Monthly Archives: October 2006

Game Difficulty & Consumer Expectations

Professor Stacy Wood, faculty advisor to C3, has unveiled more research on consumer behavior; this time, she studied the consumer’s emotional reaction to the process of learning how to use a product (and the customer’s subsequent overall satisfaction with that product). Stacy’s research isn’t game-specific, but is particularly interesting in the context of games. After all, video games have evolved (by necessity and definition) into some of the most elegant learning systems ever designed!

Stacy’s key conclusions, which probably won’t surprise members of this industry, are as follows:

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Articles of Interest Via Phil Steinmeyer, a great set of dynamic charts displaying the most popular casual games, most successful casual game developers, etc. Forgive me for indulging in a little humorous competitive ridicule. :-) To be fair, I’ll mention … Continue reading

I have some lovely news: Singapore’s Media Development Authority and MIT CMS are joining forces to create a multi-million dollar, multi-university international game laboratory! I was fortunate enough to take part in the birth of this initiative before leaving MIT … Continue reading

Game Developer Magazine reports that, according to research group Strange Agency, “survival horror is the most appealing genre to hardcore female game players.” Explanation offered: these games typically provide a “compelling reason” to fight — i.e. plot elements that counterbalance … Continue reading

Interview with Michael Gluck (EA)

Michael Gluck is a Senior Sales Analyst for EA’s sales team. In his spare time, Michael composes and performs video game music in concert; his shows often attract thousands of people at a time. Given his dual business and creative activities, as well as his remarkable immersion in gamer fan culture, I felt that Michael’s take on music’s place in the video game industry would be interesting…

Please say a little about your concert playing.

I am a pianist specializing in the performance of music from video games. Under the stage name “Piano Squall”, I gave my first concert in 2003 and currently perform about fifteen shows each year.

My only goal as a performer is to share my love of game music with as many people as possible, while raising as much money for charity as possible. I donate everything I make from concerts to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which is fighting the disease to which my grandmother succumbed. I also provide Benefit Concerts that support a diversity of charitable causes, such as cancer research, literacy programs, and food drives.

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Interesting note in the C3 blog about two things. First: Netflix has launched a contest encouraging the community to help improve the Netflix recommendation engine (it is being received very well). Second: some good thoughts on how family-sharing of accounts … Continue reading

A quick announcement, on behalf of MIT (reprinted from Henry’s blog): The Comparative Media Studies Program is proud to announce an exciting forthcoming conference, The Futures of Entertainment, to be held at MIT on Nov. 17 and 18. The event … Continue reading

Via Digg, a fun, simple flash game called “Red” that vaguely reminds me of the Atari classic Missile Command. Rockstar will offer two downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV episodes on the Xbox. (I nearly missed this news in the chaos … Continue reading

Exertainment Groundhog’s Day

Every few months, it seems like a new “exertainment center” is unveiled (i.e. a glorified gym featuring a few exertainment devices, most of which have been on the market for a few years and have failed to develop a large customer base.) The latest, Overtime Fitness, got a writeup in ArsTechnica which inspired me to finally write this article.

I won’t mince words — the “exertainment industry” is a troubled beast, despite profound media interest and a notable influx of venture capital. Several exertainment startups (both on the gym and the equipment sides) have gone out of business in the past few years alone. The reasons for this are numerous:

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