Just wanted to mention that I’ll be giving the keynote at the Digital Distribution Summit in Melbourne on September 29th, organized by Film Victoria. I’ve been asked to focus my lecture on XBLA/PSN, but I think the other speakers will address iPhone, Steam, etc. Simon Carless and Jamil Moledina will be there as well, so it should be a good time. :-)

This will be my first visit to Australia, so I’m excited! Tourism suggestions welcome. And of course if you’re going to be at the conference, drop me a note.

PS. I’ll be traveling for three weeks (leaving this Thursday) so my blog activity will be light during that time.

A list of the various problems that can emerge when you employ the 3rd party offer revenue mechanisms that are becoming increasingly popular in F2P games.

Nexon’s revenues were up 35% year-over-year — looks like their international expansion is going well.

The Economist writes up Quest to Learn, the new school that will be based on a curriculum of games designed by Katie Salen. The article includes some interesting example games: “pupils take on the role of an ancient Spartan who has to assess Athenian strengths and recommend a course of action. In doing so, they learn bits of history, geography and public policy.” Also: “imagine they are pyramid-builders in ancient Egypt. This means learning about maths and engineering, and something about the country’s religion and geography.”

Ad Age: “In 1999, EA Sports, publisher of the Tiger games, ramped up ads and PR for about six weeks before the game launched and for a few weeks after… today EA Sports develops a marketing plan for each platform and type of content and runs it all year… The fire and fanning mentality just won’t work anymore.”

If you happened to see my IGDA or GDC lecture on “MBA Lessons” and liked what I said about motivating employees, here’s a more in-depth TED talk devoted to the same themes and research that I mentioned. The talk is by the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

There’s more to life than games:

This Slate piece is easily the most informative article I’ve read about US healthcare.

If you are developing an original IP for XBLA or PSN, or hope to develop one someday, this post is for you.

Given the sales estimates being reported by Gamasutra (see these helpful examples), given what I’ve heard from individual developers as of late, and given the relative strength of established IP on the platform to date, I estimate that in general, no more than nine truly original IP-based games will succeed in any given year on XBLA. This is obviously a rough guesstimate at best; there is certainly the possibility that you will see more (or less) hit original-IP based titles in any given year. But even if I’m off by a few, you’ll see shortly that it doesn’t matter for the purposes of this post.

Now assume that approximately four (or more) of those original IPs will be successful partially because they are high quality, but partially because they are king-made by Microsoft. They might be included in the annual Summer of Arcade promotion. They might support a new 360/LIVE platform feature and be showered with tremendous dashboard and press exposure. They might be internally developed by Microsoft Game Studios. And the list goes on… (I would have included winning the Dream Build Play competition, but it seems like Microsoft is now keeping the winners in the Indie Games Channel.)

Now assume your original IP is not king-made. Darn!

You’ve got approximately five chances left to turn a serious profit on your XBLA game. You’ve worked endless hours and paid yourself peanuts, all in the name of making a great game. You’ve taken the time to create a decent demo experience. Still, it feels like you’re forgetting something… but what could it be? Frustrated, you decide to take a night off and have some fun at PAX. But when you walk through the main entrance, it hits you:

Twisted Pixel, showing off The Maw, Splosion Man, and their upcoming title, Comic Jumper	Slick Entertainment, showing off upcoming title, Scrap Metal
Ankama Games, giving private demos of upcoming title, Islands of Wakfu	Klei, showing off the upcoming title, Shank

You spent so much time developing your baby that you forgot to get out there and talk about it… but the competition didn’t! There were at least six different XBLA development shops parked right by the main entrance! Handing out toys. Showcasing their games. Kissing hands and shaking babies. (Or is it the reverse? You’re so distraught that you can’t remember!) And for many, this isn’t their first conference. The Behemoth… what conference do they not go to? And Twisted Pixel… those wacky guys never cease to charm the public with their adorable Maw plushies.

You play a few demos and grudgingly admit that these guys are making pretty decent games, too. A pit forms in your stomach as you realize that you might be screwed. But hey, that won’t happen. Marketing is bullshit, right? Quality always wins, Right?

Right.