Neon and Napalm

5 Coffee Table Books you Must Own

2013-03-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

My collection of coffee table books is steadily growing despite the fact I have absolutely zero room for them with the added problem in that I don't actually own a coffee table to proudly display them on. In fact my wife will let out an audible groan when she see's my mouse hovering over the "add to basket" icon when I'm on Amazon. What is a coffee table book? I hear you ask, well read on and I shall inform.

#1 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: The Definitive Story behind the Film

My latest and greatest book purchase I've had my eye on for a while but resisted buying it due to the fact its original list price was originally around the fifty pounds mark but some spare cash and a price reduction on Amazon were two forces that combined forces nicely.
If like me you were born in the early 70's chances are you sucumbed to the Star Wars craze and even today can't resist using empty coffee mugs to talk into to perfect your party piece "No Luke I am your Father" phrase to impress the kids (okay so that's just me then). The Making of The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story Behind the Film By J.W Rinzler is by far the most in depth book I've seen on the Star Wars Trilogy, Empire being my favourite of the original trilogy of films this packs a real wallop at 372 pages with some stunning content, the cover even depicts Luke and Vader in the sabre duel and clearly shows both light sabres with no visual effect.
The book is packed with some outstanding Star Wars photography and great insights on filming both on sound stages and on location, in particular are highlights of the perils of shooting in Norway for the Imperial AT AT attack on Echo base sequence (the temperature in Norway was so cold that if crew touched the cameras without wearing gloves bare skin from fingers would stick to the metal parts of frozen cameras and therefore needed to be sliced off with razor blades). The book also touches on the sometimes highly tense relationships between actors and director Irvin Kershner and the constant visits on set by banks and financiers worried about the over budget production and often problematic shoot.
I love the fact you can dive into this book anywhere and on any page find a Star Wars laden treasure trove of stories and behind the scenes images and anecdotes you probably have never seen before. There's a great story of Vaders comical entry to Echo base which didn't quite come off as planned, the ditched Wampa - Stormtrooper attack that never made the cut (with photos!) and its rammed with model makers,set pics and some great candid shots of the stars on set. Empire Strikes Back sealed its fate as probably the darkest and most standout of the 3 films but this book is testament to the raw talent and hard work that went into the film to give us the masterpiece we know and love today. Amazon currently have this listed at twenty Eight pounds, an absolute bargain for a tome as hefty and detailed at this. The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story Behind the Film.

#2 GIL ELVGREN: All His Glamorous Pin Ups (25th Anniversary)

At 272 pages Gil Elvgren: All his Glamorous American Pin-ups (25th Anniversary) this is amazing value for money, I picked up mine about a year ago for just over ten pounds so this really is one of those guilty pleasures you should invest in. American artist Edward Hopper, Pin up posters, Pulp Art from the 50's and the pin up art of Vargas has always appealed to me but its Gil Elvgrens American pin up art that seals the deal for me.
While the art of Vargas is slightly more classy with a delicate and refined touch, Gils 'Technicolor Fantasy' pin up art (to coin a phrase) has always been well rounded and fruity, its naughty stocking clad girls in various states of cheeky predicament add a touch of thrill rather than run any risk of being accused of rude soft porn and it still manages to be completely harmless but with perhaps a large dose of suggestive behaviour. Pin ups have been rooted firmly in Americana, beautiful girls with gravity defying busts, slender legs and racy underwear...and a small dog by their side thrown in for good measure. Elvgrens appreciation of the female form is well catalogued with skin tones like silk and poses that sizzle with cheeky allure right off the page. It was this type of art that was given even more precedence when young World War 2 Bomber Pilots adorned the noses of their B17' Bombers with crude pin up girl murals and decals in order to personalise and humanise their machines of war - and its looking through books on nose art (Gary Valants Vintage Nose Art book is worth checking out) that I was first introduced to this type of art. This book isn't small, its a solid tome packed to the brim of some truly beautiful pin up art and with very little white space, books like this are created by people who truly appreciate this type of art but then most books by Taschen normally are substantial in both quality and content and they do publish some of the best art books. Gil Elvgren: All his Glamorous American Pin-ups (25th Anniversary)

#3 ICONS: The DC Comics and Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee

Icons: The DC Comics and WildStorm Art of Jim Lee runs at 296 pages, this one also packs a heavyweight punch. I've been a fan of Lee's for a long while, I was first introduced to both Carl Potts and Jim Lee's style of artwork when he worked on the Punisher War Journal series for Marvel Comics in 1988. While I tend to like the gritty style of John Romitta Jr with the Punisher, it was Lees work that really popped from the page for me and I've been a fan ever since. Jim Lee's other and probably much overlooked title Deathblow gets a good look in with some great Jim Lee art but its the DC era that really gets the coverage in Icons.

Lee's incredible work on Batman:Hush shows sketches, pre inked and post inked and coloured and gives a great insight into the way he works. Superman, Justice league, 100 Bullets as well as Wonder Woman and Lees work on Wildstorm are all covered. Artwork really pops and the colour and quality of the work really cements Lee's place as one of the most important men working in comics today. The book doesn't scrimp when it comes to layout either with content covering full pages and double page layouts it features a nice cross mix of page layout roughs as well as visuals but its the colour work that really jumps out. The only downside to the book is that because its primarily a DC book Lee's Punisher work isn't present, a shame considering it was Lee's bold and highly detailed style that drove the quality of the series after he took over penciller duties from Carl Potts. Superman fans are in for a treat and both the key DC heroes Bruce and Clark get equal billing with some amazing standout artworks and studies. Batman fans will get a massive kick out of this book though and its packed with some great images and even includes the Joker artwork that Jim Lee gave to the late great actor Heath Ledger.

#4 WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT: A Photographers Chronicle of the Iraq War

I love most types of photography but my interest kind of piques when it comes to photo-journalism, especially combat related photography. Its fair to say that the latest rumbles in the dust in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered up some incredible photo essays and journalism by war photographers both in print and online with images that educate us visually on modern conflict. Many years ago I bought an amazing book called "NAM" by photographer Tim Paige, Paige was a an English photographer embedded with US and Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam conflict and was wounded when he stepped on a landmine. It was his images and ability to overcome his wounds that created a level of respect for this kind of photographer. Combat photos portray the sheer terror and risk involved in capturing images we would otherwise not be exposed to.Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) is one such book and is a sometimes moving chronicle of Photographer Ashley Gilbertsons work while embedded with American troops.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War is a book that covers both the deadly environment of troops in combat but also cuts deep to the bone by showing some powerful photos of the devastation and pain that armed conflict brings to communities. Content and layout wise its probably one of the better books on the market with a good balance of photography that tells a more involved story.
What I like most is that in his own words the book explains much about the images that Gilbertson was taking at the time of the photo and in some rather tragic cases portrays the last photo ever taken of a particular person while they were alive.The most gripping aspect of the book is Gilbertson's personal account and photos of troops in combat in the brutal fight to take Fallujah, Gilbertson still haunted by the traumatic death of a US Marine which could have well have been his own when a squad escorting him to take a photo of a dead insurgent inside a minaret had deadly consequences. At 260 pages this provides enough content you can dive into, as a book on combat photography it is engrossing, tragic and incredible in equal measure.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War

#5 SOLDIER: A Visual History of the Fighting Man

Soldier: A Visual History of the Fighting Man, this is one of those "books for boys"that you can easily lose a few hours on with a cup of coffee in your man cave, all 360 pages of it. Dorling Kindersley have a knack of producing some pretty good in depth visual guides, in this case is backed up by tons of historical fact which makes the read through educating to say the least.You could almost look at these books as the literary version of a history museum since the photographic content is done in such a way that it mirrors how museums would normally display their exhibits.Uniforms, equipment and weapons are given close up focus as the book covers the advances in technology and tools that the fighting soldier has come to rely on.
The thing I find most staggering is how far advanced weaponry has become in the last 150 years, in the American Civil War men fired single load muskets with ball and wadding, now night vision, scopes and optics and computers are forging the battlefield of today.
Everything from the Medieval Knight at Agincourt, British Red Coats at Waterloo to the more recent conflicts such as WWII featuring the weapons and equipment of the 101st Airborne Paratrooper, US Marine in Vietnam and the SAS trooper and tactics of modern day. Visually it combines illustrations, photographs and plenty of text, in short there is a ton of information here for the military enthusiast.
This is a heavyweight coffee table book packed with images, illustrations and historic information and a perfect addition to any home library.Soldier: A Visual History of the Fighting Man is also available from Amazon.

Got a favourite coffee table book you keep going back to?, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below so don't be shy, jump in and get the conversation started.

Aurora Seen from the ISS in Orbit

2013-02-28T15:54:00.000-08:00

I took a trip to Iceland in December to do some marketing work on a videogame I'm working on. I did get to sample the Icelandic attractions of things like the Geo Thermal delights of the Blue Lagoon, this was at night after a 3 hour flight from the UK and in freezing sideways rain, I never knew rain could fall sideways but the -2 windchill factor contrasted weirdly with the hot spa was an experience I'll never forget.
Of course the other thing that took some getting used to was the 5 hours of daylight. My biggest regret though is that while I was there for the entire week I never did get a glimpse of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). This simply stunning phenomena is caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. The green hue is caused by oxygen emissions but can also be a brown-red colour depending on the amount of energy absorbed.Nitrogen emissions give off blue or red. Auroras are associated with the solar wind, a flow of ions continuously flowing outward from the Sun. The Earth's magnetic field traps these particles, many of which travel toward the poles where they are accelerated toward Earth.

Missing this amazing light show was a huge disappointment for me as its one of those things you add to your bucket list, still, there's always things like this stunning footage taken from the ISS in orbit to keep that dream going.

Candy Colored Nightmares

2013-02-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce you to the work of artist Dave MacDowell, a self taught artist from Virginia, satrical 'candy coloured nightmares' and paintings with an edge.Movies, Politics, Music..no media gets out alive! Judging by the 83,000 views of his Flickr paintings page he's a popular guy.

Check out his blog here
Check out his Flickr paintings page here

"Who Ya' Gunna Call?"

Battlefield 3 and 3.9 Million Grenades

2013-02-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Battlefield 3 FPS launched more than 12 months ago, and its through its popularity as one of the leading military shooters on the market that it still generates more than 1 terabyte of data a day.
Publisher Electronic Arts tracks more than 50 different telemetry events associated with multiplayer combat for each player in a game pulling in some truly staggering data.
For example, the data reveals that every 15 minutes, Battlefield 3 players throw 3.9 million grenades, destroy 648,000 vehicles, and create 24 million explosions.
EA has 275 million registered users, it captures 50TBs of data per day, and it monitors 2 billion monthly game sessions. You sir, are being watched.

Iron Man 3 poster

2013-02-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

IRON MAN 3 Poster

Loving the look and feel of the latest posters for Iron Man 3, the latest features our Iron Clad protagonist Tony Stark stripped of his lethal Ion charged gauntlets and mean looking helmet and I've got to say the Iron Patriot Armour that Commander Rhodes will be flying looks absolutely stunning.

Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) working from a script that he co-wrote with Drew Pearce.
The posters have a "reveal" aspect to them that not only strips away some of the mystery and secrecy of the characters but proves that these characters are now firmly established within the Trilogy of films. Iron Man 3 opens on May 3rd.

Never Dilute Your Brand

2013-02-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

Video-game behemoth Electronic Arts finally woke up and smelt the coffee recently when it announced that it is to mothball its Medal of Honor franchise. On a recent investor call EA's COO Peter Moore confirmed that the Medal of Honor series will not be returning in the near future.
In the call Moore said, "We struggled with two challenges: the slowdown that impacted the entire sector and poor critical and commercial reception for Medal of Honor Warfighter.
"Medal of Honor was an obvious miss. The game was solid, but the focus on combat authenticity did not resonate with consumers.
"Critics were polarized and gave the game scores which were, frankly, lower than it deserved. This one is behind us now. We are taking Medal of Honor out of the rotation, and have a plan to bring year-over-year continuity to our shooter offerings."
One of the biggest challenges EA faced with rebooting MOH was that it already had one of the best shooters on the market in the form of its Battlefield franchise. Rebooting a modern Afghansitan themed MOH and following that up with its lacklustre MOH Warfighter sequel last year did nothing but cannibalise its own brand and alienate MOH and BF3 fans.

Rather than focus its entire energy in strengthening its BF brand it decided instead to take on Activision's Call of Duty franchise with two different products, the problem was both products were fighting for exactly the same consumer dollar.
Why anyone in their right mind at EA thought that offering two modern day military shooters to exactly the same buyer in the same year from the same publisher was a sound idea I have absolutely no idea.
Medal of Honor made its gaming return in 2011 after a three-year hiatus with an agressively cool marketing campaign ("Experts in the Application of Violence) which based its dark and moody brand message on a Tier 1 Special Forces character called "Cowboy" who just so happens to be a real Tier 1 operator. The game, developed by both Danger Close and DICE, received a lukewarm critical reception but fared reasonably well commercially. Last year’s MOH: Warfighter, fared far worse and sold just over 300,000 units in its first week in the US, significantly below analyst expectations. By contrast MOH sold 2 million copies in its first two weeks on the market.

"Critics were polarized and gave the game scores which were, frankly, lower than it deserved," EA COO Peter Moore told investors. "This one is behind us now. We are taking Medal of Honor out of the rotation and have a plan to bring year-over-year continuity to our shooter offerings."
The question remains why EA even attempted to cannabalize its own brand by diluting it against a far superior and better performing product, Battlefield’s stock has never been higher, with EA revealing that the Premium subscription service for Battlefield 3 has attracted 2.9m subscribers and generated sales of over $108m.
The fact is EA wasted a ton of money and time by diverting attention into a lesser performing brand when it could have created a significant war chest to formulate a killer strategy to catch up to Activision. As a brand things have never looked so positive for Battlefield 3, the game has sold 10 million copies worldwide, across all platforms. What’s even more important to know, the sales numbers only include until December 31, 2011.

Coca Cola only have one Cola, there are different versions of it sure, Diet, Vanilla,Cherry but it focuses on delivering a strong brand message on that one brand. Coca Cola, Santa drinks it, Polar Bears drink it and those young trendy 20 somethings frolicking in the park on a summers day drink it. The fact is there isn't another similar Cola product closely similar to Coca Cola that Coca Cola promote, and why should it?, its not necessary, it doesn't need to deliver another closely matching product to dilute its own brand to the same consumer which is exactly what EA did when it launched two closely matching genre titles together.
If you have a strong brand but an equally more powerful competitor in the same market space you have to focus all your energy into reinforcing what you have, not weakening its brand message by adding another "me too" entity into the same space when the market doesn't require it.

KICKSTARTER: How To Sell Your Project Successfully

2012-08-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Know What You're Getting Into Before You Start
It's important to have a goal before embarking on a fund raising drive of any kind and its no different with Kickstarter. On the one hand it provides you with an incredible opportunity to realize a project you've always wanted to do but on the other hand also heaps a ton of responsibility on you to make good what you'll deliver your legions of backers or "pledgers" when they invest in your concept. Planning is absolutely essential, ramping up an appeal is in effect a business plan that total strangers are going to invest in and they're only going to invest in something that they have absolute faith or respect for. Cost your project out down to the penny and know what your break even point is, consider the resources and time you'll need to invest and above all network with people who may have the skills you'll need to rely on. People don't part with money easily these days and in order to get commitment from them you're going to have show some commitment yourself which is why coming up with a watertight plan is important. Be sure to explain clearly what the project is you are seeking pledges for, why you are seeking funding and the efforts you'll be making to ensure the project comes together.
Backers are ultimately looking for cool projects to be a part of, to be inspired and to be able to say "I helped fund that" empowering people to act and make a difference gives them an amazing feeling. Indie projects are always held in high regard, ones not hindered by executive chains of command preaching down through the ranks of Monday morning board meetings and corporate greed. Backers are looking for trend setters, for projects that appeal to them because it's something they've not seen before or that innovate in some way. Above all though backers are looking for a decent ROI (Return On Investment), there has to be a decent incentive to offer your backers to become involved in funding your project. A favourable mention in the back of your book for $5 pledged might be fine but don't expect that to have the same appeal at $10 Pledged. What you offer in return will ultimately dictate if your project gets off the ground.
Above all remember that you're also going to have consider what resources you have available in order to fulfil all your pledgers incentives, the logistics and all "the smaller nitty gritty stuff" are going to take up time and man power to honour so make sure you plan for it.

Avoid Talking Negatively - Remember your ABC (Always Be Confident)
No one wants to hear how your other attempts at funding have failed or how the bank manager broke his promise to lend you cash or how previous business partners let you down. Talking negatively or including any other type of sob story is just burning up crucial air time on how awesome you can make your project sound. Have something to say that keeps the tone positive and on the up, inspire people to believe in your project as well as yourself so be sure to present the product in a positive but relaxed tone and absolutely do not beg.
People are a lot more receptive to an idea if you can sell it with confidence, that means being able to make them just as enthusiastic about the project as you are. A well edited video of you talking about your project edited in with the ideas, sketches,prototype,blueprint,script,story or whatever it is you have will help sell your concept for someone to pledge in.You are the storyteller, tell a story that people cannot afford to ignore.Do your homework and check out other Kickstarter videos to get an idea of the sort of content people are including but more importantly how they are connecting with potential Pledgers.
How you inspire people with your concept is entirely up to you but remember you are selling the idea as well as yourself to people you'll probably never meet.
A positive attitude sprinkled with some insightful information or humour will pay off massively.
Two fantastic examples of this are Jeff McComseys Kickstarter project, a Zombie Graphic Novel FUBAR:Empire of the Rising Dead and Tim Schafers super slick and humour filled pitch for his Kickstarter funded Adventure game which reached a staggering $3.3 Million in funding to the tune of some 87,000 backers and achieved 100% funding in just over 8 hours.
While both projects are vastly different they both give the reasons they are seeking Kickstarter funding and are openly honest about the whole process and this really helps the projects connect with potential backers.

Deliver What You Promise
If you're going to offer to deliver a signed lithographic print, guess what - you're actually going to have to deliver a signed lithographic print, once you've made that offer there's no turning back so carefully configure your backer incentives as being ones you can comfortably deliver. Resources are important, not only from a fulfilment perspective but also from a time perspective. You want to be able to dedicate as much time and manpower to your project as possible rather than have key personnel or team members running around trying to process the Kickstarter fulfilment of wrapping mugs, mousemats or leather bound art books or whatever gifts you are using for incentives for posting to pledgers. If you can't deliver it, don't promise it.

Be Clear On What You Are Offering
Keep things clear and simple, don't stuff your offerings with paragraph after paragraph of text, a snapshot or a brief overview of what you are offering backers per amount pledged is easy enough to advertise with a simple graphic, photo or image. These are sometimes labelled as "packages", a package is the deal you are offering your backers and will be broken down by monetary pledge. For example for $65 you might offer a Premium package which contains whatever it is you're going to offer, for $90 or more though they'll get the Collectors package which is made up of the same content as the Premium package but perhaps with something extra thrown in as a bonus.
An amazing example of beautifully realised packages is shown on the Creatue Box Kickstarter page here.

Don't Get Sunk by Hidden Costs
There are some fantastic success stories on Kickstarter of late, there are literally hundreds of creative projects that have seen the light of day because they got the funding they deserved and became a reality.However, there are also some Kickstarter projects that became a reality but at a much larger cost than anticipated like the guys at War Balloon Games who detailed their painful expenditure here. The Hidden costs of Kickstarter can literally make or break your project, Kickstarter themselves take a 5% cut of your fees when the project reaches its funded target, Amazon takes between a 3-5% fee for credit card processing. Other cost you need to consider are things like manufacturing and delivery charges for backers incentives which can all quickly add up if you've failed to cost things out beforehand. Those t-shirts you're thinking about offering, have you costed the design, t-shirt stock, printing and delivery outside of the US?
What about third party fulfilment houses, if you haven't got the manpower to pick,pack and ship 3000 t-shirts you're going to need to pay someone who can.
Offering up posters, folded flat? because if you're using cardboard tubes those aren't cheap to post.
The best example I've seen on Kickstarter of calculating postage costs is the global map by the guys at Creature Box on their Kickstarter page, a colour coded map and Fed Ex costs are added per colour zone, these guys have clearly done their homework.
Another fee to consider is the legal fees for sorting out the necessary trademarks,copyrights and other protective measures to your I.P. This may be the digital age but your project is going to need some form of protection when it makes it to the big bad world.

Good Luck!

No one pays $60 to go to a funeral.

2012-06-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just how real is "realistic" and more importantly how realistic do you want it, If video games are a form of entertainment then shouldn't their primary purpose be to entertain?
Specifically I'm talking about military based FPS titles, Gamespot writer Tom McShea penned an 800 word article based on his findings at E3 for Electronic Arts upcoming shooter Medal of Honor:Warfighter, McShea clearly wasn't happy about the level of realism and stated that regenerating health and respawning teammates trivialised the sacrifices that the game professes to honor. Producer Greg Goodrich to his credit pointed out that Medal of Honor: Warfighter makes no "realistic" claim—it is simply "authentic" in terms of the tools, weapons, uniforms, dialogue and other supporting features depicted.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter will come with a "hardcore" mode that strips out the regenerating health but I for one would not want to see this as a default option as suggested by McShea. How realistic do we really want military FPS titles to be, do we continue to acknowledge that the taking of another life is indeed horrific and profound but remove that shocking emotional effect from video game entertainment to protect the viability of the product or do we include it at the expense of taste and economic success?

Not a week goes by when we don't hear on the news that another soldier has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, the Taliban's current preferred weapon of choice but my question for Mr McShea is does he want the horrific realism of injuries caused in combat to be reflected in entertainment products like military genre video games. Will the inclusion of seeing a young soldier screaming in incredible pain with both legs missing below the knee whilst his uniform is on fire bring anything new or do anything more to reflect the realism in war. I know for a fact I don't want that level of realism in my games, that doesn't mean I'm not aware of the sacrifices our soldiers are making or even makes light of the life changing injuries that have a devastating effect on the physical and mental state of our veterans.
If I get shot two or three times in one instance on a real battlefield, chances are I'm either going to be dead or seriously injured, maybe even paralysed. I really don't believe that including the realism of life changing wounds in a battlefield situation is going to do anything for FPS games. So what are we talking about here?, we get shot in the game, fall to the ground bleeding from three 7.62mm rounds that ripped into us from a compound seventy metres away, then we wait for a team player posing as a medic to come over because we're mashing the call for help button like crazy. 3 mins later he arrives having taken the long way round from the construction site(Battlefield 3), my game is now on hold as I'm still on the floor, my joypad is vibrating and I'm still bleeding. Okay so now we've called for a medevac from the aircraft carrier and one of my team mates (who I don't know) needs to run out into the open and pop smoke for the chopper to find us in the Gulf of Oman map somewhere by veterans retreat, that's another 5 mins before the chopper can safely land and still I'm on the floor and can't get back into the game. Turns out that my main artery is ripped and I'm bleeding internally, medic's got to cut me open and clamp it but I need to stay conscious that's another 2 mins spent on a bloody floor with med packs, plasma and crap everywhere. All the while I'm using up one medic, one guy popping the smoke and probably another three team mates to secure the landing zone. Is this the realism we're talking about? because so far I've been in the game 9 mins and on the floor 8 mins unable to play.
Video games are as stated at the top of this article entertainment but they are also a business, there are investors, there is a product, there is a consumer and there is a profit to be made.
Under no circumstmances am I remotely trivialising the sacrifices made by serving soldiers when I say that, but that is the fact, a brand and a product has to have appeal in order for people to buy it. EA's Medal of Honor reboot in 2010 was heavily criticised as being too realistic with the military jargon that it went against the product, that also calling the enemy "the Taliban" was also wrong, but hang on, I thought you guys wanted realism, I thought you wanted to follow proper radio protocol and all the glossy tier one chatter didn't you?
In the single player campaign for Battlefield 3 you experience in first person view your own execution at the hands of muslim extremists, they toy with you in front of a camera set up to film the act which in this case is your throat being cut. I did feel uncomfortable while playing it, it made me slightly uneasy but its because I'd seen the 2004 Ken Bigley video, a barbaric and inhumane act as you can imagine, an innocent man having his head cut off on video for all to see.
God I wish health regeneration did exist in our daily lives, perhaps then those four hollow point bullets fired by Mark David Chapman into John Lennon's back wouldn't have been felt for generations since. Do we really need to understand the complexities of soft tissue trauma caused by hollow point rounds in order to appreciate the dangers of firefights while playing a game on xbox Live on a Saturday night?

Developers have a huge responsibility for product content, finding a perfect balance and doing so with a level of taste that does not offend is no easy task.If I play Battlefield 3 it really doesn't bother me that when I destroy a tank the opposing player / occupant doesn't tumble out of the hatch with his uniform on fire with the skin melting from his face, I don't necessarily require that specific level of detail to realise in real life that is what does happen. I'm more than happy to have in-game characters with the same level of speech and expression as LA Noire, I'm quite happy to have 5 times more collateral damage to objects in games and I'm as happy as Larry to have an unrivalled selection of firearms and attachments and medals to obtain. Give me an Osprey I can fly with the whole multiplayer team on-board, give me access to each and every floor and building in the multiplayer map and all at the sacrifice of experiencing what real bullets do to real bodies, that is more than fine with me.Game play and the complexities of game design mean that there needs to be a degree of flow to how games are played, sometimes this is done at the creative expense of what reality actually proves otherwise. This balance is a paper thin line that developers are challenged with staying within, not just for the sake of game play but as an entertainment product that won't offend because its being seen to trivialise active duty soldiers in combat situations.I'd very much like to know where Tom McShea was when EA released Medal of Honor Allied Assault, did the lack of combat realism and the fact we weren't exposed to seeing 19 year old American boys screaming for their mothers with their lower intestines on their lap on Omaha Beach make this product a poor one?, depicting a place where over two thousand soldiers were gunned down in the surf in an attempt to storm 600 yards of beach, did that mock the actual veterans that went through it all? Did Mr McShea criticise Mr Speilberg for Saving Private Ryan, I mean, that's a movie right?, another entertainment product where Tom Hanks probably had a personal assistant bring him hot coffee between takes of storming up that bloody beach for the fifth time in a morning. That doesn't mean Tom Hanks didn't understand or appreciate any less the magnitude of the horror one morning in June 1944.
Tom McShea's article does raise some interesting points, unfortunately without actually suggesting any alternatives. Real soldiers don't regenerate health over time, yes we all get that Mr McShea but what is it you really want, what level of realism do you want because no one pays $60 to go to a funeral?

Tom McShea's original article can be read here

Black Ops 2: A franchise leaps too far.

2012-06-11T03:14:00.000-07:00

It had a child actor completely in over his head, a creature with a voice that just made you want to stab yourself in the eyes with a rusty fork and story arcs which proved all along that the director had been making it all up as he went along. Episode One of the Star Wars franchise was something I had waited 16 years for. I remember feeling quite excited that ol George Lucas, he of chequered shirt collection had devised for us all this time round, eager I was to see what had gone before and what new avenues of storytelling could enrich my most favorite of all franchises.
Enrich it did not, not in the slightest, I had merely matured over the 16 years it took to re-visit Tatooine not completely taken leave of my senses George. Needless to say the Episode One cinema outing with my closest family had been about as entertaining as a tax return.
Betrayal befalls the loyal, when you trust something enough to place an almost religious like devotion it hurts all the more when someone who should be guardian of it starts messing around with it. As Kyle Reese once said, "it can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with and it absolutely will not stop until you are dead. " Franchises endure for the most part, either through social appreciation, cult following or retro appeal, even Hollywood will go back to re-starting a franchise that really doesn't actually need it (Spiderman) and extending others that probably should be left alone (Terminator). Invariably though franchises mean cash and lots of it, Bobby Kotick knows all about cash and as Activision's CEO,President and Pearl of Wisdom he sits at the top of the juggernaut that has been the Call of Duty franchise. In 2010 34% of Activisions revenue was generated by Call of Duty, overall the franchise makes up one third of the company's annual $4 Billion revenue. To put that into perspective Call of Duty MW3 sold 6.5 Million units in its first 24 hours on sale generating close to half a billion dollars, It took competitor Electornic Arts nearly two and a half weeks to acheive the same figure with Battlefield 3 (despite the fact I think that its single player product is more entertaining and its multiplayer far more superior.)
It's not all been plain sailing as the brand has developed of course, the messy court action by Activision against Infinity Wards Vince Zampella and Jason West which saw the Modern Warfare creators kicked out of a job under a cloud of allegations of I.P ownership rights, unpaid bonuses and 'creative differences' had the potential to rock the integrity of the brand and potentially land a $1 Billion damages bill for Activision if the jury went in Zampella and West's favor.

In the court filing which has all the ingredients of a Watergate scandal for the videogame industry, West and Zampella's legal team had stated that evidence existed that Activision's chief legal officer, George Rose, wanted to break into West's and Zampella's computers and e-mail accounts to dig up dirt on them.

That initiative, called "Project Icebreaker" in court filings, took place in 2009, one year after West and Zampella extended their contracts and only a matter of months prior to the release of Modern Warfare 2. Activision in it's wisdom decided to throw the towel in on the impending LA county superior court trial and settled out of court knowing full well it was going to be way out of its depth as soon as the incriminating emails surfaced during trial showing its own form of business 'Black Ops'. Why it took Activision so long to work out that a $36 Million lawsuit was mere pennies against $1 Billion damages suit which would effectively wipe out the profit made by Activision is anybody's guess.
From a branding stand point it could have been extremely harmful, not just for Activision as a publisher but specifically for the Call of Duty brand. Dragging ex employees through court in pursuit for damages when you've made a Billion Dollars from their work and expertise is a journalists dream story - the sheer scale of the court case and information to be made available is one too many fires for Activision to fight in national and specialist press. The last thing you need affecting your brand is bad PR and the risk of consumers defecting to competitor product out of principle because your legal staff decided to break privacy laws.
Court documents lay out Infinity Ward's agreement with Activision, which purportedly gives the developer rights to creative authority over "any Call of Duty game set in the post-Vietnam era, the near future or the distant future" and any title under the Modern Warfare brand. This is why in order to do anything else with the Call of Duty franchise beyond what has already gone before in Black Ops we see the series really jumping the shark and introducing the sci-fi element under the Call of Duty brand not the Modern Warfare brand. Although the series is not quite ray guns and spacesuits it's certainly a little too far forward for most fans liking with tech and hardware that treads on ground that EA tried to cover with the Battlefield series in Battlefield 2142. Gamerankings scored BF 2142 in the 80% mark, not a PR horror story but it also didn't set the world on fire (despite an awesome Titan capture and control multiplayer dynamic) and the fact the series had jumped so far forward basing its story around a global ice age in the 22nd century there was no real relevance to the title within the franchise, it wasn't a natural progression which has seen more proven success for the Battlefield franchise set within the current era of modern warfare.
It's fair to say that MW3 has been fully farmed as has its predecessor, countless map packs have scored Activision a few more zero's on the dollar as a multimillion money maker and the launch of the Elite service for MW3 although a risky gamble appears to have paid off making yet more cash.
However, I really don't agree that the next natural progression for the series is some kind of futuristic FPS "future soldier" theme. Personally I think this is a major mistake for the Black Ops brand but could be a clear sign that the publisher has exhausted all its ideas and wants more creative license to make stuff up.Ghost Recon already caters for the futuristic soldier element and does very well with it because its already ingrained in the franchise from the beginning. The brand does introduce some extreme futuristic elements of late(going invisible) but because it planted this seed early on in its franchise it's been able to market it very well because its evolved with the series.
Black Ops 2 on the other hand looks inferior, A.I looks absolutely awful, graphics look substandard and nothing like the detailed MW2 visuals. Fans flocked to the Modern Warfare and Black Ops franchises because the content was authentic, real life locations and stunning weapon realisation and customization. Never since have I played an FPS with the same amount of tension and excitement as the sniper mission "All Ghillied Up" in Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. It was a party talking point, an absolute on the money concept of quality mission design because for over half the mission it went against the fast flow non stop aspect of traditional FPS play. While agree with many that more of the same Black Ops story formula set in Cuba, Vietnam or a science lab would also be a mistake jumping the series forward several decades from the cold war to an age where AT AT like Star Wars tech graces the battlefield seem like it was done to avoid legal issues and still deliver an FPS rather than evolve the brand. Halo already provides our sci-fi FPS fix, Halo 4 will continue to provide it and rather than refresh the franchise Black Ops 2 runs the real risk of alienating a large contingent of its fans who have loved the real world 20th century conflicts and military organisations. I was blown away with the marketing for Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, its perk system revolutionized FPS classes in games, it had fantastic realism for modern day assault weapons and Special Forces groups. The game was THE FPS game to beat, it was immersive and intense, multiplayer was balanced and engaging. Extending the brand, Activision released The Variety Map Pack which was downloaded by over one million people in its first nine days of release, a record for paid Xbox Live downloadable content, valued at $10 million.
If we put that into perspectibe there are free to play multiplayer PC products with that dollar amount as a total development budget currently in the works.
A videogame brand evolves with its audience, it looks at trends, wants and needs from its consumers and positions the product to answer those needs, I'm pretty sure that the decision to move the genre so far forward to 2025 wasn't taken lightly although I can't help thinking that the development teams and Activision's own marketing teams haven't entirely seen eye to ey on that jump forward.Black Ops 2 is looking more like Red Faction than its gritty predecessor, is that what the COD forums have been calling for?, is it the next natural evolution of Activision's FPS brand before the death of the Xbox360 and PS3 console cycle?, who knows, but for me as a massive FPS and COD fan its just a jump too far.

Zazzle is my Affiliate heaven

2012-02-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

I read a very inspiring book recently, one that's hopefully firmly set me on the path to doing something constructive with my free time to build additional revenue streams. The book in question is Geoge Marshalls "Get out While you can" a book about affiliate marketing but more importnatly its message to readers is the basic guide to getting out of the rat race and wage slavery of a 9-5 job by getting into affiliate marketing.
Try as I might most of my initial schemesbefore I read the book haven't quite taken off, I signed up to both Cafe Press and Red Bubble to very little success over the last 18 months and even when I did make $27 from Cafe Press I found out my bank wouldn't process the payment because it was under the $50 minimum which hurts even more when you're unemployed. Granted my uploads to both sites have been rather low and I didn't much go for the limits Cafe Press put on sellers so I left it. Red Bubble is very competitive, there are so many talented people on there its hard to cut through the competition to make something work, artists and professional photographers probably do okay with strong content. My novel on Kindle is in double figures, albeit low double figures and with the royalties I could probably buy a pint but not much else. I got into Clickbank but have stalled despite a good Google page ranking but puzzled as to how I move forward or resolve the zero sales situation. Its frustrating to say the least, My strongest and most successful Affiliate revenue stream has been from Zazzle of all places, a place where I'm competing against 42 Billion other products, that's right, 42 Billion!!, I've devoted lots of time to this and now thats paying off as I'm starting to see a good trickle of results and have become a basic Pro Seller, I'm getting low royalty sales admittedly but a steady flow is slowly adding up. What makes this even more surprising is the sheer range of competing products and product quality, no doubt there are people raking in cash from Zazzle from unique designs but to be making sales against these sellers is a good feeling to be had, especially considering how I'm stumbling to make any real headway with revenue from other affiliate revenue streams. I'll still work on improving my Clickbank and Kindle projects for 2012 but for now Zazzle is where the money is.

Is film the Magic wand for book sales?

2012-02-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Sales of Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse have seen a dramatic rise since the release of Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated film version of the story.

It has sold more copies in the UK in a fortnight, than it did worldwide in the 25 years after it was first published.

The book, first published in 1982, has been the number one best-selling book in the UK for two consecutive weeks. A stage version of the show opened in 2007.

War Horse is the story of a farm horse, Joey, who gets separated from his owner and ends up in the trenches of World War I.

Publisher Egmont Press said the chart-topping book had sold more than 30,000 copies in the UK each week over the past fortnight.

By comparison, the book sold 50,000 copies worldwide between 1982 and 2007 - an average of 2,000 per year.

Is film the magic wand for improving book sales?, some would say its pretty obvious because of films broader reach and opportunity to be seen in the event of a promotional campaign is far greater than most book ad campaigns.What puzzles me about the above story is, if the story is good enough and compelling enough for Spielberg to adapt into a full blown movie why didn't word of mouth encourage higher sell through of the book in its own right when it was originally released?

Clearly its not sell through numbers of the book that made Spielberg sit up and take notice because 50,000 books sold is relatively small fry compared to other adapted novels which only really leaves the story as the single most compelling aspect of the project. Spielberg is a master storyteller (not counting Kingdom of Crystal Skulls) and no doubt a strong story that would appeal to a massive audience was important to him in order to get the studio ticket sales. Based on its $66M production budget U.S domestic ticket sales are $77,396,622 since December 25th, add to that another $44 Million international of ticket sales ($21M achieved in the UK alone) and it's pushing positive results. Not including DVD, Bluray, home rental and eventual TV rights War Horse should clean up pretty well. What's also interesting is that other film makers and studios have probably been pitched the story to option since Nick Staffords brilliant adaption from book to War Horse play. A stage production that has seen War Horse playing to 97% capacity audiences in London's West End in 2010.

Obviously there are some pretty big factors to take into consideration here for the massive increase in War Horse book sales. Spielberg for one is a movie juggernaut in terms of Director so immediately the profile of the War Horse book has been increased well beyond normal levels of interest when he signed on the dotted line, that in PR value alone for your book is probably all you need. Another factor is the promotion behind the movie, War Horse benefited greatly from TV advertising for its London West End theatre run in the UK before Christmas which perfectly matched it up to its Dec 25th release and TV ad campaign.

Its not rocket science to understand that an immediate face lift of the books cover to tie in with the War Horse film helped keep the marketing cohesive and this happens for practically all book and film tie ins, get people to see the film = get people to read the book, likewise, get people to the read the book = get people to see the film. Perception, value and quality are massively important to consumers, perception of the product and how they feel about a product or service are important for the appeal it has, value and quality go hand in hand, if you deliver value and quality in equal measure your customer feels good about the decision they made.

From my own dabble with trying to raise book profile and my true life experience of the Thames torso murder of the African boy Ikponmwosa , Martha Feinnes, sister to actors Ralph and Joseph is making a documentary on the murder case this year. My own book based on the events, "Carved" available on Kindle would benefit from the increased coverage that Martha will no doubt add to the case when the documentary airs later this year but I'm not getting my hopes up too much, its a competitive market to say the least but any promotion is good promotion given the current climate.

Afghanistan through an iphone

2012-01-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

There was a time when correspondents in particular combat photographers and invstigative journalists had to navigate the daily perils of working in a combat zone while trying to keep their cameras out of harms way as much as themselves. lugging around bulky cameras and fumbling around trying to change a roll of film in the middle of a firefight doesn't go without its problems as no doubt professionals like Tim Paige experienced during Vietnam.
Nowdays of course the emergegence of digital technology has provided photojournalists and correspondents with the tools to even capture images and record current events with an application on a phone.
With so many camera apps available for the i-Phone only one has really stood out as a gem, the Hipstamatic app that allows the user to shoot square photographs, to which it applies a number of software filters in order to make the images look as though they were taken with an antique film camera. One such photographer, Balazs Gardi covered the war Afghanistan when he was embedded with US Marines from 1/8 Battalion in Helmand in Sept 2010 using his i-phone and Hipstamatic app to stunning effect in Foreign Policy's web article which you can see here.

EA invokes first amendment for Battlefield 3

2012-01-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Electronic Arts has filed a preemptive lawsuit against aircraft manufacturer Textron, hoping to invoke First Amendment laws and justify the use of real-life helicopters in Battlefield 3.
Three helicopters appear in the game -- the AH-1Z Viper, UH-1Y, and V-22 Osprey -- none of which were licensed by Textron's subsidiary Bell. EA was previously involved in talks with Textron to reach a resolution over the use of the US helicopters, but those talks broke down. EA feels it shouldn't have to seek a license to use the likenesses of the vehicles, citing fair use.
Electronic Arts hopes to exploit last year's official ruling that videogames were protected by free speech laws. It has succeeded in the past, getting away with using college football players likenesses without permission. EA asserts that the appearance of the vehicles do not constitute an endorsement by the maker, and that the helicopters are given no greater prominence than any other in-game vehicle, appearing simply for realism's sake.

I'd hate to see the loss of the Viper, especially since I've just unlocked the guided missile perk which took me an absolute age to get but I think other than some subtle design changes in a patch I don't think there's much panic that the choppers will be yanked from the game. I remember when JVC had started to develop the first of their PS2 catalogue with a follow up to Wingover, a military flight sim. The game featured aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and from countless other manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, two years of development down the line the Japanese publisher stopped all development because it hadn't acquired the licenses to use the aircraft and feared a lawsuit. That was back in 1999.

What's interesting is that not all game developers and publishers acquire licenses for things likes weapons and vehicles and in most cases try to find a workaround by changing the design enough that legally a patent lawsuit couldn't touch.Other industries have been affected such as the Airsoft and paintball industry which has felt the lawcourts breathing down their necks especially in the US where patents and trademarks are agressively protected. As late as June 2009 H&K (Heckler & Koch, German weapon manufacturer famous for the SAS Favourite the MP5 took B&T Paintball Designs and Tippmann Sports two of several Airsoft and Paintball distributors to court for copyright infringment on weapon designs.Magpul, another manufacturer also filed a lawsuit against an Airsoft company using its Masada assault rifle design.

In the videogame industry larger more established dev teams benefit from licensing and legal departments to iron out any possible infringment but it remains one of those problematic areas which could probably do with a lot more guidance and accessible information to help entertainment companies and creative professionals stay within the guidelines. How closely EA works with the military isn't known but these are issues that Activision has managed to avoid primarily because its covered all the neccessary issues with regards to depicting real world designs in its Call of Duty franchise.
Until someone can actively represent developers and entertainment companies and guide them through the licensing and legal processes of using military designs this won't be the last time we hear this sort of news.

Theme Park Greed doesn't add up

2011-12-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

Many many moons ago, probably more than I'd like to admit Electronic Arts released Theme Park on PC. A fantastic blue box that screamed fun just from the packaging alone. Sure enough it was a good game too allowing you to build and manage your very own theme park, it was micromanagement personified right down to the smallest of details, for example; adding more salt to the fast food made visitors more thirsty so you could push the price up on soft drinks to fleece the suckers waiting in line and increase revenue.
Graphically the game was cartoon cute, bright colours, some great detail and visually the title really popped once you'd got a pretty good park set up. At the time I think it retailed for around £24.99, I shifted an incredible amount at £19.99. Fast forward a good few years, again, probably more than I'd like to admit and EA have revived the title for iOS as a freemium title.

But unfortunately according to a couple of other blogs I've read that's where the fun stops. You see apparently EA has provided the title free to play with in-game monetization and many of the game's attractions are locked based on your level, leveling up is a fairly slow process achieved by tapping on existing attractions to earn a few experience points.You can also complete missions to earn extra experience points, this helps you to level up faster, but is nothing more than a long drawn out chore which ultimately gives you a set of rides which unless you build duplicates to just to fill things out your park is going to look very dull, unless of course you're willing to shell out Tickets to upgrade. As you progress you unlock other large areas in your theme park and each area can be themed according to your choice with a selection including Knights vs. Cowboys and Pirates. However, the process of filling each area in your park is ultimately a painfully slow one, primarily due to the frustrating level-locked items and the fact that the rest of the must have items cost Tickets, or premium currency, to purchase. For instance, a Skull-Train roller coaster costs the equivalent of more than $60 to purchase.

$60!!!???, hang on a minute, so let me get this straight, EA have decided in its wisdom to charge $60 for one 'cool' ride as an in-game purchase when I may as well click on over to Amazon and buy the full original PC version for less than $5 packed with all the rides and cool stuff for a much more rewarding experience. Its these kind of decisions by the suits that tarnish brands.
Everyone knows that games cost money to develop but have EA seriously sat down at the board room table and worked it out that to generate a break even they have to set the in-game pricing for one item at 12 times the price of the original game? Games should be fun to play, they are after all a form of entertainment, they should also reward the player for the skill and time they invest. Monetization of products with in-app purchases should be transparent so that the end user knows what they are getting in to. Everyone loves free to play but players know when they are being taken for a ride, even a Theme Park one.

You're going to need a bigger boat

2011-12-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

If you're going to catch the big fish you're going to need to be on equal terms, if you can't get a bigger boat stay the fuck out of the water.
If only Electronic Arts had heeded that advice when they launched the damp squib that was Need for Speed The Run. A game that failed to chart in the top ten despite the bucket loads of marketing push with TV and online media buy and as for that TV trailer - in all honesty did a Michael Bay directed trailer really add value to consumers perceptions that the product would be good? The reviews haven't been kind either,critics have slated the title as too heavy on the story with not enough for gamers to get their teeth into.Official Xbox Magazine who scored it a big fat 5 out of 10 summed it up with the following summary - "As it stands, we've rarely been so bored when travelling at 150 miles per hour, less inspired by a police chase or less interested in the plot of a videogame." Full review here.
I absolutely loved Hot Pursuit when it launched last year and the trailers, viral and social aspects of the marketing really propelled the title despite the fact it halved in retail price only 6 weeks after launch to devalue all that hard work somewhat.

But herein lies the problem at this time of year, EA glossed up and shoved NFSTR out to capitalize on the seasonal trade, problem is diluting a brand and trying to move what is essentiually car lovers porn into a totally new story driven direction (and one that only really had a lukewarm reception at E3 earlier in the year) was a warning sign for EA to hold the title back until Feb when retail would have been far more receptive to it. Instead it went up against the man eaters that was Skyrim, MW3, Battlefield 3 and FIFA, two of those products were from its own stable but yet all vying for market share from the same consumer. The investors would have pushed for the Christmas launch as essential, the producer probably would have liked more time for some much needed polish and no doubt the PR guys were scratching their heads trying to gain pagination in a market dominated by truly deserving games with tons more quality at even half the price.
EA need to realise that trying to combine a Mirrors Edge inspired chase story /design /bunch of bollocks to a pure driving experience that has been the mainstay of Need For Speed is only going to tarnish the brand not innovate it.

Art of Assassination

2011-12-08T04:18:00.000-08:00

For me its not just the end product that excites me about most forms of visual entertainment, be that film or videogame but rather the processes and artistic talents that go into creating those experiences we enjoy. As much as I have enjoyed the amazing artistic talents of Jim Lee's series of comics I've collected since I was a spotty teenager I got a bigger kick out of seeing how he put the likes of Batman,Superman and Deathblow onto paper in his awesome coffee table book Icons.
At Midway I was extremely fortunate to have worked with some amazing digital artists who literally brought games to life with some truly astounding design work for titles Like Stranglehold, Mortal Kombat, Wheelman as well as other projects that never saw the light of day such as Criminal, Paladin,Hero and This is Vegas which was being developed by Surreal studios over in Seattle led by Alan Patmore.
If you love the design aspect that goes into games design and the art creation and you've checked out Parka blogs regular artbook reviews then you'll be a fool to miss the work of Gilles Beloeil who worked on Assassins Creed, check out his personal website found here.

Activision triples profit with digital

2011-11-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

Providing more evidence that boxed product days are numbered and that a healthy online digital business model is the way to go Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision has reported a near tripling of profits for the quarter ending September 30^th.
Total profit came in at $148m – that’s up on the $51m reported in the same period in 2010.

Read the full story here at MCV.http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/activision-profits-triple-as-digital-surpasses-boxed/087228

Is Buying a CityVille Guide for Facebooks biggest game worth It?

2011-10-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

71 Million AMU (Average Monthly Users) is pretty hard to ignore, I never did quite get the Mafia Wars bug despite the endless requests flowing in to my Facebook page as more and more updates from friends "needing help on a job", probably just as well really since 40 million players abandoned it in little over a year.I am however fully engrossed with Cityville because it was closest to one of my absolute favourite games Sim City and at 41 years of age I realised I hadn't actually dabbled in the whole social gaming thing (which for someone who works in videogames is pretty tragic). Needless to say Cityville does borrow some gameplay structure from Sim City or is at least inspired by it, however, its economy system is a lot tougher to navigate than I expected.When CityVille guides began popping up I was pretty sceptical about the whole thing. I had never actually played the game myself but I was a huge fan of Populous on the Mega Drive all those centuries ago and my days that turned into weeks that turned into months on Sim City gave me some god like experience,I figured that there couldn't be all that much to it anyway. How much strategy could really go into building a virtual city anyway,especially on Facebook? When I saw all the hype about CityVille and the fact that there were these guides I figured there must be something to CityVille after all, and like I say 71 million players can't all be wrong...can they?
CityVille turned out to be much more complex and enjoyable than I had figured it would be, visually its colourful and eye catching which for me is important if I'm going to invest large quantities of time looking at pretty much the same things for hours on end. There are so many options, buildings, crops, businesses and additions that you have so many decisions to make, and like Sim City every decision has a knock on effect somewhere in the chain. The more I got into playing CityVille the more I realized that the strategies involved were much more complex than I had expected. I did not want to spend all my time using trial and error to get the best possible city. I wanted someone to do all that for me so I went out and bought a guide.
The guide I ended up buying is called CityVille Secrets. I'd heard some pretty good things about it after doing some digging about and it seemed like the most logical choice. CityVille Secrets is relatively new and they update it constantly so it contains the latest additions to the game and will add new updates as CityVille adds new features. I wasn't expecting too much from this guide as I have bought game guides in the past which have been pretty average. CityVille Secrets however, completely blew me away! primarily because it contains so much detailed information, secrets and strategies when CityVille as a Social network game is still fairly new.
I used the guide to see if what it preached would actually work, either that or I'd thrown the best part of the price of a Friday night takeaway down the drain, I dabbled at first but then started implementing the CityVille secrets, tips, and strategies and was pretty impressed with the results because I went from a level 13 to a level 35 in only a week of relatively little gameplay (2 hour stints). There is a lot more going on in CityVille than meets the eye and if you don't do things properly you could be missing out on countless coins and experience while playing more than you need too. If you are interested in getting the most out of your CityVille experience then I highly recommend picking up a copy of CityVille Secrets today.

E-book marketing and promotion

2011-10-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for approval from Apple for Carved which is taking longer than I anticipated for launching my book but is due any day now, I somewhat underestimated the time for approvals since I wanted to get carved out on the 10th anniversary of the event it covers.
In the meantime I've been looking into the ways in which I need to think about marketing the book, as a novice author I have a lot of work to do to make Carved stand out the best I can on a minuscule budget. First on the list will either be a small website page promoting the book or a Facebook fan page to build up the awareness.Content wise I'm a bit wary of the Facebook direction because I need to make sure there's enough going on there to engage the audience.
With a hosted mini site I need to factor in the cost of hosting per month against sales, I could very well be paying more to host the promotional site than I'm actually making on the book. I looked at hosting options with various companies but wasn't looking to spend major amounts with email and functionality I didn't want, two companies stood out at offering a bare bones basic package and both had excellent write ups, one was Go Daddy and one was Blue Host, Go Daddy was £4.49 per month unlimited whereas Blue Host offers me the same service for £4.45, I buy much of my domains from Go Daddy and run airsoftinfidels.com with one bought from Go Daddy, my wife's forthcoming Tiara business launch also has a domain bought from Go Daddy. The book domain I bought through Go Daddy but I thought it was worth giving Blue Hosting a try in hosting the site to promote my book.
The first thing I need to do is figure out all my meta data, the keywording thats going to get people flocking to my web page, a daunting task for a mini site, I've dabbled with Keywording on Zazzle but its an area I know I need to improve on. if I get it wrong then it'll have the reverse effect and much harder to rectify further down the line.
Additionally to that I need to think about if I should engage prospective buyers via my Twitter link, this will detract from what I use it for currently so I'm not sure yet and people hate being sold to on Twitter. Facebook ads are also on the list since I know I can set a target audience with a PPC campaign but now I'm starting to accumulate costs so I need to tread carefully, advertising, hosting will all add up over time. The fact I can set a budget limit for Facebook ads and target who views them is reassuring that advertising wastage will not be much of an issue.

I'm confident my Blurb about my book is tight enough, I reworked this several times over until I was happy with it so I know that the concise information is going to drive forward the message of what the book is about.
But how much will I be spending against what I can make?, difficult to say, hosting with a reputable company is an important investment but all in I'm looking at the region of about £53 for that, another £50 for targeted Facebook click ads and possibly another £24 on printing up some coloured novelty business cards over at Moo to promote the book its getting pricey. I figured the Moo cards were a good idea, that way if I'm out and about I can just slip someone a card that promotes the book and web page in one hit which drives both traffic and awareness. That takes me to around £130 give or take a couple of pounds. That means I need to sell in the region of 75 books a year since my book pricing is £1.99.

To be honest I might be mad, I'm on Kindle boards and so many people have done a lot less for a lot more gain so I'm borderline confused on what is the best route is, marketing ebooks I'm told isn't a science but I'm convinced that if anyone is going to buy it they at least need to know about it first.

The downward spiral of Marfia Wars and social gaming trends

2011-10-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

18 months ago Zynga was pretty much unstoppable, loved and hated in equal measure the games publisher was teflon reincarnated with its farmville and mafia wars titles. However 18 months is a long time in an ever shifting digital market where user allegances are short and players go as quickly as they had arrived.The original Mafia Wars hit its peak on Facebook at around 45 million monthly active users in the summer of 2010. Now it has just 4.4 million monthly active users. Users come and go with most trends, what was popular last year won't necessarily be as popular this year but what I find alarming is that 40 Million players upped and left, where did they go, what are they playing now?. From a financial perspective losing 40 Million players is going to have a massive effect even if lets say only 2% of those users were actively dealing with microtransactional business in the game.

Zynga continues to expand its original Mafia Wars game and recently launched its Chicago city. Zynga helped monetize the game through a series of branded deals that promoted virtual items based on movies such as Scarface and The Green Hornet.

Initially it was perceived that social games were a massive threat to traditional videogames but the results buck that trend in the case of Electronic Arts. According to Appdata, The Sims Social now draws in 65 million monthly active users (MAUs) – the closest it has ever got to Cityville’s current 71 million user mark.Ho monthly users just nine months after it launched.

Kindle Fire pre-orders are burning down the house

2011-10-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

It was only a matter of time before Amazon realized the true untapped potential of a handheld reading device that could go beyond what its original Kindle could provide users. Not that I think Amazon was ever really going to just sit there and be happy with a device that only provided content to be viewed entirely in black and white.
If the screenshot leak over at blog Cult of Android is to be believed then it would appear that Amazon's Kindle Fire will be the fastest selling tablet device in the world. Currently Kindle Fire is racking up pre order sales of 50,000 units a day. In the first five days since its announcement over 250,000 tablets have been pre ordered with the potential to have 2.5 Million pre orders for the device before it goes on sale on November 15th.

Compare that to the Nook colour which took about two months to sell 1 million units and its clear to see that Nook has a major fight for survival on its hands.
Good news all round for writers and e-book authors because it provides choice, they can either release content in traditional novel text based format or further explore the possibilities of projects with coloured image based content as well such as photo books, essays and illustrative works.
The digital e-reader market is expanding faster than the content is providing even more good news for authors, as each day goes by authors only have to appeal to a smaller percentage of the e-reader population.
What will be interesting to see is how long Kindles current monochrome version continues to sell, will Kindle Fire actually start to kill off traditional Kindle sales far quicker than anticipated or will the price difference mean that it clearly divides the market between those who just want an e-reader for books and those who want to embrace video entertainment?

As for Nook its difficult to say what happens now, too many tech companies have jumped on the tablet bandwagon only to fail miserably because they were not prepared for the market place, in most cases competitors to the iPad have released hardware but never factored into the business plan that the content wasn't there to support it. HP's TouchPad being a perfect example, with no 3G support, lack of content, no support for storage cards and high retail costs it wasn't going to scratch let alone dent what Apple was offering. Apple thrives because the content is there to drive hardware sales. Nook on the other hand needs to evaluate what it's offering its customers that Kindle Fire doesn't, it may need to re-position itself on price or functionality but at what expense to its place within the market is difficult to ascertain.

In the US, Amazon has about three quarters of the e-book market so its audience is already established and at $199 it provides a good halfway point to the iPad 2 which retails in the region of $470. Admittedly with nowhere near the same functionality as the i-Pad the Kindle Fire is still an impressive bit of kit.

In a perfect World...

2011-10-07T03:18:00.000-07:00

If you asked me what i'd do to fix the current state of games the answer would not be a simple one, neither would it be a very popular one.
I say this because if you look closely at how videogames are trending right now you'll see a very worrying state of affairs for traditional boxed product, which, for all intents and purposes finds itself in an increasingly shrinking marketplace in a murderous economy. Yes, there will always be a market for boxed products, No, Apple hasn't killed off CD albums just yet despite launching the ipod a decade ago and No, Kindle and the impending Kindle Flame hasn't quite signed the death warrant of legacy book publishing (although Amazon do sell more digital books than paper books these days). It's a pretty safe assumption that the next line of consoles will require monster sized hard Drives as downloadable product and DLC play an ever increasing part in video game entertainment, cloud based gaming, boxless downloadable digital is here to stay and they will continue to shape the market in which video games operate in.

Boxed product won't vanish overnight of course and in all probability larger titles and franchises will continue to have shelf presence because of the brand equity and trust in the consumers they have built over time. An example is Activisions regular map packs for Black Ops, if each map pack release can still generate over $12 million dollars each in revenue on what is probably little more than a $2 Million outlay on the dev cost for each pack then its clear that making a ton of revenue is where the focus for larger publishers in gaming is going to end up.
I know what you're going to say, "but in order to build those sales they'll need a physical product first", true, the instore physical aspect of a product on a shelf is good for the consumer because they can see it, it's real and tangible, its also good for trade but right now games bricks and mortar retail is literally on the floor and its not going to get better. Game Group, our very own homegrown specialist videogame retailer made a loss of £51.5 million before tax in the six months to July 31st, almost double its loss for the same period last year.
So what's happening?, well for starters everyone knows the global economy is the worst its ever been and that obviously isn't helping anyone. This in turn is keeping people away from premium priced luxuries which means that core gamers are buying less games than they were before. Social games like Zynga's Farmville has thrived off of the social network buzz that infiltrates our daily lives because of its free to play element. The good news is according to a study is that 82 percent of hardcore social gamers play console games, the bad news is that as the market for social gaming becomes more diverse and more accessible its taking players away from traditional console, that is to say they are actually spending less time playing console games. And before you say it, no the typical demographic of social gamers does not consist of women over 40, far from it, hardcore social gamers, at least 55% of them are male and 57% of those players are well under the age of 40.

Smaller publishers are going to have to think about the content and business model they are working to in the coming months and years ahead. If games are not offering value for money and unique experiences they will fail, the way I see it is that traditional console games will radically drop in price to a third of their current value, so for example, several years down the line Modern Warfare 4 is going to set you back £15 full price, however to get the maximum value from the game and to remain competitive in multiplayer you're going to need to fork out another £35 for 'awesome content' not including the 4 separately priced map packs plus the two additional weapon packs and uniform pack.

Even if console game pricing remained high in years to come publishers need to think about ways they can engage the player and keep them motivated with the brand with unique content and additional motivators like DLC. On the one hand overpriced map packs have been the norm but publishers and developers need to think about extending the customization options for the player as an individual. Players want to stand out in multiplayer matches, they want to create a tailor made experience of their choosing and design, they want to feel like they have invested not in just the pocket lining of the publisher for the priviledge to play but also so they can enhance and modify to tailor the games experience. Expressing themselves socially amongst their peers is incredibly important to gamers and I think so many publishers and developers are not even scratching the surface as yet.

Social Games are successful because they allow players to modify and personalize and share those experiences in the social space, there are in-game variations that make the game totally unique to the way users play it and want to play it. As more and more mobile digital devices become available they will continue to erode the physical presence of console videogames. Are map packs adding value to your experience? some would say yes others aren't so convinced, yes they support the brand in that they continue to provide an experience for the fan, remember that a brand doesn't just solely exist as the box the game came in but rather the playing experience that a user derives from the product also.

The transition as we approach the next generation of consoles is always a tricky one, the timing has to be golden, high cost consoles anytime soon will only limit the amount of users that buy into it, accessibility and content are king. Sony has superbly powerful tech but an absolutely awful functionality, Microsoft has an unbeatable functionality but limited tech even if Bluray sales are slowing. Cloud services, sharing social network and cross platform will be integral to the success of next gen, until then its going to be a rocky ride.

Free to Play or not Free to play...that is the question

2011-09-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: The Old Republic is unlikely to be the last subscription MMO to successfully use the traditional business model, according to BioWare.
BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk expressed his belief that subscription-based MMOs will continue on in the future.
This is interesting considering some of the larger user based MMO titles have adopted the free to play model as a way to retain players and increase revenue. Star Wars is a relatively safe bet however, free to play works well on titles that people aren't over familair with, a sentiment that Zeschuk firmly believes in.
"Free to play is very much about trial, about 'Hey, I don't know what this is, I don't have confidence that it's any good, but I'm willing to take a look at it,' versus 'I know this is good, from a trusted source, and it's the biggest license in the world.' So it's a different value proposition."

Premium MMO's can still work, they just need to deliver the content and quality that players are willing to hand over hard earned dollars and pennies for. World of Tanks subscriptions skyrocketed earlier this year and has established itself very well even if it is a World War 2 tank sim. DC Universe Online revised its subscription model after only 9 months on sale and another clear sign that overall the genre is finding better revenue through free access. Ubisoft too will launch Ghost Recon online as a free to play model with micro-transactional content in addition to versions ported to Facebook and social network platforms. Browser based games attract millions of players through the genre and experiences they provide, moreso the playing 'experience' is vital to retaining players and market share-something that traditional publishers are only really just focusing on, the market size has been eroding the console player base as more and more viable mobile formats are becoming available to play the games on. In fact if you look at social games like Angry Birds and Moshi Monsters both those properties have now expanded onto console. Angry Birds merchandise lines and its wider adoption into the social space all initially came from a free to play model, Moshi Monsters too is now branching out into handheld platforms with moshling Zoo on DS, its lady Goo goo single and TV station, again all from a free to play module of business that generated enough revenue to compete in an aggressive marketplace.

Intellectual property, especially Sci Fi always has a massive fanbase, titles like Star Wars, Star Trek and BattleStar Gallactica have devout followers, bringing those fans into a social gaming environment is a way to increase their experience of a brand and for the property holder to monetize its content. Battlestar for example from Bigpoint games is owned in part by NBC Universal which owns SyFy, the channel that brought Battlestar to our TV screens.

Get the kettle on there's a war on

2011-09-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

Hardly what I'd call the best kept secret in the world but EA's latest and greatest episode into the Battlefield series on PS3 and Xbox 360 gets its beta launch today. Yes indeed, access all areas and it'll mean more late nights, eating raw coffee from a jar or drinking copious amounts of Red Bull just to stay active in the kill zone.

In a matter of weeks EA's two biggest titles will be duking it out for the Christmas sales once again and capturing two segments of the playing market, namely footie fans for the next Fifa and FPS fans keen to get their gun on before Actvisions MW3 hits in November. The War of words between EA and Activison shows no sign of slowdown, on the one hand the sniping about who has the better product has been well documented across the specialist press sites but now that the May 7 court date for ex Infinity Ward members West and Zampella has been set they'll be a lot more mud being traded.

EA should rest assured though, from what I've seen Battlefield 3 is a much more tactical led gameplay style to the traditional run and gun of Activision's FPS series, Black Ops has always been a faster more rapid fire game, besides, other than its single player content Modern Warfare 2 was no different but larger maps and a different objective layout makes BF3 require more brain matter as to how you're playing each of the levels.
A slower more tactical process of identifying enemy targets and weaknesses within their position on a map rather than visually radar tracking your next takedown with an Uzi is a welcome difference when two of the largest FPS titles go head to head over a relatively short release timing from each other.

The Battlefield series is hugely rewarding, it's been well over 2 years since battlefield 1943 launched and I'm still playing it, diversity, map size and vehicle use help differentiate the product, obviously EA's Medal of Honor reboot was a slight hiccup despite strong sales but I just Know that Battlefield 3 will put the franchise firmly back on track with some stellar review scores and strong sales.

CARVED - an ebook is born.

2011-08-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Things are now at a crucial phase of my writing 'career', I say career but its more of toe dipping experiment to see how my wares will be received. My book "CARVED" is complete and has been edited by Joe Konraths editor Diana Cox, its now currently being formatted by a very close friend of mine, Paul Rhodes who runs Orb Entertainment here in the UK. Paul's publishing experience is second to none and since paul heads up the digital book side of things over at Walker Books I know I'm in good hands. I've decided to start small, the book is a novella of sorts so its fairly easy on the eyes.

The book is all about my personal experiences and the subsequent criminal investigation into the Thames torso case that happened almost a decade ago when I discovered the butchered torso of a 5 year old boy floating in the River Thames. As a story I think it has a very unique pitch. I say unique because its story could quite easily be percieved as fiction, but its not, in its very real sense its a personal journey, a bid by me at finally getting closure in what what was one of London's worst crime for over 40 years.
Writing about this traumatic experience has been somewhat cathartic, a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Guilt is a terrible thing to live with, the guilt of wondering if you did enough, the questions and blame you place on yourself eat away at you for years, gnawing away when you're alone in thought. For me the book reinforces certain facts, the doubts I had are now erased and all from putting words on paper.

Carved will be available from September on all major e-reader formats such as Kindle, Smashwords, Nook, Createspace,B&N and Overdrive.