April 27, 2006 - By Carly Mayberry, The Hollywood Reporter

The world of video games not only is expanding to include the casual user but also evolving into a powerful visual art form brimming with sophisticated story lines and greater elements of interactivity.

When they weren't giving a sneak peek of their newest games to debut at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo conference, that was the essence of a discussion by top video game execs at Tuesday night's Digital Coast Roundtable held at the Park Hyatt in Century City.

"For me, games are as valid an entertainment as TV or film," said Neil Young, vp and general manager of Electronic Arts Los Angeles. "It's a pretty interesting time to be in the game space."

Young, whose properties include the "Medal of Honor" and "Lord of the Rings" franchises, said the success of a video game property depends on a broadly appealing concept, its competent execution and a certain degree of innovation.

A movie-related game comes with a built-in audience, but the potential financial gains are reduced by the cost of the license. "At the end of the day, our strategy is to be a little more selective of the properties we license while trying to have the right mix to reach as many people as possible," he said.

Ed Zobrist, senior vp global marketing Vivendi Games and president of Sierra Online, said players responded to the immersive experience and liked having some control over what happens in the alternative world.

"When you think about the fact that 80%-90% of gamers don't get to the end of a game, the whole concept is to make them more applicable to what people want to do with it," said Zobrist, whose titles include "Scarface" and "50 Cent: Bulletproof."

Kevin Browne, general manager for Xbox new media and franchise development at Microsoft Corp., known for such properties as "Halo," "Viva Pinata" and the upcoming "Alan Wake," also espoused the embracing of a broader spectrum of gamers.

"I'm glad to have the kind of game that I can get excited about with my wife sitting next to me on the couch and playing it with me," he said.

THQ executive vp worldwide publishing Kelly Flock, who has long-standing relationships with Pixar and Nickelodeon, said creating excellent games was the best way to expand the market. "You have to draw the hard-core gamer in, and if you do it right and keep those people in, you eventually attract a whole other audience," he said.

The event was hosted by the Digital Coast Roundtable, a Southern California nonprofit leadership organization dedicated to emerging technology and new-media companies.

Copyright 2006, The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.