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Facebook and mobile gaming? Duh, #winning!
March 4th 2011, 19:38 CET by m0nty Iwata gave the GDC keynote the other day, in which he bemoaned that game developers are not appreciated for their talents by customers paying top dollar for games that cost millions to make. It seems that Facebook games like Angry Birds have devalued the gaming experience for the masses in that they now expect the free-to-play model rather than actually having to pay for software. Then again, the new generation of game players are a lot more casual in their gaming habits than the hardcore, seeing as a large proportion of them skew old and female, part of a demographic who never would have played a game on a computer more complex than Solitaire before getting addicted to Crackville. Despite "traditional" computer game industry veterans like Brian Reynolds at Zynga and Raph Koster at Playdom moving across to social gaming companies and having a solid amount of success, it seems that old style game designers are being pushed out of the development and iteration process by marketing mavens watching real-time analytics from users interacting with features, such that intuition is now being replaced by metrics. The social games industry on Facebook went through a massive growth period which ended recently when Facebook turned off or restricted a lot of the virality features that had led to J-curves of word-of-status-update to produce gigantic injections of user numbers, making the likes of Zynga and Playfish the juggernauts they are today. All of these companies are bleeding users fast nowadays, and those who are adding users are relying on less noticeable spamminess that is still allowed. I am developing a social game myself, which is why I have immersed myself in this new world where the metrics are MAU, DAU, ARPU and sparkles-per-second. A couple of years ago, people were complaining about how PC games were being dumbed down to fit in the console model, but wait until you see the facebookification of your favourite games. This chart shows where all the growth is, and it's not in consoles, it's in social games. There's already a Facebook version of Saint's Row. This is the tip of the iceberg. As part of my research into the subject, I have been playing a few Facebook games myself: Madden NFL Superstars, CBSSports.com Franchise Football, plus a bit of Galactic Trader just to see what it was like. What about you and your social gaming habits? I know a couple of you play Frontierville (*cough*Bobandjjz*cough*). Would you be okay with the concept of acheivements that you're all used to from consoles to be even further extended to the ____ville mechanics of collection and gifting? Is there any actual gameplay in social games or are they just Cow Clickers? How much multiplayer content is there really, when your main interaction with other players is to send each other gifts? This is a fast-moving industry, but there's still a question mark on whether it's moving downwards to sudden oblivion, or whether these clicking grannies will ever move to more hardcore games with synchronous gameplay. I look forward to this topic being hijacked as soon as possible. Viva Libya! |
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Topic: Facebook and mobile gaming? Duh, #winning!
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Sony is still selling the PSOne and PS2. Those machines have legs and they know how to use them. With respect to the PS3 I think Sony really wanted to win the Bluray/HD disc war and used the PS3 to help with that, so they took a hit on that console. I'm not really sold on the whole 'consoles sell at a loss' thing that gets bantered around all the time, too. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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Besides, like I said in my other point, the cost/profit of a console is moot as latency will always be an issue. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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That account of the invention of the QWERTY typewriter layout has long since been debunked. The article they link to as proof suggest they did a careful reading of history and found that the QWERTY keyboard won out by trial and error and superority...but they do not seem to offer an proof that the commonly though history of the original QWERTY keyboard was wrong. Only that compared to other systems, it is just as fast. That is not quite the same thing as saying it was not originally designed to slow down typists, even if it turned out to be just as fast in the long run. Plus, other history seems to suggest exactly what the common history is believed to be: As with previous attempts the keys were in an ABCDEFG layout, and the typists soon got too fast and jammed the keys. The key levers hit the platen from underneath and then fell back down under gravity. He didn't think to put return springs on to fix the problem. ... The immediate result was people typed painfully slowly with the Qwerty layout. No one could type nearly fast enough to jam the keys, so it appeared his typewriter was working. The other result was it made the typewriter very difficult for typists to learn, which kept them slow. The by-products of Qwerty were to make the fingers travel further to type words, making fast typing difficult, and to help cause the thousands of cases of RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury) that we see today. To answer criticism that Qwerty was designed to slow typists down, Sholes argued that wasn't his intention, he only meant to stop the keys jamming. Some believed him, some didn't. But the fact was it slowed typists to a crawl for some long time, until teaching methods for qwerty were devised to get round the problem he had created. Simply because he didn't think of return springs. Rebuttal? "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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Besides, like I said in my other point, the cost/profit of a console is moot as latency will always be an issue. One way or another, within our lifetimes, latency will no longer be an issue. I predict this! Assuming that turns out to be true, then we have to reassess the entire business model... "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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Matt: Think critically for a moment. If the original purpose was to prevent keyboard jams and that problem was quickly overcome, but qwerty remained because it was as fast or faster than other alternatives, then maybe the qwerty layout's resolution of the jamming issue had nothing to do with affecting the speed of the typists generally. If the converse were true then the original layout considered by Sholes would have bested qwerty in speed tests after the physical jamming factor was resolved. Also re: latency: physics |
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G-Man I like your optimism and that is also the exact reasons that your original link gave. My pessimism says that whoever pushed hardest in the market got their standard. QWERTY has been proven, over time, to not be worse than anything else in the long run. Fine. But that does not mean it was a reasoned and logical follow through that got us QWERTY. It is not always the best standard that wins. We have seen that over and over. Why would is be different for keyboard layouts? In other words, logical and marketplace hardly ever go together if one of the competing standards is not vastly superior. In this case, none of them were. So who ever pushed hardest, Remington, got their way. "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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#182 by G-Man Also re: latency: physics In the future we will overcome physics. |
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Quantum whatever. Any day now. |
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Jetski. Game Developers: Don't forget the zombie monkeys.
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table |
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Cheese. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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jetski cheese, for every table! "Testiculos habet et bene pendentes" - "He has testicles, and they dangle nicely."
"LP, your big balls are a religion." - Jibble |
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I've just watched Johnny Mnemonic. Not, uhm, a great movie. The first couple of scenes are completely laugh-out-loud bad, and the rest is generic 90ties badness. Also, his brain is exploding from carrying 320 gb, four times as much as his already extreme capacity normally allows. L0lz, etc. One thing bothered me: I can remember a scene where the leads are in an undeground area and a train goes by super-duper quick, but I totally didn't see that here. I was waiting for that scene and everything. I guess I got the shitty movie edition. Not a terrible loss though because on the other hand it's a pretty shitty movie in and of itself. </blag> |
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Just watched Iron Man 2. Not horrible, not great. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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Henry Rollins is the best thing about that movie. Oh, and Ice T. And that's really all that needs to be said. |
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Ice T is slouching in every. Single. Scene. Truly a gangsta, even whilst wearing scifi ski-goggles and random face paint and acting opposite an animatronic fish. It's a fish! And this is life-affirming to the max! It's a chat roulette video that simply shows how wonderful humans can be. Awww, so sweet. Fuck you if this doesn't make you smile. |
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It made me smile, but one dork on chat roulette does not redeem a whole race. "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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Don't forget dolph lundgren. He was in that movie too. |
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Hey, I'm moving to the bay area. Who's up there that I can studiously avoid? |
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Henry Rollins was also the best thing about The Getaway. She's probably had sex with like 4 different guys by now and has no idea who he is anymore, his face lost in a memory sea of dicks.
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Had an appointment with a mortgage advisor yesterday after getting advice directly from 2 banks. Buying a house is even more expensive than I thought. It's going to be a few skinny years at first. She's probably had sex with like 4 different guys by now and has no idea who he is anymore, his face lost in a memory sea of dicks.
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Wait til you sell a house. It was amazing how much of my equity ended up in the pockets of the realtor, the title companies, the mortgage companies... |
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The UN has greenlit air support against the forces of Gadhafi. Way to cut it close, but a wild change don't you think?? |
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I'm really tired of the assholes calling Afghanistan "Obama's War" now calling for us to help out with this. One of our planes goes down and suddenly we're going to have to invade a third country. We got a dog. Well we arranged for a dog. We'll have a dog in about three weeks. I'm dreading it/excited for it. |
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#201 by jjohnsen We got a dog. Well we arranged for a dog. We'll have a dog in about three weeks. I'm dreading it/excited for it. Cool, what kind of dog? I can't wait until I get a bigger house/yard so we can get a dog. |
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One of our planes went down? <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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But this is not an invasion.. The mandate specifies a no-fly zone and airstrikes to protect civilians that stand to be crushed within hours or days because of their pro-democratic rebellion. This is above and beyond what the UN is about! Imagine the waves of relief in Benghazi happening right now, by all accounts they were facing destruction and were entirely dependent on the international community responding. And now it is! I'm not a politically active person but I well and truly hope this works out. |
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This. "One part disembowels me while another slowly eats its way through the gas line. As I bleed out on the floor, it reminds me that I need to buy milk." - Jibble
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I'd say let the French enforce the no-fly zone, they're pro-rebel and it's practically their backyard. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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The French? But won't they just give him the county back as soon as an aa battery is pointed at a plane? I know but it had to be done. Don't forget garnishes such as: Fish shaped solid waste.
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There certainly is joke material aplenty. I mean, it is his country and continues to be. It's not like one country forcing a government change on another country's people, haha who would do such a crazy thing? I know, bad form. I can't resist these jokes either. |
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#204 by gaggle But this is not an invasion.. The mandate specifies a no-fly zone and airstrikes to protect civilians that stand to be crushed within hours or days because of their pro-democratic rebellion. Both Clinton and Gates said that a no-fly zone starts with bombing various targets to disable their aerial combat abilities. We may not have troops on the ground yet, but this is much more than just telling them they can't fly planes there anymore. Not to mention that if it's not effective, we essentially become pot committed to helping the rebels win lest we look like an ineffective superpower. This is basically us entering yet another protracted war. |
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One should also keep in mind that Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa. |
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Yeah slippery slopes are ever present to be sure. From the sounds of it the resolution is specific to preventing civilian casualties, but we'll see if and how that translates into actual reality. |
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Furthermore I would assume this could lead to more rebelling in other countries, fueled by the expectation that the UN will intervene if it goes tits up. are we committed to helping everyone? Plenty millions of people have been killed in the past couple decades by their own governments without any intervention because, well, that's just how the world works. There is no right way to go into another country and assert your rules. But here are civilians and rebels alike completely fucking stuck, by all accounts just hours and days away from being firebombed and wiped out by military forces. It's a delicate situation to be sure. |
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Yep, I have been mulling this over and have not really come up with a good answer. Starting another war is not a great idea. Leaving the rebels to their certain doom is pretty callous too. I do not really have an answer per say... but I guess erring on the side of the people over Qaddafi has to be better... "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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#211 by gaggle Yeah slippery slopes are ever present to be sure. From the sounds of it the resolution is specific to preventing civilian casualties, but we'll see if and how that translates into actual reality. Yeah, just like we were saving the Iraqis from that evil dictator so they wouldn't have to live in fear or leave the country in droves. |
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Well that was the joke I made before, you just can't go in and force "liberation" on a people. And to be fair the world was against that war but despite that we still went ahead (I say we because Denmark took part of it as well). This resolution is not about landing an occupying force, and at least up front it claims to be about preventing civilian losses rather than a regime change (even if one is effectively coming if the rebellion is not stopped). So at least in those terms I would say this is a different situation. But yeah only time will tell how exactly it rolls out. |
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#209 by Jibble This is basically us entering yet another protracted war. I'm not sure this one would be protracted. For now at least the no-fly zone idea has support from the pro-democracy forces, civilians, and the arab league. It's not hard to imagine a senerio where the no-fly zone doesn't work and a deal is struck to simply remove Qaddafi while leaveing the rest to to the National Transitional Council and other arab states. Nice 'easy' restriction to the part we're acctaully good at and a decent sign we don't want to be occupying forces just clean up the cockup we made out of the last two attempts and help out when nessecary and requested. Don't forget garnishes such as: Fish shaped solid waste.
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Air America: call us when you need some shit bombed. "I hope you one day decide to smarten the fuck up so I can stand to look at your posts." - gaggle
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gotta go with your strengths. "Testiculos habet et bene pendentes" - "He has testicles, and they dangle nicely."
"LP, your big balls are a religion." - Jibble |
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"It's not hard to imagine a senerio where the no-fly zone doesn't work and a deal is struck to simply remove Qaddafi while leaveing the rest to to the National Transitional Council and other arab states." Until a U.S. plane gets shot down and we decide to invade. Then it's a third shitstorm we have to pay for. "Cool, what kind of dog? I can't wait until I get a bigger house/yard so we can get a dog." A shorkie, shih tzu/yorkie mix. Small, friendly to kids, not to yappy and doesn't eat much. |
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Immediate cease-fire by Qaddafi and his forces. If it is true, that is instant win for the super no-fly zone... "programmers talk from a very deep gnome cavern, full of gold mechanics" - wisdom from the ancients
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I have a shorkie and a shidoodle. They aren't terribly yappy, but more importantly, are about the most kid friendly dogs in the world. "Testiculos habet et bene pendentes" - "He has testicles, and they dangle nicely."
"LP, your big balls are a religion." - Jibble |
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That's what other owners have told me LP. Lack of smelliness, friendly, lack of yappiness and hypo-allergenic were our four main wants and so far I think the shorkie fits that pretty well. |
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You know that hypoallergenic is a made-up word, right? "I hope you one day decide to smarten the fuck up so I can stand to look at your posts." - gaggle
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you know that all words started out as made up words, right? "Testiculos habet et bene pendentes" - "He has testicles, and they dangle nicely."
"LP, your big balls are a religion." - Jibble |
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And while it's true there really is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, it IS true that shorkies do not shred and are fairly safe for those with allergies, as I personally can attest. It does mean, however, they do need haircuts on occasion. "Testiculos habet et bene pendentes" - "He has testicles, and they dangle nicely."
"LP, your big balls are a religion." - Jibble |
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I think he means that is has no real object. |
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I mean that it's a marketing term meant to sound medical, which can mean whatever the seller wants it to mean. It has no medical definition, therefor anything can be called hypoallergenic and nobody can say it's not. If you say your shampoo is nontoxic it actually means something. If you say it's hypoallergenic it means nothing just like any other marketing words like improved or probiotic. "I hope you one day decide to smarten the fuck up so I can stand to look at your posts." - gaggle
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