Episodic distribution

This was the single most pervasive idea at the show.  Everybody talked about it, from Sony to Microsoft to Wild Tangent to Hasbro.  (It made me feel pretty smart, considering that I suggested the exact same scheme to a broadband interactive TV project more than five years ago.  Wait a sec while I pat myself on the back.  Ahhh.)

There are several key reasons why distributing games as short episodes and/or time slices has everyone excited:

• People are used to episodic formats in TV, magazines and other media.  This is a natural.
• Online distribution works better for smaller downloads.
• You can bring a product to market faster if you only need to produce a single level before release and add more when/if demand requires it.  You can even keep a winning product alive for years by pumping out new content as long as people buy it.
• It is probably easier to get 500,000 people to pay $5 five times each than to find 100,000 who will pay $50 once.
• Episodic distribution reduces risk, as a product that bombs and is taken off the market after 2-3 trial episodes will cost less than an equally unsuccessful 50-level CD-ROM marathon.
• Except for the subscription-based games like Ultima Online and Everquest, gamers pay essentially the same amount for a game whether they play 10 or 500 hours.  Imagine how rich Carmack would be if multiplayer Quake II cost even 10 cents per hour to play?

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