Monthly Archives: June 2006

The Cost of Turnover

Posted on June 29, 2006 by David J Edery| 1 Comment

When it comes to turnover, game companies tend to look extremely good or extremely bad — there’s not much middle ground. This speaks to both the passionate nature of game developers, and the merciless development schedules (and/or questionable employment practices) of some companies. So, for those struggling with high turnover, I thought I’d write a little story. What’s it cost you when an unhappy employee (who could have been happy with better compensation, hours, and/or working environment) leaves your company?

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Posted in Business (in general)

Henry Jenkins, co-director and founder of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program (which I work for), has begun writing a blog. If you haven’t already visited, you should. Henry’s an amazing thinker and writer, and I’ve learned a lot from … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 27, 2006 by David J Edery

Interview with Bing Gordon (EA)

Posted on June 26, 2006 by David J Edery| 11 Comments

Bing Gordon is the Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts, as well as a member of the faculty for USC’s Interactive Media Division. He’s also one of the smartest guys around (not to mention famously outspoken), which is why I wanted to email-interview him for my blog. Here’s what came of it:

Controversy over the rising number of game design programs in the US has heated up. Some people claim that academics can’t (or won’t) teach useful skills to aspiring designers. Some claim that, beyond technical training, only commercial project experience is truly useful. How do you feel about this, and what do you think academic institutions should be focusing on?

From first-hand experience, I can say that the best university programs are graduating the best entry-level game-makers. Period. The advantage students have is that they can work on many smaller projects, with teachers as advisers, and they can polish their team and cross-functional skills.

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Posted in Interviews

…or more specifically, London and Greece. Either way, it’s vacation time.  :) Itinerary: just a few days in London to see friends and dash madly from POI to POI. Then, a flight to Athens, followed by immediate escape to the … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 22, 2006 by David J Edery

EA is acquiring Mythic Entertainment, a game company dedicated to MMOs and known for Dark Age of Camelot and the upcoming Warhammer Online. The 2006 MI6 Consumer Study reveals that only 2% of buyers cared about the developer or publisher … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 22, 2006 by David J Edery

Lifestyle Brands

Posted on June 21, 2006 by David J Edery| 2 Comments

This article was originally published by Next Generation.

One of the things we’ve been thinking about (as part of C3 at MIT) is how to turn media properties into lifestyle brands. This is a particularly hot topic in the realm of magazines and television. What I want to know is: what does it take for a game developer or publisher to create a lifestyle brand? And should they even try?

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Posted in Marketing / PR

USC has developed a tool that they claim can effectively, automatically identify flaws in game design by analyzing player experiences. Microsoft’s Peter Moore hints at a simplified controller or control scheme for the Xbox (someday, somehow… we don’t know.) So … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 20, 2006 by David J Edery

User-Generated Content: The List

Posted on June 19, 2006 by David J Edery| 3 Comments

I love the fact that thanks to organizations like Valve, Maxis, and Bioware, user-generated content is attracting tremendous attention from industry and media alike. Still, coverage typically revolves around a single point of interest, i.e. “UGC makes games more interesting” or “UGC can help drive sales.” So I thought I’d compile a (by no means exhaustive) list of the good business-y things about UGC in the context of games:

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Posted in User-Generated Content

Spam Wars, Part 2

Posted on June 15, 2006 by David J Edery| 1 Comment

OK, apparently the spam shield that I installed was having some issues. It has been updated. If you’ve tried to leave a comment in the past and quit in frustration, please try again. And don’t hesitate to email me if it still doesn’t work (I’ve tested it, but then, I tested the older version too.) That’s: david. at. edery. dot. org.

If it keeps causing trouble, I’ll simply waive the white flag and suffer the spam. Until I find another solution (curse of being a geek… I simply cannot resist new WordPress plugins!)

PS. On a barely-related note: I’ve been told that good things might happen if people add this blog as a “favorite” in Technorati. OK, I’ll bite. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, as well as user of technorati, please consider adding me. If you’re registered it takes seconds. If you’re not registered, it takes a few more seconds.  ;)

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Posted in Personal Stuff

Educational games at the forefront this week: Whyville (dubbed a “MUVE”, or “multiplayer virtual environment“) has 1.6M members and offers instruction in multiple subjects, including pathology (i.e. players can catch a virus from other players, which they then must learn … Continue reading →

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Posted on June 15, 2006 by David J Edery