Former Electronics Arts CEO John Riccitiello recently made his first public speech since stepping down on March 30. Speaking at the Casual Connect video game conference in San Francisco, the long-time video game executive says he spent a lot of the past four months, well, playing video games. Known as one of the few game execs that actually logged hours playing the likes of Battlefield, Riccitiello often offered design recommendations for titles in development. His love affair seems undiminished.

    Riccitiello stepped down earlier this year after a six-year stint at the helm of the once-towering EA (EA). Larry Probst, the Redwood City, Calif.-based firm's CEO from 1991 to 2007, took over as executive chairman while the games publisher searches for a new leader. Wedbush securities analyst Michael Pachter claimed that former Xbox chief Don Mattrick was the most likely candidate to replace Riccitiello before decamping to Zynga (ZNGA) as CEO last month. Though he had some success, Riccitiello had struggled to transition the company into a more digitally oriented business. He also had trouble goading the stock price up; the publisher traded at $18.71 at the time of his departure, down from $61.40 in 2007 when he took over. (It is now around $26.)

    Is Riccitiello bitter? It doesn't sound that way. With the $70 billion global games business about to enter a new console cycle with Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 4, Riccitiello is bullish on gaming's future. He said he believes these fully functioning, fully integrated online super computers connected to large televisions will be more successful than the current generation of hardware. Perhaps, but the question haunting game makers is what the impact of mobile devices like Apple (AAPL) iPads and Google-powered (GOOG) phones will mean for traditional development.

    "I'm still a believer in the next generation of consoles, but another billion and a half people came into the industry as a consequence of mobile and I think that's a pretty cool place to focus," said Riccitiello. "Mobile is growing at an infinitely better rate right now than console, but I visited with many mobile developers during the time I was at EA. I've heard many developers say they're going to bring console level graphics to mobile screens and that's going to make them different and better. I think that's a mistake. If I go back to the time I was launching console and PC games, investing in better graphics without figuring out what incremental or better gameplay experience was going to reward the player is a road to ruin."

    Riccitiello compared the current mobile landscape with a new generation of CPUs and GPUs entering the marketplace from companies Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), and NVIDIA (NVDA) to the early days of 3-D console gaming in 1997. Back then, development costs tripled, but revenue remained about the same, and outfits making graphically intensive flight simulation and real-time strategy games, for instance, struggled. Companies that use 3-D to explore new types of gameplay such as sports titles did better.

    近日，美国电子艺界（Electronics Arts）前首席执行官约翰•里奇泰洛在3月30日卸任后首度公开发表讲话。作为长期负责视频游戏的高管，里奇泰洛在于旧金山举行的Casual Connect视频游戏大会上表示，他过去四个月花了很多时间玩视频游戏。里奇泰洛是为数不多的会长时间玩《战地》（Battlefield）等游戏的游戏公司高管之一。他经常会为开发中的游戏提供设计建议。卸任之后，他对游戏的痴迷似乎有增无减。

    在执掌曾经风光无限的电子艺界六年后，里奇泰洛于今年早些时候辞职。总部位于加州雷德伍德城的游戏发行商电子艺界正在寻找新的掌门人。在此期间，由曾经于1991至2007年间担任公司首席执行官的拉里•普罗斯特担任执行董事长。Wedbush证券公司分析师迈克尔•帕切特声称，上月走马上任成为社交游戏公司Zynga新任首席执行官的前Xbox负责人唐•马特里克原本是最有可能的候选人。里奇泰洛虽然获得了一些成功，但他未能使电子艺界转型成为一家偏重于以数字业务为导向的公司。他也未能提升公司的股价。里奇泰洛离任时，电子艺界的股价为每股18.71美元。而他2007年上任时，这家公司的股价为每股61.40美元。（目前，电子艺界的股价约每股26美元。）

    里奇泰洛是否因此感到一丝苦涩？貌似没有。微软（Microsoft）的Xbox 360和索尼（Sony）的PlayStation 4将带领市场价值高达700亿美元的全球游戏业务进入新的游戏机周期。有鉴于此，里奇泰洛十分看好游戏业的未来。他相信，这些功能完备、完全整合、能连接到大尺寸电视机的在线超级计算机将比目前这一代的硬件更成功。或许如此吧，但困扰游戏厂商的问题在于，苹果（Apple）iPad和谷歌（Google）驱动的智能手机等移动设备的影响对传统的游戏开发将意味着什么。

    里奇泰洛说：“我对下一代游戏主机很有信心，不过随着移动游戏市场涌现出十几亿新用户，我认为这也是一个值得特别关注的领域。移动游戏目前发展很快，远远超过传统游戏机。我当初还在电子艺界工作时拜访过许多移动游戏开发者。他们中的不少人都表示正打算将主机级的图像效果带入移动设备，从而创造出独一无二的出色游戏。我认为这种想法是错误的。如果回到我当年发布主机和PC游戏的年代，单单只注重图像效果，而忽略了对游戏性的追求，结果将导致游戏一败涂地。”

    由于英特尔（Intel）、高通（Qualcomm）和英伟达（NVIDIA）等公司的相互角力，移动CPU和GPU的发展非常迅猛，里奇泰洛认为这种情形和1997年3D游戏机强势崛起时的情况很相似。当时，游戏研发费用暴涨了200%，但销售收入却基本没有增加，那些制作图像逼真的飞行模拟游戏和即时战略游戏的公司苦苦挣扎。不过，一些公司利用3D技术积极探索新的游戏类型，比如体育竞技游戏的表现就相当不俗。

    "If I were to come up with one piece of good advice as the mobile industry is looking at more powerful phones and tablets, it's to think more about how that creates the opportunity to develop an experience we've not seen before," said Riccitiello. "What gameplay mechanics weren't possible before that can now be opened up? If you can answer that question, the investment is worth it. If you can't answer that question, you'll end up spending more money to generate the same revenue, and that doesn't work very well."

    Another area of intense focus: dual-screen viewing. The video game industry is already experimenting with multiple screen gameplay with devices like the Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii U, which comes with a tablet-like controller, Xbox SmartGlass, which connects smartphones and tablets to Xbox 360 games, and the Playstation Vita, which allows games to interactive with their PlayStation 3 games.

    "I'm using multiple screens all the time, and most of us are doing that in many different ways," said Riccitiello. "I sit on my couch at home running Outlook on my PC, playing a console game up on the TV, and I might be playing Candy Crush on my tablet. I see some absolutely stupendous experiences with dual screen with console games where you're using tablet or a phone as a secondary game input device. Nintendo was the first innovator in that arena, but I don't even know that we're scratching the surface as much as we're waving our hand above the surface."

    Electronic Arts is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Madden NFL football this year. And Riccitiello believes the mobile industry can learn from the success console games have had in building global, sustainable brands. "Will Candy Crush Saga be around next summer? Will King, which is heading towards the fabled IPO, figure out how to do a 2.0? I see precious little going on right now in mobile to suggest people are building multi-year brands," said Riccitiello. "Console gaming brought us EA, Nintendo, Activision (ATVI), and brands like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Why don't they make great brands like that in mobile? The big question for whether they stay at the top is whether they can either get lucky again."

    Despite massive industry shifts, Riccitiello says there is plenty of untapped revenue potential for game developers. His point? Over the past five years, Apple and Google have seen half or two-thirds of their increase in shareholder value come directly from mobile products, resulting in approximately $300 billion of capital created by the distribution platform. With games making up roughly two-thirds of all mobile app monetization, he believes that as much as $25 billion of shareholder value has been created by content, i.e. games.

    "Arguably ten times more value can be created by the platform creator than by the content that goes over it, that wasn't the case with consoles or PC," said Riccitiello. "But it's absolutely the case in mobile today. There should be $100 billion to $300 billion of value on the other side of the equation. It all won't go to games, but a big chunk of it needs to go to games."

    里奇泰洛说：“现在，整个移动游戏产业都盯着手机和平板电脑的硬件性能，我对此持不同看法。我们应该更关注怎样才能开发出‘突破性’的游戏。什么样的游戏能为用户带来前所未有的体验？如果你能回答这个问题，那投资就是物有所值。如果不能，最终只会落得个投入增加，产出却不变的下场。而这样根本就行不通。”

    业界关注的另一大热点是双屏游戏。市场上已经有不少这样的游戏设备了：任天堂（Nintendo）推出的Wii U在游戏手柄上安装了一块显示屏；Xbox SmartGlass软件允许用户通过智能手机和平板电脑操作Xbox 360游戏；Playstation Vita掌机能与PlayStation 3的游戏互动。

    里奇泰洛说：“我每时每刻都在使用多个显示屏，我们中的绝大多数人也都如此。我惬意地坐在家里的沙发上玩电视游戏，PC机上运行着Outlook；而与此同时，我还可能在平板上玩《糖果粉碎传奇》（ Candy Crush）。当手机或平板作为辅助输入设备，与游戏主机相配合时，我从中看到了双屏游戏的巨大优势。任天堂是这个领域的先行者，不过，我认为我们在这方面才刚刚开始起步，可以说连皮毛都还没有摸到。”

    今年，电子艺界将迎来《劲爆美式橄榄球》（Madden NFL）25周年庆。里奇泰洛认为移动产业可以从主机游戏的成功中吸取经验，学习如何打造经久不衰的全球游戏品牌。“《糖果粉碎传奇》到了明年夏天是否还能大红大紫？传说中即将上市的King公司是否想好了如何开发2.0版本？我在目前的移动领域只看到极少的动态表明人们在打造经久不衰的品牌。主机游戏产生了电子艺界、任天堂、动视（Activision）等知名公司，也有诸如《使命召唤》（Call of Duty ）、《战地》这样的知名游戏品牌。他们为什么不在移动领域打造同样大获成功的品牌？他们能否保持领先优势，很大程度上取决于他们能不能再次获得幸运的垂青。”

    里奇泰洛称，尽管游戏行业发生了巨大变迁，但游戏开发商仍有大量尚未开发的收入潜力。证据是什么？过去五年，苹果和谷歌股东价值的增长，有一半或三分之二直接来自移动产品，其分销平台由此创造了近3,000亿美元的资金。鉴于游戏约占移动应用总创收的近三分之二，里奇泰洛相信内容，即游戏，创造了高达250亿美元的股东价值。

    里奇泰洛说：“可以这么说，平台创建者创造的价值可达到平台上内容所创造价值的10倍，过去的游戏机和个人电脑不是这样。但如今的移动设备绝对是如此。等式的另一边将有1,000亿至3,000亿美元的价值。这些价值不会都进入游戏业，但其中一大块需要流入游戏行业。”（财富中文网）

    译者：项航