vancouver: Video games may no longer be the exclusive domain of teenage boys in Canada. A recent decision by the crtc to allow video games to be broadcast on cable tv without a special licence will result in the production of a broader selection of video games, say Canadian software developers.

Jon Gill, director of new business development for Sega of Canada, the country’s largest distributor of video games and interactive consumer products, anticipates the new Sega Cable Service will be operational by April.

Cable operators will now be able to apply to the crtc to amend their licence to carry the video game service. Cable operators will then have to work with the video game services to ensure that all restrictions regarding sexual portrayal, violence and advertising to children are met.

Paul Butler, president of Ottawa-based Artech Digital Entertainment, was delighted with the decision. ‘Naturally, it’s another source of revenue for us,’ he says.

Artech recently received a Parents Choice Award for Crystal’s Pony Tales, a video game aimed at young girls. Butler believes this new outlet for video games will result in a greater variety of games being produced.

‘Because we won’t have the risk of creating an inventory of these games, we can make products that don’t necessarily have the same mass-market appeal that products now must have because they are so expensive to produce. That means we can make more products for kids, girls especially, and experiment to see what kind of games people really do want to play.’

It could become a proving ground for products we wouldn’t have otherwise. I suspect we’ll start seeing some new markets being developed that weren’t being developed before. It should work a lot better for the consumer than it does now.’

Sega has also established an Interactive Entertainment Development Fund to expand its participation in Canadian software development.

Gill says producers will be able to access the fund immediately. Because Sega Cable is a discretionary service, money available from the fund will be tied directly to the success of the video game channel and its subscriber base. It will start with 3% of gross revenues, and upon reaching the 200,000 subscriber mark, will escalate to 5%.

Sega invested over $7 million in Canadian software development last year alone, according to Gill. ‘We will continue to increase the amount we invest in this country. The choice of funding, whether it comes from the Interactive Fund or through our international Sega operation, will be dependent on the project.

Gill says the amount of funding available for software producers will be determined on a project-by-project basis.

Funding decisions will be made by a committee comprised of representatives from Sega, software developers, the cable, film and tv production industries, as well as from educational programming.

Producers wanting to take advantage of the new fund will have to submit a complete proposal on storyline concept, state of development, allocation and use of funding proceeds, and the background and track record of the company principals.

‘This is not a grant type of fund,’ stresses Gill. ‘We are making money available for investment and we would expect an equity return. The purpose is to get that all-important seed money directly to the software developer.’

As for the kinds of projects Sega is interested in funding, Gill says the company’s primary interest is video games that could be used through the channel or Sega’s international game distribution, although they are also interested in proposals for multimedia projects.

‘In general,’ he says, ‘we want to produce products that appeal to every member of a family.

Other areas of particular demand for Sega include video software that expands its demographics and would appeal to audiences under the age of 12, particularly girls, and over the age of 25 on topics other than sports.