In a previous post, I played with public numbers for Puzzle Pirates. They just made some more numbers public, so I thought I would see if it validated any of my previous post. Here are my thoughts about the new numbers.
Also tagged Business ModelIf you have Silverlight 2 installed, you should see why I’m not an animator. Either way, you’ll see why I’m not an artist. Check out the project page for lots of details about what this is and what I learned while developing this application. It’s the same system used to create realistic characters in films [...]
Also tagged Projects, RIA, SilverlightIn a previous post I posited, while providing little proof, that games are a moonshot in a sense that you aim and invest massive resources, Then you fire and pretty much just hope for the best. Here, again with little proof, I posit that funware is not a moonshot. Funware is a marathon more akin [...]
Also tagged Business Model, FunwareMaybe this is all public already. Whenever I see a business’s numbers I immediately start backing out other interesting numbers. Here is a quick analysis of some numbers for Puzzle Pirates.
Also tagged Business ModelThere are some fun numbers at EDGE about the games industry and elusive profits. only 4% of games that enter production will return a significant profit. Of games that are released to the market, only 20% will produce a significant profit. The games industry is an all-or-nothing industry. It’s a moonshot not a marathon. And [...]
Also tagged FunwareWhat could be better than a game about being a med student, right? The hostility of the first character in the game is perfect. That is clearly a post-call medicine R2 who views medical students as a hindrance. Don’t miss out on their definition of ‘vomiting’.
Also tagged Game Reviews, Serious GamesEA is getting into the most explicitly for-profit side of virtual goods by selling a Time is Money DLC for Skate 2. The content of the DLC serves purely to unlock features that previously could only be unlocked by playing the game more. I have to commend them for the honesty of the title, at [...]
Also tagged Virtual GoodsWhen I brought up the term ‘funware’ yesterday, a coworker said something about it not being ‘fun’ and that instead of ‘funware’ maybe it should be called ‘obsessionware’. It has occurred to me that maybe the funware or social gaming phenomenon has more in common with gaming than games.
Also tagged Funware, Silicon Valley CultureI’ve been having an email conversation in which I was asked, “I’m curious, as I don’t have a traditional games background, whether you saw the same drivers that web devs follow coming from the executive/business teams of traditional games? I would have thought that there would always have been that pressure from the "accountants"?”
Also tagged Funware, Silicon Valley Culture[I will use the term funware to distinguish the new genre of 'social games' from what could be called 'traditional games'. It’s not a well-defined term. It's just to make it easier to write this post.] Awhile ago, there was a series of posts in the game industry blogosphere regarding “games people” and “web people”. [...]
Also tagged Company Culture, Funware, Silicon Valley Culture