Podcast Interview: IGF Finalist and Gamma Bros Developer…

Part of the Gamma Bros development team talks about developing the game, benefits of using Flash…and their vision for their studio…

You can download the podcast here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/gammabros-podcast-revised.mp3

or listen to it here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/gammabros-podcast-revised.mp3

Feel free to add our new Indie Game Podcast Widget that allows your readers to easily access our podcast library…
You can grab it here…

Thanks again for listening to the show and feel free to send over comments and suggestions on ways to improve the show.

We’re also looking for more interviewees…if you’ve developed a game and want to contribute back to the indie game dev community….send us an e-mail ( support at indiegamepod dot com) and we’ll go from there.

Take care,
Action

Quick Interview with Acclaim CEO Howard Marks…

Hey folks,

Sat in on a great presentation by Acclaim CEO Howard Marks about the future of MMOs. His presentation focused on the non-hardcore MMOs that are taking over the market. He cited many examples from Korea, China, and Japan. He also cited some of the other MMOs geared towards teens and kids like Runescape, ClubPenguin, etc.

Anyways, after the talk…I stuck around to ask him some questions. He thinks MMOs are the future. This is a summary of the conversation….

I asked him about whether MMOs are going to be “winner take all”…in the sense that there will only be one defining MMO for each category niche…like the way MySpace dominates the Social Networking scene.

He said that in Asia, that is not the case. In fact, folks get tired of MMOs quickly and move onto others. I asked him whether the Asian MMOs have “user generated content” like MySpace…and he said no.

So…my opinion is that it may be “winner take all” for MMO category segments…especially if users invest time to create content.

I then asked him about using MMOs for work. Things like Second Life and IBM are doing things where work takes place in the virtual environment. He wasn’t as focused on that, but said it could happen. I brought up the “Google Maps Airplane” game and how there could be “Information MMOs” where folks collaborate and work on some information environment like Google Maps. He found that interesting, but seemed to be more focused on entertainment MMOs. I wanted to know if Acclaim was going to do work-based MMOs…and it doesn’t seem like it.

Finally, I talked to him about business models. Mainly, the idea of physical-based products promoting the MMO. I mentioned some kids games online that give out candy with a web-code…so that kids can go online to play the games. I asked him if physical-based promotion is worth it…especially for indie game developers since profit margins for physical goods are much lower.

He said that physical-based promotion can definitely work. He then talked about a deal Acclaim is doing with a shoes company. The shoe design will be in the MMO…and at the same time, there will be a physical shoe that looks the same…that folks can buy. That will help brand things…so that the MMO becomes a lifestyle brand.

Finally, he also mentioned that this space of emerging MMOs is perfect for young folks looking for an opportunity in the game industry. Emerging MMOs seem like a great opportunity for indie game developers too…and most folks will find out that they are much easier and faster to make nowadays.

GDC 2007, Indie Game Summit Notes, Day 2…

Hey folks,

We’re going to do something different. I’m going to post notes from the GDC here. I’ve also noticed a couple “emerging” trends discussed amongst the casual/indie developers and will do a mini-tutorial on the topics.

In any case….here is day one…
At the GDC checking out various indie game, casual game, and serious game sessions.

Attended a serious games session on doing MMOs. This applies to the indie scene because some of the indie/casual gaming sessions had the “big players” talking about their future strategies involving MMOs.

At this serious games MMO session, mentions some of the non-WOW (World of Warcraft) MMOs that do well online. This includes kid MMOs like clubpenguin.com, whyville.net, and other types of MMOs like Habbo Hotel.

The important thing to take away from the session is the concept that making an MMO
is much easier now than before. For example, ClubPenguin is a simple flash MMO. It uses SmartFoxServer as the backend and flash for the client. It is important to note that there is a free version of SmartFoxServer for small MMOs.

I’ve used SmartFoxServer and it’s well documented. The other main benefit of flash MMOs is that IT IS ACCESSIBLE THROUGH A BROWSER. There is no installation required so the casual gamer can easily enter an MMO (without all the hassle of installing, etc.).

I think this is a key feature. In an unpublished interview with Joe Lieberman, he mentioned the idea of an emerging new market of “casual MMOs”…so this a space that indie game developers may want to check out.

The next session attended was “Making an Indie MMO” by the Three Rings Founder, Daniel James.

Three Rings made the game “Puzzle Pirates.”

In any case, he talks mainly about changing business models helping to increase revenues.

For example, Puzzle Pirates initially had a monthly subscription. They switched to a
micro-payments model…where a user makes micropayments for buying a hat or coat within the game.

This seems to add up and has raised revenue significantly.

There was a Q&A; session and one of the folks asked about developing an MMO in Java vs. Flash. Puzzle Pirates was done in Java, their future MMOs may be done in flash.

Afterwards, I attended some Casual Games Summit sessions. Most of the stuff rehashes things indie game developers know. There were two interesting things mentioned…
a) MMOs could be an emerging trend
b) A lot of the casual games company see mobile games as very important to their strategy.

A person from PopCap mentioned that they use the web to get the game out and start the distrution process and then use mobile as another effective medium to generate revenues and gain exposure.

Finally, attended a session on “How to Start a Casual Games Company”…
the session had a few folks starting a game company. At the end, one of the PopCap representatives mentioned a list of potential business ideas they see as huge opportunities…here are some of them:
1) Creating a backend for business reporting and other issues that arise from the need for information interchange between developers and publishers. He said, there is a need for someone to be the “SAP for Casual Games.”

2) There are huge needs for innovative ways to market Casual Games; new viral marketing ideas

3) A need for a company to do high-end contract work. For example, PopCap may make a game and need to port it to other platforms. They need someone that can do this well.

That’s the end of Day 1. Will post notes from Day 2….

Take care,
Action