NYCC: Tetris and AirConsole Are Driving Gaming Forward

HR: From the viewpoint of Tetris, which is the game that I found and control today, if there’s a screen that can play Tetris, it will play Tetris. So we’re building cars now with these big screens. And if you’re going to play a game, bigger is better… If you’re going to spend any time in a vehicle with a big screen, let’s use that screen space and the audio to create an immersive experience.

AC: Years ago, a car was basically a radio from an entertainment perspective. And when you fast-forward to today, in a world where electric vehicles have come to be, in-car entertainment has dramatically changed… We will not be enjoying the car for its driving experience, but for the comfort and entertainment it provides. I see gaming as one of the major forces shaping the entertainment landscape over the next couple of years, and that’s why we’re here today. 

HR: I could easily say, ‘Oh, the money helps. Just keep it coming.’ But the fact that I stood in front of a machine in 1988 and said, ‘Wow, there’s something special about this game,’ and that is still the case today, just validates what my thought process was back then.

AC: I’m going to give credit to Henk as well for my own entrepreneurial journey. Today I smile because 30 years after I sat in a car playing my first video game on a Game Boy, which was Tetris, I’m back, and I’m still in this car playing this game…I was dreaming of having a game like Tetris on this platform, and today it has become a reality. The work that Henk did back then was beyond success and a pop culture moment. It was also inspirational for many of us, and we still find inspiration in that game.

HR: The landscape has changed in the way that screens are in different places from where they used to be. But my pet peeve is still that people aren’t willing to pay to play a game on mobile devices. They want to play it for free and get annoyed by advertising…I’m looking for the pendulum to switch direction because it’s annoying to play a game and be interrupted…Don’t annoy me with distractions. 

AC: I would also talk about accessibility. You do not need a dedicated piece of hardware to play a game. This is a perfect illustration of that. We’re in a car, yes, so you have a dedicated piece of hardware, but that’s normally taking you from A to B. But today, without having to push a consumer into another electronic device to interact with this car, you’re using something universal that everybody has in their pocket. I think for gaming companies, it’s really important that they understand how to use that accessibility at the core of the experience that they’re building, be it a game or a platform. 

HR: I play Wordle every day. And I’ve created a meta game with my friends. So we add up our scores for the week. And so on Saturday, whoever has the lowest score for the week gets to make a rule for the next week. And social games, board games, I play Catan.

AC: I’ve had the chance to test new games because we’re always making this catalog evolve. To be frank, I’ve enjoyed building games very quickly these days. So AI has been a technology that has empowered me to test out concepts and then play them. I’ve been astonished by the quality of games I can build now with a few prompts, compared to how long it would take before to get anything playable. But that is not the finished product. What makes the difference between a good game and a bad game is the amount of love you put into it. But I am excited about a very big AAA title coming out in November, we all hope.