The following is a report from The Star. Is this the beginning of preparation for Virtual Reality Training for the MAF ?
Or will it be another "hot air balloon" like the much touted Multimedia Super Corridor that was launched with loud hullabaloo, and remain as "hot air" after more then three years ?
RM61m to build regional online gaming hub in MalaysiaBy M. MADHAVAN KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is set to become a regional online gaming hub with Malaysia Debt Ventures (MDV) awarding a RM61mil (US$16mil) loan to Terra ICT (M) Sdn Bhd to create an online gaming portal.
Terra ICT (M) Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Bintai Kinden Corporation Bhd and Japan's Terra Corporation, said it aims to be the premier South-East Asian online game content distributor.
The portal at www.e-games.com.my, which will be the world's first virtual store for online games according to the company, is slated to launch in September.
Terra Corporation, an Internet technology and solutions provider, chose Malaysia because of the IT infrastructure found at the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), and because it had managed to secure the loan, said Tom Tamura, Terra ICT chief executive officer.
While other countries, like Singapore, could provide similar infrastructure, they did not have well-planned means of providing financial support, he said.
"Terra ICT's formation opens up a whole new window of opportunity for Malaysians to learn and gain exposure from one of the region's foremost content creators in the online gaming sector," said Jiro Suzuki, MDV managing director and chief executive officer.
"Ultimately it translates to increased attention on Malaysia as a regional technology services hub, and potentially more foreign direct investments into Malaysia," he said.
MDV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finance Ministry, was established to identify and provide debt-financing to high value-added technology and high-growth sectors through its RM1.6bil ICT Fund.
It has already approved RM450mil to about 21 companies to date.
Three phases Terra ICT plans to achieve its goal in three phases and will first begin by setting up hosting centres here and in the region. It has completed one in Cyberjaya, said Tamura, although he declined to give further details.
It next plans to secure distribution rights to online games from Korea and will do this through Terra Corporation's Korean subsidiary, Terra On Line Inc, which is expected to "choose good games at bargain prices," he said.
A large sum of the loan would have to be used to purchase the online games because good ones can easily cost US$2mil (RM7.6mil), said Tamura.
By year end, Terra ICT will have 15 online games, covering such genres as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), first person shooters (FPS), as well as action, sports and board games.
"We plan to acquire 10 games every year after that, for the next three years," said C.S. Chin, Terra ICT chief operating officer.
"Users will be required to purchase points that can be used to play any online game on the portal -- this differs from many other online game hosting companies, which have only one or two games to offer," he added.
In the pipeline are prepaid cards, with which users can purchase to top up their points, he said.
Local content In phase three, Terra ICT aims to develop its own multiplayer games by transferring technology from Terra On Line's Korean partners, and it hopes to have games in English and local languages.
Terra ICT expects to churn its first local game in 14 months, said Chin.
A beta version will be available next month, and will feature maps from Langkawi Island and warriors equipped with the keris, he said.
"Content will be developed from the ground up, with heavy considerations given to locally relevant story lines, characters and environments," said Tamura.
Terra ICT will hire about 100 local employees by year end, mainly programmers, content developers and "game masters" to achieve this, said Chin.
"Most online games lack game masters to monitor sessions so that there won't be any cheating and to provide support to players," he said.
About 40 to 50 of these 100 employees would be game masters, he added.
No piracy One of the most important considerations for choosing online games over console or PC games was that online games wouldn't be affected by piracy, said Tamura.
"With an online game we can charge monthly fees, whereas a console or PC game is a one-off payment system and developers only get paid once," he said.
Also, online games promise 'never ending' stories and can be kept alive by continually changing its setting -- a console or PC game will become obsolete in a matter of months, he claimed.
"Many might say that the Internet connection speed could pose a problem but I believe that broadband connections are picking up and will continue to grow and match our growth," he said.
Terra ICT expects to be profitable by June next year, although Tamura declined to reveal how much it would make and would only say "in the tens of million ringgit."
"We are targeting one million users by 2005 and you can pretty much calculate how much money we would be able to make," he said.
US$1 = RM3.80
http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2003/6/3/technology/03mog&sec=technology