and ‘Madden Football’ – with ‘NASCAR Racing.’

As previously covered in the Stinger, the appearance of the NASCAR property into the video amusement for a third time will offer a strong brand recognition if the game can hope to achieve the appeal generated by the actual sport.

Following in EA’s footsteps, UbiSoft has now penned an agreement with Global VR for an amusement version of the million selling first-person shooter (fps) game ‘Far Cry’. This will mark the second big fps title making its way to amusement – with the Taito release of the Valve successful ‘Half Life 2’.

The ability for GVR to be used as a catalyst for new ideas has not been lost on the new management structure. This is demonstrated by the amusement studio Play Mechanix coming to GVR with the proposal to develop a gun game based on the successful Twentieth Century Fox motion picture ‘Aliens’. Play Mechanix have a strong background in gun games and with past experience in film licensed products (harking back to their time with Midway on the ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ product) – a marriage in heaven is proposed – Play Mechanix having been developing this project as a labor of love.

Gathering together the best and the brightest has resulted in GVR acquiring a number of core properties. One such of these acquisitions included UltraCade Technologies – the company famous for its retro titles, industry standard video firmware and new developments including the ‘Breeders Cup’ horse training and racing system. The company is also charting new directions with the ‘UltraPin’ platform that benefits from prominent pinball table licenses including Williams.

A long time in the making GVR finally crossed the ‘t’s and dotted the ‘i’s on the contract with UltraCade, and it is expected that with a period of consolidation the two operations will move forward at full speed on the deployment of ambitious development plans.

It is this drive to utilize a vast opportunity of talent, products and market positioning that has motivated the new company managing director. CEO and president James DeRose’s past experience with turning around consumer publisher Acclaim is a major factor in what will be seen as revitalization both of a corporation – but also the selling of a new way to do business for the video amusement sector. While some look at trying to publicize the image of amusement, Global VR wants to drive the market forward. James’ experience in publicizing markets in decline best illustrated by his involvement in the ‘Got Milk’ marketing campaign for the milk industry that achieved so much.

The need is for GVR to look beyond just a collection of new titles. DeRose knows that GVR must also address reliability issues that have dogged the previous management – and fundamentally, he knows GVR must build a connected empire through the development of a new tournament strategy that could not just shape the company, but uplift its consumer-market supporters as well.

What Could this all Mean:
The position of TSR in the industry means that much crosses our table that we cannot always write about – the hardest thing in the world is to have news of breaking developments and not be able to say anything about them, mainly in order to not affect the very developments that you have received information on. It is important that we be both objective, but also proactive to avoid hurting the very industry we support.

Regarding information that we received earlier in the year – sources spoke that the acquisition campaign was still alive and kicking within Global VR after the completion of the UltraCade deal. Sources spoke that European amusement developer GAELCO was in the cross-hairs of GVR, this information seemed to be weighed out when flyers appeared on the GVR booth at ASI’06, touting an upcoming, new coin-op version of the 2004 release ‘Gaelco Championship Tuning Race’ (Proprietary Hardware).

But the information did not stop there. Well-placed sources suggested that the motion simulator and video redemption company Tsunami Visual Technologies was in discussions with Global VR. Company president Jay Yuan was linked to gossip that he would be retained within a possible new group that would be owned by Global VR. The information on this possible development dried up following ASI, but has never been fully put to rest. However… third-party sources tell The Stinger that insiders in both companies have confirmed such an acquisition is being investigated.

In brining a hardened reality to the North American scene, GVR has had to run the expected gauntlet of criticism and veiled hopes for failure. This was best illustrated with the flurry of indignation as the company tried to address their marketing presence at ASI – initial plans to abandon the show changed to a much-reduced booth that focused not on current product, but on future development plans. Even this caused much consternation from association members seeming to have way too much time on their hands.

In acquiring certain operations, or agreeing to pursue lucrative development plans, Global VR has placed itself in direct competition with the rest of the industry and embarked on a course that could answer its critics. In particular, this is true in regards to distributor and manufacturer Betson Enterprises – who have had relationships with Play Mechanix and Tsunami in the past. Likewise, a simmering resentment against GVR’s previous policies exists between Incredible Technologies, though the company has other activities to focus their efforts.

In talking about previous legal competition – there are also the issues of competitive activities in the changing amusement field. The Stinger has charted in recent months the Global VR competition to their originally developed ‘Kick-It!’ title, with ICE Games’, ‘Soccer Pro’ and the Visual Sports Systems ‘RealSoccer’ titles, though no claim has been made of direct emulation, the popularity of this genre has increased the competition against GVR for which they will have to defend.

In a changing market the appearance of an established name with a new direction can do only good for the future of the market. In a number of pieces on other manufacturers TSR will be looking at the developments of the other North American and international amusement sector – hoping to drive the market beyond the more pedestrian efforts.