Gamania Day 2: Q&A, Tiara Concerto and Core Blaze
Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom flew to Taiwan to attend the Gamania Game Show. Today he's focusing on the Q&A session with CEO Albert Liu, Tiara Concerto and Core Blaze!
Day two at the Gamania Game Show began with a little less fanfare than the opening ceremonies of day one, but we were treated to another light show as Gamania and the animation company SOFA Studio announced their new joint venture, the Two Tigers animation company. While this new partnership doesn't quite relate to the gaming industry, Gamania's focus on establishing a strong foundation in animation is part of its overall ambition to create a comprehensive digital media brand. We also got a peek at the new animation that would be debuting from Two Tigers, called "Jade Armor." Jade Armor focuses on the adventures of four cute animals who can transform into huge mythical beasts. There's not much else to say on the matter, but I do hope they get better voice actors!
After the announcements, we were shuttled away to check out the last two titles being featured at the GGS: Tiara Concerto and Core Blaze. In between our two play sessions, however, we also managed to get in a Q&A meeting with Gamania's CEO, Albert Liu, as translated through our North American PR host, Yuwei Chang, so I'll focus on that first.
Getting the chance to speak to the CEO of a major Asian MMORPG developer is quite a rare opportunity. As a long-time fan of Asian MMORPGs, I've usually been the one to play most western ported MMOs, and sometimes it can be rather surprising how little information and communication flows from the North American offices to their eastern headquarters. In this way, we virtually peppered Albert with various questions about Gamania's approach to the western market, and he remained surprisingly candid throughout all of it, even in the face of some intense scrutiny.
When it comes to Gamania's overall success, Albert is quick to point to Gamania's great timing in the Taiwanese market, and how they were able to establish a strong foundation by licensing the publishing rights for both Lineage and MapleStory, thereby giving Gamania the opportunity to pursue its real goal: developing its own in-house titles. For Albert, self-developing titles means they can have the freedom to do what they want, while also being able to learn about their target markets in a more intimate and controlled setting.
Learning seems to be the core focus of Gamania as it ventures into three new markets: China, Europe, and North America. Specifically, Albert notes that Gamania isn't looking to dominate from the beginning; rather, it's aiming to learn as much as it can through the process of exposure. While there is much to be learned from industry veterans like Nexon or NCsoft, Albert says that what works for one company might not work for another, and the only real way to succeed is by experimenting on your own. In this way, he admits that, while Lucent Heart (Gamania's first North American title) currently has a strong community of fans, the Gamania team was surprised at how much players cared about localization; a lesson they plan to carry forward when they launch their next new title.
While many more questions were asked beyond these (we filled an hour!), perhaps the most interesting thing to come of these Q&A sessions was Albert's belief that traditional MMORPGs may have already peaked, and more innovative technology, like the action MMORPG genre, was on the rise. Judging from the fact that three of Gamania's four showcased MMOs were action MMORPGs, I'd certainly agree that Gamania is pushing for more innovation in the market. But just how innovative were their final two titles, Core Blaze and Tiara Concerto? Read on!