Author Archives: David J Edery

• The Washington Post writes about Madden’s tremendous impact on the NFL and its fans. No longer surprising, but always fun to see a concrete example of the power of games in full effect. Relatedly, a very funny (but fake) letter from Madden’s lowest-rated NFL player is getting lots of attention. (warning: letter full of profanity)
• I forgot to mention earlier: Pogo has implemented a new virtual currency called “Gems”, which can be used to buy virtual items, etc. A development worth watching given Pogo’s large audience.
• Also in the “old news” category: most game magazines continue to tread water or lose subscribers, but Game Informer actually experienced a huge spike in subscribers thanks to GameStop promotions. It’s now a top-40 magazine in the US.
• For fellow bloggers: in a completely unscientific study, I correlated yesterday’s traffic spike (1100 more visitors than usual) with unique visits to my feed (50 more than usual). One could therefore surmise that approximately 4.5% of that traffic will potentially “stick” (not including repeat visitors who don’t use RSS readers). Again: totally unscientific — there’s a thousand things I can’t know that affect this number.

• Via Publishing 2.0, news of digg.com-related controversy. The popular news site, in an effort to stifle abuse, now attempts to neutralize “voting blocks”, which has apparently decreased the influence of some of the site’s more popular users. Something worth following if you’re interested in UGC or online communities in general.
• UGC in casual games… specifically, Pop5 Live on MSN games (users submit and rate Cranium-like videos.)
• Slashdot’s (relatively positive) review of episodic adventure series Sam and Max

• Internet communities (such as YouTube and MySpace) propel Weird Al Yankovic to his first top 10 album in 30 years. This is my new favorite example of the power of online, grassroots buzz. 🙂
• Interesting GoPets Interview. Good quote: “In GoPets, a lot of people try to be the ‘Most Friendly’ … If I give the most gifts, I show up on the most generous list … People will compete in completely noncompetitive environments.”
• Escapist article on the importance of timing to a game’s success. Short on constructive advice, but a useful reminder (especially re: macro conditions, for those of us with our heads down.).
• Ubisoft opens an office in Mexico. I have no good reason for linking to this, other than that I’m thrilled to see the game industry taking emerging markets more seriously.

The first iteration of the GDC 2007 schedule was just announced, and it looks like I’m on it (twice!) Check it out.  🙂

PC Gaming in an Age of Connected Consoles
Speaker: David Edery (Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner, Xbox Live Arcade), Warren Spector (President, Junction Point Studios), Soren Johnson (Designer & Programmer, Firaxis Games), Michael Capps (President, Epic Games, Inc.)
Track: Business and Management
Format: 60-minute Panel

The PC game industry is in flux. While sales of casual and massive multiplayer games are rising, sales of traditional AAA titles are reportedly declining. The panel will discuss how PC games should evolve to compete with and complement console titles, and identify promising areas for ongoing PC game development. Issues include: is the decline real (and, if so, what is behind it), how will MMOGs continue to impact the market, which business models are most appealing for PC game development and distribution, and how should PC game design evolve in response to the capabilities of modern consoles?

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• Retro gaming continues its resurgence; Konami’s classics are headed to the Nintendo DS.
• In Second Life, user-created content is trouncing corporate-created content (popularity-wise).
• Another set of console sales predictions (this time by IDG). IMO, the picture will be a heck of a lot clearer six months from now…
• A very simple (but apparently effective) example of viral marketing, targeted at early buyers of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

• A perspective on the strength of Chinese local casual game platforms, and the variations in consumer demand.
• In2Games develops a “more accurate” and “universal” (i.e. USB) motion-sensitive game controller. Very interesting, but probably futile unless a major platform or publisher embraces it.
• It is becoming increasingly common to read about patents and prototypes of systems that enable gameplay through pure thought-control. Awesome. Here’s another.
• Thought-provoking list of “must-have” user-created items in Second Life. Gives insight into the nature of the sandbox and the great creativity of its users.