tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300053822024-03-08T10:13:40.416-05:00Cranial InversionA blog about personal views on Internet Search, SEO, Gaming and the Gaming IndustryRandy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-80993260096526817682007-02-06T23:40:00.000-05:002007-02-06T23:43:24.142-05:00Darth Vader vid from YouTubeThis has to be one of the best fan films I have ever seen. Just thinking about the time it took to research, assemble, edit and compile this film warrants many kudos. And it funny as hell!!!<br /><br />Clips from Star Wars showing Vader and voice enitrely Jame Earl Jones (I know, I know....duh!!!) But watch the video....it's good. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6A0rwG39Jzk"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6A0rwG39Jzk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-41005256091981157412007-02-06T18:09:00.000-05:002007-02-06T18:32:34.817-05:00The Gamer Life: Married with GamesGame obsessed boy meets not so game obsessed girl. Boy and girl get into relationship. Boy brings gaming into relationship. Girl leaves boy. <br /><br />This is a typical scenario you hear about when a gamer gets out of a relationship because the other person didn't "understand". This isn't the norm, but it does happen on a frequent occasion. Of course, this mostly happens to people who are just dating, but I have heard of a couple of marriages that have crumbled under the weight of someone's gaming habit. Does it have to be? That is hard to say. It involves the gamer's own addictions and priorities. What is more important to the gamer: the games or the person he is in a relationship with. <br /><br />An interesting article from <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/marriage-gaming-game-over--29668.phtml">Destructoid</a> offers a look into some issues and ways to compromise. However, I think the problem and solution isn't neccassarily so cut and dry. Yes, feeding your gaming habit while trying to be in a relationship with a non-gamer can cause problems. Especially if that other person has no interest in games at all. However, relationships (especially marriage) require more effort to maintain than staying number 1 one the leader boards. <br /><br />Being in a relationship doesn't mean you have to quit playing video games. It just means that your game time will have to be set on a lower priority than everything else. You have to remeber that the person you are in a relationship with isn't with you because of your K/D ratio or "l33t skillz", they are with you because of the "real" you. You have to return that feeling outside of playing games. <br /><br />One thing that can be taken in consideration is that the more you give yourself and your time to your significant other will ultimately lead to more time with you and your computer (or console, handheld, mind jack...whatever). Marriage and gaming can co-exist, but it is a careful balance. One suggestion is the article is to introduce gaming to your partner. I mostly agree with this. Show them you want to share something that brings you happiness so you can both shoot each other and enjoy each other while your doing it (WARNING: Massive smack talk from you during this may lead to other "complications".) However, if your significant other is in no way, shape or form intersted in being a "gamer", then don't force it on them. Back away. Slowly. Ask them why? If there is absolutely no interest and no chance that there will ever be any interest, then you have to adjust your ways if you want to stay in the relationship. People first, games second. Even I believe that one. <br /><br />Just remember, if you spend more time trying to solo a Krayt Dragon, you might find yourself soloing everything in "real" life.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-58707361191815071782007-01-31T21:45:00.000-05:002007-01-31T22:13:15.585-05:00Gamer Types: Hard-CoreThis is a category I can file myself under. Hard-core gamers probably (in my opinon) make up about 60% of gamers. And this type of gamer doesn't belong to one type of game or game platform. Remember, I'm talking about mentalities of gamers.<br /><br />Hard-core gamers, unlike casual gamers, spend more time playing games. To them, playing games is more than just a few minutes of entertainment. It is also an escape or avenue for virtual socializing. They also spend some time during their day thinking about playing games. Granted, they can concentrate at the task at hand, but when they start to daydream, chances are they are thinking about gaming or something related to gaming.<br /><br />These are the players that follow game development (trailers, screenshots, news, etc...), pre-order games that haven't even been released yet, participate in a game's offical forum, always on the look out for new patches or releases for their games and (for male gamers) have more <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com">"PC Gamer" magazines</a> in their bathrooms than <a href="http://www.maxim.com">"Maxim"</a> *raises hand*.<br /><br />Hard-core gamers also spend more time and are more readily able to immerse themselves into the game. They can willfully throw away believability and their sense of logic to immerse themselves into their games for reasons more than just entertainment. They try to "become" the character. To live in the game's world. It is more for the reason of escaping reality than just entertainment.<br /><br />Another difference between casual and hard-core gamers is that the hard-core gamers are probably the most finicky, demanding, self-centered, opinonated and most vocal sub-culture there probably is out there. Think about it. Let's take in-game advertising for example. Imagine the uproar that would occur if a company like Tampax started advertising on the virtual billboards of Counter-Strike (just an extreme example of course). You can read my opinon on this type of blasphemy <a href="http://cranial-inversion.blogspot.com/2006/06/advertising-in-mmos.html">here.</a><br /><br />Over all, it is this rambling blogger's opinon that this group of players are the "meat" of the gaming industry. This is the category that mostly all of the big budget games are developed and all that marketing money is spent. This is the type of gamer that can raise or destroy a game development company. And, unfortunately, why movies like "Blood Rayne" and "Doom" get made. Hmmmm......I think I have another idea for post.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-56771187902702867822007-01-31T21:39:00.000-05:002007-01-31T21:43:20.991-05:00SEO Explained in GeekFor those geeks out there who want to learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or gauge how far they have advanced, I will direct you to a rather humorous (yet geeky) <a href="http://searchintelligence.blogspot.com/">list of the different levels of SEO knowledge.</a><br /><br />I think I can honestly say I have reached level 4 with a +10 in Paid Search.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-57838841712777801232007-01-30T18:16:00.000-05:002007-01-30T18:36:29.883-05:00Gamer Types: CasualWhen I say casual, I'm not referring to casual games like Bejeweled. I'm not referring to games at all; I am referring to the players that play the games. I have this theory that there are three main "mentalities" when it comes to the types of computer gamers: casual, hard-core and power. The one I am going to discuss in this post is casual.<br /><br />To me, a casual gamer is a player who looks at computer games as just an entertaining way to pass the time. These gamers are not the ones prowling through game forums, subscribing to game magazines, trying to find the latest patch or playing for hours just to reach the next mission. To these gamers, games are simply an interactive toy. They turn it on, play for awhile and turn it off. This doesn't mean that they don't play games that are as depth as Oblivion or as action packed as Counter Strike. This just means that if all they have is about thirty minutes to play, then that's fine with them.<br /><br />Casual gamers don't really concern themselves with finding that cheat to make them invincible or "give all", they play just for the entertainment a few minutes will give them. Also, if while they are playing and something in real life comes up that needs their immediate attention or is more important, they have no hesitation about turning the game off, saved or not!<br /><br />It is with this playing mentality that simple, easily understood and played games are developed. Again, I point to games like Bejeweled and Zuma (my wife's digital crack). I am not down playing the fun value of these games or trying to make them seem extremely childish, but for the type of players they are designed for they are just right. Besides, it wouldn't make sense for a developer to spend a million or more dollars on effects, voice acting, marketing, writing, dialouge, etc... on a game that will only be played a few minutes at a time. At least to me.<br /><br />Casual players are the type that spouses, significant others, parents, etc... wish all gamers were like. Players that can tear themselves away to clean the house, take out the trash, wash dishes, tell their wives that the dress is really cute and looks great on them, anything but spend more time playing "vidgit games" than it takes watching a romantic comedy. Okay, I'm ranting a bit. But, let them get hooked on Zuma and the tables turn. I bought Zuma for my wife and now she is on my computer more than me. In a way I am so proud of her. Next stop, Counter Strike!Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-19694558905166654102007-01-11T12:29:00.000-05:002007-01-11T13:04:05.468-05:00Anti-gamers Respawn in UtahIt is pretty well known to gamers who follow the news concerning the beloved past-time that there are those in "power" trying to censor what they can and can't play. And all of the hooplaa centers on the violent content of some of the games on the market. The most infamous of these "kid brainwashing" games is <span style="font-style: italic;">GTA</span>. Many in Washington sought o ban such games because they said it <span style="font-style: italic;">"appeals to the morbid interest of minors in violence". </span>This has been debated by many "experts" on both sides even though records show that the overall violent against commited by minors have been dropping over the past decade. Several state legislations have tried to ban minors from playing some of these games, and have failed overall. They say that violence should be taken out of games played by minors because of "psychological damage" and de-humanizes people to make it easier for them to justify violent acts. This is rubbish. There are always going to be some whack jobs out there that are going to be influenced by such things, but most kids are intelligent and sane enough to realize life from fantasy. In fact, I bet because these games provide an outlet to release frustration and anger, kids are actually LESS inclined to commit crime as depicted in these games.<br /><br />That being said, a bill that was shot down last year in <a href="http://gamepolitics.com/2007/01/10/utah-legislature-will-consider-video-game-bill/">Utah is once again going to make a reappearance and try to censor video games.</a> This bill was drafted with the help of every gamer's favorite person, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_%28attorney%29">Jack Thompson.</a> Why are they targeting video games? Why not movies (wasn't that big bank robbery gunfight years ago in LA based on the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Heat</span>?), television shows, books, etc...? I have seen and read many of these other mediums depicting terrorist activities, cop killing, rape, torture, mass killings, etc... and yet I don't hear anything about censorship being applied to these to keep them out of the hands of minors. Hell, <span style="font-style: italic;">Looney Toons</span> is more violent that some of today's cartoons. And comic books!!! Why are they not being censored for the same material and topics that are depicted in video games? I'll tell you why. Because the gaming industry is still in it's infancy compared to the other entertainment outlets and not seen as a "legitimate" media form, even though the gaming industry brings in more revenue than the movie industry and more and more people rather play games that watch TV. And not to mention (to show the little conspiracy theorist in me) that the folks in Washington are very friendly with the entertainment tycoons.<br /><br />I agree that minors (like below the age of 15) should not be playing games like <span style="font-style: italic;">GTA</span>, however, it is up to the kid's players to decide whether or not they should be playing it or not, not the governments. I support the use of the ESRB as it informs parents of the material inside the game. At the least, this allows the PARENTS to make a more informed descision on whether or not their kids will play the game. At least they have a choice. It is not the government's. If these types of bills get passed, then the government starts making those choices for the parent's.<br /><br />So, in closing, who would you prefer making the choices for kid's entertainment: Big Mamma or Big Brother?Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-58629128286149285322007-01-04T19:38:00.000-05:002007-01-04T19:53:21.534-05:00Idle Hands Are the Tools of the DevilWell, it has been since October since I have written anything in this blog. I have no excuse. Sorry. With that being said, I do however, want to correct some assertions I made in my prior (last) post from October. In that post I said that there were three types of players; casual, hard-core and power-gamers. And I said that developers tend to develop games to target those play types. Well, that was a bunch of uneducated ignorance (redundant term I know) on my part. You see, I just finished my first term of college last month. I am in the Game Art and Design program and took a class last term called <span style="font-style: italic;">Game Development Essentials</span> (Jeanne Novack, 2005). In that class I learned a lot about the development of video games and the behind the scenes goings on. Come to find out, there is a lot that goes on (a lot more than I thought). Also, while player motivations and desires do play a part in the over-all scheme of things, games are not developed mainly how much time a player might have (which I knew, but I thought it would have a larger impact in the development of the game).<br /><br />So, my last post was mainly inaccurate. I do, however, believe that there are three "mentalities" of players. Those would be casual, hard-core and power-gamer. I do plan on discussing those types of players, just without trying to connect them to the developing and marketing of the games. It is amazing what you learn when you go to school. They say knowledge is power, but it also helps to prevent you from looking like a idiot *cough* Ted Stevens *cough*. Sorry, I couldn't resist.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1159810000600002372006-10-02T12:03:00.000-05:002006-10-02T12:26:40.616-05:00Which type of player are you?Since the conception of playing video games by the mass public, there have been three types of players; casual, hardcore and power-gamers. These three "archtypes" have been labeled, studied, marketed and had games developed for each of them. What are the differences between the three? Is one better than the rest? Is one the outcast? How do each of these types of gamers affect the production and marketing of games?<br /><br />Although these "archtypes" are generally socially cliche, they do have a profound impact on what type of games are developed and how they are marketed. Developers decide on how to develop a game based partly on the class of gamer they are targeting and also, to an extent, the type of gamer they are. For example, say a developer is developing a first person shooter (FPS) with alot of great graphics, awesome story, well developed levels and non-linear gameplay. Obviously, they are not making this game for the Real Time Strategy (RTS) players or the Role Playing Game (RPG) type of players. Now, let's say that they develop the game with the golden "save anytime, anywhere" save system that we all love so much. This will allow those players who don't have but a few minutes to spare a "get in, frag and get out" type of game experience. This is being developed with casual gamers in mind. It will allow gamers to get qreat gaming experience in an awesome game, without have to spend 15- 30 minutes being so cautious about dying in the game and having to start all over from the last "check point", which in some games hardly ever seems to come.<br /><br />I will post more on these types of gamers in three individual posts to address them each and how games are developed and marketed for them later.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1157995008655794522006-09-11T11:50:00.000-05:002006-09-11T12:16:48.673-05:00In-game voice for MMOsVoice chat programs have, without a doubt, revolutionized online gaming. They provide the ability to talk to your teammates in real time in the heat of battle or just kicking back watching the rendered virtual sun set. The services these programs provide have been very successsful with more and more gamers logging in and using the "push to talk" button to begin, at times, a more immersive feeling.<br /><br />Some of the more popular services <a href="http://www.ventrilo.com">Ventrilo</a> , <a href="http://rogerwilco.gamespy.com">Roger Wilco</a> , and <a href="http://www.goteamspeak.com">Team Speak</a> allow for seamless communications with your friends while you are all playing, or not. They also provide you a way to communicate with friends while you are playing and they are not, in another game or vice versa. There are no boundaries, per say, with these programs.<br /><br />Enter <a href="http://www.vivox.com">Vivox</a>. This company is developing a program for use as an internal game hosted in-game voice program. An article written in <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/culture/games/0,71540-0.html">Wired.com</a> outlines the core of the capabilites. At first look it seems like a great addition to any online game. Persistent channels, outgame IM and even voicemail. There are alot more great features in this program. But there is one thing I see as a speed bump to it's usage. Latency.<br /><br />What I mean by that being an issue, I mean how will the continous connection of this program to others affect your ping? With all things considered, CPU speed, the type of graphics card you have, amount of RAM, game settings, etc. , sound is often overlooked for game performance. But it does have an affect on your system's performance. As laggy as some MMOs can be, how much so will it be when you have abunch of people talking at you through a program in a game already hogging your system's resources?<br /><br />Perhaps the good people at <a href="http://www.vivox.xom">Vivox</a> have already thought about that have been able to come up with a solution. After all, not all gaming systems are greated equal. Hopefully they have designed their new program with the lowest common demonator in mind. Or even the option to disable this program in the game (which is a no brainer, but you have to ask).<br /><br />Another thought (from the cynic in me), with the addition of in game advertising and this type of voice chat programs in games, how long before the first unwanted podcast commercial for the Honda models?<br /><br />In conclusion, I think that until this new system is tried and tested and meets industry standards (by that I mean the overwhelming approval of gamers everywhere) I think that gamers will continue to use the old reliable third party programs. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1153792239057206382006-07-24T20:10:00.000-05:002006-07-24T21:03:46.356-05:00MMO Advertising: The Good, The Bad, But Mainly UglyLet's start off first by saying that there is a difference between "advergaming" and MMO advertising. "Advergaming" relates to the advertising on sites that have games like "Bejewel" and such. Free, simple little pop-up games that mainly just waste time because one is bored. These are games displayed through a web browser just like any other web page. So, advertising on sites like these is just like someone putting Adsense on their site. The main demographic for these advertisements are the stay at home moms, who happen to get a few minutes of "me" time in from managing a house full of demon spawns on a sugar rush. In this aspect it is a great way to advertise. You throw some banner ads on the page and the audience looks at them before trying to match up same colored cubes for the joy of having "bonus points".<br /><br />MMO advertising is a whole different beast. This is something that should not be for the meek of heart (or skinny wallet). This is the beast that could make marketers and game developers alot of money at the expense of having the most finicky, out spoken, judgemental, secular group out there with pitch forks and torches screaming for their blood. I speak of the gaming community. As I have previously posted on my humble blog, this is not the group of people you want to piss off. Word gets around fast. As my good friend <a href="http://www.searchenginelowdown.com">JP Sherman</a> has said, if you're a developer or a business and you don't have good cred with the gamers, you pretty much screwed yourself out of a demographic. But, I have already covered my reasons why earlier, so let's move on.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">In-game Ads mean little or no subscription?</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Let's stop and think about this one. Okay, one side says that if you allow in-game ads, then that should cut down on subscription costs or eliminate it all together right? Possibly. However, at what cost? Would you be willing to play a game that you just couldn't get into because you are constantly being bombarded by ads? Would you really be willing to wait for your screen to load after you have to watch a Tampax commercial? In something like WoW? All of this so you didn't have to pay a subscription fee? I'll wager a large portion of you will say "Hell no!". Honestly, I would never pay for a game if I am going to be subjected to that kind of intrusive advertising. If I wanted to be subjected to that kind of advertising after I have paid for something, I'll go to the movie theater. </span><br /><br />Now the other side says that there is no way in hell that you would be insulted by this blatant cop-out by the game developers. Okay. What if the developers and marketers were smart and only did ads relevent for the type of game being played. For example, in something like WoW, they could put the advertisments on the log-in screen. And perhaps some more when you log out (for those of you who do log out) to keep the actual gameplay ad free. For something like "The Matrix Online", they could actually place advertisements on virtual billboards (like they do now, I believe. But you are still paying for a subscription, right?). Depending on how it was done and how intrusive it is, it could be a better way to get players and still get the ads across. But overall, in my opinon, it is still blasphemy. And let's be real, do you think a big company (game or otherwise) is going to just let us play for free? Yeah right. And I'm not talking about "Guild Wars" or another "smaller guy". I'm talking about the big boys like SOE, EA and LucasArts. Seriously, do you really think they would do that?<br /><br />Either way we are going to see it. If we don't like it, we won't play. If we don't play, the companies don't get money. If they don't get money, then the companies will pay attention to the most important thing to them in regards to this topic; listening to what the players want(hello SWG). But I doubt it.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1152537073218236592006-07-10T08:10:00.000-05:002006-07-10T08:11:13.233-05:00Senate Denies Net Neutrality<p class="MsoNormal">The Senate just recently passed a Telecommunication Bill that is a great deal for the Telco’s (Telecommunication companies). Basically, it will allow the telco’s to pick and choose whom they will allow greater bandwidth to. For instance, AT&T would offer more speed to Internet services and marketers for the right price. If someone like Google for example, wanted to have their services delivered faster than Yahoo!, they would have to pay more than Yahoo! to AT&T. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>To the Republican’s and the big telco’s, this seems to be a great idea because it would allow “healthy competition” and allow the end user the choice of whom they would use. It would deny a company from getting closer to the whole “monopoly” state that everyone would hate to see. It would be another system of classic free market economy that would benefit everyone. However, the only parties that would benefit this are the Telco’s and the politicians in their pockets. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>To the rest of the free world, it means the end of the Internet as we know it. No longer will information be readily available, free, and able to be searched without any cost to the end user (aside from the ISP fees). Pretty soon, the big Internet companies (non-ISP) are going to have to make a choice. Either they will eat the added cost or they will pass it on to the end-users. I seriously doubt that any company would want to just eat the cost of added expense in the name of competition. Somehow they are going to pass it along to the people they depend on…you. “You lie!” you say? I hope so. But I doubt it. It’s just simple business.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style=""> </span>Now, the fact that I believe that they will pass this cost on to you makes up the core of my hypothetical premise. Imagine, online advertisers want to set up banner ads with certain keywords targeted. Their site is ranked well on Google and “ok” on Yahoo!. They want to increase their spending on Yahoo! to increase their traffic on that search engine. Because Yahoo! has to pay more for bandwidth, the advertisers have to pay more to Yahoo! for the space they want. But if the advertisers don’t want to pay the extra money to ensure that their ad is displayed better on Yahoo!, they can go with Google. Google is cheaper, but their ads aren’t going to display as well on Yahoo!. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The fact that the advertisers have to pay more is also an indication that everyone else is going to have to pay more. I think that pretty soon, everyone will have to pay for higher bandwidth. The Telco’s will be able to tier their services (like some do today) to offer a “get what you pay for” model. Meaning, their lowest priced plan will offer the slowest bandwidth, while the highest priced will offer their highest bandwidth. “Well…no kidding!” you say. Yes, I say. Because the highest bandwidth you bought with your hard earned money, is the same bandwidth you were using for half the price before this Bill. Make sense? I hope so. Although this scenario is what I can see as being the “worst case”, I hope it doesn’t come to that. I hope that we, being the end-users and marketers, don’t see a difference because the big Internet guys will “do no evil”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">But, after reading my humble blog of my thoughts and opinions on this issue, answer me this: In all things Internet related, where do the real “h4xz0rs” lie?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p>Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1151412163064378952006-06-27T07:29:00.000-05:002006-06-27T07:42:43.073-05:00An Idea for MMO AdvertisingHere is just a thought I had in regards to advertising in MMO's. Bear with me.<br /><br /> Instead of figuring out someway to sneak an advertisement for a product into a game where players will see said advertisement somewhere in that virtual world, how about they take the example from the movie industry. Most MMO's require a login to be completed at what is known as the "launchpad". Here is where I think would be the best way to do it. The player has to come here to get in the game and any advertisements here would be exposed to the player. Now, if the ad is inticing enough, the player may forego logging in and click on that ad to see the offer. If not, then the player logs in and plays. However, the player was already expposed to the ad and the marketing is finished in that sense, until the player logs back in to the game at a later date. This way, the ad company gets their advertising in a MMO and the player's game play isn't at risk. Until the advertising in MMO's becomes a mainstream media with the rest of the traditional methods, this will be the best way to "test the waters".<br /><br /> Another way I was thinking about would be a little more challenging on the game developer's part. Every game out there has opening credits with the involved companies' logo. What about a quick advertisement to be mixed in their as well? It would be difficult in the way that the developers would be constantly changing the code to game and players would have to wait for an update everytime they login. However, it still exposes the ads to the players without interupting the player's gameplay.<br /><br /> But those are my ideas. I think the first one is the best and one that I wouldn't mind dealing with when I play my games. The second is more difficult but again, I wouldn't mind dealing with that. Bottom line is that the developers and marketing companies have to remember: Don't screw around with a gamer's gameplay. Wars have been started for less.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1150928017926997762006-06-21T16:48:00.000-05:002006-06-21T17:36:34.496-05:00Advertising in MMOsThis is a hot issue for me. On one hand, I am a professional online marketer. On the other, I am a serious gamer. So you can see my problem. I have had several discussions with friends that are in a similar situation about this topic and they agree with me when I say the marketers have a very difficult road ahead of them.<br /> <br /> Let me first address the gamer in me. I see advertisements in MMO (or any other game) as heresy. In my opinon, the vast majority of gamers dive into their virtual worlds to escape the harsh reality of life and all of it's problems associated with it. In their games they can be who they want to be, do what they want to do and act how they want to act; all without having to worry about how they will be judged by those in the "real" world. It's almost like therapy for them.<br /><br /> So when they are trudging along in some god-forsaken dungeon, fighting hordes of the undead and dodging traps to acheive their goal; they don't want to be reminded that they can get smoother skin by using some moisterizing cream. This will remind them of the world they are trying to escape and it will ruin their game play. Now, this example is a little extreme, granted, but it could very well be the "reality" if marketers are careless about how they market products inside a game. There will no doubt be a backlash of anger towards the marketers for ruining their game time, but also at the game developers for allowing this heresy to happen in the first place. This could cause problems for both the developers and the marketers, both financially and their reputation. Gamers are a unique sub-culture that communicates very freely with their brethern (and sisters :) ).<br /><br /> Now on the marketing side of my persona. I can understand why the industry is aching to have a strong marketing campaign in MMOs. It is a great avenue to a dynamic demographic that may be susceptible to a plethera (hefe?) of products. The only problem, <a href="http://www.marketertoday.com/">which my good friend JP wrote about here</a>, is how they are going to market said products. Subtlety is the best approach here. They have to figure out how they are going to get the advertisment to the gamer without ruining the gameplay. There are many ideas out there, but we all know that good ideas don't neccessary mean good execution. This is probably that largest hurdle the marketers are going to have. Not only do they have to worry about how well their buisness will do, but also how it will affect the company that owns the game. The game companies also have to be very picky about who and what they allow into their games. If done well, it could be the best thing since Star Wars (well....maybe not <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> good).<br /><br /> I'm going to keep on top of this subject and post any other news, grips, or ideas I stumble upon.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30005382.post-1150835953390792292006-06-20T15:33:00.000-05:002006-06-20T15:39:13.400-05:00IntroductionMost of the topics that will posted are topics which I hold a lot of interest here. They will range from the nerdy geek (video games and such) to political (the Republicans fight against net neutrality). I may rant, holler, scream and carry on like a neanderthal and other times I may say something intelligent that came from a some what logical thought.<br /><br />I am new to this "miracle" of blogging, so be paitent. I will get the hang of it in no time. If you feel like debating or having a conservation about something then please do. I love an intellectual debate.<br /><br />Stay tuned for ramblings from the cranial inverted.Randy H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05056754456920985227noreply@blogger.com1