Egon: Don't cross the streams...

Peter: Why?
Egon: It would be bad
Peter: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?
Egon: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Peter: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon

Remember what happened when they crossed the streams? Oh yeah, good times.

It's happened. Streams have crossed! Apple OS and Windows on the same computer! A power surge of epic proportions. You boot up your computer and choose your OS. (BTW, this is legit, not the hack some dude did few weeks ago). NY Times article here.

Ok, so why do I bring this up? Because this has relevance for gamers. Follow me here:

This Apple+Windows thing is the final omen for the end of PC hardware differentiation. We have reached true commodization of hardware (It's ok, Apple will kick ass on design and function).

Now how far away do you think it'll be before consoles are the same way? Probably not very far from now. Imagine in the near future...

All major games are released on all platforms. Almost all of them look identical. When the online boom happens, most games will be played online. There's also a move towards online play being across platforms (Think FFXI with PC and PS).

So now we're all playing the same games online, at the same time. I doubt hardware differentiation is going to survive much longer in this scenario. The first signs of the end will come with price. You'll see a price war that will be bloody. (Think Dell lowering the perception of PC prices)

Someone will step up and compete on design and function (Think Apple). Ultimately, design will only last so long, hardware differentiation will be replaced by services. Using your Samsung game console, will you be an Xbox or Playstation club member? Well, it depends on which one gives me better services; cheap packages to virtual worlds, storage for my game items, better integration with my personal data cloud and devices.

Ok, sorry to go sci-fi on you but I hope you see what I'm getting at. Consoles are lasting a little longer than PCs but that's only because of the content for consoles is still platform-based and retail. Imagine if several years ago, software had to be sold depending on if you had an IBM, Gateway or Dell. That would have been a disaster for all involved. The same forces apply to consoles. I can't imagine it would really last much longer this way.

Online, it's the place to be. Come, drink the kool-aid.

The next evolution of comics

Nothing more to this post than the fact that I like Flash being used for comic/graphic novel purposes. Two really cool examples below:

Japanese Metroid example (If only I knew how to read it)

M&Ms & Marvel example (Best partnership idea ever)

Ooops, credit where credit is due.

My post about SnagIt from earlier in the week... I have an update.

My great friend and mentor Andrew T. was the one that actually clued me in on this tool, about a year ago when we were working together. I forgot to credit him and he got all sad on his blog.

Here you go buddy. You have the rightful claim to firsties!

GM getting heat over their CGM program

There's a lot of buzz lately about GM's new campaign for the Chevy Tahoe that lets people make their own commercials. Needless to say, people have not behaved. Visit here.

The background:
GM launched this latest ad campaign on Trump's The Apprentice (btw, not my fav season). As part of the campaign, users are invited to visit the site where they can create "the best Tahoe online commercial" for a chance to win... nope, not a Tahoe but some fancy trips. A visitor goes to the site, picks different video clips, music and text messages... then viola, their own commercial. The site is not ground-breaking by any stretch of the imagination, it's been done before with much more interesting content =).

The buzz:
Bloggers have been talking about this for a few days. Most of them have called it a mistake. They're saying: It was a sad attempt at consumer generated media. Not like the cool Converse thing at all. GM is yet another clueless corporate poser trying to be cool. What a disaster.

You can read some articles here, here and here.

My take:

If you haven't played around with it yet, go ahead. You need to experience it before any of this makes sense. Before you go, I dare you to try to play around with it and NOT make fun of the car. It's almost begging for it. Go ahead, it's here.

See what I mean? It's fun. Guess what? You've also engaged with their brand. I think the bloggers are partially right. They were asking for it. But I also think it can still be called a successful CGM campaign. That's the nature of CGM, you can't control it. You don't want to control it.

Sure, they got a bunch of people sending bad commercials around but people don't buy or not buy cars based off of graffiti-esque commercials. They buy cars on brand recognition, price and features (I used to help sell Nissans). Getting people to talk about your brand is important.

What I see from this for GM is an opportunity. They've essentially created a channel for consumers to speak out, albeit a weird channel. But hey, it's a place to listen and see what people are saying about your brand. That's incredibly valuable and worth a few bad comedic commercials.

Homer Simpson: "They have the Internet on computers now!" Console makers, "What's that?"

Next Generation brings an interesting article by David Cole of DFC Intelligence: "How Online Services Will Shape the Console Wars".

It's a long article and worth reading but here's the most interesting tidbit:

"The short glib answer is that online games will probably be a more important feature for console systems over the next several years, but once again the traditional retail model is likely to be the dominant driving factor when it comes to how the new game systems build an installed base."

I think he's spot on. It will take a revolution (not the Nintendo variety) to wean the console giants away from the retail model. Everything they do depends upon it and they just can't get away from it without significantly changing how they do business.

I have no doubts they will jump full force into the online world. Unfortunately, there is only a limited set of games that are worth playing online right now and most of them are FPS. Significant online activity will definitely happen within this console generation, but it's probably 2 or 3 years out.

Hopefully, that's enough of a headstart for us to get some good content and systems in place.

Wired covers Asian games and micropayments, Microsoft doesn't get it

Wired has a story on Asian gaming and the micropayment (or cash store) system. It's a topic that'll be familiar to readers of this blog but it's a good primer for those that don't know what's going on. Here's a good quote from a game consultant (man, those guys are good at talking):

"Microtransactions make Asian games more fun," said Nicole Lazzaro, president of XEODesign. "In games where people play together, the value of the game increases with the number of players. Everyone understands that $10 per month adds up to $120 per year. This big commitment limits the market. A free game removes the barrier to entry, connecting as many of a player's friends as possible. It is easy to spend more than $10 a month in one-dollar-and-fifty-cent impulse purchases."

Another consultant talks about finding the female audience:

"Female players, rare in Western gaming circles, are in ample supply in Asia. In fact, they're a coveted demographic. Korean developers have learned they can draw teenage users of both genders by winning over the women first. "They tell me, 'If we get the girls, the boys will follow,'" said [Michael] Steele [of Emergent Game Technologies]."

They make it sound so easy, I just want to jump right in and start using micropayments and pay female gamers to sign up! Unfortunately, it's not easy. Bringing these systems to the U.S. or State-side developers trying to get into this market has been extremely difficult. Remember the story about the Country Mouse and the Town Mouse? It's all about what you're equipped to handle and the limits of adapting to a foreign environment.

Systems like micropayments, are not independent of the culture and history that gave birth to them. Korean gaming culture was built on a foundation from a short game experience (StarCraft) rather than a long endless one (Everquest). Korean PC Cafes sprung up everywhere, catering to short, fun group experiences which appealed to casual gamers, including women. As interest grew, more games were created to serve this market. But as Lazarro points out above, there's no way one person could afford to try every game if there's a $50 purchase and $10 subscription involved. The best solution for Korea was a micropayment system.

Unfortunately, my Country Mouse cousins, micropayments may never be that successful in the U.S. market. In addition to the point I just made, some U.S. publishers are already screwing it up. Oblivion (not a free game at all) is charging players real cash for special horse armor (Joystiq covers the story, note the very negative comments). If you're not going to do it right, don't mess it up for the rest of us.... gaaah, stupid Microsoft!

Anyways, I don't pretend to know what the solution is but I think we need to tred carefully. I, for one, am going to throw everything out there and see what sticks. More than likely, it'll be a hybrid of many different methods.

Tools of the Trade: SnagIt

If you do any type of work in the interactive space, you've probably taken a screenshot or two. (All for professional reasons, of course)

The "print screen" button or for you Apple-philes, Shift-Apple-3 or 4, is your friend. Except, your friend has one very bad short-coming:

It can't take screenshots of any tall webpages. If you have to scroll to see an entire page, you can't capture the whole page without taking two shots. How annoying!

Ahh, but I found a solution. Let me introduce you to SnagIt. I've been using this little tool almost every day for the past few weeks. It will let you take uncut screenshots of an entire web page, no matter how tall. Sure, it has a ton of other features but like the other actors in a Keira Knightley movie, they hardly warrant your attention.

The Branded Newb screenshot you see to the right was captured by SnagIt (I had to actually cut it down in size because it grabbed the entire page and that would have been impossible to display in this post).

And if this sounds like a shill: I have not received any compensation from the makers of SnagIt. Though I'm not too good to take some if they offer it. =)

(4/4/06 Update here)

S. Korea, 72% uber-broadband: Done. Next: Robots for everyone!

Was sipping my calcium, fiber, vitamin D, low acid, lactose-free OJ this morning when I came across an article in the NY Times.

"In a Wired South Korea, Robots Will Feel Right at Home"

Some snippets:
"By 2007, networked robots that, say, relay messages to parents, teach children English and sing and dance for them when they are bored, are scheduled to enter mass production... If all goes according to plan, robots will be in every South Korean household between 2015 and 2020. That is the prediction, at least, of the Ministry of Information and Communication, which has grouped more than 30 companies, as well as 1,000 scientists from universities and research institutes, under its wing."

Before I even get to the story, what the heck is wrong with our government? Did you catch that bit about the Ministry? Hands down: Coolest damn Ministry since the Ministry of Magic (Don't you even dare try to comment that the latter doesn't exist, I will thwap you senseless with my Accio Firebolt).

Ok, so about the story. I absolutely admire the cooperation between the public, industry and government in Korea. Looking at the accomplishments so far in getting the society wired and where their game industry is, I don't doubt the robot thing can be achieved.

I honestly sat here trying to think of something similar in the States and I drew a blank. When was the last time we as a nation got behind a common cause that wasn't disaster related? Apollo (space not skate)?

By the way, how do I get dual-citizenship with Korea? Maybe we can start an annual geek migration.

MySpace deleting my profile, the network effect and fearmongers

MySpace removed 200,000 "objectionable" profiles from its site recently. This is really nothing more than a PR gesture and most likely a response to the growing bad press. They apparently have 66 million users and add 250,000 new ones every day. The ridiculously small number of profiles they just deleted doesn't change anything about the site. And no, they didn't really delete my profile, I would never have any objectionable content online... =)

If you ask me, this is the beginning of the end for MySpace. Social network offerings aimed at youths are notoriously slippery. This demographic tends to seek out things that are off the mainstream and any sort of regulations or restrictions will trigger a mass migration. Look at P2P software as an example.

The owners of MySpace are essentially screwed. If they keep limiting content, they will alienate the user base. If they don't, the bad press will shine so much light on the site that the youths will get nervous. Finally, uncontrolled growth is going to kick this puppy into the mainstream anyways, increasing the desire for the herd to find newer, cooler pastures.

MySpace will decline as fast as it grew once the signal to leave is triggered. Here's why: If you offer content online, you fantasize about gaining network effects for your offering. (The network effect is the increase in value for a particular thing as more people use the thing. For example, the classic example is a phone. The phone is not very useful if only one or two people have it. It gains incredible value as more people join the network.) You have to get just the right people to start using your offering and bring in everyone else. These people, however, also control how long the network effect lasts. If key people leave or stop supporting the offering, the network falls apart (Can you buy VHS anymore?).

As a brand manager for multiplayer online games, I frequently make small offerings of livestock and virgin ..ahem olive oil to wish for a good network effect. I don't have quite the same pressures as big MMORPGs, where migration is commonplace. However, I still play by the same rules and can use the same tools. Some examples of these tools: Guilds are tremendously valuable, so are "invite a friend" incentives and organized group play is very critical. You'll see me pulling these from the toolbox often. As we really start getting into things for Acclaim, you'll start to notice the things implemented because of trying to gain network effect. Some will work, others won't. But have no doubt, the business of multiplayer online games depends upon it.

On a side note: some guy is offering a "free booklet" to help parents battle the "MySpace dangers". He promises it's free but I don't think people realize how much your legitimate email or home address is worth. Do you really think that free sweepstakes for the car in the mall is without strings? I'm not going to link him here, instead, if you want to see his site, Google: "MySpace Dangers". You can then click the paid link he has there and cost him at least $0.15 per click. hehe ::evil grin::

Grrr, people that take advantage of fears really tick me off. While I'm venting, here's another example: attack shelters. If armageddon comes, I really don't think I want to spend the rest of my life in your stupid shelter.

Financial Times article about MySpace here, via MarketingVox

BOTS Status Update

So someone on onrpg.com thought it would be funny if I told everyone BOTS was ready today... only to reveal that it's not. Hmm, that might give me a momentarily bit of satisfaction but then like so many casual pleasures in life, I'd have to pay for it in the end. Not gonna do it.

Instead, I'm going to give you guys an update.

We're expecting a major client update on Monday from our dev team. If all goes well, this might be the client we launch closed beta on. If all does not go well, then we'll need another round of revisioning and tweaks. Each round takes about a week. For the most part, all cosmetic things are completed. The remaining issues are tech related. Read between the lines.

By the way, thanks for the font comments, decided to stick with #1. I'll be sharing decisions and asking for insight more often as things move forward, especially as I ramp up the marketing efforts. Some things/decisions I'm already planning to invite you guys into: Advertising, Tournaments, Promotions, Content Updates, and What Ken Should Have For Lunch. It will be educational and valuable for everyone involved.

This foolish day, not lost in translation

I'm not really good at Fooling people, so instead, I'm going to share a little story with you today. By the way, this is TOTALLY off topic to the blog so feel free to move on if you wish, I won't be offended.

I'm a first generation Chinese-American. My mom, bless her heart, did not grow up in this culture. She learned about American holidays through me; I would come home from school overflowing with holiday spirit and insistent on celebrating like everyone else.

I told her about the Tooth Fairy leaving money under the pillow and I told her about Santa leaving gifts. She knew the holidays meant something to me so she tried her best. Things would get lost in translation. On Christmas mornings, I would wake up with something very uncomfortable under my pillow: my Xmas gifts.

She was an expert at one holiday though. April Fool's Day. I guess I told her it was a day you could lie and fool people and it was all in good fun. Thus begins my life with mom and April Fool's Day. Some highlights:

April 1, 1985: "I threw out all your toys" "Why?!" "I needed to clean up" "But.." "April Fools!"

April 1, 1989: I wake up in the morning. Mom says, "We're moving back to Hong Kong. Get your suitcase." I go into my closet and pull out my suitcase.... "April Fools!"

April 1, 1995: Mom pages me urgently while I'm in class at UCLA. I step out and call her. "I got in a car accident, can you come help me?" "Oh my god, where?" "10 Freeway, come quick." "Where on 10 Freeway?" "Ha ha ha, April Fools"

April 1, 2003: I'm in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mom calls, "Your cousin is in jail, can you call a lawyer?" "What?!" "Yeah, he got in a fight" "Ok, I'll call you right back" "Wait a second... April Fools!"

April 1, 2005: I'm at work. Cell phone rings. "The toilet won't stop running. The floor is flooding!" "Oh my god, ok, I'll call the plumber" "Wait, listen to it" "What?" "Listen to the toilet........ April Fools!"

She gets me EVERY time! You may be thinking I'm an idiot, but seriously, the woman is good. She takes advantage of the sacred mother-son trust/bond/whatever. Every year, I think I'm prepared but she ups the ante or catches me off guard.

Not this year mom. I'm ready this year. Bring it on!

Advanced Technology, the oxymoron

Took a night off and went bowling this evening. Wait, pardon me, went XTreme Bowling. Black light, cheesy music, all that good stuff. Is it me or does anyone else flash back to nervous sweaty high school dances when you're at these things?

Anyways... on to the point of this post. I experienced a moment of clarity at the Mar Vista Lanes: Technology is making us stupid. Here's my case.

I just finished bowling double Turkeys (it's my story, I retain the right to embellish) and to celebrate, I scooted off to grab a few longnecks. I found the bar between the lockers and the bathroom. Hehe, everyone needs to experience a bar like this. If there's a warehouse somewhere in this country that provides all the necessary elements to make your bar into a dive, this place cleaned the warehouse out. Even the house drunk had a lazy eye. Amongst all this, standing out like an international volunteer at a famine camp, was a touch screen register, the type you find at chain restaurants.

This machine has probably seen better days at TGIFridays; well for that matter, so has the bartender. As I walked in, she was punching in a well-practiced sequence of buttons. However, something was not going right. Whatever she expected to happen, didn't happen. I watched her hit that sequence 10 times (I started counting after 5). She called for backup at that point and I then watched the other bartender repeat the sequence another 5 times. For the next 3 minutes, they tried different variations of the same sequence. Finally, the guy that ordered drinks pulled out smaller bills and settled the tab.

You're probably way ahead of me, so I'll make this quick. I should have walked away but I ordered my beers and watched her proceed to pointlessly jab at the machine again. The visual of a rat in a cage hitting the pellet lever flashed by.

"I just need eight bucks back," I offer. The bartender turns around and looks at me with a mixture of puzzlement and scorn. "It doesn't work," she grunts before turning back to it. I don't think she noticed when took back my money and walked out (without the beers).

I'm confused. How did we get to this point? I know this one example is not indicative of society as a whole but I know this is not unique. I've been in a grocery store that shut down because the scanners didn't work. I've been in a restaurant that asked everyone to leave because the microwave broke down (no joke).

To wrap this story up, I'm drinkless, so I search around for an alternative and find a soda machine. A soda machine made for morons. Someone gave the buttons on this Pepsi machine steroids. They were ridiculously HUGE!

Was Pepsi losing money on the old machines because people couldn't find the freak'n buttons? Was there a memo that said that making the buttons 250% bigger increased sales by the same amount? Somehow, using this machine made me feel like an idiot.

Look, technology is great but without a doubt, it's sucking common sense and innovation right out of us. I have a tech-related job and my job is to introduce more tech into people's lives. Tonight, I sincerely became worried that I will somehow contribute to this suckage. Specifically, are games contributing to the dumbing down of our society?

Like our bartender friend and her register, gamers in games are expected to hit very specific sequence of buttons/actions and then they expect to be rewarded for it. Will we turn out an automaton society that expects to be rewarded in real life, the same way as in games. I did X, Y and Z, where's my comfy middle class life? I did the grind, show me my just desserts. Let's hope not. Let's hope that games are also building up critical thinking as well as this steady pursuit of defined goals.

I'm overreacting. Right?