Console Games: An Overview Presented By Chris Ulm Chief Design Officer

Overview About High Moon Studios About “Darkwatch” Current Console Development The Next Generation

About High Moon Studios Established in 2002 Headquartered at state of the art studio in Carlsbad in San Diego County, California Independent studio with staff of approximately 100 developers Focus is on original I.P.: new worlds, stories and gameplay concepts created on franchise scale Worlds Of High Moon trailer

About “Darkwatch” High Moon’s debut property is “Darkwatch” –Action horror first-person shooter video game –Original premise blends Vampire and Western genres Platforms: Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox Published by Capcom Entertainment Premieres August 2005 “Darkwatch” Gameplay trailer

Future Projects High Moon Studios –Turning focus completely to next-generation consoles –Currently working on two next generation projects (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) –Third project is another original I.P., currently in pre-production phase

Some Facts And Figures Top 17 companies in the industry reported fiscal 2004 revenue of 24.5 billion dollars. Forecasts from DFC Intelligence predict worldwide combined sales of online, PC and console entertainment revenue to exceed $40 billion by 2009.

The Current Generation Three current generation hardware platforms, sold primarily in North America, Europe and Japan. –Sony PlayStation 2 (90 million shipped worldwide– achieved this milestone two years before PS1 did) –Microsoft Xbox (21 million shipped worldwide -Xbox’s primary market is North America, with some penetration in Europe and minimal in Asia) –Nintendo GameCube (18 million shipped worldwide)

The Current Console Audience Still mostly male Growing older –Average age of gamers is 29 yrs. old (Entertainment Software Association) –Console skews younger (20-25 yrs. old based on most estimates) Demanding more mature content –“M” rated games accounted for 12% of all software in 2002, up from 10% in 2001

Current Industry Trends Games cost more and take longer to make (24 – 36 months, 5-10 million dollars) The game industry is consolidating around larger publishers. Product innovation is declining as financial risks mount.

Product Innovation and New Concepts Only 7 of the top PS2 titles in 2003 were new IP. No more than 7 new IP titles have been in the top 50 in any year since 1999 As a result, there is a heavy reliance on pre-sold franchises, licenses and sequels.

Next Generation Consoles All consoles are backwards compatible Microsoft Xbox 360 (Fall, 2005) –$300 –25-40 titles expected by YE Sony Playstation 3 (Spring 2006) –$369 Nintendo Revolution (mid-2006)

Capabilities Compared Sony PS1 (34-38 Mhz, 4 mb ram) –Simple worlds, characters and gameplay –“Spyro the Dragon” –CD player Sony PS2 (295 Mhz, 32 mb ram) –Better graphics, Larger more expansive worlds with some physics and simple simulation –“Grand Theft Auto 3” –DVD player Sony PS3 (3.2 GHz, 512 mb Ram) –Photo-real graphics and simulated worlds –“Blue-ray” High Definition DVD, Bluetooth

The Next Generation Transition All current generation trends will likely continue: –Higher costs –Longer development times –Higher expectations from audience

Next Generation Opportunities –As a medium, developers will be able to create more fully realized interactive and emotional experiences. –In game characters will be ever more aware, lifelike, communicative and intelligent. –Online gaming is now a standard aspect of the console gaming experience.

Challenges Innovation in a risk-adverse business climate Building truly emotional experiences with the new horsepower rather than more of the same. Broadening the videogame playing demographic.

Contacts Presentation contacts: –Chris Ulm, chief design officer, High Moon Studios, Inc. –Rory McGuire, “Darkwatch” designer, High Moon Studios, Inc. Press contact: –Meelad Sadat, director of P.R., High Moon Studios, Inc. –(760) Don’t miss the Darkwatch demo this afternoon. Thanks for your time!