Time For A Change

Well, I would say it has a different set of challenges, not that it's limited or in any way handicapped. Obviously when you're in full control you feel more empowered, but when it's work for hire, generally speaking there's a lot of people and a lot of eyes and a lot of resources behind that project, so you tend to get more things like focus testing and a thousand things of that category that add to the quality of the experience, which you just wouldn't get when you've got a fixed amount of capital and you're trying to get the game out the door. So there are definite pros and cons, and every single project is different too. Generally speaking we won't take on a project unless we think that we can add value to it, and we think that we can gain something from it. We don't take things on just to keep the lights on. So maybe we lend out a team to go build somebody's base up, and then we'll have a good friend in the industry.

The physical side is formulaic to a degree. It's clearly a new frontier and there are packs of wolves roaming around there -you've got to be careful, but looking at a lot of the partners we've worked with in the past, most of them really only brought to the table... I'll give you another analogy. Think of it as a general contractor on a house. He's not necessarily the best carpenter himself, or the best plumber, but he knows how to put the pieces together and make it all happen and deliver a great house. We look at ourselves in that same vein, where we know what our strengths are business-wise, and those are making things happen on time, on budget and that are high quality. We may not be the best plumber or the best electrician, but we know who those are. So we'll partner up with people where appropriate.

Oh yeah, the barrier to entry in the online world... Well, there's still some. The online arena is coming, it's just a case of when will that critical mass hit. Retail is still very important, but online is coming and it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Just like any other industry, when there's a new, disruptive industry that comes about, people have to adapt. You just have to. It's like Blockbuster and Netflix. Blockbuster was an 800lb gorilla - it owned the market. But it woke up one day and here's this little company called Netflix doing streaming videos and mail rentals, and it just flipped it on its head. Companies that are 100 per cent focused on retail right now are in for a rude awakening in the near future.

I think a lot of people are... It's on everybody's radar. But it probably was in the music industry too. So I can't say for sure what their internal strategies are, I can only see from a consumer's perspective where their focuses are, and it's clearly still at retail. I think there's going to be some opportunity for exclusively online stuff, or a combination of online and retail, it's just a matter of time. I think anybody would bet money on that. The momentum of online is only going to pick up, there's so many reasons for it to go that way. Eventually.