GDC Podcast: 'IGN VP Jamie Berger'

Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences. For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Jamie Berger, senior vice president and general manager for the consumer products division of IGN Entertainment. Berger is responsible for overseeing IGN's subscription, digital distribution, and e-commerce portfolio, including FilePlanet, 3D Gamers, GameSpy Arcade, Direct2Drive, GameSpy Arena, and IGN Insider. In the course of our conversation, we talk about IGN's entry into the digital distribution business, with direct downloads of PC games including top tier releases such as Supreme Commander and Jade Empire, as well as niche and legacy titles like Planetside, with Berger explaining that its game sales business isn't a conflict of interest with its game reviews business. We also talk to Berger about IGN's upcoming channel for independent game titles and outreach program to smaller developers to help them manage and grow their business, and the site's launch of a new non-commercial indie game and mod building site intended as a resource for small developers and an interface between them. Finally, Berger leads us through its GameSpy technology group, with its more heavily community driven push as late through features like Command and Conquer 3's "RTS As A Sport," which allows players to act as spectators and commentators of streaming or downloadable online matches, and touches briefly on GameSpy's partnership with Nintendo for the DS and Wii, with hints on how its online space might develop. You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Jamie Berger (.MP3, 23 minutes, 10.5 MB). In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.