1.

Let’s think about the future for a second. You probably don’t understand the kids that make up the bulk of our audience, but I do. I call them the network MySpace remix 3.0 social generation. Unlike any other people before them, young people today like to interact with each other. They also like music. YouTube is the perfect example of whatever point it is I’m making. Everything should be online and customizable.

I count at least five of them.

Level 5
Factor 5
Red 5 Studios
5th Cell Media
G5 Entertainment

Unreal Engine 3 – The most advanced, most cost-effective and easiest-to-use Gears of War engine ever created

Knights
Programming generalists who jump around as needed, Knights work on this or that or anything else as the needs of the game demand it. They are often found doing gameplay programming because they have an innate sense of design and can interact well with the non-coders on the team. Not only are they very smart, but energizing to be around since they can translate highly technical concepts into language that the other departments can understand. They are future leaders.

Beyond the numbers and the money, another aspect in which the game industry competes fiercely is something called “thought leadership,” the talk and the perception of both people inside the industry and those who observe it. Like ladies maneuvering for status in a period costume drama, companies in the industry experience peaks and nadirs of sentiment about them. Nintendo is the grand dame of this season’s thought leadership ball, back at the top of the heap after close to a decade of suffering through life near the sidelines (not that she would admit it). Sony, the reigning queen, has made some decidedly awkward steps on the floor this evening and people are holding their breath to see if she stumbles. And Microsoft doesn’t understand why it isn’t all about her– after all, she’s bought the best dress in town and hired the most expensive carriage!

Engine Parts:
Valve
Gearbox
Turbine

Civil Unrest:
Radical
Rebellion
Guerilla

Team Effort:
Ensemble
The Collective
The Creative Assembly

Self-Descriptive(?):
Irrational
Nihilistic
Insomniac

Make Up a Word – and Get Bought by Activision!:
Treyarch
Luxoflux
Beenox