The Hindu Business Line : `Computer games market growing'

THERE is a good market for computer games such as dance pads in India, according to Mr Swami Venkat, Vice-President of India Operations, Red Octane Technologies, a subsidiary of the US-based Red Octane.

A producer of dance pads (an interactive platform where the user moves the feet on the pad in accordance with the computer's instructions), Red Octane released its first game called `In the Groove' for Sony Playstation 2 in June this year in the US, and plans to release it in India shortly.

Addressing a gathering of students at the Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology (ICAT), Mr Venkat said that the gaming industry worldwide is growing rapidly and is expected to exceed $40 billion by the end of 2005.

The gaming market is dominated by the US, Japan, Korea, and China, who jointly hold 94 per cent of the market.

The market in India is also growing, and would be at a higher figure if not for the piracy factor, he said.

Currently, India has a market of $50 million, according to Mr Venkat, with console and PC gaming accounting for $35 million and $15 million respectively.

According to him, the Indian game development industry has very few large companies, but the future looks good because of a variety of reasons such as low cost of production and the fact that Indian game developers possess good knowledge of physics and math.

He said that it does not make sense not to tap into such a potentially good market, adding that measures need to be taken such as implementing games programming in school curriculum, starting recognised degree courses for games programming, and encouraging students and parents to see computer gaming as a potential career.

With regard to concerns that gaming is addictive and a waste of time, Mr Venkat said that Red Octane's `In the Groove' circumvents both problems, since it is such a rigorous game and cannot be played for more than 30 minutes at a time. He said that it is also extremely good for physical fitness.

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`Computer games market growing'