A rant about research that tells stuff we already know

I ran across this study by Pew and read the entire 5 or 6 paragraph teaser. As I did so, my brain was saying, “check, check, check,” as if I already knew all of the information in the study.  All the research, as it were, seemed to confirm the obvious: the vast majority of adults are only casual video game players, and the older you get, the less likely you are to invest waste your time playing video games.

Since I’m complaining, how about asking for an abvious answer on an entirely different subject? Does anybody else agree with me that Steve Ballmer is essentially a PR liability for Microsoft?

December 8, 2008 | Tags: , , , | 1,886 Comments »

Second Life as Business Tool? WHY?

I was reading Eric Krangel’s post about what Second Life can do to improve its reputation as Linden moves from irrational exuberance mode to damage-control/survival mode.  Interestingly, Eric seems to acknowledge that there’s *some* business value in using Second Life.   He correctly points out that Second Life is more appropriate for hobbyists and gamers than for use as a business tool, but the fact that he even considers Second Life of any value at all to businesses is laughable.  Second Life–seriously here–is a big waste of time.  Coincidentally, so is World of Warcraft.

November 24, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , | 10 Comments »

iPhone: the first truly mainstream handheld entertainment device?

With Bioware recently stating they’re looking into iPhone development, EA all but confirming so, and a former EA designer big-wig leaving to start an iPhone game startup, one has to wonder: is the iPhone going to accomplish what the PSP, DS, and their predecessors have thusfar failed to accomplish?

That is, to put handheld entertainment in the pockets of adults, not just kids and guys who still live with mom at age 35.

I’d say it’s a reasonable bet, especially if Apple can find a way out of that creepy deal it has with AT&T.  This deal is stifling to the consumer at large, keeping the iPhone out of many needful hands (including my own, and I’m an AT&T customer–contract-free and loving life, baby).

With the PSP having shipped close to 28 million units, it has a big head start on the iPhone, which will only ship 10 million by the end of the year, according to estimates. The DS, meanwhile, has shipped somewhere around 31 million units, easily three times Apple’s take.

Nevertheless, the iPhone has a larger screen and more storage than either device, meaning it’s better for movie-watching, and the Internet surfing experience on the iPhone is priceless. If you’ve ever used the YouTube app on the iPhone, you know what I’m talking about.

Let’s talk games, though. Early attempts at iPhone games were online, web-based tripe. DHTML stuff. Not that compelling.  But more recently, Pangea was able to port some of their flagship 3D game products over to the iPhone–products like Cro-Mag rally, a caveman racing game (think Flintstones meets Mario Kart). Apparently the conversion was done in “a matter of hours” with a “decent framerate”.

So there’s 3D API on the iPhone, the development environment, Xcode, is Cocoa-based, the operating system is OS X, and the availability of cross-platform game frameworks for OS X is excellent.  The drawback, if you consider it one, is that the iPhone doesn’t (and can’t) have a true gamepad-type control system, since it’s a 100% touch-screen device.

But with Apple’s influence and a steadily decreasing price point, the iPhone has a change to be the next big game platform, minus the AT&T stick-to-head contract, of course.

July 1, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 713 Comments »