Is Yummisoft.com the Game Portal of the Future?

Electronic Gaming Business, March 10, 2004

Imagine a game information site and player community that was accessible from the Web, from your connected console, from within a PC game or perhaps even from a cell phone. Yumisoft.com, now in beta and slated to launch formally on April 1, is experimenting with a model that hopes to bring both gameplay and game community across all of these platforms.

While the basic content categories at Yummisoft seem familiar -- news, reviews, rants, interviews -- "This isn't your standard gaming portal," says Adam Mateljan, CEO, TerraForge, which created the site. "This is a visual representation of the Asgard Gaming Community." The AGC is an engine that is designed to allow cross-platform game play and player community functions. Games that integrate the AGC will allow players on a PC version of the titles compete with players of a PS2 version, or across any other platform version of the title and also access chat, email, forums and other functionality, some of which is now available at Yummisoft.com.

Well, in point of fact, little of this future fantasy is in evidence at Yummisoft.com or from TerraForge this second, although its outlines are evident at the site. Members of the community create profiles that eventually will become accessible from within games that incorporate the AGC. TerraForge is currently developing a multi-platform trading card game, Yummiverse ( http://www.yummiverse.com ) which is scheduled to go into beta testing this quarter. A third party is using the system to develop Acres, a massively multiplayer turn-based strategy game in Flash MX.

For now, however, Yummisoft.com is a promising alternative to the mainstream game information sites, because it is already finding grassroots support for a unique set of features. "In the past five days we have had 150,000 visits just in beta," says Mateljan, "and 65% of visitors have looked at least at 11 pages of content." In a masterful PR move, the site solicited audio interviews with 14 editors at other games-related sites, which are initiating a "Talk 'n Yummi" streaming audio series. In addition to the press release, links from many of these sites helped drive initial traffic.

The first interview, with the head of Penny-Arcade.com, an online comics site, runs over an hour. Mateljan invites industry executives, analysts and developers to participate in the series, which is being booked by Doug Mealy, president, Online Marketing and Public Relations ( http://www.om-pr.com ). The series is unique - no other streaming audio show for gaming is available online. But the media player interface is what makes the feature exciting both for listeners and for marketers. The "Talk 'n Yummi" player has two panes for showing synchronized images and text. In the initial run, Yummisoft has plugged in additional commentary and pictures of the games or hardware being discussed. Mateljan says this is a place where game ads also can run as well as screenshots and other information about a company while a rep is being interviewed. He has 18 interviews already in the can, including three game developers. Much of the editorial is being provided in-house and from community members.

Rather than traditional banner placements, Yummisoft is focusing on sponsorships for site features, events and sections of the site. "Anything on our system can be sponsored, including whole sections," says Mateljan. In fact, games using the Terraforge multi-platform engine like the upcoming Acres will have sponsorships as well. "Coca Cola could come in and sponsor the game for a month," notes Mateljan, who apparently aims high.

Contacts: Adam Mateljan, 760/682-0227; Doug Mealy, dmealy@om-pr.com

[Copyright 2004 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]