Slow off the blocks
But apart from the cultural mindset, there are several other factors that inhibit the emergence of a gaming culture in India.
Cost of technology is one issue. High-end PCs needed to play complex games could cost between Rs 30,000 to 50,000.
In addition, India lacks a game-development fraternity that could create culturally suitable games. Gaming parlours and arcades are also largely lacking in this country.
Gradually, as barriers drop, the situation in India too is likely to change, Sharma says. Cost of technology is dropping, people here are becoming more technologically aware, and they also want newer forms of entertainment. In India, popular games could cover a wide range of possibilities, from role-playing and adventure to simulation, sports, war games and “edutainment” that blends learning and playing.
According to Sharma, international franchises like Tomb Raider, Unreal Tournament and the Quake series are very popular as are games built around sporting personalities like Brian Lara (cricket), as well as film franchises.
The popularity of the Lara Croft in Tomb Raider resulted in the movie doing particularly well in India last year. Nearly all Indian gamers prefer a more ‘instant gratification’ gameplay dynamic as compared to a more stratified, immersive, deep experience.
A problem facing computer gamers in India is that games, especially the more popular ones, are often imported by multiple distributors, making the prices rather arbitrary. Sharma agrees that there is a lack of consolidation, “Unfortunately this is still an unorganized industry and a lot of our ‘competition’ is still doing unofficial imports.
But this is not sustainable, as the products we import tend to be the most attractively priced. Others have to price their products higher since they are not buying from the publisher in the first place.”
Milestone has partnered with six of the main global game developers.
These include names like Activision, Codemasters Software, Eidos Interactive, Infogrames, Novalogic, Ubisoft Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Electronic Arts and VBSoft among others. Consequently, the games included in the Milestone roster are Tomb Raider, Code Master, Brian Lara Cricket, Novalogic, Rainbow series, part of Red Storm, which was bought by VBSoft. Other leading gaming vendors in India include Gayatri Impex, Sujata Infotech and Padmini Multimedia.
But apart from the cultural mindset, there are several other factors that inhibit the emergence of a gaming culture in India.
Cost of technology is one issue. High-end PCs needed to play complex games could cost between Rs 30,000 to 50,000.
In addition, India lacks a game-development fraternity that could create culturally suitable games. Gaming parlours and arcades are also largely lacking in this country.
Gradually, as barriers drop, the situation in India too is likely to change, Sharma says. Cost of technology is dropping, people here are becoming more technologically aware, and they also want newer forms of entertainment. In India, popular games could cover a wide range of possibilities, from role-playing and adventure to simulation, sports, war games and “edutainment” that blends learning and playing.
According to Sharma, international franchises like Tomb Raider, Unreal Tournament and the Quake series are very popular as are games built around sporting personalities like Brian Lara (cricket), as well as film franchises.
The popularity of the Lara Croft in Tomb Raider resulted in the movie doing particularly well in India last year. Nearly all Indian gamers prefer a more ‘instant gratification’ gameplay dynamic as compared to a more stratified, immersive, deep experience.
A problem facing computer gamers in India is that games, especially the more popular ones, are often imported by multiple distributors, making the prices rather arbitrary. Sharma agrees that there is a lack of consolidation, “Unfortunately this is still an unorganized industry and a lot of our ‘competition’ is still doing unofficial imports.
But this is not sustainable, as the products we import tend to be the most attractively priced. Others have to price their products higher since they are not buying from the publisher in the first place.”
Milestone has partnered with six of the main global game developers.
These include names like Activision, Codemasters Software, Eidos Interactive, Infogrames, Novalogic, Ubisoft Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Electronic Arts and VBSoft among others. Consequently, the games included in the Milestone roster are Tomb Raider, Code Master, Brian Lara Cricket, Novalogic, Rainbow series, part of Red Storm, which was bought by VBSoft. Other leading gaming vendors in India include Gayatri Impex, Sujata Infotech and Padmini Multimedia.