tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-187035862024-03-06T20:06:59.587-08:00Video Game MarketingIndie Game Marketing from the author of the Game Marketing book, The Indie Developer's Guide to Selling Games. Video Game Marketing made simple... or at least as simple as I can make it.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-90226358510140956562008-11-15T15:51:00.000-08:002008-11-15T16:04:54.248-08:00Who's Your User?On the web a topic I really dont hear much chatter about is "who" is visiting your site. Not, specifically, in the individual sense, but the general demographic layout of a site.<br /><br />For instance, which is better, to have 50% US traffic and 100,000 visitors or have 25% US traffic and 200,000 visitors?<br /><br />Both have the same NUMBER of US visitors, and the second group has more traffic... and that should make them better, right? The answer: Maybe.<br /><br />People reading this may have a diverse set of site types. A high bandwidth, low/no ad site may simply not CONVERT high enough to make the use of bandwidth worth crappy traffic, meaning foreign traffic actually costs you money to have. A high ad, low bandwidth site, on the otherhand, suffers from something different. Did you know that US % can influence your overall ad revenue? That's right, some ads dont run on sites where the overall US % is too low, meaning your eCPM drops because your demographics aren't up to snuff. Similarly special ad deals are always easier to negotiate when you can claim high US %. Special treatment can make a site with half the traffic earn more than twice as much... though honestly twice as much is pushing the limit I believe (but still, a pretty big boost).<br /><br />Oh but it gets more complex boys and girls! Not only does that matter, but targetting matters too. What kinds of games are you posting? I'm becoming more and more convinced that targetting <span style="font-weight: bold;">gender</span> and (if possible) <span style="font-weight: bold;">age</span> are further keys to success on the web.<br /><br />In the example where you are selling a product or retaining users its the same but slightly different stories. Lets use dress up games as an example, targetting young females. If you place DUGs on a general game site you end up with an item that interests some, and your site by mixing together content may appeal to everyone. On the otherhand if you ONLY target girls you'll lose half your traffic (the boys).<br /><br />HOWEVER because your site is so full of <span style="font-weight: bold;">RELEVANCE</span> the return rate of the 50% may be so much higher that you actually grow faster than a mixed site. The cherry on top? By targetting demographically you ALSO are better able to SELL them games and/or sell targetted advertising (IE: Hasbro would be more likely to want a My Little Pony ad on a girl site than a mixed site; or some girly downloadable games would have a much higher conversion rate).<br /><br />So could you WIN by targetting niches rather than the cookie cutter model of white lable one-stop game shops all carrying the same ecclectic mix? Could you win by trying to retain only USA users?<br /><br />Beats me :) There are examples on both sides of the fence on this one, but I just wanted to bring the theory up that more traffic volume is not neccessarily more valuable. A counter intuitive theory that makes the internet go round.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-86288343740273182892008-11-03T20:54:00.000-08:002008-11-03T21:03:38.752-08:00What's a year without updates?I've said it before and I will probably say it again. Im going to try to keep this dang thing updated!<br /><br />Someone actually commented to me, in person, about a blog entry; which made me feel really guilty for not keeping it up to snuff. Mind you, it was a compliment, but still.<br /><br />News is I am going to have a few articles in an upcoming book from gamedev.net; i'll let everyone know where and when. No new material really, just some cleaned up articles I wrote for them ages ago.<br /><br />Most of my time currently is spent on Fallout 3. Good? Bad? Well I am the most jaded of jaded gamers and I have to say it is overwhelmingly positive. Not perfect; nothing is... but gosh its been a lot of fun. #1 complaint is the game lacks that certain personality that #1 and #2 had. That sort of personality that can be described in the same sentence as Monty Python or... perhaps... Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry). Yes Fallout 3 traded whimsical post apocalyptia for a more hard nose stance of trouble in the wasteland. Or perhaps it's just that even in the post apocalyptic future the west is more laid back than the east.<br /><br />I've got business deals brewing, for those that are curious what I am doing with all the time I am NOT spending writing blogs, books, or dime romance novels. I can't talk about ANY of them really, but suffice to say while some may have taken my absense as some kind of retreat from the perils of game marketing it is quite the opposite.<br /><br />I'll try to remember to make a post on the changing landscape of the gaming world. There's a storm brewing people, don't ignore the signs of change.<br /><br />-JoeVGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-26898056621891408722008-06-13T11:59:00.000-07:002008-06-13T12:00:33.291-07:00E Tu Mortus?<h2><a href="http://www.yupgames.com/larva-mortus/game.asp">Larva Mortus</a></h2><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.yupgames.com/gf/img/larva-mortus-med3.jpg" alt="" border="0" height="124" width="165" /><br /><br />From the creators of Jets N’ Guns comes a very creepy kind of shooter. This game is a non-stop action thrill ride! Parental Warning: Contains graphic bodily explosions and some serious splatter.<p></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.yupgames.com/%20larva-mortus">Larva Mortus</a><p></p>VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-69098418056467919992007-08-14T09:24:00.000-07:002007-08-14T09:29:12.417-07:00A New ReviewMy book got a new review recently. Thought I would post it.<br /><br />http://www.spellofplay.com/node/65<br /><br />Sorry for the extreme lack of updates, it's been an exceptionally busy summer; far more than I had expected.<br /><br />Life goes on here. Arcade Town is about to break Alexa 1,000 (I take some of the credit for this upcoming achievement- the rest goes out to Brian and Tom). <br /><br />I've been helping the game Galactic Melee with marketing advice<br />http://www.galacticmelee.com/<br /><br />I'm also still giving some advice to the RTS/MMO/CCG Saga,<br />www.playsaga.com<br /><br />Beyond that I am just busy trying to stay on top of the huge to-do list with keeping ArcadeTown and Heavy Games running smooth.<br /><br />-JoeVGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-67283845628923650792007-02-26T17:13:00.000-08:002007-02-26T17:15:07.032-08:00GameDev Article on PortalsI finally wrote an update to this blog! AND... I wrote another article for GameDev! First in a long time.<br /><br />The subject is what portals want - or more accurately what we want at ArcadeTown. We only assume other portals think on the same lines, but obviously can't speak for them.<br /><br />Enjoy it :)<br /><br />http://www.gamedev.net/reference/business/features/arcadetown/VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1166505330316949962006-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:002007-02-22T19:50:06.673-08:00The Future of Indie GamesI've given a lot of thought as to the ways the indie game "bubble" can progress into the future. It is some people's opinion that making predictions like this are foolish. As they say, better to say nothing and have people think you the fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.<br /><br />Lucky for me that in this case I don't care what people think- I'd rather say it now and be called foolish later than stay quiet and see even one person suffer when they don't respond to a changing environment fast enough.<br /><br />So here is the scoop.<br /><br />Rising production costs have been ongoing and will continue on into the future. The newest item entering our market space is <span style="font-weight: bold;">agents</span>. Agents represent your products, getting you better deals with the portals (and taking a cut for themselves).<br /><br />The agents are going to be aided by two facts early on. One, they can actually make you more money than they cost. Two, CERTAIN portals require the use of approved agents to get your games on their site.<br /><br />Ok, the cutting edge background is set here's the way things are going to come down:<br /><br />As the number of games rise the need for agents will increase. Other portals will begin adopting agent-only policies. Eventually game makers will be forced to have an agent, and as the agent will require that only they may make the deals, even portals that do NOT require agents will end up dealing mostly with them.<br /><br />As the number of agents grows the individual power of agents decreases. Eventually, since game developers are going to be forced to use them, agents will end up taking more than they are able to negotiate. The "confused" masses will say things like "Well, without the agent I would have gotten nothing." - And they are right of course. <br /><br />This percent loss is going to come out of developer pockets. As rising production value = rising cost, the 'break even' point on indie games is going to get harder and harder to maintain. Eventually, most indie developers will be forced out of development; being unable to either get the capital needed to produce a competitive indie game and turn a profit when they are now getting LESS than 20% of a sale. Further, certain clauses in portal contracts are bound to exacerbate this bad percentage.<br /><br />Probably on top of that some larger portals are bound to be acquired by other portals. Thus reducing competitiveness and further empowering those larger portals to give worse deals to indie developers.<br /><br />When will this happen? It could be a year, it could be a decade. I don't know, but this is my current leading theory on the method that will cause the collapse of the indie developed games- though I have a seperate theory on something that could cause the collapse of the downloadable game market as a whole. But that requires game consoles to become household objects used by the entire family for entertainment in place of their PC.... Hey did you know what Nintendo's Wii's goal is? Hmmm...<br /><br />I'm not saying we're all doomed, because frankly some people are going to make out like bandits. Just be aware of the potential path and hazard and recognize it when you see it coming.<br /><br />Finally, a side note: So long as I am with ArcadeTown I plan on stressing to the upper management (read: Brian) we never <span style="font-weight: bold;">require</span> our developers use agents. Using them will be up to you guys. Sadly, that is all I can do to stem this potential endemic. <br /><br />I hope this indie bubble lasts decades rather than years though, because I'm sure having a good time!VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1165874013820903212006-12-11T13:43:00.000-08:002006-12-11T13:53:33.946-08:00A HamletMany of you know my passing obsession with online games. I love to analyze them, I love to play them, and I can't ever seen to find one I want to play for more than a few months. Sad, but true.<br /><br />I want to make a comparison between real estate marketing and game marketing in this "all to similar" world in which we live.<br /><br />What is the difference between a hamlet and a town? Well, there may actually be one in the technical name- but looking beyond the potential "Joe, a town is not actually a hamlet" mentality is that the perceived size of a game matters to the value of the product. A hamlet sounds cozy and friendly, a town is just a town. If you describe the place you live in that cozy and small villa motif the value of your place increases. Further, if it LOOKS like that (regardless of actual population) the value increases more.<br /><br />What am I getting at? Too often I find all these games which are not cozy and not small villas. They actually try to market a quasi-metropolitan ideal. A HUGE world FILLED with people where you're actions are INSIGNIFICANT because there's always someone way higher level than you doing important stuff. <br /><br />Ok, nobody actually describes it like that, but essentially that is what they are doing. <br /><br />When determining your design of the game and the way you deal with community and interactivity consider trying to minimize the impact of having large populations. Sure, you want 100 million players, but you want each player to feel like they are a member of a bedroom community. Figure out a way to have both and you'll find yourself rolling in the riches.<br /><br />The reason behind this is simple. People like to feel special. You can't feel special if you know how small you are. The community needs to build people up, even if it is in some small way. They don't all need to be kings of kingdoms, but to have something percieved as unique- the best blacksmith in a kingdom, the strongest warrior, the guy who can drink more ale than anyone else... WHAT it is doesn't matter. What matters is IDENTITY. People need identity in online communities; and the current cookie cutter designs never seem to deliver.<br /><br />So give that one some thought. How do you give 1 million players an individual identity that goes beyond an avatar....<br /><br />Good luck, it ain't easy ;-)VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1165273124852657822006-12-04T14:54:00.000-08:002007-01-22T11:49:05.996-08:00Credit Cards Declare War!I'm a little behind the times with this- and sorry for the lack of updates.<br /><br />Ok, this one has little to do with game marketing directly. I promise a game marketing post next.<br /><br />I have now seen numerous different commercials for credit card companies. There once was a time when they would battle each other, claiming superiority in a variety of ways.<br /><br />Today the enemy of Visa and Mastercard is no longer eachother, but cash its self. Yeah, for those who haven't been watching TV there's been a blitz of "Anti-cash" advertising, attempting to persuade you that using credit is easier than using cash (which is true in many cases).<br /><br />So for all of you making sci-fi games where people use "credits" and "cred chips" - the future is now!<br /><br />I must admit, I don't carry much cash on me. Rarely more than 20 dollars (for anyone planning to mug me)... so perhaps there's a valid point in the ads; but beware that consumer spending trap!<br /><br />I'll never forget you Washington, Lincoln, Jackson... and I wish I had seen you more often Mr. Franklin, may you rest in peace.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1163467423903134732006-11-13T17:13:00.000-08:002007-02-20T10:00:26.273-08:00VGSmart No MoreWell, after 3 years of running VGSmart (Or possibly of VGSmart running me) I have decided to close down shop. The reasons are all personal decisions to aid my sanity. Neither lack of skill nor lack of interest, but the reality is I was really exhausted from doing it. Working 9 AM to 1 AM takes its toll after three years.<br /><br />On the bright side some things will NOT happen:<br /><br />1) This blog will NOT stop (despite what some would wish)<br />2) My book, www.indiegameguide.com, will still be there for you to purchase<br />3) I am NOT leaving the indie game industry. Instead I have joined forces with ArcadeTown to continue their tradition of excellent products, excellent service, and excellent coffee (that's part of my new job.) Seriously, I am doing business development- so if you always wanted someone at a major portal to talk to, here I am.<br /><br />On a side note to this I would like to point something out that I posted recently.<br /><br />I run my life on a variety of principals, and while I hope I never turn into Steve Pavalina's level of espousing his own philosophies, here's a big one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The bigger the decision the faster it should be made.</span><br /><br />I don't really know what drives this part of the way I operate. I don't even know if it is a good idea. I tend to think your instinct knows much more than your brain, and the faster you make that decision the more your instinct says and the less your arguing voices of reason, doubt, instinct, fear, ambition, ect. will play in it.<br /><br />Anyway, I am reminded of several other decision I made abruptly. The two that stand out most in my mind are deciding if I should quit or stay at a job based on a coin toss (I stayed, but I would have quit had the coin told me to. The second was writing The Indie Developer's Guide to Selling Games, which literally was decided when someone said "You should write a book" and I said, "that sounds like a good idea!"<br /><br />That is the same day I wrote the first dozen pages or so.<br /><br />Anyway, this was one of those decisions. I had planned on downsizing VGSmart's operations over the next 6 months, but a single important personal revelation was all it took for me to compress that 6 month transition into a single day. <br /><br />Appologies to anyone who got left out in the cold because of this, I'm happy to do what I can to alleviate your burden caused by it.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1161657477465505572006-10-23T19:22:00.000-07:002007-02-13T07:12:29.303-08:00NetFlix, Communism, and YouSorry for the delay in posts, I will explain what went on lately another day.<br /><br />Today's post has little to do with marketing beyond understanding spin. It's more a clever observation brought on by a very auspicious ad.<br /><br />Karl Marx basically said that Democracy is the first step to Communism. At least I think it was him... someone important wrote it... I digress. <br /><br />In the video rental world we can actually see the microcosm of an advanced governing system. Allow me to illuminate:<br /><br />When video rentals started it was not dominated by Blockbuster and the very idea of NetFlix would have had people laughing in your face. I will admit that Block Buster was a major player since the get-go; but for now lets just suspend that fact.<br /><br />So early on many video rental stores were the only stores in town. They were local owned and operated. This is basically a democracy, each store's selection and availability based on personal knowledge and supply and demand. It offered some interesting benefits (and since I live in very small town with just ONE movie store where they literally rememebr your name, I can say this from experience) - the owners and workers could help you select good movies and special ordering movies is a breeze. The downside was selections were limited as well as having limited quantities available to rent. Yes, our democratic system worked, but it didn't last too long.<br /><br />It wasn't long before major chains, lead by Block Buster, really kicked it up a notch. With improved selections and centralized corporate structure you gave up a certain level of personal service for improved quantities and selections, and sometimes even lower prices. Yes, this socialst form of half-central and half-local governing is pretty snazzy.<br /><br />And now NetFlix is ready to overtake Block Buster. Doesn't anyone else find it not-surprising that NetFlix is nothing more than a centralized warehouse that literally dishes out pre-destined portions of what movies you CAN and CAN NOT watch? Sure, you make a list of the movies you want, but ultimately you're not even the one selecting them anymore. What if NetFlix decided nobody would rent the movie Shop Girl because it was so bad nobody should ever want to (it is, trust me, don't rent it.) They have the power to do that, we gave it to them.<br /><br />NetFlix is a communism, with all the pros and cons of a communism. It isn't a good thing or a bad thing. I'm not a 1950s anti-soviet flier; I just find it really strange that such an advanced concept of governing can be so simply explained through the evolution of movie chains.<br /><br />Democracy leads to communism. That's what some important guy said, and in this case he sure was right.<br /><br />Oddly, NetFlix does have an outstanding track record; and comes reccomended from every single person I know who uses it. I'll stick to my local store for now though; they give out free popcorn with every rental- made in a real popcorn popper!VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1158189359641805692006-09-13T15:37:00.000-07:002007-02-24T19:56:21.490-08:00A call from ClariaSo I was surprised to see an e-mail from the marketing gal down at Claria asking to discuss the Person<span style="font-weight: bold;">AL</span> web (I made a typo in that post) product and factual errors that occur in my anti-dangerous ads posts.<br /><br />Unlike most bloggers out there, I am not afraid to give a fellow marketeer (heh) a call. And so, I appreciate Kristine and the thirty minute exchange we had before I was so rudely interrupted by another client.<br /><br />So here are the errors I admit to have made in my post.<br /><br />1) PersonAL web is the name of the product (DOH)<br />2) It is NOT a social networking tool. It is only a homepage that displays ads and internet (RSS fed) content tailored to your surfing habits.<br />3) It does not at this time do any browser hijacking of search engine results.<br />4) Gator was the only previous name of the company. GAIN and the Gain Adserver were basically product networks within the Gator company.<br /><br />2 and 3 can, in theory, change, but Kristine said that she is not aware of any current plan to change them.<br /><br />I have changed my blog post to reflect these factual errors.<br /><br />The quote from the Wiki is true, Kristine says that it was a misguided and failed experiment. I say "Why didn't anyone figure that out before they slaughtered their reputation?" However, hindsight is 20/20.<br /><br />Do I trust Claria? Despite the call, which I really do appreciate and has pulled Claria's reputation from "Gutter Trash" to "Possibly on the road to recovery" in my mind, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I still am uncomfortable saying I trust them.</span><br /><br />Is Personal Web dangerous? At this time, after my call with Kristine, I do not believe it is. However, one change to a set of Terms of Service that they know 99% of their customers won't read and it could BECOME dangerous, just like Gator became dangerous.<br /><br />I appologize for the factual errors presented in my blog entry though. I hope that Claria and Personal Web proves me wrong over the next few years and they become a front runner in smart advertising solutions that MAY someday help independent developers by providing extremely targetted advertising at reasonable prices.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Until then both I and my large client will continue to ban their advertisements and not support their company.</span>VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1158115269224567892006-09-12T19:26:00.000-07:002007-02-25T22:17:53.370-08:00Internet Snake OilI am a firm believer that mankind has not evolved much in the last 300 years.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We’re still as savage as we were in the days of colonialism, but more importantly, mankind is still as gullible.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In each era since the dawn of industry there have been charlatans who prey on the ‘weak minded’ or ‘weak spirited’ folk who are really just average Joes and Janes trying to get by in a world that APPEARS to be evolving much too quickly. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Each birth of new industry causes a rebirth in a new form of communication:<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Newspaper, Radio, Television, The Internet, Live videos of some guy jumping out of a moving car downloaded onto your Ipod… And each time some new way to better ourselves comes along, right on their coat tails are the most nefarious schemers.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Today, Joe and Jane America laugh at the ads our parents and grandparents were fooled by.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Yes, Joe Namith did television advertising for women’s stockings, because anything Joe said HAD to be true (right?).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image002.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/320/clip_image002.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.commercialcloset.org/images/data/COMCLOSET_PICS/picture/1805.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 197px; cursor: pointer; height: 147px;" alt="" src="http://www.commercialcloset.org/images/data/COMCLOSET_PICS/picture/1805.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A long time ago newspapers would run ads selling miracles, things that could not possibly be true, but people believed and people purchased because they did not realize something in print could be wrong (or dangerous). </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image005.png"><w:wrap type="tight"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 280px; cursor: pointer; height: 396px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/320/clip_image006.jpg" border="0" /></a></w:wrap></v:imagedata></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic;">Radam's Microbe Killer Lehn & Fink Ad<br />The following in an ad that was in the Lehn & Fink Drug Catalog of 1906...</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic;"><br />Radam’s Microbe Killer<br />Drink A wineglassful of Radam's Microbe Killer after meals and at bedtime and it will prevent and cure disease by destroying bacteria, the organic life that causes fermentation and decay of the blood, the tissues and the vital organs.<br /><br />Radam's Microbe Killer is the only known antiseptic principle that will destroy the germs of disease in the blood without injury to the tissues. Pleasant to the taste and agreeable to the most delicate stomach. A purely scientific remedy, recognized as a true specific.<br />It Cures </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic;">I Gallon Jugs, Price $3.00 40 Oz. Bottle, Price $1.99z</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Taken from http://www.drugstoremuseum.com/sections/level_info2.php?level_id=40&level=2 </span><br /><br />Over time each communication form eventually caught on that selling lies was bad for business, and that real businesses were being driven away by such things.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It wasn’t that the owners of the media companies cared about selling lies, it was all about money.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>People began to disbelieve advertising, and the MOST important factor in any advertising is <b>credibility of source.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Now in our modern age we laugh at these pathetic attempts to fool us into believing miracles can happen.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We laugh and laugh, and then we go on the internet.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Two things happen.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The average Joe and Jane America get fooled by internet advertising snake-oil and the un-average ‘technologically inclined’ people get insulted by ridiculous ads that make us ask “Who clicks this crap!?”<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It messes up the websites we like to go to, it damages their credibility with the masses, and worst of all; nobody seems to care enough to do anything about it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">That’s right, spyware, adware, malware, and spammers are the snake-oil salesman of today, not-so-cleverly disguised behind the mask of an IP address and Terms of Service they know nobody reads.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Gosh, a free screensaver from screensaver.com?<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Lets read the Terms of Service: “<span class="popupcopy">When you download a screensaver or wallpaper from Screensavers.com<b>, you might see a promotion for one of Screensavers's award-winning software products, like our AdZapper pop-up ad killer, our Privacy Manag</b></span><span class="popupcopy"><b>er that helps you surf the web privately, or our Screensavers Toolbar that gives you one-click access to the web's best search engines.</b> You are never unde</span><span class="popupcopy">r any obligation to try these products.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="popupcopy"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="popupcopy">Lets take a look at another famed culprit.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Claria, previously known as Gator, Operators of GAIN.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Their newest “ad” met</span><span class="popupcopy">hod takes the form of PersonalWeb (see graphic below).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>You install this program and it creates a homepage for you (Is this homepage jacking? Sort of like giving permission for homepage jacking).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It watches and monitors what you do and creates a homepage around your habits, which advertisers then bid on/purchase.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It sounds harmless, but in reality you’re downloading something that is watching what you are doing and creating marketing tailored specifically to you. Is that dangerous? Well, it depends on your mentality</span><span class="popupcopy">.</span><span class="popupcopy"> <span style="font-size:0;"> </span></span><span class="popupcopy"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>This is coming from a company who, according to the Wikipedia, “</span>The Gator software has in the past undercut the fundamental ad-supported nature of many Internet publishers by replacing banner ads on web sites with its own, thereby depriving the content provider of the revenue necessary to continue providing that content.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 430px; cursor: pointer; height: 178px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/320/clip_image008.jpg" border="0" /></a><span class="popupcopy"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The internet is a dangerous place, and it is dangerous because people haven’t been aggressive enough with the ad networks and websites they frequent.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Get active, get your websites to BAN dangerous advertisements and get them to tell their ad network “Hell no, we won’t go…along with this crap.” I've taken a stand, with the support of one of my major clients, we have purged all known dangerous and unscrupulus ads from our ad network. We did this and sent a very nice e-mail explaining that we do NOT support these companies. While we know our stance won't change things alone, we hope to be one voice in many that doesn't take this kind of crap.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image009.png"><w:wrap type="tight"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/320/clip_image010.jpg" border="0" /></a>The bottom of this ad:<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>“If you are afflicted with DEAFNESS” … yeah, oil that cures deafness.</w:wrap></v:imagedata></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image012.jpg"></a> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/1600/clip_image012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8031/1836/320/clip_image012.jpg" border="0" /></a>Oh yes, I am once again the 100,000,000<sup>th</sup> person contacted.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Rewards abound.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>And it cures deafness!* </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">*Restrictions Apply</p><br /><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"><v:path connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" extrusionok="f"><o:lock aspectratio="t" ext="edit"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image001.png"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image003.png"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image005.png"><w:wrap type="tight"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image007.png"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image009.png"><w:wrap type="tight"><v:imagedata title="" src="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C07%5Cclip_image011.png"><w:wrap type="tight"></w:wrap></v:imagedata></w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:imagedata></w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:imagedata></v:imagedata></o:lock></v:path></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:stroke>VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1158085263739956472006-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:002007-02-22T08:06:21.186-08:00My IGF ListThe IGF List is now live, as you all have heard. I have my list, but my list is a little different. My list isn't who I think will make the final cut or win- it's my list of which entrants I worked with in some fashion. Some of these games I fully represented, some I only did a press release for, a couple I merely had a formal discussion and gave formal advice to (for free, that's part of my company motto, remember?)<br /><br />So here goes!<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=72"> Astro Battle 2 </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Lava Lord Games </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Build a custom space ship and fight against other players in online battles.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Ages ago I helped on Astro Battle 1)<br /><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=42"> Aveyond </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Amaranth Games </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Fight monsters and explore a medieval world. Aveyond is packed with more than 60 quests, tons of places to explore, and over 40 hours of game play.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Fully Represented, go Amanda!)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=98"> Bugs of War </a> </td> <td valign="top"> NinjaBee </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Bugs of War is a fast playing, accessible, tactics strategy game. Gameplay is deep enough to be satisfying to established fans of the tactics genre, but friendly enough to appeal to more casual gamers as well.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Seeing as I represented every other NinjaBee title, I will PROBABLY work with this one as well)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=53"> Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Mousechief Co. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Level-up a band of teen thrill-seekers for daring adventures in 1920s' USA. Scour their intolerant hometown with brazen hi-jinx. Conquer opposition with a variety of quick games: Taunt, Flirt, Fib, Expose, and Gambit. Acquire dapper dates. Use. Discard. Repeat. Win other handy items. Learn scandalous secrets. Foil a dastardly plot.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Actually I haven't worked with this title yet, but I hope Keith will at least have me do the press release, I think I did one for The Witch's Yarn.)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=45"> Eets: Hunger. It's emotional. </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Klei Entertainment Inc. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Eets is a whacky and fun puzzle game that breaks the mold of the boring puzzle games of yesteryear. With vibrant graphics and gameplay reminiscent to Lemmings and The Incredible Machine, it turns a puzzle game into orchestrated action, at least when things go according to plan. Experience over a hundred puzzles included in the game, and plenty more created by our budding community!</td></tr></tbody></table>(Fully Represented: Jamie is not as pretty as Amanda, but the game sure is.)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=139"> Epoch Star </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Battleline Games LLC. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Prepare yourself for an epic space adventure. Blast apart enemy ships in real-time combat at the helm of your own customizable warship. Complete missions to gain wealth and experience as you explore a distant galaxy filled with exotic alien races to save the universe from the ominous Epoch Star.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Advice given)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=21"> Kudos </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Positech Computing Ltd </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Kudos is a turn-based 'life-simulation' where you control your character from age twenty to thirty, and see if you can turn their life around. You control each day of their life deciding who to socialize with, where to work, and how they relax in their free time.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Press Release)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=74"> Minions of Mirth </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Prairie Games, Inc. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Minions of Mirth is a no-monthly-fee MMORPG! Persistent world with 14 diverse regions, hundreds of quests, thousands of monsters, day/night cycles, and realistic weather. 12 unique races and 16 classes for thousands of playable combinations. Single player, epic battles, player guilds, two hour original score, and more!</td></tr></tbody></table>(Fully Represented, best of luck Lara!)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=123"> New Star Soccer 3 </a> </td> <td valign="top"> New Star Games </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> New Star Soccer 3 is the football career game that lets YOU be the star player. Defender, midfielder or attacker, the choice is yours, just make sure you keep the boss, fans and everyone else happy on your rise to football stardom!</td></tr></tbody></table>(Press Release)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=35"> Pursuit of Power </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Precision Games, LLC </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Pursuit of Power is a real-time strategy game based in a fantasy setting. You assume the role of a leader with powerful abilities that play a decisive role during battles. Your main goal is to defeat all enemy portals and troops.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Press Release)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=100"> Potion Motion </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Flashbang Studios, LLC </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Help Kira the Witch stir up some trouble in this dazzling puzzle game! Rotate pieces around the board to match up colors, create combos, unlock special moves, and buy powerups! The beautiful, eye-catching graphics, relaxing orchestral soundtrack, and innovative rotate gameplay add up to a recipe for fun!</td></tr></tbody></table>(While i haven't worked with Potion Motion, I did help bring Glow Worm to retail. Buy it now at Comp USA and other fine retailers!)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=136"> Starchon </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Freelance Games </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Starchon is a 360 degree scrolling space action shooter with real-time strategy elements. You can't directly decide where to place your computer controlled support units or which sectors to they will attack. However, you have a lot of indirect influence over the outcome of the game. The game is real-time, so if you take to long in a sector, you will probably be overrun by the enemies in the adjacent sectors.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Advice given)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=87"> Stunt Bike Island </a> </td> <td valign="top"> ForgeFX </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Stunt Bike Island is a real-time 3D bike game with spectacular stunts and a tropical twist! Get away to the islands and launch yourself into the trade winds while pulling backflips, yahoos, deathboxes, tail whips and a boat-load of other insane stunts. Collect speed-boosts and other power-ups while you jump over trees, ponds, boulders, and mountains.</td></tr></tbody></table>(I just started working with ForgeFX on a variety of potential business ventures. We'll see if that goes anywhere!)<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=28"> Virtual Villagers: A New Home </a> </td> <td valign="top"> Last Day of Work </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Care for and nurture a tribe of little villagers by teaching them the basics of survival. They need to become farmers, builders, scientists, parents and make decisions about unpredictable ‘island events’! Guide their day-to-day lives and help them explore their new island home and the secrets it holds.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Press Release)<br /><br />Overall, not a bad list if I do say so myself.<br /><br />Best of luck to everyone who worked with me and a little less to anyone who didn't :) <br /><br />PS: I did buy Andy lunch once, does that count as working with Venture Arctic? I'll do it again if so :)VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1156824458756182992006-08-28T20:52:00.000-07:002006-09-10T16:25:14.136-07:00MM NOSo I finally brow beat the NCSoft guys at Gencon into giving me a copy of Auto Assault. Why? Because I worked with the Auto Assault Trading Card Game (which, to save you the rest of this post, is a lot better than Auto Assault- find out at www.autoassaulttcg.com)<br /><br />I play Auto Assault with this feeling like someone had a great idea... and then investors gave their opinion, the marketing guys gave their opinion, and risk analysis specialists gave their opinion... and the resulting stew was not a delicious soup but a horrific gruel.<br /><br />I know indies out there try to make MMOs every so often. Heck, in my opinion it doesn't take too much to make one work. As long as you don't spend millions of dollars and thousands of manhours it isn't hard to recoup the cost to create a small scale, small population MMO.<br /><br />But: here's the professional analysis of where this great idea took a wrong turn down a dead end street.<br /><br />First, what they did right:<br /><br />Auto Assault is a car game. It feels fast paced, at times it IS fast paced. You can drive all over a fully destructable world and its damn fun to run around blowing shit up.<br /><br />Here's where it all falls apart:<br /><br />I'm sure the idea of having originality with your "class" system was discussed. Unfortunately someone with the idea to just copy a hack N' slash RPG won out. So you're left with the mad max version of a fighter, a thief, a healer, and a "pet" class (druid?). Worse, they had three distinct and unique races... and managed to make them all the same. So, in a world where most new MMOs bost a dozen classes (and some over 100); we're left with 4.<br /><br />I can live with the classic four classes though, boring as it may be. What I can't abide by is how darn difficult they made playing it with other people. Look Dungeons and Dragons Online is on one side of the scale, basically FORCING grouping. Auto Assault is on the far other end. I tried to form "convoys" multiple times, but Auto Assault goes out of the way to make it hard. For instance most experience and gains come from completing quests, but two people can't share quests unless they're actually ON the same quest. The odds of running into someone who happens to be doing the exact same quest string you are are astronomically low. The only use in multiplayer is PvP combat and sharing equipment, otherwise this is a single player game with a chat room.<br /><br />Also the game is riddled with bugs. Upon spawning my car's controls got reversed today. I've heard numerous reports that about half the skills in the game either don't work entirely or are so badly implimented they may as well NOT work at all. <br /><br /><br />Anyway: I love the idea of this game. I even like their main combat system (their ability system is kinda lame though). You run around like a bat out of hell turret and front guns blazing trying to keep your enemy in your fire arc. THAT is cool... but i've said it before and I will say it again. If I play a multiplayer game I want to play alongside other people- either trying to kill them or trying to kill something else WITH them.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1155938076033864252006-08-18T14:48:00.000-07:002007-02-10T16:11:22.853-08:00An interesting hack...The other day it was brought to my attention that a game I used to play a whole lot had been hacked. That is, technically they took the ancient beta code and got it working again, offering up a subscription game for free.<br /><br />So the initial reaction is "Well, that is bad"- except there's more to this story. See, the game is pretty much on its last legs with the real publisher. They refuse to update it and keep it current, offering up meager patches and addons without any direction to improve the product. It's like walking through a ghost town, really.<br /><br />Further, the company in question KNOWS about this "hacked" version and has sent a cease and desist letter... and the hacker's response was: "They don't care enough about their game to update it, they're certainly not going to care enough to waste money on a lawsuit."<br /><br />Ya know what? He's right. So, if a hacker ressurrects a game from death out of love of a product (making no money himself) and the company who owns the product doesn't even care enough to file a lawsuit- is it really wrong? Or has this hacker done the now hundreds of players who are playing the 'free' version a great service by bringing their game back from the brink of destruction.<br /><br />I don't have any answers to this one. It is legally wrong, no doubt, but I find myself in support of it. I like this game and I missed it, but without content and opponents it just wasn't any fun: And now it is.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1154556846210003642006-08-02T14:56:00.000-07:002007-01-15T04:29:07.156-08:00E3... And my opinionBy now everyone has heard about and has an opinion on E3.<br /><br />Here's my quote that I gave a major website on behalf of one of my clients:<br /><br />"It's about damn time someone cleaned up that over-hyped, garbage spewing, media circus. LA has enough over-hyped, garbage spewing, media circuses without our industry's help."<br /><br />Ok, maybe that was a little too harsh (or maybe not harsh enough)- but the fact remains that E3 was a broken system. Oh yes, the gamers will whine, no more will they have a chance to drink booze for three days while they get in the way of actual business. Poor them.<br /><br />E3 was nothing but a load of bullshit fed to anyone who'd believe it and I, for one, am happy someone put their foot down. It is SUPPOSED to be an industry only event. It is supposed to be about business meetings wearing nice suits, shaking hands, and getting a chance to convince a BUYER that your new product is worth them ordering an extra x-thousand units... and fun stuff like that.<br /><br />So I have a thousand people on my press release list. If E3 does it right there should be, maybe, 5,000 people attending that show this year- because that is all the people who SHOULD be there. That's 55,000 people who I never should have seen any other year... and god bless them who made me wait an hour to get a cup of coffee, delayed me en route to important meetings, or stank the bathroom up with their nappy ass gamer smell.<br /><br />Good riddens you industry leeches, but keep buying our games anyway ;-)VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1153069543527137532006-07-16T10:05:00.000-07:002007-02-20T09:57:42.136-08:00When NOT to make a demoBased at a thread from Indie Gamer: http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?p=101067&posted=1#post101067<br /><br />There are a number of factors which go into if you need a demo or not. In my book *shameless plug* I allude to the fact it may be in your best interest to NOT have a demo at times.<br /><br />Here are the factors that go into the demo making decision. I'll repost this in my blog as well:<br /><br />1) Hype- How much work has been done and how much are you relying on the demo to build hype. If you're about to release a game and haven't done anything to promote it then you need a demo to help build traffic.<br /><br />2) Target Audience- Who is likely to purchase your product? The closer you get to the match-3 / diner dash casual audience the more you will need a demo. The reason is because your target audience with casual games don't consider themselves game players. They download games every day (yes, that's right) and their purchases are purely impulsive. This is slowly changing, but will still be true for a long time.<br /><br />3) Difficulty of the Game- The reason most titles do NOT have a demo is because their complexity. For example: A wargame. The theory is that a demo user is less motivated to learn a game and will dislike it more because they don't understand what is going on. If they purchase the game they will take the time to read the manual and understand the dynamics, leading to greater enjoyment and more likely second purchases.<br /><br />4) Quality of the Game- Looks vs. Quality is an important factor here. If the game looks fantastic and plays like ... well, crap. It is in your best interest not to have a demo. The worse the game the less likely you should be to release a demo- afterall, it is better to have your customers unsure of your quality than to know your game sucks. When in doubt, since you are unlikely to honestly say your own game sucks... ask someone objective... like me.<br /><br />5) Quality of the Demo- If your developer in question has no clue how to make a good demo, a demo will actually hurt sales. A good demo design that cuts the user off at the right time is vital to higher conversion rates.<br /><br /><br /><br />I tried to get these in 'importance' order, more or less. The key problem most indie developers face is simply their entire marketing plan hinges on a demo. The target audience is a factor that will simply force you to make a demo no matter what.<br /><br />This is probably missing a few ideas, given I wrote this in about 5 minutes of the factors I have seen that either damaged a game's sales or factors I have seen that lead to the decision not to make a demo. Still, it is a good guideline to get you started.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1152292878802399232006-07-07T10:18:00.000-07:002007-02-25T12:53:08.526-08:00The Lingering PR EffectA press release client of mine recieved an e-mail this morning from a paper magazine in Portugal. This isn't unusual, a good press release and a good game can often catch the attention of magazine editors.<br /><br />What was unusual is that they contacted us 6 MONTHS after the press release. I see this a couple times a year actually. It always amazes me, but people can and do remember good press releases and sometimes you are still getting bites months after releasing them.<br /><br />One more reason that press releases provide excellent 'bang for your buck' opportunity.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1152139707267036862006-07-05T15:41:00.000-07:002007-02-10T13:11:14.773-08:00When you assume thingsIn a recent discussion with a collegue of mine the point was brought up: In your book you don't explicitly say how important it is to have a legible, well written and well presented, press release.<br /><br />I had made the assumption that ANY such release would be legible and well written. However, this collegue was on the recieving end of press releases rather than the sending one and I was assured that this is NOT the case.<br /><br />I know my blog is not exactly the paradigm of grammar and spelling, but when you are contacting a member of the press; be it from a press release or solicitation for review... USE PROPER GRAMMAR and SPELLING. If you are contacting places in English and English is not your native language- have someone else write it for you. Most people out there would be happy to take the 60 seconds and put it together for you. Not speaking the language is not an excuse. You don't have to appologize for it (I get a lot of 'sorry, I speak not english well.' e-mails). Nobody I know holds the fact you weren't raised in the US or UK against you, but if we can't figure out what you are asking the odds are your e-mail ends up in the trash rather than having us take the time to sort it out.<br /><br />So my point: <br />If you speak english and write poorly you have no excuse. Get someone else to do it.<br />If you don't speak english, get someone else to do it.<br /><br />The importance is the person recieving the e-mail can quickly understand what you want, be it review or news posting and believe that your company is as professional as any other.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1151275686368977072006-06-25T15:33:00.000-07:002007-02-23T17:45:50.906-08:00Off to OriginsAs of Tuesday I fly off to Origins- while the rest of you slave away at Casuality. <br /><br />However, no matter what convention you go to I have a lot of tips I have learned over the space of some years:<br /><br />First- It's never too early to book a hotel. Really. As soon as you are sure you're going book it!<br /><br />Second- Conventions are about meeting people. I know there are keynote speeches and boards of people and many experts who want to tell you exactly how much they know while giving away none of their secrets that make them valuable to others.... but that's really not that important in comparison to the MANY important people you can meet. Don't get too worked up in your 'schedule'... when in doubt I say just sit down with someone who looks important and join their conversation.<br /><br />Third- The BEST way to meet 'professional' people is by common goal or interest. That usually means finding your favorite game (or loading your own) and drawing attention. Really, don't be afraid to be the center of attention no matter how introverted you are.<br /><br />Fourth- the best way to meet members of the press is to find out where the heck they go. Most conventions have a press area. This means if you hang out near it (or in it, if you can sneak in) you'll meet way more press personelle.<br /><br />Fifth- Most people won't turn down an offer to buy them drinks. If you need to use this as an excuse to get yourself invited to come along with them for an event later in the evening so be it. You pay a lot of money to go to this place, get a hotel, ect. Don't skimp on an extra 50 bucks in drinks for a potential contact with a lot more. Philanthropy baby!<br /><br />Sixth- If you really want to play hardball- bring your wife/girlfriend and have HER scout out people for you. A girl interested in games ALWAYS draws attention... and then she can casually guide them to you- ripe for the plucking.<br /><br />Seventh- Drinking is cool but know your limit. Better to spend your money getting a new contact drunk than getting yourself drunk!<br /><br />Eight- Soda, Coffee, and Alchehol are ALL bad for your voice. Drinking them will cause you to lose your voice much faster (not to mention it dehydrates you more). Drink water. If you hate water, drink sports drinks.<br /><br />Ninth- If you DO lose your voice there are a number of solutions. Sign language is one, but its a little hard to learn and harder to find someone who knows it fluently. Instead I suggest tea with honey in a pinch. Do NOT ever use a spray like Vicks 44- while it would restore your voice it would also probably cause dangerous amounts of damage... sometimes perminent. Also a product named Singer's Grace, if you can find it, will restore your voice instantly without any ill effect. However... it tastes like roasted butt. (Opera singers use this stuf though, it really works)<br /><br />Tenth- Conventions are all about attitude. if you feel out of place you'll act out of place. The whole world will approach you if you look comfortable, approachable, and are having fun. So have FUN. Keep in mind why you are there but kick back and relax and you will find the people you meet will hang around you longer and remember you later.<br /><br />See you at Origins!VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1150919338174420272006-06-21T12:37:00.000-07:002007-02-10T13:12:46.780-08:00Share of VoiceAn item I didn't cover in my book... because it is a rediculous concept in games, is Share of Voice.<br /><br />However, recently a website owner friend of mine was asked by a major game company about advertising. They said they would advertise with them if they could provide 15% SOV.<br /><br />The emphasizes two points to me: One- Most marketing people are book-stupid. Two- Maybe an indie should know what SOV is in case it ever comes up.<br /><br />So: Item One- This person in question misused the term SOV. I had the site owner clarify and sure enough they wanted 15% of the impressions on the site (minimum). That isn't 15% SOV- that is 15% saturation. SOV is Share of Voice, 15% SOV means that your website reaches 15% of the ENTIRE market. Yes, the way this company stated it they wanted this website to reach 15% of the world's gamers. Hah, not many sites could boast a 15% SOV. Luckily we asked the right question and had them clarify they wanted 15% saturation, which is easily done and we won't let on that this person is totally misusing marketing terms.<br /><br />Item two: What is SOV and why is it important?<br />In theory if you can reach a huge % of a market through a single source it becomes incredibly important to advertise or work with that source. In the windows PC game world this is a useless concept because so many sites have a wide range of SOVs. In the Mac market though, there is actually a site which probably qualifies for this huge % SOV- InsideMacGames (www.insidemacgames.com). This makes working with that site incredibly important in terms of building awareness of a mac game. (Apple.com is also one, but they're hard to work with)<br /><br />There are some pitfalls of SOV though. The first is unlike most %s, the SOV of things need not add up to 100%. Two sites can have SOV of 50% and if you have 100% saturation (meaning you reach everyone on those two sites) you could STILL only reach 50% of the market. This occurrs when the two sites are visited by the same 50% of people. SOV is only useful when you have a huge % at a single source OR you have multiple sources with little overlap. <br /><br />In PC games this is unlikely at best- however, it is an important concept. If you can prove you are reaching a site that is unique to a market (gamers go there and nowhere else) then that site is also incredibly valuable.<br /><br />While it is likely not to affect any indies, the trouble most large ad campaigns get into is the level of overlap begins to degrade the quality of the ad. Ads are useful, even if the person sees them more than once and in multiple places- but at a certain point the ad becomes ineffective (you have either reached that person and gotten them interested or you have not). Too much overlap in your SOV ratios and you are likely to reach this level much sooner. This is why there is some benefit to advertising with few very large outlets as opposed to many small ones. For an indie the price difference rarely justifes that though.<br /><br />So- Share of Voice will probably never come up in your indie life... but be on the lookout for the MISUSE of this term.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1150831814574704822006-06-20T12:18:00.000-07:002006-07-10T18:02:30.243-07:00Slashdot ReviewOk so my review on Slashdot is now live, it is the same as the review on GameGrene (Same guy)<br /><br /><a href="http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/19/1434223">http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/19/1434223</a><br /><br />Some people told me "slashdot isn't a big deal" because of all the young kids and rediculous posts you get with it. I'll dispell this myth and talk about something marketing related all at once. This Slashdot review has caused a noticeable increase in sales- not a HUGE increase, but a few more copies a week for sure. It definately created sales.<br /><br />On the otherhand, a lot of people made some really idiotic comments that even I was tempted to reply to. So here's the marketing advice. Publically defending your work when you are talking to the masses is usually a bad idea. All it can do it add fuel to the fire and really accomplish nothing. On the otherhand, I looked through the posts and those few people who attempted to make valid but false arguments (there was only one, the guys that made Lugaru, <a href="http://www.wolfire.com">www.wolfire.com</a>) and I replied personally to them.<br /><br />While we certainly didn't see perfectly eye to eye on everything, my personal e-mail certainly gained their appreciation as someone who really does care about the industry... at least that was the impression I got. Here is the intro from their e-mail:<br /><br />"Wow, a reply from the author. :) Congratulations on getting posted on Slashdot. I probably was a little too harsh, but it is Slashdot after all, I have nothing against you and have not actually read the book. Just a knee-jerk response."<br /><br />The point is, when you are dealing in a professional mannor with the 'unwashed' masses you really need to pick your battles. The end consumer will always believe things like 'marketing is evil and will ruin your game' (the theme of pretty much every negative post). You won't change that no matter how good your argument is, and the end result will be more flames and negativity.<br /><br />When you get someone who's opinion may matter a direct reply is almost always preferable to a public post.<br /><br />This whole topic is untrue when there is a gigantic factual miscommunication going on and something needs to be clarified OR if you are on the other side of the coin and speaking to something the 'unwashed masses' supports (like our games have no copy protection- see the post on Gal Civ II on this review).<br /><br />That said, anyone who's enjoyed the book and valued it- feel free to post your opinion on the Slashdot thread. It may convince someone to pick it up!<br /><br />-JoeVGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1150398082591049312006-06-15T11:45:00.000-07:002007-02-10T13:23:37.623-08:00Mac Game Radio Review!<a href="http://www.macradio.com/shows/igameradio/index.php">http://www.macradio.com/shows/igameradio/index.php</a><br />Mac Game Radio has reviewed the Indie Developer's Guide to Selling Games.<br /><br />Woot? :) Omaha highly reccomnds the book to any indie developers. While she had a few minor complaints (who doesn't), I felt she did a pretty good job going over some of the things that are both good and bad.<br /><br />It's pretty early in the podcast so listen away! Plus they talk about the NEW NW Game Convention which went on in Portland and was put on by one of my favorite 'local' writers- Beth A. Dillon. B<br /><br />Also a couple people mentioned my blog has been a little harsh lately. Sorry folks, I was a little angry when I wrote the last few posts. I'll be nicer in the near future.<br /><br />Thanks to Mac Game Radio <a href="http://www.igameradio.com">www.igameradio.com</a> and see you at next years Northwest Game Convention <a href="http://www.nwgamesfestival.com">http://www.nwgamesfestival.com</a>VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1150187220919810052006-06-13T01:13:00.000-07:002007-02-19T23:58:45.970-08:00A 360 Degree Reality CheckA few days ago Russell Carroll (<a href="http://www.gametunnel.com">www.gametunnel.com</a>) and I were talking and he mentioned he was seeing more and more developers harping on the idea that the 360 Live Arcade is a great new outlet for indies... and in fact that many people were planning on making games with the objective that they become Live Arcade games.<br /><br />At the time my response was that he was crazy and it is his imagination, there aren't too many people out there with such a mentality. As of today I changed my mind, the number of 360 'wanna-bees' is growing and he apparently just ran into the horde before I did.<br /><br />See, it isn't Russ' job to post what I am about to say... if he wrote it people would get angry, for some reason people like picking on what he writes because he runs a game website. I believe if I articulate it though, it will come off a little more 'slap you in the face to stop you from falling down the steps.'<br /><br />So, here goes:<br /><br />First, getting into Live Arcade is hard. Really hard. This isn't "if I make a good game I can get it on there" kinda hard. That's actually the somewhat easy part.<br /><br />It takes a great game, I believe you can create a great game. What you may not realize is it also takes money. A fairly substantial amount. It takes a rediculous quantity of QA work, more than any team smaller than Wahoo Studios/Ninja Bee (<a href="http://www.ninjabee.com">www.ninjabee.com</a>) should undertake. It also requires contacts... not just knowing someone's e-mail... but knowing them well enough that they trust and believe in your company: NOT JUST YOUR GAME.<br /><br />This means you need a well respected company (plenty of business experience as well as programming), plenty of CASH capital, and a team large enough to deliver whatever the various MS people want promptly... and you need this before you even get whatever game you have considered.<br /><br />So be honest with yourself: Are you in this position? Do you have the above requirements met? If you do, is your game really going to be considered? What's your backup plan if each of these answers turns out to be 'no.'<br /><br />My opinion is if you haven't made a game for the 360 Live Arcade yet, don't make one SPECIFICALLY for the 360... or even with that as a cornerstone of your intentional business plan. Make it for the PC and if your game does well that it makes your company well respected and provides capital for future development you can take the time to get to know the Microsoft team and convince them they should be interested in your company. THIS METHOD MAKES SENSE.<br /><br />I'll be deeply saddened if I see some good idea get canned because they couldn't get MS behind it without having a proven track record.VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18703586.post-1149636277331952102006-06-06T16:17:00.000-07:002006-06-20T01:34:37.773-07:00The First ReviewsSo a few reviews, both formal and informal, have come my way so far on The Indie Developer's Guide to Selling Games (<a href="http://www.indiegameguide.com">www.indiegameguide.com</a>). I'm also happy to report I am now about $500 in the black... which doesn't quite cover the time it took to make the book, but at least I have paid for what it cost to produce it!<br /><br />So, here are some links and things that have been said:<br /><br />GameGrene:<br /><a href="http://www.gamegrene.com/node/637">http://www.gamegrene.com/node/637</a><br /><br />"... you can see right through the skin, down to the bone. The book's bones are solid, however, and they provide a good foundation for any Indie game developer to build upon."<br /><br /><a name="c114920508079520291"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/7434999" rel="nofollow">Julio Gorgé</a> said...<br />"I finished reading the book yesterday and I liked it. It's like comprising 5 years of Indiegamer.com advice into 150 pages : )"<br /><br />Tero Miettunen, <a href="http://www.mitorahgames.com/" target="_blank">Mitorah Games</a> (<a href="http://www.mitorahgames.com/">http://www.mitorahgames.com/</a>)<br />"An excellent compact book for those of you who haven't read these forums a lot or who wish to get all the IndieGamer marketing knowledge + some in one package."<br /><br />For those who like the book, be sure to tell all your geeky programmer friends :) For those who DIDN'T like it- Be sure to tell all the geeky programmers you don't like to go buy it also! :)VGsmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04350654330247036990noreply@blogger.com0