• industry

    MIGS Keynote: A Broken Business Model

    The Montreal International Game Summit recently wrapped up, and keynote speaker David Braben of Frontier Development really took the industry to task on everything from the business model (broken!) to retailers (killing longevity of games!) to the 'online myth' of the next gen consoles. He makes some interesting points, though I'm not at all convinced of the veracity of some of them. Here's his take on the retail model: More »
    11/22/08
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    Comment by Scorpi: Ok, I live in Montreal and didn't even hear anything about this happening - happens every year! It seems odd... 5 Responses | Other threads

  • only in China

    Giant Online Revenue Falls, Still Rockin' the Chinese Market

    Despite declining stock value, Giant Interactive — the company behind the intriguing MMO Zhengtu Online, which is a mix of MMO, gambling, real money transactions, and gold farming — is still tearing up the Chinese market. Steve of PlayNoEvil has some interesting analysis up of some recent numbers, which have indicated the the average revenue per player has dropped to around $41 USD (RMB 282). Giant is moving to encourage 'steadier' playing, instead of simply buying up cash shop items like there's no tomorrow, so the drop was expected. Still, the money being made is pretty impressive for a domestic game (drop and all): More »
    11/22/08
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    Comment by Ghosts3000: I want to buy the strongest items with my real world money. I dont have time to spend getting virtual... more » | Other threads

  • industry

    So You Wanna Be a Developer ...

    Dave Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment, sat down with Valve's Gabe Newell to talk about how to shoehorn your way into the industry — and what's the industry going to look like in a few years, anyways? Are game degrees a waste of time? Is specialization going to be the name of the game, as in film ? And how can you avoid shooting yourself in the foot when trying to get said foot in the door? On specialization, Newell had this to say: More »
    11/09/08
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    Comment by Fergie24: "Programmmers that can draw" ? Artistic nerds? There's a mix that doesn't happen often in nature. I'm not saying they don't... 10 Responses | Other threads

  • marketplace

    By the Numbers: Analyzing the Global Market

    Gamasutra has an interesting — if dry — analysis of a variety of sales figures from Nintendo's investor presentation. While targeted towards a particular audience, the variety of graphs and pie charts illustrate what's going on in the global marketplace: handheld and console sales, as well as first- and third-party software sales, shed light on how Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are doing across the board. Of particular interest are the figures on the European market, which tends to be difficult to get a grasp on: More »
    11/09/08
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    Comment by Fadecy: Rival Schools for PSN/XBLA PLZ: so it took s year for sony half the time to get the to same ammount of systems sold? Looks like... 5 Responses | Other threads

  • Economics

    On the Headaches of MMO Billing Structure

    Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia (a billing and fraud protection company), has some words of wisdom regarding the headache that is billing and payment for MMOs — be they the more 'traditional' subscription model or the free to play model. Obviously, there are benefits and downsides that come with each model, and companies are constantly trying to negotiate a balance between profit and player happiness. Even the vaunted subscription model comes with its own problems and a variety of structures within that model: More »
    11/08/08
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    Comment by amygdala: I just wish that MMOs felt more like play than work. 5 Responses | Other threads

  • Culture

    Hype Cycles and Dysfunction: Game Journalism

    Leigh Alexander has a nice piece up on what she calls the "dysfunctional family circle of game industry, game media, and game consumer," focusing on the whys and wherefores of the 'hype cycle,' hot (sometimes misleading) headlines, and a culture of jaded consumption. There's been a lot of talk of the problems of game 'journalism' lately, but Leigh's piece is particularly well-written and reasoned. Are we dealing with a chicken or the egg question?: More »
    10/26/08
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    Comment by kilikafinal: you get out by having no internet. but who would do that? 3 Responses | Other threads

  • Crime

    Launder That Money: RMTs in Asian MMOs

    A gold farming/money laundering ring in South Korea has been accused of moving somewhere in the neighborhood of $38 million USD from Korea to China (with the help of real money transactions). According to PlayNoEvil, they made false purchases to a Hong Kong paper company to move the money, which is what eventually led to their arrest. In addition to the ring leaders, an additional 11 people were arrested: More »
    10/25/08
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    Comment by HueyFreeman: What happened to the guitar hero article? Only in China can games be surrounded by such illegal styles of life. 4 Responses | Other threads

  • Gaming Saves Society

    Video Games Equal Comfort In Troubled Economic TImes

    Are video games the movies of our current economic slump? In an article wittily titled, "In Tough Economic Times, Video Games Console", NPR writer Laura Sydell explores the similarities between the growing popularity of video games in mainstream culture with the movie boom that occurred during The Great Depression in the 1930's, at time when a weary nation turned to nickel theaters to escape the grim realities of the economic climate. She compares the relatively steady sales of movie tickets to the ever-expanding gaming market, with software sales up 43 percent from this time last year. More »
    09/24/08
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    Comment by y2julio: At $60 dollars for 360/PS3 games I don't see gaming staying long in peoples priorities when it comes to paying... 12 Responses | Other threads

  • gamestop

    The Massive GameStop Interview

    Well, we already know what disgruntled ex-employees think of GameStop; how do the head honchos think they're doing? Christian Nutt sat down with Bob McKenzie (senior vice president of merchandising) and Tony Bartel (executive vice president of merchandise and marketing) at the yearly GameStop Expo event for managers and management to talk about GameStop, games, sales, the market .... It's a hefty piece, clocking in at eight pages, with a lot of soft peddling on tough issues, but what would you expect from marketing management types? One of the issues brought up was the value of trade-ins — or perceived value (or lack thereof): More »
    09/21/08
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    Comment by bkchurch: "We can offer you $15 for any game that's less than a week old and $7 for any game older... 12 Responses | Other threads

  • armature studio

    Armature Founders on the 'Unsustainable' Business Model

    As we mentioned earlier this week, three former members of Retro Studios (Metroid Prime) have struck out on their own and created Armature Studio. Mark Pacini, Todd Keller and Jack Mathews, three key development figures behind the Metroid franchise, chatted with Gamasutra about their reasons for creating a new studio, as well as the problems they see with the current game industry development model: More »
    09/21/08
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    Comment by icelight: The contractor model is far from perfect. For one "not continuing to hire a contractor" is merely a semantic avoidance... 5 Responses | Other threads

  • game design

    Challenges Versus 'Learn By Death' Frustrations

    A few people have written on the 'softer, kinder' ethic found in games these days — more and more games seem to be offering less challenging/frustrating mechanics so that players can actually complete them. I think a lot of this discussion does center around different play styles — after a long day of banging my head against the walls of the Ivory Tower, I don't want to come home to bang my head against the gaming wall — so I always read these essays with a critical eye. But regardless of what I (or anyone) personally like to play, it does seem like the era of extraordinarily frustrating games has passed, at least for AAA titles: More »
    08/30/08
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    Comment by ZinkO: high-performance lubrication: I guess this is why so many people avoid roguelikes. I love 'em, myself. There's just so much more challenge... 4 Responses | Other threads

  • game design

    The Dao of Game Design: Know Thy Player

    Compared to a lot of esoteric ruminations on game design, Ernest Adams' little essay on 'the dao of game design' is remarkably grounded and to the point. The question of how to make a game that players — not just the designer — would want to play is an obvious one; perhaps more obvious is the fact that a designer needs to know what they're trying to convey (though, considering the muddled end products we're sometimes presented with, perhaps some designers don't pay enough attention to the 'message'): More »
    08/23/08
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    Comment by MasterYong: Uh, Tao is spelled with a T, not a D. Came here to say that. /I'll leave now... more » | Other threads

  • china

    China's Gaming Market Going Up, Up, Up

    In totally unsurprising news, China's game market continues to climb — numbers just posted for the second quarter of 2008 show an 11.2% increase over first quarter, and a nearly 66% increase from the same quarter last year (!). In terms of market share, Shanda leads the pack with a 17.9% share, with other big companies hovering below that. More »
    08/16/08
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    Comment by fatfoogoo: @ GlibGamer - That's exactly why a number of these titles choose to go the free to play, microtransaction based... more » | Other threads

  • serious games

    The Wide World of Gaming: 'The End of Gamers'

    Ian Bogost has an interesting editorial over at Edge Online entitled 'The End of Gamers,' a title which he admits doesn't really capture the main argument: "["The End of Gamers"] is lurid but might not capture the main argument of the piece, which is more like "Things People Do with Games." Much of his point is that other media has a wide variety of applications, and isn't shoehorned into a few limited types of uses ('entertainment' vs. 'serious' and so on). Bogost isn't arguing for 'games as art' or 'games as useful' or anything else, just pointing out that some perceptions about the industry start to break down when one considers the wide range of applications current games can have: More »
    07/27/08
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    Comment by adrenalinq: People need to get adrenaline. Some go climbing mountains, others go fishing, watching sports live, snowboarding. I take my portion... more » | Other threads

  • casual games

    Going For the Mass Market: Good News or Bad?

    I've read a number of thought-provoking pieces over at Only a Game, and this week Chris Bateman has a meditation up on Nintendo, the 'mass market,' moving away from games, and what this could spell for the industry at large. Is it really all it's cracked up to be? Unlike most of my favorite essays from Bateman, this one is pretty short and digestible — he points out that aggressively pursuing the 'mass market' (casual market) is working out splendidly for Nintendo, but he wonders if aggressively targeting that market inherently means moving away from games. And what about the industry at large? Well, that's not so clear: More »
    07/19/08
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    Comment by dipsetboy17: well, i sold my wii on august 6,2008 for a awesome xbox 360 and i'm not looking back. more » | Other threads

  • predictions

    Predictions on the Future of Gaming

    Over at the Escapist, they're taking a look at the future of gaming — Hal Halpin, president of the Entertainment Consumers Association, looks at a number of 'maybe, maybe not' predictions with his own take. Ranging from the mundane ('Game prices will go down!') to the political ('Things will get better once gamers become politicians!') to the industry-focused ('Publishing structure is stuck in a rut and won't change!'). It's a fun read with some good points on the present and future directions of the gaming industry. On the publishing structure, Halpin has this to say: More »
    07/12/08
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    Comment by freespeech: prices will go down? funny!!!!! more » | Other threads

  • business

    From the Margins to the Mainland: the Future of Virtual Worlds?

    Those concerned with 'virtual worlds' — as opposed to 'games' — spend a lot of time contemplating the role of virtual worlds in a wider market; over at Terra Nova, Bruce Damer looks at the potential future of virtual worlds, which could be a lot bigger than most people imagine. Some potential answers to keep the industry growing? Piggybacking off platforms that are currently growing at a rapid clip, making sure virtual worlds are 'worth' something — perhaps some as of yet undiscovered little platform will be the key: More »
    07/05/08
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    Comment by DaveKap: Maybe I'm biased, but... I'm pretty sure the quick answer here is: Step 1: Find virtual world platform that is open... more » | Other threads

  • business

    MMO Business Models: Subscriptions vs. Free To Play

    Gamasutra has an interesting look up at the MMO free to play/micro-transaction vs. traditional subscription model up - talking with SOE's John Smedley, Three Rings' Daniel James and EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs. Unsurprisingly, there are differences in opinion on the utility of the micro-transaction model, with some participants in the discussion coming down on the side of the traditional subscription model: More »
    06/07/08
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    Comment by FedericoGalopagus: #1 Guild wars 2 will be F2P except for th BOx, Ncsoft has already said it will never charge montly... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    90% of Virtual Worlds Will Fail Within 18 Months

    For those that lament the plethora of crappy MMOs and poorly-planned 'virtual worlds' of various stripes — fear not, a new report indicates that 90% are doomed to failure within a year and a half. Gartner, the research and advisory firm that produced the report, notes that the high rate of failure could be due to a number of factors; perhaps most importantly, the low cost of entry means that more experimentation is taking place (and like any experiment, a lot of virtual experiments fail). But it's not all doom and gloom: More »
    05/17/08
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    Comment by The Maginomicon: Now what they need to do to make this "70 per cent of organisations [with] established [private] virtual worlds" work... more » | Other threads

  • money money money

    Ian Bogost on Advertising in Games

    Ok, so a billboard in a driving game may make sense — but what about games where it doesn't make sense? As Ian Bogost points out, "Would an orc order pizza? Does a dystopian planet from the future need a pacer drink?": More »
    05/04/08
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    Comment by dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased: Ads don't bother me so long as they are contextual. I can't remember what game there was a shot... more » | Other threads

  • money money money

    Designing the Single Player Economy

    Economic issues in MMOs and virtual worlds get a ton of attention, but less attention is paid to the 'single player economies.' Richard Knight argues they're no less important — while a bad economic setup won't ruin an otherwise good game, it can put a damper on the proceedings. I can certainly think of a few games that had economic setups that were mind-bogglingly bad in a number of respects: More »
    05/03/08
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    Comment by Acid Raven: Frequent availabilty of downloadable content could offset a game with a bad economy. more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom Closing, Fans Hysterical

    Once upon a time, Disney had this virtual world called (creatively enough) Virtual Magic Kingdom: More »
    04/20/08
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    Comment by Zazu_Yen: href="#c5296725">captain_dl: VMK better than Toon Town Online? I think you're comparing apples to oranges here. Toon Town is a MMO... more » | Other threads

  • gold farming

    Who's Winning the Gold Farming War?

    Steve at PlayNoEvil has some interesting analysis up on the current state of gold farming in MMORPGs (though he does admit that since hard stats are difficult to come by, "any analysis is more akin to reading tea leaves"); using data provided by mmobux, he looks at the pricing trends to try and divine what might be going on in the wild world of selling gold: More »
    04/19/08
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    Comment by ParkerCepheus: If you make minimum wage (something like $7/hr in california I think?) and gold in wow costs ~$20 per 1000g (just... more » | Other threads

  • industry

    The UK Declares War On Canadian Game Industry

    We mentioned potential action to be taken by a European trade group against Canada for unfair trade practices, and now the UK Ministry of Canadian Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport has launched a formal investigation. The British government is afraid that Canadian "state aid offered to computer games companies ... may not be compatible with World Trade Organization principles." With a bevy of tax benefits (with some allowing companies to write off as much as 45% of labor costs), Canada has been luring big development studios away from Europe: More »
    03/30/08
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    Comment by krunkjuice: This should put the Amero far above the Euro if Canada lures all the devs from Europe. Good job Canada! more » | Other threads

  • china

    Chinese Game Market Grew to $1.66 Billion In '07

    Pearl Research has released their latest report and forecast on China's market and has come up with some pretty astonishing numbers. A quick rundown: the market grew 60% in '07, reaching $1.66 billion; they predict the market will exceed $3 billion by 2010; domestic games are getting as many as 1.66 million concurrent users. It's no secret the market is huge in China and continues to grow, but those are some pretty impressive numbers (and a lot of zeros). The full press release, with some extra details, is after the jump: More »
    03/22/08
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    Comment by ragfragger: india is in for competition! more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Human and Property Rights in Virtual Worlds

    SXSW hosted what sounds like a very interesting panel on the issue of personal property rights in virtual worlds: this is becoming an ever more important issue, with lawsuits a-flyin' and people getting arrested for virtual property theft. So, how is this issue going to get nailed down? And when? And by whom? The panel consisted of GoPets CEO Erik Bethke, Live Gamer co-founder Andrew Schneider and attorney Greg Boyd, with Charles River Ventures' Susan Wu moderating. More »
    03/15/08
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    Comment by Adam Ruining: To those who claim you're paying for a service, why? I paid $X for my copy of the World... more » | Other threads

  • free to play

    'The Power of Free to Play'

    Adrian Crook had an interesting presentation at the GDC Worlds In Motion Summit on the issue of free to play games - where they've been, where they're heading, good things, bad things .... He's put up the slides and speech over at his website, and while the narrative redux is apparently not as zippy as the original presentation, it is an interesting listen. More »
    03/02/08
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    Comment by D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: @justhesh: Ive paid them, they were fun, they just wanted my money like every other game. more » | Other threads

  • web 2.0

    'World of Answercraft'? Amazon.com's Askville

    There's an interesting piece over at Terra Nova on Amazon.com's Askville, an online question and answer forum with a slight twist - you gain experience points and quest gold! For what purpose? Good question - the author tackles the purpose and ramifications of this sort of virtual incentive system with a lengthy essay and plenty of links that I spent a while clicking my way through. More »
    01/05/08
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    Comment by toneroni: interesting idea. I think this works in real life more » | Other threads

  • economics

    Game Developers Rolling in the Lucre

    The U.S. computer and video game industry's annual growth rate from 2003 to 2006 outpaced the US. economy's growth by 13 percent, according to a new study released today by the Entertainment Software Association. More »
    11/27/07
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    Comment by TheGreenMan: Wait, the average salary is $92,000? ahem.. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (breathe) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!! Everyone look at the definition of the word "average". That means it takes... more » | Other threads

  • academics

    'Metanomics' - A New Series on the Metaverse and ... Stuff

    If you're interested in the issues surrounding the metaverse (especially in terms of economics and policy), Metaversed is pairing up with the Cornell Johnson School of Management to offer a series of speakers and a website to discuss issues within the metaverse: economics, law, policy, technology .... Robert Bloomfield explains the goal and scope of the series over at Terra Nova: More »
    09/16/07
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    Comment by Ghede: It took me awhile to realize they were referencing MMO's... Metaverse? I mean come on... well actually, I might grant... more » | Other threads

  • stuck in the ivory tower

    Call For Papers: Economies and Virtual Worlds

    In case any Kotakuites out there have a great paper floating around on virtual worlds, the Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (JECR) has put out a call for papers. Scheduled for publication in August 2008, the special issue will focus on (as the journal title would imply) commerce, but the catch is that the issue will be focused on virtual worlds. While this journal is centered on e-commerce anyways, I'm still curious to see what sort of academic papers crawl out of the woodwork. The divide between mainstream 'we play games' ideas on games and academic 'we study games' ideas on games is occasionally astonishing for both how far apart those two worlds can be and how close together they sometimes are. I'm not in a field that deals with this sort of stuff, but I'll be keeping an eye out for the issue next August. Full details after the jump. More »
    08/12/07
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    Comment by xfire-toscana: Hello guys, I'm Dan Anthony; I work at Xfire, your handy neighborhood gaming community. I wanted to talk to this... more » | Other threads

  • wii

    'Analyzing the Analysts': Thoughts on the Wii

    Games * Design * Art * Culture has some thoughts up on remarks by analysts and their real world validity. Not being prone to getting out scratch pads of paper and theorizing on topics I am ill-equipped to deal with, I'm not sure if the analysis of the analysis is valid, but it's a reminder that quoting experts is fun, but not always an accurate prediction of what is to come. In this case, the topic is an analyst "saying publishers will flock to the Wii because of 'favorable economics'"; the argument here is that it's not 'favorable economics,' but sheer numbers of users that will determine the success of the Wii over the long term. More »
    07/08/07
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    Comment by XbhaskarX: @quen: Follow the link, one set of numbers (US) is based on monthly sales, the other two (Japan and rest... more » | Other threads

  • rollercoaster tycoon

    Clip: Real Estate Roller Coaster

    More »
    04/04/07
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    Comment by serotoninzero: @cayton That's exactly what I said when I was watching it.. Then I realized I was eleven at the time. more » | Other threads

  • tax

    MMOG Tax Man Comes Aknockin'

    More »
    10/18/06
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    Comment by bookishboy: "Second Life has over $500,000 dollars worth of in-game transactions a day, mostly in furry prostitution." No it doesn't. From... more » | Other threads

  • micro

    Micro Dissected and Analyzed

    More »
    10/24/05
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    Comment by albo: Nope, he does indeed mean blue. more » | Other threads

  • everquest

    Screw Greenspan, Here's Everquest Economics

    More »
  • dean and nooch

    Xbox 360 and Gas Prices

    Mike "Nooch" Antonucci wrote up an interesting piece over at the Mercury News about the Xbox 360's chances in what is expected to be a slow holiday season. His argument is that the surging cost of gas prices, a slow economy and a general lack of interest in the 360 (that's with the normal community, not us gamers) is going to deliver a gut-punch to 360 sales. More »
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