Monthly Archives: May 2006

Nice graph of console prices from 1976 onwards, adjusted for inflation. Note that in the past, none of the more expensive consoles proved very successful… As noted in an earlier article of interest, EA’s R&D spending is skyrocketing. They’ve since … Continue reading →

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Posted on May 16, 2006 by David J Edery

E3 Recap: Console Wars

Posted on May 15, 2006 by David J Edery| 3 Comments

E3′s over, and I’m back. First, a quick kudos to the ESA for keeping noise levels under control this year. It was actually possible to make a phone call in (parts of) South Hall. Not to say “big audio” was eliminated — you could feel your torso rumbling with the bass in the EA booth. Love it.  :)

So much to say; I hardly know where to begin. Let’s start with Nintendo:

Nintendo Wii

By now you’ve probably read about Nintendo’s triumph; people literally stampeded past the Sony booth in their rush to experience the Wii. Of course, as many others have already pointed out, “winning E3″ doesn’t mean a whole lot in the long run (re: Dreamcast), but it certainly doesn’t hurt, and it sure must feel good.

My personal experience with the Wii was (mostly) a blast. I couldn’t get enough of Wii Tennis; it feels so natural using the controller as a virtual racquet, and there’s something too cool about delivering a vicious overhead serve in the comfort of your living room.  :)

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Posted in Marketing / PR, Platforms

Hey all — I feel guilty about it, but I doubt that I’ll be able to update Game Tycoon much over the next few days. I’m in meetings and events almost constantly from morning till late evening. That said, I’ll … Continue reading →

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Posted on May 9, 2006 by David J Edery

User-Generated Content: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Posted on May 8, 2006 by David J Edery| 3 Comments

Via Joystiq, an interesting controversy: id co-founder John Romero has accused the modding community of hurting the game industry by exposing or introducing inappropriate content (i.e. nudity) in PC games. His post was in response to the ESRB’s re-rating of Oblivion (which happened after a nudity mod surfaced.) John’s exact words: “modders are now screwing up the industry they’re supposed to be helping.”

There are a number of interesting comments on John’s original post which you may wish to read. Meanwhile, this raises a couple issues that I’ve been meaning to write about:

Whose Side Are They On, Anyway?

When consumers decide to create content for a game (or anything else), they’re doing it to indulge their own creative impulses, and/or to share something with friends, and/or to gain notoriety, and/or other reasons that have little to do with “wanting to help the industry” (or the developer, for that matter.) Let’s not kid ourselves: the guys who made Counterstrike didn’t do it to make Valve rich… that was simply a nice side-effect.

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Posted in Business (in general), Design / Production, Legal / Politics, Marketing / PR, Platforms, User-Generated Content

Wow — the universe made up for Monday’s news drought with a severe vengence: MindArk, developer of the MMO Project Entropia, is now issuing real ATM cards, which can be used with Versatel machines internationally. Virtual cash is apparently converted … Continue reading →

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Posted on May 4, 2006 by David J Edery

In-Game Advertising Ideas

Posted on May 3, 2006 by David J Edery| 1 Comment

Now that we know Massive could be valued at up to $400M, I think it’s high time I launch my own startup to take advantage of the in-game advertising market. I’ll be calling it either “Gigantic” or “Enormous”, or maybe “Ginormous”. And I won’t actually have proprietary technology or an ad-sales team. I’m just going to think of neat ideas for in-game ads, then sell those ideas to the highest bidder. Given the current market conditions, “Edery Ginormous, Inc.” should be worth at least a mil, wouldn’t you say?  :)

And, lest I be accused of empty posturing (or wasting your time, though it’s probably too late to avoid that), here are some of my ideas for in-game ads. The key to these ideas is: A) they all “fit naturally” within the game’s environment, B) they reinforce the advertiser’s brand message in some way, C) they do not distract the player from the fun; rather, they are part of the fun.

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Posted in Ads-in-Games

Nothing in the news caught my attention yesterday. So, in lieu of the usual ‘articles of interest’ post, check out this cute video; Counter-Strike superimposed on reality. Warning: it drags a bit in the beginning.

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Posted on May 2, 2006 by David J Edery

Why Would Microsoft Buy Massive?

Posted on May 1, 2006 by David J Edery| 1 Comment

Ever since it was announced that Microsoft may acquire Massive, speculation has run rampant as to what MS is up to. Mmmmm…. speculation. I want in.

Massive has the following: relationships with most major developers and publishers, a solid ad-sales group, and (presumably good) ad-serving technology. Massive’s expertise and insight has some value as well, though it’s difficult to quantify how much.

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Posted in Ads-in-Games