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Making of a Killer
Killer apps are rarely identifiable ahead of time. OUYA needn’t be worried yet A common criticism of the OUYA is that it lacks a killer app. Something that people can point to and say “This is reason alone to buy the console.” Of course it somewhat misses that most killer apps are only regarded as such in hindsight. It can often take years for such things to emerge and be truly appreciated for what they are. That doesn’t mean OUYA should sit back and wait for such an app to naturally occur. Instead, OUYA should work to maximise the chances of it appearing and make every effort to create the…
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Finishing Service
What Indie developers really need is a finishing service Another take away from Richard Nash’s excellent (if rather long) take on the state of the literary/book publishing industry is that publishers (especially editors) actually perform multiple roles that add value, and while some of those roles are now obsolete, others are absolutely still relevant. Perhaps even more so in a world flooded with digital content. Chief amongst the tasks of an editor is ensuring that manuscripts are up to standard and ready for market. In other words, that they are polished and have had all their rough edges smoothed out. Translating this to games, I’m not talking about finding bugs…
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Who’s Curating Who?
Who should be curating content anyway? And should we trust them? I recently read this essay about the state of publishing and the literary world. It’s a long read, but well worth it, with multiple points relevant to the games industry as well. One of the big questions it raises, and one that has also been picked up by the wider games industry, is just who’s job is it anyway to curate content? Journalists and reviewers are professionals who we pay to get their opinions. They may be experts in their field, but more often are simply excellent communicators, able to articulate a point in an eloquent, amusing or concise…
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Perception War
The OUYA community is unwittingly participating in a perception war, and in danger of getting burned out as a result I played Eve Online for many years. It’s a game that ostensibly, like all MMO’s, you can’t lose. Even if your ship is destroyed, you can respawn and buy another. Even if your clan loses all of its territory, you can wage guerilla warfare and make life so miserable for the new residents that they eventually give up and leave. The only thing you can truly lose is the will to fight, to continue the struggle. In-game battles are just the ammunition for the real battle of perception. Eventually a…
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In Search of Art
Games need to look further afield and to other arts for inspiration With an eclectic mix of game developers, creatives and students, I had a lot of fun demoing Executive Star and the OUYA at Gamecity Nights in Nottingham on Thursday evening. I was able to get much useful feedback about the game, and had some interesting discussions with both sceptics and supporters of the OUYA, with a couple of kickstarter backers in the room most excited to pose with a dev kit. Gotta love that quality camera-phone imagery. I also had the opportunity to meet Ollie Clarke, who I must admit, I had previously not heard of. However, after…
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Exhibit F
By highlighting individual products, App Stores are failing to leverage the full power of their Featured slots Museums have been in the business of curating content for centuries, and just like the app stores of the digital world, they often have far larger collections of items than they can ever hope to display. To get around this, they have special exhibitions that run for a limited time, highlighting more unusual or overlooked items with a proper public viewing, whilst at the same time, tying together individual, disparate content into a complete story. In the process, they add immense value, giving context to a historical situation, art movement or theme that…
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Wide Games
Is augmented reality gaming a dead end, or can open, hackable technology bring gaming back outdoors? Games have their evolutionary origins in learning and practice. For hunting and gathering, war and tribal conflict, it makes sense to have a way to practice techniques, strengthen teamwork and test outcomes without the negative consequences if something goes wrong. Sports in particular, but even the most basic of games tap into this instinct. As video games get increasingly abstracted away from that root origin, they can lose a lot of their power and meaning, and leave the experience feeling a little shallow. Computers are tools to be used, whether they are for work…
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The Right Sentiment
A tetchy games industry is getting itchy feet Sometimes, people need to just get all the thoughts swirling in their heads onto paper. Even if they’re not entirely coherent, it is part of the process of articulating a hard to pin down feeling, and one that others may well also be feeling, but can’t quite get the words out themselves. That’s exactly what gamesindustry.biz did this week, musing on the relationship between game developers, gamers and games press in the light of the one year anniversary of controversy at last year’s GDC, which rocked the niche games journalism industry, and lead to much introspection. Of course, journalists love to talk…
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In The Land of Cosplay and Cupcakes: Expo Post Mortem from an Indie Developer’s Perspective
What went right and wrong and what lessons I learned from exhibiting Executive Star and the OUYA at a comic convention Last weekend, I headed on down to the MCM Comic Con in Birmingham. It’s primarily a comic book and memorabilia convention, but is chock full of everything science fiction and fantasy related. I had been toying with the idea of exhibiting my game at such a convention for some time, but this time finally got round to doing it. Background The convention is one of a number organised by the same company around the UK every year. I’d previously visited their London expo as a regular punter, since I’d…
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Start Asking Questions
OUYA needs to be the one asking the questions and firing the debate if they want to cultivate an image of market disruptor The renegade asks the awkward, probing, difficult questions, suggests the unthinkable, goes against the stream. They provide the alternative with a wink and a smile, and if they are truly intent on starting a revolution, they will also walk the walk. OUYA walks the walk without talking the talk. It has a very unconventional and excitingly alternative product wrapped in the shell of a generic tech-startup company. That image is failing to fire the imaginations of an industry built on creativity and engineering ingenuity, and that’s a…
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