• Nintendo was an exhibitor at Life@50+, an event sponsored by the American Association of Retired People (AARP). Love it.
• An NPD study finds that game demos (in stores, online, or at someone else’s house) are of “primary importance” to consumers. No surprises there.
• Dilbert’s personal life revolves around his Xbox 360. I’m so proud.  :-)
• A look at the quarterly financial results for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. We’re doing pretty well, but oh man, the DS remains a thing to envy! (Via Kim Pallister).

I’m subscribed to a producers’ mail list that recently hosted a discussion about the pros and cons of milestone-related monetary bonuses for employees. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a broad variety of opinions. I thought it might be interesting to share some quotes (plus my own thoughts, of course!)

There appeared to be consensus on the long-term ineffectivness of this type of bonus. A number of well-known research studies [example] have had similar conclusions. All the more interesting, then, that this form of compensation remains widely in-use (not just in the video game industry, but many others as well.) Comments from the list:

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Quick note to explain the username/password fields that now appear at the top of this blog. They only serve one purpose at present — to enable you to permanently bypass the gibberish-generator when adding a comment to my posts (and also, to prevent your comments from erroneously being quarantined by my secondary spam filter.) Many of you have complained about the gibberish thing, so I implemented this (rather than capitulate to the spammers… I’m way too stubborn for that.)

Anyway, there’s absolutely no pressure to register; you can keep commenting the old way and that’s perfectly fine with me. And if you do register, I won’t spam you, sell your email address to catalog companies, or anything similarly nefarious. I might ridicule your username (Mr. “MonkeyLuv4u”), but only in private.

• Internet communities (such as YouTube and MySpace) propel Weird Al Yankovic to his first top 10 album in 30 years. This is my new favorite example of the power of online, grassroots buzz. :-)
• Interesting GoPets Interview. Good quote: “In GoPets, a lot of people try to be the ‘Most Friendly’ … If I give the most gifts, I show up on the most generous list … People will compete in completely noncompetitive environments.”
• Escapist article on the importance of timing to a game’s success. Short on constructive advice, but a useful reminder (especially re: macro conditions, for those of us with our heads down.).
• Ubisoft opens an office in Mexico. I have no good reason for linking to this, other than that I’m thrilled to see the game industry taking emerging markets more seriously.

The first iteration of the GDC 2007 schedule was just announced, and it looks like I’m on it (twice!) Check it out.  :-)

PC Gaming in an Age of Connected Consoles
Speaker: David Edery (Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner, Xbox Live Arcade), Warren Spector (President, Junction Point Studios), Soren Johnson (Designer & Programmer, Firaxis Games), Michael Capps (President, Epic Games, Inc.)
Track: Business and Management
Format: 60-minute Panel

The PC game industry is in flux. While sales of casual and massive multiplayer games are rising, sales of traditional AAA titles are reportedly declining. The panel will discuss how PC games should evolve to compete with and complement console titles, and identify promising areas for ongoing PC game development. Issues include: is the decline real (and, if so, what is behind it), how will MMOGs continue to impact the market, which business models are most appealing for PC game development and distribution, and how should PC game design evolve in response to the capabilities of modern consoles?

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• Retro gaming continues its resurgence; Konami’s classics are headed to the Nintendo DS.
• In Second Life, user-created content is trouncing corporate-created content (popularity-wise).
• Another set of console sales predictions (this time by IDG). IMO, the picture will be a heck of a lot clearer six months from now…
• A very simple (but apparently effective) example of viral marketing, targeted at early buyers of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

I really wanted to write another article about games and the wisdom of crowds this weekend. Instead, I spent some time hacking the limbs off overgrown trees in my otherwise spectacular backyard, which I just acquired (along with the house in front of the backyard.) The house is nice, too, but I can’t do anything with it until the floors are ripped up to accommodate my wife’s taste in hardwood, and the walls are painted to obscure the previous owner’s fascination with florescent green and blue stripes. (To be fair, they had kids, which I’m told can trigger natural but horrific lapses in aesthetic judgment. It’s all part of the same biological mechanism that prevents parents from realizing that their children are ugly, singing woefully off-key, and/or kicking the back of my chair during a movie.)

But I digress. My backyard rocks (see the photo below for indisputable proof). My article on the wisdom of crowds, on the other hand, does not rock, because it does not exist, and probably will not exist until I have imposed my will to a sufficient extent upon the hapless vegetation that inhabits my new domain. [Insert maniacal cackle here.]

I am considering the purchase of more power tools. Life is good.

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• A perspective on the strength of Chinese local casual game platforms, and the variations in consumer demand.
• In2Games develops a “more accurate” and “universal” (i.e. USB) motion-sensitive game controller. Very interesting, but probably futile unless a major platform or publisher embraces it.
• It is becoming increasingly common to read about patents and prototypes of systems that enable gameplay through pure thought-control. Awesome. Here’s another.
• Thought-provoking list of “must-have” user-created items in Second Life. Gives insight into the nature of the sandbox and the great creativity of its users.

A couple of weeks ago, Henry raised a key issue in the global discourse on user-generated content. That issue: should users benefit financially from content they have created with industry-provided tools (or shared via industry-provided distribution systems?) Here’s a good quote from the post:

If consumers are helping to generate the intellectual property and helping to market the product, shouldn’t they receive some economic return on their participation? Lund says no — that this would fundamentally change their relationship to the company…

I made a few comments on Henry’s post which I’d like to echo here. To the point: I think it’s clear that economic returns, while not always the best (or even appropriate) creative incentive, are not inherently contrary to the spirit of user-generated content. In some cases, financial incentives may even grease the wheels of UGC.

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• Activision and Valve have agreed to distribute Call of Duty, COD 2, COD United Offensive and Gun via Steam. An interesting vote of confidence in the service.
• Clint Hocking raves about the Wii’s SDK (specifically, the part that enables designers to record their own movements as input data.)
• EA will enable gamers to unlock hidden content in Tiger Woods for a fee, instead of (and in addition to) unlocking it via play; a partial solution to addressing the concerns of affluent, low playtime gamers.
• Via GameTab, USA Today reports that Warner Brothers is cutting year-end estimates for hi-definition video sales, due to expectations that only 1.5M capable devices will be sold.
• Reuters has set up a virtual news bureau in Second Life; it will bring real-world news to SL players, and SL-news to the real world. Philip Rosedale must be ecstatic. :-)
• Some stats and predictions, re: the Korean games market, via Raph Koster.
• CMS student Dan Roy’s thoughts on the benefits of education via (mobile) MMOs.