PlayatWork

Today is Oberon Day, So Break Out the Brew!

Dana Wagner — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:56:01 +0000

Apparently in Michigan there is a beer called “Oberon Ale”, a seasonal brew from Bell’s Brewery.

And according to Olive Home, a fellow WordPresser’s blog, today is the day to celebrate this delicious summer ale. So wherever you may be, I hope you are enjoying a nice sip of Oberon.

Thanks, Lo’zo, for tipping me off to this one!

[via]

Casual Game Industry News is Delicious!

Dana Wagner — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:19:30 +0000

Every week our Product Marketing Manager, Joe LaSala, updates us with news from around the casual gameosphere. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track in Outlook of all the cool info he sends around, so I suggested this week that he set up a delicious account to upload and tag all the links, making it easier for us to share and access the news over time. And voila! In one day, Super Joe has set up delicious.com/casual_game_news!

I’m feeding them into here so you can also find the most recent links in the casual.game.news module on the blog homepage.

thanks Joe!

Take a peek at the next Women’s Murder Club game

Dana Wagner — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:50:31 +0000

We’re in the thick of planning a “coming soon” campaign for our next big game release, Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey (based on the James Patterson novel series). Check out the amazing trailer video our I-play team did for the game. It’s releasing on March 4th on all of our partners’ game channels with some cool extra content (all hush hush for now…).

NYC’ers: Fall in Love this Weekend @ ASPCA Valentine’s Adoption Event

Dana Wagner — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:07:36 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend! Some of you may hate V-day for all its sappiness and terrible marketing (I mean, that Vermont Teddy Bear commercial is just ATROCIOUS), but if you’re looking to fall in love with a new pet, check out ASPCA’s Valentine’s Adoption Weekend in NYC.

It’s not too late to find your funny (and furry!) love. Visit the ASPCA’s New York City headquarters this Saturday and Sunday, February 14 & 15, for our annual Valentine adoption event. As a special treat, we’re kicking off the fun with our annual Best in Show talent contest on Friday—and all cats over age 3 are free during the entire weekend!

The ASPCA is located at 424 E. 92nd St., between First and York Avenues. We’re open Saturday from 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. and Sunday from 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. For more information, please visit the ASPCA Adoption Center online or call (212) 876-7700, ext. 4120.

Thank you Yahoo! News!!!

shaolinmonkey — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:16:41 +0000

Even though I tend to keep an eye on the news, I don’t really trust the mainstream media very much. And sometimes, not only do I not trust them, I feel that they are completely retarded and annoying. Here is one such situation. On the FRONT page of Yahoo! News, in the featured section is the article “15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009.” Uh… MIGHT not???? Isn’t the news supposed to be about things that are new? Isn’t that clear from the word NEWS? 3/4 of the word is NEW!! The news is supposed to be about things that ARE happening, not things that could possibly maybe might potentially happen… in the future. I’m pretty sure that’s in the official rules about the news. Thank you Yahoo for having a feature article about the future. I really appreciate your guesses about what theoretically could happen.

Is Google Latitude Just Plain Creepy?

Dana Wagner — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:35:30 +0000

A couple years back, while working on feature sets for a new e-commerce platform at a former company, my team and I were discussing the Amazonian feature of notifying shoppers, via email, of a price reduction on items previously placed in the shopping cart, but not yet purchased. My co-worker, Jessica, called the feature ‘somewhat creepy’, and whenever we get together and discuss user experience and interaction design features, we manage to throw the word ‘creepy’ in somehow.

But by now personalized communication based on e-commerce analytics is old news. Right now we’re seeing online and mobile technology (ok, Google) take creepiness to a whole new level. Now Introducing, The 2009 Creepy Award: Google Latitude.

Google has just launched its newest app Google Latitude (just launched as still awaiting app for iphone/touch). It looks like a cross between Twitter with status updates and real-time GPS positioning.

Latitude allows you to follow your friends and view their status where ever they are.

Google Latitude is a feature of Google Maps for mobile on these phones:
– Android-powered devices, such as the T-Mobile G1
– iPhone and iPod touch devices (coming soon)
– most color BlackBerry devices
– most Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices
– most Symbian S60 devices (Nokia smartphones)
– many Java-enabled (J2ME) mobile phones, such
as Sony Ericsson devices (coming soon)

[via ThreeMinds]

Amazon Launches New Casual Game Download Store

Dana Wagner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:47:26 +0000

Seattle – Online retail giant Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Tuesday announced the launch of a video game download store, which initially offers a library of over 600, sub-$10 casual games for the PC platform.

The store allows customers to download and try any game for 30 minutes, after which point they may choose to pay for the full version.

“We have 88 million active customers who can appreciate the convenience of the true amazon shopping experience combined with the casual games experience,” Greg Hart, VP of video games and software at Amazon, told Kotaku.

While the service currently lacks some of the more popular casual games from top publishers, it will look to expand its selection.

Amazon recently acquired casual game developer Reflexive, which counts a library of over 1,000 games.

Over 600 games under $10? Nice! Plus, 30-min trials instead of the standard 60-min. Wonder if this will have a domino effect on the rest of the industry…

[via DMW]

This month: Free Coffee throughout Manhattan!

Fio — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:57:11 +0000

Check out all the locations , especially the Financial District locations (February 23–27)

No free coffee in my neighborhood

The Best Super Bowl XLIII Ads: All 2 of Them

Dana Wagner — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:14:36 +0000

You’ve got to admit that the ads during the Super Bowl this year were pretty disappointing. I kept waiting for that blockbuster new ad that EVERYONE would be talking about on Monday, like the “talking stain,” or at least something controversial like the Snickers commercial from last year. I kept waiting… and nothing. There were lots of ads for new TV seasons and upcoming films. Some cheesy car commercials. The Budweiser Clydesdale fetching the tree was cute, but didn’t make me think of the Great American Lager. Bud Light: if the best thing you can say about your beer is that it’s “drinkable,” you’ve definitely got a problem. And GoDaddy.com… well, I can’t even remember what their ad was.

With the lack of real originality this year, at least there were two brands who not only made commercials that I remembered, but extended their brand awareness online, Careerbuilder.com and Miller High Life.

I went to Careerbuilder.com this morning to view the ad again, and immediately was redirected to http://www.careerbuilder.com/tv/, where I could view the video and send clips to friends on Facebook. When I logged into Facebook, I also saw that the free gift of the day was the “That Guy” coworker from the commercial. I sent it to one of my coworkers already today.

The Miller High Life campaign was my favorite last year when the High Life guy made fun of all the ads and how little “common sense” most of them had. This year’s theme was that common sense is not paying $30mm for a one-time 30-second spot. Thus, they created the One Second ad, with extended content online. I was disappointed, however, that you can’t share any of the videos on social media sites, and when I happened upon the High Life Common Sense Party Facebook page all the videos were four months old and that they didn’t use the fan page to upload additional new content. Regardless, I think Miller High Life is actually pretty decent and they definitely scored much bigger than Bud or Bud Light with their Super Bowl campaign. So long, Bud Bowl… High Life is the beer of champions now.

Zappos, Be My Valentine

Dana Wagner — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:36:00 +0000

I love Zappos.com. I’m not a rabid buyer of shoes but when I need some I think first of Zappos. Why? Because they are just a truly awesome company with an amazing personality that shines in their customer service and marketing. Even if I only bought shoes once a year, I would still be loyal to them over any other shoe store, and would recommend them to my friends. (By the way, they do sell much more than shoes — clothing, accessories, etc. but I still think of them primarily for my shoe needs).

I follow and communicate with the CEO, Tony Hsieh, on Twitter (@Zappos) and admire his completely transparent approach to interaction with customers through social media. He doesn’t just use it – he embraces it. What stands out most is his commitment to the 10 Core Values of Zappos in everything they do, and he says it makes him a happier person. Zappos even includes one of their core values in their email newsletters (shown above from today’s V-Day campaign). Not only does Tony blog and tweet, but so do many Zappos employees – and customers – all on the Zappos website!

What makes me like Zappos more than their product selection, user experience, or free-shipping-both-ways policy is that they are, simply, real. Their Twitter policy is “just be real, and use your best judgement”. No frills. No tricks. No marketing ploys. They are more concerned with upholding their values than giving in for a little more money. Customer service reps will refer you to competitors if they don’t have your size (part of Core Value #1: Deliver WOW Through Service). Tony even makes less annual salary than most of his employees ($36k to be exact). And because of that honesty and just genuine approach to pleasing their customers, they gain brand loyalty without having to ask for it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?