- The IGDA Alternate Reality Games SIG has released its first whitepaper. And speaking of ARGs, it looks like Lost Planet will have one.
- The Harvard Business Review recently published an article of mine on the subject of reverse product placements (i.e. bringing fictional products into real-world marketplaces). I can’t reprint the article, but it basically fleshes out points that I’ve already raised here.
- Kaz Hirai was promoted to president of SCEI; Ken Kutaragi moves into the chairman role. The promotion is being interpreted by some as a shift away from hardware-centricity.
- Via Wonderland, survey finds 43% of US net-users felt “as strongly” about their web community as they did about their real-world friends.
- Pacific Crest Securities is getting a lot of attention, ever since their analyst declared EA’s brand “tarnished” due to consistently poor games. Citing GameRankings.com, he notes: “Reviews of all of EA’s annualized titles… have declined over the past two years.” Lower revenues are probably a better measure of brand damage; little sign of that as of today.
