High tech hopefuls aren't just playing games

By RICHARD WOOD

As video game sales boom, New Zealand appears to have been a little slow to jump on the bandwagon.

Leading the late charge into this lucrative export market is Wellington-based Sidhe Interactive (pronounced "she") owned by Mario Wynands and Tyrone McAuley.

Sidhe is the main contributor to the local games industry's so-far minuscule $3.5 million turnover.

Managing director Wynands points to a global games market worth $20 billion a year, and predicted to get to $200 billion by 2010.

The recent hit game Grand Theft Auto III sold eight million copies worldwide, at a sticker price of around $100. That means the game earned close to the amount that top movies bring in, said Wynands.

Making games is obviously not the same as playing games and requires a unique combination of creative thinking, graphics skills, computer programming skills and business acumen, with a level of management that is more akin to the movie industry than anything else.

Sidhe claims to be the only firm in New Zealand developing for both Sony's Playstation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox, and recently secured its spot in the big time through a deal to develop an NRL rugby league game for Sydney publisher HES.

It is also pitching for a couple of similar projects.

Previously the firm has created games for Adidas and Mattel, but it also works on sub-projects for other game developers.

Wynands likes to think Sidhe's competitive advantage is the the way it manages its projects and staff.

He points to problems that occur in the industry worldwide because of constant changes to project specifications, long lead times, and competitive pressures.

"Unless you are doing things very smart from the outset you can end up in a lot of strife. We tend to think about it a bit more and come up with low-cost solutions for doing complex things."

Sidhe has set a requirement of a computer science degree for employment, a tactic that Wynands said is unusual on the global scene. He says this leads to better programming practices because universities teach such skills as object-oriented programming and software design techniques.

"Typically in the US and even Australia there hasn't been a strong emphasis on tertiary training."

The days of relying on a "self-taught genius" programmer who can push the hardware to its limits are long gone and you now need 20 to 70 people on a game with strong coding techniques and the ability to work in a team environment, he said.

Wynands also points to an innate Kiwi creativity and the passion of the smaller business as working for him, at least at this stage.

Sidhe has 20 staff.

Another advantage Wynands claims is that New Zealand is a "mish-mash" of different world cultures.

"In our industry that is a strong advantage. We are influenced by Asia, Europe and US culture and that gives us an understanding to some degree of those markets. We can more easily create something that will be saleable into those markets."

Sidhe has two markets it must monitor. The end-user market of those that play the games has to be followed with the US being the main focus, but Japan and Europe are also important.

The other market, and the revenue source for Sidhe, is the publishers and developers it deals with and there the focus is on partnering or working with US firms.

Wynands says it is unlikely Sidhe will enter the games publishing market with its own games titles.

"Getting boxes on to shelves is not something we can realistically do."

In future a US firm might take a stake in Sidhe, or take it over, but Wynands says that so far the company has turned down takeover offers and is proud to be a Kiwi firm employing predominantly New Zealanders.

It has an agent in the US to provide a foothold and has established close ties with developers there.

* Sidhe Interactive is one of more than 80 companies featured at the Carter Holt Harvey New Zealand Pavilion, an Industry NZ initiative showcasing innovative businesses.

The pavilion, at Viaduct Harbour Ave on Auckland's waterfront, is open seven days a week and entry is free.

SIDHE

Carter Holt Harvey New Zealand Pavillion