EDITOR'S MESSAGE (3/1)

On its playing field you have various strategies, a competitive spirit and end goals so lucrative the contestants just keep coming. But for others, games are business, particularly in our city’s booming video
game development hub in Fortitude Valley.

The largest player is Krome Studios. It also happens to be the biggest in the country and will soon release a major Xbox arcade-style game with Microsoft. But despite years of success, CEO Robert Walsh tells Brisbane Business News that his industry has not been given the recognition it deserves in Australia. That may change once you read this edition.

It’s an industry where high risks are often returned exponentially in the reward stakes, but as Brisbane’s companies develop their own intellectual property there is still a need for reliable revenue streams from multinational contracts. On that note, how the Aussie dollar fares will mean a lot for this local industry that provides an affordable and culturally-familiar outsourcing option.

We look at how Facebook is changing the games industry, as well as the opportunities presented by Microsoft and Sony’s platforms where developers can simply upload their productions to a network – a
gamer’s equivalent to independent publishing.

On the other side of business, there’s no game like the share market. It seems that the global recovery is heavily pitched on a commodities boom from Chinese demand, but is this mere assumption? We talk to those in the know about which commodities are set to thrive and whether there could be such a thing as a ‘China bubble’. This in addition to a snapshot of who produces what out of Brisbane’s publicly listed mining companies.

In opinion, Australian Business Lawyers Tim Capelin sheds light on the Federal Government’s IR reforms and how they will impact small business. In export, we talk to a high flying Brisbane animator that works with Disney and an innovative medical technology company that recorded $40 million in export revenues last year.

In our finance feature we speak to experts from HLB Mann Judd, Cashflow Finance and Genesys Wealth Advisers about what’s in store for lending, IPOs and the companies to watch in 2010. We also look at the benefits of going ‘back to school’ in our education feature and showcase South East Queensland’s best function venues in our conference and events feature. Avoid the pitfalls, find the best event managers and prime venues.

In news you’ll hear all about resignations, new CEOs, results and all you need to know to keep you in the loop. In travel, journalist Jason Oxenbridge takes us to the wilds of Fiji on a executive surfing escape. Business News Publications also has some positive news of its own. The publisher behind Brisbane Business News has signed a distribution deal with Fairfax that will see our growing stable
of magazines delivered alongside BRW, Australian Financial Review and Smart Investor.