Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

For Love of Tower Defense

When Skyrim was done sucking down my spare and not-so-spare time, I tried some smaller downloadable games.  First I played "Dungeon Defenders", a tower defense/RPG fusion.  Next (well, at the same time), I played "Orcs Must Die," a case of truth in advertising that was . . . an RPG/Tower Defense Fusion.

Starting to see a trend?

In fact, Microsoft apparently did, they even had a Tower Defense discount/special on XBox.  It appears that Tower Defense has become pretty popular and produced some good games lately, even if the genre has been around for awhile (such as "Trapt/Dark Illusion") 

This made me wonder, just are these games popular?  Why was I enjoying them?  Why did these RPG-style fusions seem especially enjoyable and well-received?  I mean, yes, Tower defense was and is popular, but these games seemed to reach something in me and other gamers that made us play for hours and speculate on new ways to immolate orcs (I recommend a spring trap that throws them back into Brimstone, by the way).

For you current and future game professionals, here's my analysis.

Layoffs At THQ

THQ is making cuts. Where it is is a bit of a question, and this roundup tries for some context. It might be several layoffs.

Analysts seem positive about THQ's moves.

TAKEAWAYS:

• THQ is going to survive, I think it'd be unlikely for them to collapse - but clearly they need to restructure/reorg/replan.
• I'd be careful of any job oppose with them for this reason.
• Their age-refocusing might leave some opportunities for other companies and studios.

- Steven Savage

Games, Persistence, The Cloud, The Future

If you play MMOs, if you're using cloud storage for games (as we're moving towards), think for a moment how long a "game" will survive.  Your collection of memory sticks and outdated save cards is nothing compared to the way gaming is going.  I see it entirely possible that game data will survive for years, for more than a decade, in some situations.

This likely possibility is something those of us who play and make games and media should be seriously considering.

• MMO's will have to decide what to do with old data - and also the fact that each inactive account may yet become income producing.
• If anyone remembers the way some Metal Gear games used save files, those old save files could be used in so many ways in other games - or sequels.
• What happens when a game gets re-released?  What do you do with save files floating around in the cloud?
• When a game gets a sequel/spinoff years later after whatever legal/ethical/company fooaraw delays it save files that can be used for extras, bonuses, etc. may still be out there.
• With all the ways to use old save and game information, what are the legal limits of what data you can use?
• * What legal rights does a company have to use data saved under previous games?

If you're a programmer or producer in gaming, a lot of potential opportunities and challenges are coming just due to sheer persistence of data.  Some of these could be trouble - and many could be opportunities.

- Steven Savage

 

Career-relevant news in gaming!

Career Alert: A new game site appears to be in the works. Start looking people - it seems the folks at Vox Media's been grabbing talent. You might find some oppose here.

Takeaways:

• Vox has a past history of making things work - this may succeed.
• A success may be especially bad for kotaku, in my opinion, which seems to have become "lamer" content wise (and they just lost some of their talent).
• There may be job opportunities here.

Gaikai lines up more partnerships, showing the major rival to OnLive has major plans. Though I'm not sure that Best Buy partnership is going to last long-term.

Gaikai has a lot of ambition and one gutsy founder, and a deadline - new demos deployed on the web in 2012. Ambitious. Intriguing, and they're building some big partnerships.

Takeaways:

• Have you sent them a resume? They are hiring.
• This is not just an "OnLive" competitor - these people do streaming. Much like OnLive they can become a Netflix competitor.
• The web-embed technology gives them a chance to reach people and provide more services. They may make some deals that may not have them being public - but their technology will be.

- Steven Savage

2012 Predictions: It's Not The End of The World As We Know It

We have one big prediction hanging over our heads as we try to decide what lies ahead of us in the next 12 months, and it has to do with a certain calendar put together by a certain tribe a long, long time ago. Given the number of apocalypses that have come and gone over the years . . . this looks like yet another one.

So, given that it's not The End Of The World As We Know It, what's ahead of us during the coming year? Let me get out my crystal ball and figure this out . . .

Must Read: An Examination of GameStop's Present And Future

We wonder how GameStop is going to survive in the digital economy. We wish someone would examine that.

Oh, wait, someone has.

The article's definitely worth reading as it goes into the value provided to companies, gamers, and more by the GameStop model. It also shows how GameStop is really "partnered" with big names.

There's also a few suprises (like hardware is the least profitable sector of the GameStop world), and some warnings (it looks like no matter what, GameStop is going to take some hit in the future).

Worth your time.

My takes? Well hey, don't these always come up?

• As noted at some point, I think Game Stop has to take a hit - DLC is going to cut into their profit margins at some points. They might even be delaying the inevitable for now, but it's coming.
• Frankly they're the only game in town that can manage to be a "game store" which gives them powerful mindshare and pull. I think they'll survive.
• To survive they will, at some point, have to keep diversifying or scale back. This may provide you an opportunity career-wise (or a reason to leave).
• I would consider it possible, if unlikely, some big name may just buy GameStop and incorporate it into a larger effort - that's a mighty big footprint to get.
• A partnership of some kind could pay off for GameStop. It may sound crazy, but what could they do working with Steam, OnLive, etc.?

- Steven Savage

Zynga Shares Drop 10%?

Yeah, they dropped first day of trading.

I didn't see that coming - I figured there'd be a run on them.  The market must be a heck of a lot more cautious than I thought (plus they didn't release a ton of shares).

- Steven Savage

Zynga's IPO Priced

Yes, Zynga has announced it's price-per share and it's $10.  This is a must-read article, though the basic summary is Zynga gets a huge load of cash that's record-setting.

So what's my takeaway here for us progeeks?

• This is a pretty reasonable stock price compared to everything else - but of course, expect it to go through the roof. Also I expect it to fall a few months later if it does rocket up.  They are big enough that what happens to the stock will affect other IPOs - except, maybe, Facebook.
• Zynga will raise a lot of money, and what they do next is going to be a big question.  The article jokes they could buy those who once mocked them, but if you think about it they really COULD.  Zynga could choose to radically change the game market merely by acquisition.
• I have doubts about Zynga successfully expanding/acquiring because their internal model of doing things - intense, statistic-driven - may not map well to other gaming ventures.  I can't, for instance, see them successfully entering the MMO market.  The question is if Zynga's management realizes their limits - and I'm not sure.
• They will do something with the money, and where that money goes, jobs will probably follow.
• Zynga's star has faded in the last few months, and in the gaming circles I sense less and less admiration and more dislike and annoyance.  There are people waiting to pounce on any errors made.

So now, we sit and wait and see what happens . . .

- Steven Savage

 

Vaporized by Fire

Okay, we know the Kindle Fire is selling like crazy. To absolutely nobody's surprise, it's cutting into iPad sales this Christmas. (What is surprising, though, is that Apple's own MacBook Air is also cutting into iPad sales. So much for all those predictions of the death of the laptop at the hands of the tablet.)

However, at least one analyst says that the Fire is going to get so big, it's going to vaporize other Android tablets. Yes, that is the exact word that Evercore Partners' Robert Cihra used - vaporize. Pretty strong, isn't it? 

Gree Has New Social Game Platform

OK gamers, Gree's got a new social game developer platform coming and there's a look at it now.

They're promising:

• Access to their current amount of players (A sweet 150 million)
• iOS and Android integration
• A ton of tools

So sounds interesting for gamers, you're going to want to watch this (and I'm wondering if their iOS integration will cover all Mac devices eventually). It might be something you have to know.

I'd also note that Gree is locked in an increasingly bitter rivalry with DeNA, and this may be one of may ways they take them on (or out).  Hmm, and where are some of the others in all of this . . .

- Steven Savage