Gamertell Exclusive: PowerUp Games’ plan to connect gamers with game industry

PowerUp Games has announced that, later this month (July 2008), it will be providing a new and unique opportunity for gamers, developers and publishers to meet and discuss upcoming releases.

Through PowerUpGames.com, gamers will be able to connect with companies that really want to hear what gamers have to say, allowing them to offer suggestions to help improve games before they hit shelves.

“A common issue I see when games are being developed is that the testing takes a lot of resources and simple consumer feedback gets lost in the shuffle,” said PowerUp Games’ owner and industry veteran, Brad Baker, via email. “PowerUp Games offers a simple way to involve real players in the creative and refining process. Before, doing an open beta was usually only done to generate publicity, and you’d get, if you were lucky, one in ten of them actually reporting any bugs or providing any feedback. We’re here to make it do much more.”

I asked Baker what he meant by “do much more” and he explained in his email, “Provide early feedback on concepts, art and design. Provide the load for stress and performance testing, help proof all the unique configurations out there, gather information for Tech support and read me [documents], and provide usability testing and find bugs or issues.”

Baker said PowerUP Games is the only company he knows of “that offers these types of services in the US. We help people enter the video game industry and we connect the players in the industry to their intended audience. As a gamer that is interested in the industry, you can join our community and see what it is like to participate in the industry. You don’t have to take years of classes, you don’t need a bunch of students loans, get in, get involved and see if you like it. As a publisher, we get you closer to your audience. We provide ways of helping you produce a better title.”

I asked PowerUp Games’ content manager, Michael Walbridge, if this was true and he responded in email that he agreed adding that as a gamer himself this site helps both gamers and the industry to understand what the other want in their games.

“This is the first time that I know of that there is a system for companies to get feedback on their actual games as they build them. Instead of the games press writing previews and people having to guess whether the game is good or not … [gamers] can see the actual game in action and help the company build the game that the gamer wants to buy,” said Walbridge. “People don’t want to play bad games. Companies don’t want to make them. This is the first project I know of that helps out both those buying and those selling. Our targets are publishers, developers and anyone interested in playing, testing, or seeing games before they come out. A gamer gets an account, signs in, and plays and tests games and provides feedback. Publishers and developers get accounts, sign in, and can see that same feedback from the players. They can also make adjustments to their projects such as revising descriptions or putting newer, better versions of the game up. The point is to encourage communication between game player and game maker and to make it easier, too.”

Baker compares PowerUp Games to Monster and other job search sites.

“Anyone interested in videogames from the mom or dad that wants to play with their kids to the 14-year-old who would like to see if this industry is right for them to build a career in, you can think of us like a match making service like Monster.com,” Baker said. “We take publishers (like employers on Monster) and match Students up with (the publisher or developer) on projects. In addition, we have training that helps the students get the resume material they need to move to the top of the stack for interviews, etc.”

When I asked both Baker and Walbridge where they see PowerUp Games in five years, they responded, “I see our curriculum adopted by several schools all over the US and a few all over the world,” said Baker. “I see large Video game producers coming to us for our students so they can help with the summer rush. I see us helping out the casual and mobile space, giving them services they need to succeed. I see us helping the MMOs [Mass-Multiplayer Online gaming sites] and giving them services they need,” he said. “[And] I see 500,000 students and 100-200 projects a month.”

“I am hoping that PowerUp is a highly recognized name that gamers know as the best place to go to learn about new games and about the games industry,” added Walbridge. “And for publishers and developers to recognize (this site) as one of the best ways to support their projects. If, in five years, PowerUp is a name that is seriously considered and respected by every game maker out there, I think we’d be happy with that.”

In a press release Walbridge sent me, it read that PowerUp Games is now accepting clients for participation in its marketing support program as well as preparing for a unique opportunity for gamers in July and during the month of July the site will offer a chance for gamers, developers and publishers to meet and discuss upcoming releases on the site. PowerUp games will involve gamers by directing them to sign up for an account at PowerUpGames.com and once they sign in, they will be able to download any projects that publishers and developers decide to make accessible. They can also upload bugs and comments into a bug tracking system that publishers and developers can access from their own PowerUpGames.com accounts. For publishers’ and developers’ their accounts will give them control over how and when their projects are made accessible. They can also make announcements that post immediately in a section of the players’ accounts.

“What we’re looking at is a global meeting place for game players who can speak their minds in a way that is useful to publishers and developers,” Baker said. “Gamers will move out of their private gathering places and meet publicly with those who are making the games, and we’re setting a new paradigm for how these two groups communicate.”

Site [PowerUp Games]