Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Oh, magazine]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/counting-rupees-oh-magazine/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/counting-rupees-oh-magazine/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/counting-rupees-oh-magazine/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

With the end of the holidays came the news that EGM is being shuttered. These are disappointing days for many people, not least the hard-working staff that contributed to the respected magazine. I think that the occasion probably merits a mention as much for its inevitability as its sadness.

In days in which even large, mainstream print publications are facing severe financial difficulties, it seems all too obvious that smaller, niche publications are going to face similar pressures. And gaming magazines seem to me to be among the most vulnerable, for several reasons.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Oh, magazine

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Oh, magazine originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>1UPCounting-RupeesEGMPrintUGOFri, 16 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The Network is the Platform]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/counting-rupees-the-network-is-the-platform/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/counting-rupees-the-network-is-the-platform/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/counting-rupees-the-network-is-the-platform/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

"The Network is the Computer" - John Gage, Sun Microsystems, 1984

When John Gage said this in 1984 it was a fairly controversial statement. Computers were getting smarter and more powerful and seemed to be moving away from the DUMB terminals of the past to more application-oriented, personal computing. At the time, most people probably weren't considering that an incredibly powerful, pervasive, interconnected web of servers and computers allowing for petabytes of data all over the world to be stored, accessed, manipulated and interacted with, would be used by more than 20% of the world's population, and nearly 75% of the US population. Looking at where we are today, his words seem fairly prescient. Not that the technology and power in computers hasn't also been improving at an astonishing rate, but there's certainly been a shift in how people use computers as internet penetration has increased. After all, would things like the iPhone or EeePC or Mini 12s or email terminals really serve much of a purpose if not for their ability to connect to a network?

So, what does this really have to do with gaming? Well, there's certainly been some interest in creating web games, ranging from incredibly simple but fun diversions like Desktop Tower Defense, to more complex first-person shooters like Fallen Empire: Legions or the Quake 3: Arena remake, Quake Live. But this is really just the start.

Recently, people have been mostly puzzled as to why Microsoft would continue to try and keep "Games for Windows Live" alive when it was so unpopular when it launched. Indeed, people were not very interested in paying for services that they were already used to getting for free. A few months ago, Microsoft had to scrap the idea of making people pay for the service and now, more recently, it has launched a new client for it. Judging from the response, it doesn't seem like most people care about the service. What's Microsoft thinking here?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The Network is the Platform

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The Network is the Platform originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesGames-for-WindowsPCPS3PSNXbox-360Xbox-LiveTue, 16 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Once bitten, twice shy]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/28/counting-rupees-once-bitten-twice-shy/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/28/counting-rupees-once-bitten-twice-shy/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/28/counting-rupees-once-bitten-twice-shy/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

This past week, my 360 finally gave up the ghost. It began with an occasional hard freeze, and a day later was freezing every two or three minutes - a tell-tale symptom of impending red rings of death. Unfortunately, my Xbox exhibited all of the symptoms except an actual series of red rings: a problem that, as the Microsoft support agent informed me, meant that my device was no longer covered by the extended warranty. There goes $99. A series of problems sending me e-mails (and later the actual shipping box) have cost me at least a month of playing time ... during the busiest gaming season of the year.

The point is not to complain about my problems per se - I'm hardly the first gamer to have experienced these issues and I'm sure that I won't be the last. But since I haven't been playing, I've had a lot of time to think about the implications of these issues on hardware manufacturers, publishers, developers, and even retailers. Do my problems matter to the businesses that care about me?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Once bitten, twice shy

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Once bitten, twice shy originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesRRODXbox-360Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Gaming the economic crisis]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/14/counting-rupees-gaming-the-economic-crisis/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/14/counting-rupees-gaming-the-economic-crisis/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/14/counting-rupees-gaming-the-economic-crisis/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


The markets have plunged thousands of points, credit is tight, unemployment is skyrocketing, and all you want to think about is what's going on with the gaming industry? Don't worry, I understand. After all, people need something to do when they're not looking for a new job, right? So, with that (depressing thought) in mind, I've decided to speculate a little on how the current economic conditions are going to affect each aspect of the industry, from the publisher to the developer and, of course, the gamer.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Gaming the economic crisis

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Gaming the economic crisis originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesEconomyFri, 14 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The Importance of Innovation]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/31/counting-rupees-the-importance-of-innovation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/31/counting-rupees-the-importance-of-innovation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/31/counting-rupees-the-importance-of-innovation/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


One of the most prominent words in game journalism and discussion today is "innovation" - how can companies innovate successfully, and how come there isn't more of it in the industry? Implicit in this conversation are three assumptions that don't generally get examined with the same thoroughness: that "innovation" is per se important for gaming, that all innovation is essentially the same in content and value, and that companies promote profitability over innovation. I'd like to talk about these unspoken assumptions in light of the banner few years that we've had as gamers.


I think most people would concede that innovation is important, whether to gaming or to consumer packaged goods. But why? At least in gaming, it's largely because our interest tends to dissipate along with challenge; if you're not being shown something interesting, why pay attention to it? Familiarity may not breed contempt, but it definitely doesn't breed excitement (nor sales) either.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The Importance of Innovation

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The Importance of Innovation originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesDead-SpaceInnovationJoystiqFeaturesjs-twitterSporeSuper-Mario-WorldFri, 31 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Feeling used]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/07/counting-rupees-feeling-used/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/07/counting-rupees-feeling-used/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/07/counting-rupees-feeling-used/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

image credit: Moe_ [http://flickr.com/photos/moe/2574430333/]
Bungie audio director Marty O'Donnell recently made some controversial remarks regarding used game sales. To quote, "It seems to me that the folks who create and publish a game shouldn't stop receiving income from further sales." Of course, this seems laughable to all of us who have bought and sold used games for years. It's my property, I can do what I want with it, right? This doesn't have any place in the industry, does it?

Legally, perhaps not. According to the first sale doctrine in copyright law, copyright holders are expected "to obtain all financial benefit for the article or product embodying the intellectual property at the time of the sale, and prohibits placing limitations on purchased items." This basically means that, once you purchase an item, the intellectual property cannot prevent you from doing whatever you want with the item so long as you don't violate copyright (by, say, copying it and then selling it -- otherwise known as pirating).

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Feeling used

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Feeling used originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>columnscounting-rupeesgamestopused-gamesTue, 07 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Day of Crisis]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/23/counting-rupees-day-of-crisis/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/23/counting-rupees-day-of-crisis/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/23/counting-rupees-day-of-crisis/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

One of the issues I've been talking a lot about recently has been the concept of crisis management - how companies respond to problems that may impact their relationship with consumers. Crises don't need to be big to matter; even relatively minor issues can grow big enough to cause headaches. And so it was instructive to see the brouhaha over Spore's DRM, and how EA responded.


For those who don't remember the issue, the basic problem was that Spore limited the number of installations allowed per user as well as the number of user accounts per game copy. I'm not particularly interested in debating whether or not this was a good idea (I'm opposed), but am very interested in talking about how EA responded as concerns began to bubble up from the internet. So, how did EA do?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Day of Crisis

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Day of Crisis originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesDRMEAElectronic-ArtsMacMass-EffectPCPiracySporeTue, 23 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Does controversy sell?]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/counting-rupees-does-controversy-sell/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/counting-rupees-does-controversy-sell/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/11/counting-rupees-does-controversy-sell/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Another day, another video game banning controversy. Proponents of the ban, unsurprisingly, argue that eliminating the sale of controversial games prevents them from harmful exposure. Yet one of the main arguments against banning games is that they make them even more popular, causing people to take notice of the title and thus spurring more sales than if it had been ignored in the first place. So, what exactly is the impact of game bans on sales in the first place?

Ideally, we'd be able to compare the sales of games pre- and post-ban and see how the regulation impacted them ... after accounting for all the other factors that might have also influenced sales at that time. The data we have don't really let us do that, though, so this is a slightly less scientific attempt to answer the same question, using some of the most controversial games of the past few years.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Does controversy sell?

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Does controversy sell? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ControversyCounting-RupeesGTAManhuntMortal-KombatNight-TrapThu, 11 Sep 2008 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Sustainable Indies]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/counting-rupees-sustainable-indies/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/counting-rupees-sustainable-indies/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/counting-rupees-sustainable-indies/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


Braid was released just over two weeks ago to critical raves and a few complaints regarding its slightly higher than "standard" price of $15. Despite Jonathan Blow, the creator of the game, having to defend the price for essentially a full week bracketing its release, Blow has now confirmed via his blog that his Braid will probably make back enough money to allow him to work on his next game. This is certainly great news, as Braid is one of the best games to be released on Xbox Live Arcade, or if you use Metacritic, the 8th best game to be released so far on the Xbox 360. Jonathan Blow certainly deserves the chance to follow up his brilliant effort, but something about his post regarding the success of his game actually revealed a warning sign to me for indie games overall.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Sustainable Indies

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Sustainable Indies originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BraidCounting-RupeesIndieJonathan-BlowXBLAXbox-360Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:09:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: E3 lives!]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/counting-rupees-e3-lives/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/counting-rupees-e3-lives/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/counting-rupees-e3-lives/#commentsEach week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Last week GamePolitics editor Dennis McCauley declared in his weekly Joystiq column that E3 was dead. He is certainly not alone in his opinion. IGN's Craig Harris also pronounced the show dead on his blog, and EA CEO John Riccitiello said that he "hates E3 like this," vaguely threatening to simply have the publisher put on its own show in the future. And of course, the always reliable 3D Realms said that it wasn't attending E3 this year because it was "irrelevant".

A lot of people were disappointed with this year's E3, perhaps even more so than what most considered a horribly executed 2007 E3. As someone who has never been to E3, I suppose I don't have any personal experience to draw from to tell you how much worse this year's E3 was than the ones from 2006 and before. However, as someone who has anxiously awaited and followed E3 for many years, I wonder whether a lot of this reaction is overblown.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: E3 lives!

JoystiqCounting Rupees: E3 lives! originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesThu, 24 Jul 2008 01:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Korea bangs]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/counting-rupees-korea-bangs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/counting-rupees-korea-bangs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/counting-rupees-korea-bangs/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


I've temporarily relocated to Seoul for the summer to work for a consumer electronics firm, so I thought I'd spend a little time detailing some of the differences in gaming culture here in South Korea, and the impact that infrastructure has on the gaming business. In short, there are two notable differences in the Korean gaming industry relative to the United States. First, PC games are significantly more popular than console games; and second, gaming is much more mainstream in Korean culture than it is even now in the States. These differences have created structural factors in the country that have profoundly shaped the nature of the industry from a business perspective.

Perhaps the most salient factor is cultural - there is, as far as I can tell, almost no stigma attached to gaming in the country (at the least, it's viewed as a mainstream activity). A number of Korean acquaintances have commented on the Korean fascination with the new and fashionable: when one co-worker went apartment-hunting with a real estate agent, the agent refused to show him any houses that had been previously occupied, on the assumption that they would be of little interest. And part of that fascination seems to be technological, indicating a possible cause of Koreans' embrace of gaming as a form of entertainment. Indeed, I've seen countless people using a DS or PSP on the subway... and my cheap, used cell phone has more free games on it than I've played on any phone since I began using them in the first place.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Korea bangs

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Korea bangs originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesSeoulSouth-KoreaTue, 08 Jul 2008 10:46:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Bust Blox]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/counting-rupees-bust-blox/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/counting-rupees-bust-blox/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/19/counting-rupees-bust-blox/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
Boom Blox seemed to have everything going for it. EA, one of the biggest and most successful developers and publishers, was creating it. The massively famous and successful director Steven Spielberg was directly involved with both the concept and the design of the game on an ongoing basis, and his name was featured on the cover art. Its simple and intuitive family-oriented concept seemed like a perfect match for the wildly popular Wii, where simple and intuitive family-oriented games thrived. And in the end, it debuted to relatively good reviews (and even a few outstanding ones) which should have ensured at least a positive word of mouth.


Apparently, there were not enough word-spreading mouths to begin with, as it only sold 60k copies in its debut month (which includes almost all of May, since it launched May 6th). Despite what EA's CEO said, this was probably not what EA had hoped for with a game it had collaborated on with the most profitable director in the world. So, what happened?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Bust Blox

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Bust Blox originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Boom-BloxCounting-RupeesEAElectronic-ArtsMarketingWiiThu, 19 Jun 2008 22:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The MMO-TV hybrid]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/14/counting-rupees-the-mmo-tv-hybrid/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/14/counting-rupees-the-mmo-tv-hybrid/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/14/counting-rupees-the-mmo-tv-hybrid/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Can a game spin off into a successful TV series?

Many of us still remember waking up early on Saturday mornings to catch the latest episode of "Captain N: The Game Master" or rushing home after school to watch "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" (or if we were lucky enough to be watching on a Friday, "The Legend of Zelda"). While these shows weren't exactly something to write home about, it was certainly exciting to see some of our favorite Nintendo characters come alive in the form of a cartoon. In the last few years the wildly popular Pokemon games have spawned a long-lasting TV show and more recently, a Viva Piñata TV series was launched side-by-side with the game, in what was a moderately successful cross-marketing strategy (the kid's show is still running today and the game posted slow but steady sales, developing somewhat of a cult following). Clearly, there's some precedence for games to become the basis for a TV series, but these have all lacked one basic element that all the games required: interactivity.

So it is with some interest that the LA Times reports that Sci-Fi channel is teaming up with Trion World Network to create (simultaneously!) an MMO and a TV show based on it. Sci-Fi channel president Dave Howe says that it's the "Holy Grail". A subscription-based MMO and a successful television series that are able to successfully leverage each other could certainly be a potential windfall. However, while the details are somewhat scarce at the moment, from what I can glean, there are some major hurdles that this joint venture will need to overcome.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The MMO-TV hybrid

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The MMO-TV hybrid originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Age-of-ConanCounting-RupeesMMOMMORPGPCSci-FiTVWorld-of-WarcraftWoWSat, 14 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: You drink their milkshake]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/06/counting-rupees-you-drink-their-milkshake/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/06/counting-rupees-you-drink-their-milkshake/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/06/counting-rupees-you-drink-their-milkshake/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Guitar Hero IV is on its way, and with it are coming individual games themed around Metallica, Aerosmith, and others. This follows the strategy highlighted by Activision CEO Robert Kotick last year, in which the executive promised shareholders to fully "exploit" the company's franchises on an annual basis. The immediate response of gamers was almost exclusively negative, not least because the prospect has connotations of poor quality and high pricing. Although Activision may be the only company to announce its strategy so publicly, it's hardly the only adopting these kinds of tactics. If it irritates gamers so much, why do companies in the industry do this? And is it as bad as it seems?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: You drink their milkshake

JoystiqCounting Rupees: You drink their milkshake originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ActivisionCounting-RupeesGuitar-HeroGuitar-Hero-AerosmithGuitar-Hero-MetallicaFri, 06 Jun 2008 15:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Digital Rights Madness]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/counting-rupees-digital-rights-madness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/counting-rupees-digital-rights-madness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/counting-rupees-digital-rights-madness/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

When EA announced that Spore and Mass Effect (PC) would have a DRM program that did performed online verification every 10 days, it generated a massive backlash amongst the gaming community. Many people, who were originally excited about Spore and Mass Effect, now claimed that they would not purchase the games, solely because of the DRM. To be honest, I'm no fan of DRM either. It basically treats all legal customers as potential criminals, and seems futile anyway, as anyone with an internet connection can typically find ways around the DRM. The only people it probably deters are those with little technical savvy and who just want to share a game they bought with their friends and family. The amount of actual sales that would be lost to this is probably pretty limited. With all that said, I'm glad that EA has backed off this new DRM and scaled it back to just an initial online verification. Given the current state of PC gaming as well as the traditionally more "accepted" versions of DRM (like the initial online verification), however, I didn't find this new DRM to be all THAT much worse, particularly with some slight improvements to it, such as allowing a manual verification and extending the timeframe for re-verification slightly (say, to 30-60 days instead of every 10).

The reason for this has a lot to do with what's been going on with PC gaming in the last few years. While the "death" of PC gaming has been talked about for years, it isn't quite here. The landscape is just shifting. While the total NPD sales for each year has been decreasing, other avenues of making money have been developed. For instance, subscription-based games (mostly MMOs, but also games available on GameTap), cheaper more casual downloadable games (eg, PopCap Games), and even free, ad- or feature-driven games (eg, Dungeon Runners, Battlefield Heroes, Quake Zero) make up an ever increasing portion of PC-based revenue. Thus, the actual retail sales are taken up mostly by a few casual games, MMO starter kits or expansions, and maybe the occasional shooter or RTS game. Take, for example, the most recent NPD PC numbers for the week of May 4-10:

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Digital Rights Madness

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Digital Rights Madness originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 May 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesDRMjoystiqfeaturesMass-EffectPCSporeMon, 26 May 2008 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The Job System]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/15/counting-rupees-the-job-system/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/15/counting-rupees-the-job-system/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/15/counting-rupees-the-job-system/#commentsEach week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

It's not unreasonable for a gamer to look at their console and wonder how it might help them professionally. Being financially rewarded for doing something we love has been the holy grail of gaming (and indeed, most hobbies) since well before talk of gaming leagues and Wizard-style competitions. But despite our best intentions, it's rare to find a cubicle-dweller whose carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by a controller rather than Microsoft Office.

And this is why I was interested to read a recent post from Massively on the benefits of putting MMO experience on your resume. Job hunting is something that almost everyone needs to do at least once, and since government statistics suggest that new workers are now likely to switch jobs 7-10 times in their lives, doing it well is a key skill set. So, can games help you here? My answer is a qualified "maybe."

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The Job System

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The Job System originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 May 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>counting-rupeesThu, 15 May 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: GTA IV vs. Iron Man]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/09/counting-rupees-gta-iv-vs-iron-man/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/09/counting-rupees-gta-iv-vs-iron-man/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/09/counting-rupees-gta-iv-vs-iron-man/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

According to several "analysts" last week, the successful launch of Grand Theft Auto IV threatened to sink the box office returns for Iron Man. The thinking went that since the game and the movie both target primarily the same demographic (males 18-29), that demographic would stay home and play the game instead of going to see the movie. While it's impossible to declare with complete certainty, as Variety did, that GTA IV had absolutely no effect on Iron Man's opening (with $104.2M in domestic receipts, $201M worldwide, and a release date for a sequel already announced), whatever effect it may have had was clearly not enough to significantly impact the movie. But clearly, many had predicted that the game could adversely affect box office receipts. It makes me wonder -- have we ever seen this sort of effect before?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: GTA IV vs. Iron Man

JoystiqCounting Rupees: GTA IV vs. Iron Man originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 May 2008 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesGrand-Theft-AutoGrand-Theft-Auto-IVGTAIVIron-ManRockstarSan-AndreasSawTake-TwoFri, 09 May 2008 11:56:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and the Prisoner's Dilemma]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/counting-rupees-guitar-hero-rock-band-and-the-prisoners-dile/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/counting-rupees-guitar-hero-rock-band-and-the-prisoners-dile/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/counting-rupees-guitar-hero-rock-band-and-the-prisoners-dile/#commentsFiled under: ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


Much as many people expected, Activision public relations recently confirmed that (one song aside) Aerosmith's catalogue will remain a Guitar Hero-exclusive for the foreseeable future. There's a considerable amount of public speculation as to whether or not this will spark future fights over exclusive content, and I'm inclined to assume that it will. The incentives are just too strong to avoid future conflict - the battle between Guitar Hero and Rock Band is a great example of the prisoner's dilemma.

The prisoner's dilemma is a common building block of game theory, which is often used in business strategy to describe potential competitive responses or explain company actions. It's so named because of the story that was used to illustrate its problem. Imagine two fugitives that have robbed a bank and were just picked up by the police. Each man is taken into a separate room, and the police make the following offer to each: if they confess to the crime and help to implicate their partner, they'll receive an extremely lenient sentence. However, if they stay quiet and their partner implicates them, they'll receive the maximum penalty - while their partner gets off scot-free. Of course, if both confess, the evidence they provide isn't particularly useful, and they'll each go to trial, ending up with a sentence somewhere in the middle. What should each man do?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and the Prisoner's Dilemma

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and the Prisoner's Dilemma originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 02 May 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ActivisionCounting-RupeesGuitar-HeroHarmonixjoystiqfeaturesRock-BandFri, 02 May 2008 14:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The WiiCube]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/24/counting-rupees-the-wiicube/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/24/counting-rupees-the-wiicube/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/24/counting-rupees-the-wiicube/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
In my last column I suggested that, if Microsoft is to make a Wii-like controller, it should still continue to focus on the "traditional" types of games that have so far made the 360 a success, because Nintendo had already basically wrapped up the "casual" crowd. I also mentioned that the only Wii games that are apparently selling are Nintendo games and some casual games. And with that in mind, the New York Times published an article on Monday detailing that, while the Wii hardware is selling well, even seemingly popular Wii software still has some trouble continuing to sell to the Wii audience.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The WiiCube

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The WiiCube originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesGameCubeGenius-SonorityNintendoPokemonPokemon-ColosseumRPGWiiWiiCubeThu, 24 Apr 2008 20:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Selling out without selling out]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/18/counting-rupees-selling-out-without-selling-out/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/18/counting-rupees-selling-out-without-selling-out/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/18/counting-rupees-selling-out-without-selling-out/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


Earlier this week, Next Generation published a list of the top 100 selling games of last year. Some sites used the list as an opportunity to analyze the impact of review scores on video games, or to alternately lament or exalt the state of gamers' sophistication, but I'd like to address one of the more perennial issues of the gaming community: Whether artistic and financial success are ultimately incompatible in this industry.

This isn't a new debate for most of us. The conventional wisdom is that, with few exceptions, the market rewards the common denominator: Cheap, quick, and easy games will beat sophisticated titles any day of the week and twice on Sunday. You can see variations on this theme throughout the gaming media; the notion that indie games can't make money, that gamers are violence- and sex-obsessed children, that stories and ideas just don't matter. Yet I'd argue that this conventional wisdom is wrong, and getting more so by the day.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Selling out without selling out

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Selling out without selling out originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesPS3SalesWiiXbox-360Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Will the real Wii60 please stand up]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/counting-rupees-will-the-real-wii60-please-stand-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/counting-rupees-will-the-real-wii60-please-stand-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/counting-rupees-will-the-real-wii60-please-stand-up/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:


With the Wii's apparent runaway success this generation, there's no doubt that both Sony and Microsoft are trying to figure out just what they can do - either in this generation or the next - to tap into the formula that's worked so well for Nintendo. Sony, in a seemingly obvious attempt to blunt the impact of Nintendo's newly styled controller, added motion sensitivity to their controllers before the PS3 launched. More recently, there have even been rumors that Microsoft may be prepping their own version of the Wii Remote to launch later this year for the 360. Is this really the answer Microsoft is looking for to combat the Wii?

There are a lot of problems with this, although the common "doomed console peripheral" theory actually may be the least of them. The success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band has proven that, at least when bundled with an attractive game, console owners are just fine with buying new controller peripherals for their systems.

No, the biggest problem for Microsoft here is simply a matter of audience. Microsoft has been working hard on wooing the "casual" audience, and has only rarely succeeded. Even a "hardcore" game like Halo 3 probably wouldn't sell 7.5 million copies without some "casual" players. But a quick look at the top-selling software for each system makes it extremely obvious how different the audiences already are for the two systems.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Will the real Wii60 please stand up

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Will the real Wii60 please stand up originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesWiiWii60Xbox-360Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:28:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The business of politics]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/counting-rupees-the-business-of-politics/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/counting-rupees-the-business-of-politics/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/counting-rupees-the-business-of-politics/#commentsFiled under: ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks rendez-vous on Joystiq to contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

The politics of video games are well covered by other websites, but it's worth spending a little time to think about the business implications of politics on the industry and its customers -- particularly in light of recent events like the UK game study. Just how much day-to-day impact does this maneuvering really have? For all of the angst found in the gamer community over issues like the latest ridiculous violent video game ban, I'd argue that the average gamer is actually pretty well-insulated from the mess.

So who does get affected? Well, the answer lies at least in part in figuring out the touch points that politics has on politicians, developers and publishers, and the people who buy and sell games in the first place. At its most basic, there are some essential conflicts of interest between these groups that get mediated by politics, and we can use them as the lens by which to think about this further.

Let's start off with consumers themselves. What do they really want? Well, game players want to be able to play whatever they want, whenever they want to play. But they're not the only stakeholders here; for younger players, parents play an important role as intermediaries in determining what games get purchased and thus what games are available. Parents, more than anything, want control: the ability to control what their children play and filter out products that they view as offensive or objectionable. Industry figures have similarly simple incentives. They want to satisfy players' demands and supply the games they want -- that's how they make money. It's in their best interests to avoid any restrictions whatsoever on what they can produce or how they sell it. Retailers also have to worry about their brand image and how they're publicly perceived, which is why Wal-Marts don't stock Adults-Only rated games.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The business of politics

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The business of politics originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesESAESRBPoliticsTue, 01 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Battle of the brands]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be remedied with Harmonix's recent announcement of Rock Band for Wii. While Rock Band was a more ambitious game and representative of an evolution of the music game, it did seem like Activision may have made the right choice in buying the Guitar Hero publisher (and thus the Guitar Hero brand), but not the developer. With so much brand awareness already built into Guitar Hero, was there any way that Harmonix could possibly top the original creation that it no longer owned the rights to?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Battle of the brands

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Battle of the brands originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ActivisionAerosmithCounting-RupeesDSEAElectronic-ArtsGuitar-HeroGuitarHeroHarmonixMTVNeversoftPCPS2PS3Red-OctaneRedOctaneRock-BandRockBandWiiXbox-360Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: The year of the PS3]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Apparently, 2008 is the year of the PS3. After what most consider a very shaky first year, the media is abuzz with a comeback for the company that was once king of consoles. EGM's March issue proudly proclaims on its cover that it's "The Revenge of the PS3". EDGE's December issue was entitled "The Empire Strikes Back" and even Joystiq's PS3 Fanboy has given us 10 reasons why the PS3 is back in the swing of things. Some analysts have proclaimed that the PS3 will do at least as well as the 360 in 2008, and others have the PS3 edging out the 360 by 2010 or even the Wii by 2011. Clearly, everyone is pointing to 2008 being a turning point of sorts for the Cell-powered beast. But is it actually true?

Let's focus on, at least initially, Sony's battle against the 360. Certainly, the PS3 has a lot of things going for it. Blu-ray has officially won the next-gen DVD war; upcoming games, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, and LittleBigPlanet show tremendous potential; and it has seemingly found a price point that people are willing to pay (as they did originally for the 360). In the US, at least so far this year, Sony has managed to outsell the 360 according to January and February NPD figures. But will it be enough?

Continue reading Counting Rupees: The year of the PS3

JoystiqCounting Rupees: The year of the PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesGran-TurismoGT5HaloKillzone-2Killzone2LittleBigPlanetMetal-Gear-Solid-4Metal-Gear-Solid-4-Guns-of-the-PatriotsMGS4NPDPS3WiiXbox-360Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Take me to your lead platform]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/11/counting-rupees-take-me-to-your-lead-platform/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/11/counting-rupees-take-me-to-your-lead-platform/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/11/counting-rupees-take-me-to-your-lead-platform/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

N'Gai Croal of Level Up recently pointed to an interesting development factoid from EA CEO John Riccitiello's 3rd quarter earnings call. A Cowen & Company analyst noted that many publishers have had difficulty in completing PS3 titles quickly and asked whether or not EA had made progress in narrowing the development times between PS3 and 360 games. The answer appears to be that meeting technical specifications is no longer an issue for games where development led on the PS3 - but where development was either parallel or started on the 360, there's still a notable lag in speed and quality.

Croal e-mailed EA with an obvious follow-up question: If that delay can be eliminated by starting with the PS3, would EA consider mandating that development begin there? Director of Communications Jeff Brown responded that no, the company doesn't provide such edicts and that a number of factors are considered when selecting a game's development path. Why might this be the case? I think this decision probably makes sense from a business perspective for several reasons.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Take me to your lead platform

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Take me to your lead platform originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Counting-RupeesEAElectronic-ArtsPS3Xbox-360Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Counting Rupees: Royalty Screwed]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/counting-rupees-royalty-screwed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/counting-rupees-royalty-screwed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/counting-rupees-royalty-screwed/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks alternate in contributing Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Gamers were outraged in recent weeks by a rumor that Xbox Live Arcade royalties were being cut in half for developers; in fact, some developers were reportedly considering moving development from XBLA to the PlayStation Network because of the cuts. It was less clear why Microsoft would do something like this: At first glance, it appears to stifle independent game development and reduce the overall quality of XBLA as a platform. Clearly, Microsoft is just being greedy, right?

Perhaps, but it's certainly not as clearcut as it seems at first glance. Although any changes to the royalty structure will mean changes -- and potentially significant ones -- for XBLA, they may still be beneficial in the long run for some people, possibly even increasing indie development.

As is often the case with rumors, there's more to the story than a simple royalty cut. Let's think first about what the costs and benefits of the changes are to both developers and Microsoft, after which we can decide why the action might have been taken in the first place and what it all means to us as gamers. From a developer's perspective, the cost is pretty clear: Up to 35% of the total revenues of a game. Does the developer receive any benefits? Yes, some: As reported, developers will no longer have to pay for features like worldwide ratings or localization, which both reduces costs and potentially provides access to a larger international market. And from Microsoft's standpoint, the costs and benefits are essentially reversed: It no longer has to pay the royalties, but it does need to provide some additional services.

Continue reading Counting Rupees: Royalty Screwed

JoystiqCounting Rupees: Royalty Screwed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Community-gamesCounting-RupeesPCPS3PSNXBLAXbox-360XNAXNA-community-gamesXNA-Creators-ClubTue, 04 Mar 2008 17:25:00 EST