iPhone OS4 Means New Opportunities for Game Developers

After watching the iPhone OS 4 media event live blog coverage I realized the definition of what goes into a gaming platform is becoming fairly standardized for this generation of technology.

As I've written before from a slightly different perspective, developers and designers need to develop for platforms that are going to be profitable and technologically viable.

Here's what Apple is making standard-issue in their iPhone OS4:

Multitasking. This addresses the reality that mobile users are likely to be interrupted, and will want to switch out from game to phone call to text message as the need arises.

GameKit. An integrated social network linking friends and their games. While I've not seen details on GameKit, the theory is sound. It certainly worked for Xbox Live, and it's something I've always encouraged in my game and metagame designs.

iAd. A revenue stream for developers. Developers will earn 60% of the ad revenues. And the ads themselves are supposedly game-friendly, in that they will leverage the multitasking abilities of the platform to maintain the game behind the ad. The ads themselves are supposed to give ad designers the ability to leverage HTML5 to create rich media experiences such as in-Ad games and in-Ad purchasing. All very cool, although I find myself wondering if developers get a cut of the in-Ad purchases.

Background GPS Support. While still accompanied with the warning that GPS is battery intensive, the ability for a game to leverage GPS, and an iAd to leverage GPS while spawned from a game, means that Location Based Services will see an upsurge. Again. Smart advertising tailored to where a user is playing their games should make the advertising more relevant and attractive to users. For example, playing a game in a coffee shop spawns an ad for the coffee shop, opposed to some random store nowhere near the user. Pretty cool stuff, as far as crappy advertising goes.

While critics of iPhone OS 4 will have a field day with the iPhone 3G not supporting multitasking, the platform is becoming well-rounded and will continue to appeal to users and games developers alike. The iPhone will be a center for innovation for the next year, and I'm excited to see what developers do with it.

© Jeremy Buehler and Rogue Tendencies (www.roguetendencies.com) 2010.

The Internet of Things Will Improve Augmented Reality Games

After reading this article about big network players talking-up the 'Internet of Things' I got thinking about how awesome it could be when more everyday things get connected to the internet. In some ways, the more mundane, the greater the potential... not just for the thing itself, but for how all other things interact with it.

Here's an example to clarify what I mean:

The newspaper box. They are found on train platforms, many street corners, basically anywhere that makes sense in terms of having enough pedestrian traffic to make them convenient. Today, they are pretty dumb machines. But in the future where they are part of an internet of things, someone will put a cheap cellular or wifi transmitter in them and a CPU. And they will begin to broadcast information to the world.

On the one hand, they could broadcast private information to the company that owns them. For example, the current state of newspaper supply. Or how much money is in them. And the advantage to the company would be to ensure they are never empty, or never carrying too much cash. In the case of newspaper boxes offering monthly publications, or weeklies, this could ensure no reader finds them empty. Thus, the newspaper box is improved.

On the other hand, the same newspaper box could broadcast public information. For example, it could broadcast its location, what publications it offers, etc. to nearby mobile phones or mobile computers. Very handy for advertisers and so forth, and for people looking for something to read.

And here's where the concept of connected things gets fun. If an object broadcasts its existence on the internet, then other systems can take that information and do something with it. This has great potential for things like augmented reality games.

Augmented reality games are today limited to things like global positioning systems, accelerometers and input via such tools as barcode scanners to add relevance to a user's surroundings. But in the future of the internet of things, the number of inputs available to augment a user's reality skyrockets.

Back to our newspaper box example. A user wears an augmented reality device such as a pair of display glasses. They start the game 'Super Ultra Crazy Zombie Shooter' (I made that up. I think.) and sit down on a park bench. The game immediately picks up their location via GPS, and facing via the built-in accelerometer. Then, it takes into account all the broadcasting things in the area and cross references their type with a master database. One of the things it 'sees' is our broadcasting newspaper box.

It loads up a zombie, and hides it behind the newspaper box, occasionally having it stand up to through zombie bits at the user. The user, in turn, targets the creature with its zombie shooting gun and fires. The game takes into account the standard dimensions of the newspaper box, applies some line-of-sight physics analysis, and if the newspaper box isn't in the way, allows the user to hit the zombie.

Then another zombie appears from behind a park bench across the way, and from a store doorway, and from a manhole cover, and, and, and...

Very soon you have a very cool game environment made to come to life through the internet of things.

Can't wait!

© Jeremy Buehler and Rogue Tendencies (www.roguetendencies.com) 2010.

Facebook Changing Fans to Likes

Caught this article that talks about how Facebook will soon be phasing out 'Fan' and replacing the concept with 'Like' in most cases. Apparently the goal is to increase engagement with brands on the platform.

I find it to be an interesting change because of the nuances of meaning.

'Fan'

noun – an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan; a great fan of Charlie Chaplin.

Origin:
1885–90, Americanism; short for fanatic
From dictionary.com.

'Like'

verb –
1. to take pleasure in; find agreeable or congenial: We all liked the concert.
2. to regard with favor; have a kindly or friendly feeling for (a person, group, etc.); find attractive: His parents like me and I like them.
3. to wish or prefer: You can do exactly as you like while you are a guest here.
From dictionary.com.

A comparative analogy would be that of American and Canadian beer. They're similar – but one's definitely weaker.

It reminds me of a book called 'Raving Fans' by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Sheldon M. Bowles. It focuses on how the best customer service produces customers who are fanatically loyal to your product. It's a great book that highlights how few companies can pull off raving fans and why. Social marketing, such as corporate participation on Facebook, is a great way for businesses to reach out to and foster raving fans.

This leads me to question whether Facebook is making the right move by watering down the concept of 'Fan' to 'Like'. Will people be content to support brands they like, vs. supporting brands they are fanatical about? Will they go out of their way to click and show their support?

There is also the residual Facebook phenomenon of users wanting a dislike button for status updates and shared items. Expect that argument to heat up as 'Fans' disappear and users can apply the same logic to 'disliking' brands.

© Jeremy Buehler and Rogue Tendencies (www.roguetendencies.com) 2010.

Monetizing Social Games

All social game designers face the challenge of monetizing their games. The problem they face is this: Providing premium entertainment does not by itself guarantee revenue, especially in a world where customers are reluctant to pay large sums of money for a product, and a precedence for free product exists.

This is especially true of iPhone development, with its vibrant Apple App store and thousands of free games, but also troubles social networking sites, console platforms and stand-alone game sites.

The solutions to the problem are many, and new solutions become available as disruptive technologies are introduced, especially in the fast-changing mobile environment. But what are the ingredients designers use to try to beat the system?

Virtual Currencies. Virtual currencies have become the bread and butter of revenue generation amongst most social games. While some designers opt for direct sale of virtual goods for real-world cash, many have found it is advantageous to introduce virtual currencies. Virtual currencies help maintain a user's suspended disbelief and immersion in the game world, and by doing so distance them from the reality of paying real dollars for something with no real-world value. Virtual currency can be purchased in blocks that encourage further real cash investment.

For example, by pricing some premium items slightly higher than the largest purchasable block of virtual currency, users can be encouraged to purchase more currency than would normally be inclined to. Such practices may be deemed unscrupulous by users if directly explained, however, under the guise of getting the better sword (or whatever) the reality doesn't sink in.

Virtual currencies can also be used to create a network of games that cross-promote each other, and serve to lift and shift users from game to game similarly to how loyalty program points can be used to lift and shift users from brand to brand in the real world. Instead of changing user buying habits, they can shift user play habits, by giving them premium access to a game they might not otherwise try.

For example, a user amasses a sum of virtual currency in one game, and is allowed to take it, at face value or at an exchange rate, to another game for a head-start advantage.

Reward Systems. Reward systems give users something for reaching milestones and achieving things in games. And by creating 'meta rewards' - rewards about playing games, opposed to attaining in-game achievements - designers can encourage users to spend more time playing more products. The concept thrived in the console world and spilled over into social games. Users like to support their intellectual and emotional investment in games by collecting 'stuff'. As with all collections, however, a balance must be struck between offering collectibles and offering too many. Having too many rewards leads to user confusion.

Marketing offers. Marketing offers have a bad rep in the social games world, and most of that can be attributed to profiteering companies with loose standards pioneering the industry. Marketing offers can work, in systems where virtual currency is earned by users in exchange for carrying out some kind of marketing activity.

It's important to note that users sometimes treat offers as originating from the game where they find it - so reputation is key. On the positive side, quality offers with reasonable rewards will be well received by users. And on the negative side, users can hold the game developer responsible for a bad offer experience.

Advertising and Location Based Advertising. Advertising in games must be done in a non-disruptive way that does not intrude on the game experience. Most developers shy away from including ads because by the very nature of advertising users are encouraged to think about something other than the game when they engage with an ad.

There is a great opportunity, however, for advertising in mobile social games through location based systems. By acknowledging that users playing games on mobile platforms are likely not sitting in front of a computer or game console, but are out in the world, ads can offer users real value alongside the game experience.

For example, a user playing a mobile game while at a coffee shop would likely positively view a special offer from the same coffee shop. The user is already at the location and making use of the offer would be a minor disruption to their game play experience. Location based ad systems can offer that kind of granularity, and will gain popularity as they develop over the next few months.

Designers can reap the greatest value from these ingredients if they are used to build a platform that evolves with its users. By developing the various monetization aspects of the platform, and intelligently integrating new technology opportunities as they become available, social games can continue to be enticing, revenue generating entertainment experiences.

© Jeremy Buehler and Rogue Tendencies (www.roguetendencies.com) 2010.

Good News From the Digital Ad World

There were a couple of interesting stories recently in the world of digital advertising that should be of interest to Web and mobile game developers who build ad-supported games.

The first is this Reuters article covering a comment made by Google Engineering Vice President Vic Gundotra about mobile advertising:

"'We hope and believe that there's even a chance that we could exceed desktop in the future,' Gundotra said in reference to the cost per click of mobile ads."

One reason for this expected upsurge is search relevance. As one would expect from an engineering guy, Gundotra feels the distinct technology opportunities associated with mobile platforms, such as location-based advertising, will give them an edge.

In other news, Kantar Media released a report today on the state of the advertising industry. Not surprising to those involved with advertising, 2009 for the most part sucked. But there was a high point:

"Internet display advertising expenditures increased 7.3 percent in 2009, aided by sharply higher spending from the telecom, factory auto and travel categories."

So to all those game designers that built games with an advertising component about travelling in cars and talking on phones - congratulations! May 2010 favor you equally.

© Jeremy Buehler and Rogue Tendencies (www.roguetendencies.com) 2010.