MacSenour

Recently, wired had an article about "Why Aren't Games About Winning Any More?" Read Full Story

I find this really strange... Disney acquires Tapulous.  I think my favorite quote of the piece is this: “We will be at the center of Disney’s mobile strategy,”  The reason I find this very odd is that less than 8 months ago I was contacted by their HR requiter for the Executive Producer position at Tapulous. We talked for about 30 minutes and one of her comments stuck in my head: "We really have no process, and we need someone who can teach us how to make games" When I asked about... Read Full Story

Let's get some things out of the way before we talk about economic problems with virtual goods. There are some bits of information that need to be accepted before you can fully understand the problem. The first bit is, since these transactions are so small, it's very important that the buy have no real idea of how much they're spending.  Remember that the buyer is actually buying nothing.  The virtual hat is actually that, virtual.  So it's important that the exchange rate be difficult to... Read Full Story

Scheduling game production is like herding cats, snakes and artists.  I'll leave it up to you to determine who is more insulted in that last sentence. Scheduling comes down to putting the doers with the planners.  There are levels of decision makers that must be consulted when you have large teams.  I know of few products that shipped exactly according to their initial schedule.  While most of my products have shipped on time, I can't say they fit exactly to the first schedule. Often... Read Full Story

We play games.  Games, GAMES.  These are meant to be entertaining and FUN.  Often I have sat in meetings and listened to big burly men discuss the merits of the brown fluffy bunnies vs. the pink fluffy bunnies. (Side note: one of my favorite industry friends is Scott Rhode, and I will NEVER forget hearing him tell how his game idea was rejected because two previous games that had sand in them had failed therefore a beach volleyball game would fail too) So when I come along a review or... Read Full Story

I am asked often: "How did you get your job?" or "How can I get a job in games?" or my favorite: "How can I get a job as a tester?". Years ago I proudly wore my SEGA jacket wherever I went. Often someone woudl stop me and asking about being a tester.   I would hand them my card and say: "Go home, play a game you don't like, on a level you don't like  and play that level over and over for 8 hours straight. When you can do that, call me".  In 4 years, I never got a single call. Sometimes... Read Full Story

I was sitting in a meeting discussing Facebook games when the person who called the meeting listed some of the important facets of a successful game. Engagement Retention Free and paid optional actions Economic balance Player to player social interactivity Those of you that know ANYTHING about Play-By-Mail (PBM), know that these are the exact same issues. The biggest company in PBM was Schubel & Son. I met Mr Shubel at a Star Trek convention in 1976. It was before he got into PBM... Read Full Story

I love the title of this post.  I have a hunch that after reading that your first thought was something like; "What's that?" or "What does he mean by that?". Good! All through time, or at least the last 29 years, I have read and it has been said ti me to: "Get the vision" or to "understand my vision".  I have actually said that a big part of my job early on is to communicate the vision of the product. I am a visual guy.  I am an awful speller in part because when I imagine things, I see... Read Full Story

I have been on a LOT of job interviews. I can almost regurgitate both the questions and the answers to pin point accuracy. rarely am I asked a question that is unexpected. I am asked about AAA titles I have produced, what games I currently play and where I see myself in 5 years. I am also asked about dealing with other departments, internal or external development groups and which I prefer, how will I handle a situation where I'm not responsible for XXX where most producers are. My... Read Full Story

Way back in 1990 I was a pitch man for a small, read two, group of developers.  I had just finished my time as a Army cadet and I was sure the training I was given would make a great video game.  I pitched my idea to Accolade and to Electronic Arts. When I spoke to Electronic Arts, specifically Rich Hilleman, he had no idea who I was... until I mentioned that my pitch came ina black envelop. His reaction was exactly what I wanted: "Oh yeah, I have it right here".  And then he said no... Read Full Story