History of video games. Pong! Space Invaders! Pac Man!
1983 Atari made two lousy games, video game market evaporated overnight.
1985 Nintendo tried to make deal with Atari, they refused, so they did soft launch. Sold 80 million units over life. 1991 modern console war. And so on. Xbox had narrow appeal to boys 17-24. Narrow but successful market. Playstation III, though no good games, is an extraordinary piece of hardware. Basically a little supercomputer.
AADL made decision not to do M-rated games. Good way to get it past a Board.
80% of videogame sales are done with parent knowing what they're buying.
Wii is best value for library moving forward.
Super Smash Brothers Brawl is coming out - will be biggest to come out in next year.
Wii Fit coming - work out! Comes with pad.
What you need for game tournaments. cubes, etc. TV's (they got cheap at Sam's Club). Need a memory card (20 bucks) to save game to - get copy of someone's gamesave to use. Amplification, so you can be heard over sounds of event. Video projection adds value.
If you can only get one game, get DDR. What kind of pads? (debate on this). Worth getting the better, hard pads: Cobalt Flux. This also shows the kids you mean business! DDR events MUST be loud!
Qualification rounds, so everybody gets to have a certain number of games before being eliminated. Prizes aren't essential, but they're a good draw. Doesn't have to be big - Cincinnati PL gives candy bars. AADL gives gift cards, paid for by Friends, so no tax money.
Mood Management. As much the opposite of school as you can manage. Turn off flourescents! Furniture for chilling. Food is critical frill. Could have this donated - have moms bring food! (He did this in Alpena, MI).
Marketing - establish a brand. How reach them? Word of mouth. School visits. Branding and Shwag. Give word of mouth time to work - make sure you have your calendar set a long way ahead. Announce on board forums - engaging biggest fans. Viral marketing tricks - each 'clan' gets bonus for new members brought in. And points for girls they bring into clan!
Building community - create blog for discussion, etc. Social networking, get glory from postings of winners. AADL did teen gamer blog.
Blog - "snork".
GT system for scoring. will be available to all libraries soon!
Great presentation, Eli! Thanks!!
