A report recently posted by Crain’s of New York covers the Game Development scene in NYC, which is a bit better off than here in Michigan.  The report takes it’s cues from this PDF report generated by the Center for an Urban Future, which I believe is a NYC company.

Of course it talks about the 10% + growth per year of the industry and it mentions the current companies in the area.  Detroit is in a very similiar situation, but I would venture to say with a bit fewer companies in the sector, although the game programs in the universities and the local area are stronger as are the tax incentives (if you include the film incentives here), but I believe we are weaker overall on the working with the local IGDA chapter as wella s getting the word out to those outside the Metro Detroit area that development in Detroit can and is happening.  Take a look below for the recommendations.  One caveat, I only perused the paper so far and didn’t read it in full other than the reports recommendations.  I have seen enough of these type reports I could probably write one!

continue reading "Report on Game Development in NYC - although they are in a bit better shape than Detroit, Michigan"

The key word here is Massive. 

Do not forget it.  Here is a list of questions that you will need to answer prior to even deciding to move forward with such a proposition.  Answer these adequately and you are now ready to move forward in some fashion.

1. What is the Purpose of the MMO in what is it trying to achieve from those visiting the MMO?  Is it their enjoyment or some ulterior motive?  Such as driving traffic to some other product in real life?

1.a related to 1.  What is the Unique Selling Point of the MMO that will drive the traffic to the game and keep current members around while attracting new members?

2. Is there any game element to this or is it strictly a chat room with graphics and some social aspect to it other than chat?  If there are game elements, then what is the expected game elements?

3. Will this be a download required client or not required and needs to run in the browser?  This is very important as it really dictates the direction and flexibility of the game.  In a web browser makes senese in certain instances. 
4. 3D or 2D?  3D in browser is limited, but doable.  2D in browser is much easier as their is more examples out there.

5. How will the MMO funding be worked out?  This is sort of tied into the rest as well and is not a trivial thing.  There is the upfront development costs, then there is the roll out costs and bug fixes early on, then there is the maintenance of the servers/bandwidth that should not be underestimated.  Blizzard’s team for WoW increased by almost a factor of 10 when WoW hit it big (200 -> 2000). This is just for maintanance.  Of course there is upgrades as well to keep the content new and improved.  By funding itself from within the MMO: I mean will there be advertising inside the MMO or on the web pages associated with the MMO?  Brand Placements in game?  Selling accounts by month or one time fee?  Microtransactions?

6. Social Networking is an important part of any MMO.  How will you cater to this need.  Will it tie into a social networking website, perhaps one you own and run?

7. User Submitted content required?  ala SecondLife?  Is this something the users can do and/or sell to other players?  How.  This economy as well as the economy of the game needs worked out, altough the economy can be worked out easily, it is more important to answer the question of will there user submitted content as this dictates early design decisions.

8. Who owns any IP created in the game for the game or by users?  Not a big deal, just one of those things. 

9. Scope is very important in a lot of design decisions and dictates the up front costs of getting going.  Creating a MMO isn’t a trivial
undertaking and to really make it succeed requires a LOT of hard work.

A demo of some core functionality can be put together relatively easily, but it still isn’t a trival thing, although life has been getting easier for us developers.  There are a LOT of examples out there now, so if you want to make one, just provide examples of existing MMOs and how yours will be different and you can move forward from there.

This is also not something that you could really ask a developer to just sit down and spit some code out and have a MMO up and running in a week, especially exactly as you envisioned.  However, a prototype could probably be done relatively fast, depending on the amount of money one is willing to spend to get ‘er done as you might say.
 

Here are some services / companies, which are supposed to allow you to get your video out to the masses.  Of course, you will need to take a look at all these and evaluate them on their own as well as evalute the sites they post to, since some of them will then claim ownership of the videos at least to use as they will, if not outright ownership of the copyrights.  I personally like to keep ownership rights to myself, but then the distribution is low, which is perhaps not what is wanted when starting out.  So here they are:

 Tube Mogul - 150 free uploads per month - webservice

Hey Spread

VideoPostRobot (software, not free)

Additional non-video specific, but good for distribution:

Pod Pusher - not video distribution as much as putting your RSS feed listed up on a variety of directories, but it is sort of relevent to the topic at hand.

Social Poster - used to get the word out about your posts, not directly distribute and post to video sites.  (Firefox only)

Well,

 I have been toying with the idea of getting into video production for a while now, either for tutorial stuff related to software or just for working with some of the historical martial arts I do or even creating a new ’series’ that is all about comedy and fun.  I might still pursue this, but for now, check this out:

 http://www.virtualhosting.com/blog/2008/the-video-blogging-toolbox-100-tools-resources-and-free-software-packages/

 I came across this on some of the lists I belong to and it is just an amazing resource for getting into the online new media space for video, so I thought I would share it with you.  Enjoy!

Every first Friday of the month from 4-6 pm, the Technology Incubator Tech Town, located near the Wayne State University has a gathering to talk about various activities and networking oportunities.  It seems like a pretty cool thing to try and make and I hope to make it down there tonight.  I will let you know how it goes.  See you there if you make it.

 Tech Town is one of the 3 big business accelerators in the area along with Automation Alley and Ann Arbor Spark. 

Lets help Michigan get some excellent support for the Children in this new center sponsored by the Starlight, Starbright Foundation:

 Vote now here:  http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/CommunityPrograms/show-the-love/vote

You can also read more about it, but basically it is a Fun Center for kids staying at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.  You can vote once a day, so add it to your browser tab as a home page and do it once a day.  It is currently close between Detroit and Houston winning the vote.  All others are pretty much out of the running, so spread the word and make this happen!

I had an interview Tommy Onyx, who owns a local web development company, that is also into building communitites in Second Life. It was very cool to chat with him and also hear about some of the cool stuff from the Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

Loudbaby.com
Web sites that SCREAM for attention!™
Detroit-Life.com
The Motor City inside The Metaverse™

continue reading "Interview with Tommy Onyx of Loudbaby!"

 

 DCT_011_2008_02_03_TommyOnyx.mp3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here are some of  the highlights as reported in the Technology report on the SE Michigan from Automation Alley:

From this site:

“Featuring: Deastro, Otto Vector, Ether Aura and 800Beloved. Sunday, January 20th- The Most People Are DJs Podcast presents a night of music, artwork, giveaways and fun! Four great local bands are featured, including a special appearance by 800Beloved. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to CARE House to benefit abused and neglected children. Tickets: $8.00 in advance, $10″

Mike of Most People are DJs podcast is a friend of mine from the DPN and I would go if I didn’t have a hockey game tonight. Hope you enjoy it!

Please come to this party it is for Mike Pawl from The Detroit Pod Show. Mike is currently
recovering from cancer. We will be donating the proceeds to the Karmanos Cancer
Institute. We hope to have new episodes of our show online once Mike is a bit further
along in his recovery. Please contact me if you can donate something for our silent
auction or you wish to purchase a ticket.

Thanks for your support.
JB

Here is the info:

***Friends Of Mike Pawl and Warren Kiwanis Club***
2008 Super Bowl Party
Sunday February 3rd, 2008 4:30P.M. Till ????

At: DeCarlo’s Banquet & Convention Center
6015 E. Ten Mile Road (at Mound Rd.)
Warren, MI 48091 586-759-6500

Tickets are $20.00 and include:
Admission to the party
1 TV raffle entry
All you can eat tailgate buffet
Beer & Soda

***There will be Texas Hold Em, Black Jack, Raffles, Silent Auction, Door Prizes, Games,
Fun and More!***

HDTV Raffle
1st Prize 37″ LCD HDTV
2nd Prize 32″ LCD HDTV
Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 for $20.00
*You do not have be present to win

*Texas Hold Em tournament $60.00 entry fee. ($72.00 18-20yrs. Old)
1st Place $500.00 minimum and other cash prizes.
License #M38997
*All proceeds will be donated in the name of Mike Pawl to the Karmanos Cancer Institute
and to the Kiwanis various charities.