ChinaJoy 2014 has just ended. The largest annual games exhibition in Asia again attracted game personnel and stay-at-home young men from all over China and related reports are still filling first pages of all media sites.
I was deeply impressed by popularity of ChinaJoy when I passed by the super long queues outside the exhibition halls this time last year. I was going for a conference on mobile gaming – the so-called “World Mobile Game Conference”, which was held next door to the exhibition halls.
When I entered the conference venue, I was a bit surprised that the venue was smaller than those of many other conferences of the internet Industry. The sponsor managed to invite several successful practitioners of games industry and I sat there listening to their speeches all that day.
I was disappointed that when the day was over, I found I remember little of what they had said. That’s not my fault, for most of the speeches were empty and meaningless. One of the speakers, who earned tens of millions of yuan through a popular mobile game, admitted that great people wouldn’t share their secrets publicly, and the market changes so fast that they might not be qualified to make a speech at the same venue the next year.
The same thing happens this year, I’ve read several speeches of the conference, but found few highlights. For example, one famous mobile game entrepreneur said the most important thing for game companies is to develop good products. This opinion is right yet useless.
Maybe for the whole games industry, it is useless to talk much, because it’s true that ultimately products determine everything. Many insiders write about shortcuts of being successful, but often one new game denies everything they said via explosive downloads.
However, there are real words on more private occasions, such as many evening gatherings of practitioners during the ChinaJoy session. Some people may share their insights if they deem you as a potential partner, or those not qualified to speak on the stage may told you what the real world of games industry is like. That’s the deep part of the event.
As for the amorous young men who pay 100 yuan or more to see show girls of ChinaJoy, they may be disappointed when they get to know that the fairylike girls on the stage are very likely kept or to be kept by the rich, as cards seeking for relationships from show girls have been found at the exhibition site, and a price list of dozens of models have also been unveiled.
The Card
The List
