Check out The Making of VIKTORY II, one guy's tale of creating and self-publishing his strategic board game. He is crazy persistent (and has some past experience) and manages to knock out a pretty professional final game.
Today I happened to overhear a salesman going through his bit to a customer "and you'll want to include Office, which you can et a version of for $250." It too bad that customers are still under that impression. Open Office needs to get the kind of marketing push that Firefox has had. It's good enough for most people. If the people actually knew they could get a free office package they way more would opt for it. Instead, you have the salespeople padding their margins selling overpriced office software year-after-year.
Haha, these guys are so clueless. They're so stuck in their rut that they can't see a changing paradigm coming up to bite them in the ass. Here's my paraphrasing of his genius quote:
"The idea of full downloadable games using our current bloated development practices is so far in the future that it's almost incomprehensible as an opportunity. I really can't imagine any new developers producing games targeted for digital distribution. The fact that they could produce games with a tighter art pipeline (or increased code-generated art) on a much smaller budget would mean they would eat our profitability for lunch. ('small' is a relative term here, most people would say $1 million dollars is a pretty big amount of money, but for activision that's a very small budget). Hmmm.... you say that's already started to happen in the PC and XBOX Live space? I'm just going to pretend I never heard about that and continue working my army of devs like the wage slaves I know they love to be."
This new group is a direct fork of the old Association of Shareware Professionals. Some of the ASP board members resigned in disgust and started up this OISV. I agree with some of their points that the ASP is hopelessly stuck in the past. I joined the OISV to see where it goes (and to get the free T-shirt. I thought that showed an excellent marketing spark that bodes well for the organization).
Here's a mass email I got that shares some of the dirt:
Subject: CoffeeCup Relinquishes Our ASP Membership
Fellow ASP Member,
I am sorry to say that the current board has lost Scott Swedorski as a Board member of the ASP over issues he strongly believed in. One issue was me. I had no idea until today that Scott and Ryan Smith nominated me for a Lifetime Achievement Award. I was very honored they did that, it was nice. The board voted this down though even though I was the only person nominated by more than one person.
Scott got fed up and resigned for very good reasons. It just didn't make sense not to give me the Award unless it was personal.
Now honestly I don't have a chip on my shoulder or care that much about a plastic award. I have lots of them and a successful software business to back it up. Success counts, not a pat on the back from the industry.
What I do care about is respect. Saying that myself, Winzip, or C|net can not be recognized by the ASP because we don't post in newsgroups as much as other people is a farce. We run successful businesses and do not have time to post as much as those people that are less successful.
Those are just the facts. I have been a member for 10 years when most companies that grew as much as we did would have left and never stood by the ASP or it's members again.
I have talked to and helped more people one on one by e-mail and at SIC then any current board member of the ASP or the SIC. There is no doubt about that. I have also brought some deeper thought to my posts in.marketing and hope I have helped you where simple answers were not the best guides to get you through day to day.
I have also had countless people join because 'I' was a member and many companies including Tucows came to SIC and joined the ASP because I invited them, not by the SIC or the ASPs invitation. Download.com started participating more because I asked them too and I talked with them for many hours over it. As some of you are aware we threw a party at SIC every year for members that cost us between $5,000 and $20,000 a year. And not a single thank you from either side of the street, ever.
The ASP is in trouble people. The budget is bad and it's marketing to get new members is even in worse shape. The logo and the Website are so awful, I would never join if I saw them. There are too many people with good intentions but there is no action. (and action beats intentions every day of the week)
When we volunteered to create the new ASP Website 1 1/2 years ago we never heard a thing from the Board or Ed Pulliam. We are the most qualified in Web Marketing and Web Design of any member the ASP has ever had but the board did not want 'me' to do it. They did not contact us and refused our help because they do not want to acknowledge that we are the face of change for the ASP. The way things were done for the last 10 years is now over. If the ASP wants to succeed or even survive they will need new voices of change and they will need them quickly.
You will all need a new board soon so vote well; and I am sorry, Ed Pulliam is not qualified to be President of the ASP. He is full of great intentions but no true action. I have been to his Website at www.ouisoft.com and if this is the direction he wants the ASP Website to go in, the ASP is in bad shape. It's not personal, just an observation that I am sure many can see. He failed at the ASP marketing plan and should not be president.
If he worked for CoffeeCup I would have let him go. It's not personal though, I am sure h
When I was in university I wrote a simple little Risk style game, and eventually I released it as shareware. If you want to get a real idea of a full software lifecycle then releasing a shareware product will definitely show you the full spectrum. (An open source product might also, but there's no fire under your ass like that of paying customers).
After a few years of updates and improvements (and graduation), it became my full-time job! So I would recommend this to you. Create a real product that you (and others) will use.
I have found forums to be the key in the communities I participate in. You can build other things around them, but the forums are the bedrock. Other then that, check out what Guy Kawasaki has to say in: The Art of Creating a Community
I give much credit to SWT for putting a fire under swing and forcing them to improve. The current Swing is much better then it was a few years ago. It can take some long years before a toolkit matures and best practices for its use come out. I feel like that is happening now with Swing. If some of the SwingLabs stuff gets put into the real pipe that would be lovely.
SWT seems to be encountering some growing pains as it really starts to cover everything that a toolkit must. I wish them luck in pulling through even stronger (on all platforms please). SWT certainly has had a strong start.
It seems like there are enough Java developers out there to support 2 GUI toolkits. I think in the long run this can only be good for Java as a whole. If people don't like one they can stick with Java and swap out the toolkit. If one eventually becomes "the one" then it will only be because the other pushed it to be the best it could.
Apple have released updates that broke Java compatibility multiple times. One uptime introduced conditions where a user's home folder could be deleted! There have been some other issues with Apple updates. They are far from a spotless record.
When they say "control of the internet" are they just talking about the root DNS servers? There's nothing the US can do to stop other countries from designating some root DNS servers of their own, right? The only issue is whether or not they will share data with the current root servers. I'm not sure on the details, but all the root servers share data with each other now.I don't see the problem with more root servers being put up. Even if one of them didn't resolve some addresses based on nefarious ideas the other root servers would still be available for people to use.
Anyone who is interested in getting into indie game dev should definitely check out the indiegamer forums. There's tons of good info available and it's populated by a large group of indie/casual games developers along with artists, portals, and other and various other industry people.
This will change nothing for me. I will still be using Adium to connect to all the networks and avoid reliance on any one system.
These guys don't seem to get it, or they don't want to. A standardized 'open' IM system (similar to how email is open and standardized) would explode the IM possibilities. It doesn't matter how big your network is, if it's centralized and controlled by one company then certain users will never use it.
An open, de-centralized IM network where anyone can run their own identity node is what jabber has been focusing on. Google really missed the boat big time by not embracing it with their client. Now it's just business as usual: centralized IM networks fighting with each over for the same lowly slice of pie. All while ignoring the giant tasty cake that surrounds them.
I have some experience with this kind of arrangement when dealing with downloadable computer games. It's normal for the distributor-marketer to take 50-70% of the money. This is a pretty big spread, and even then the figure is liable to undergo much flux. If the developers are willing to do their own sales and marketing, and are only looking for secondary distribution then the distributors will get less (down to a usual minimum of 30%). If the developers have a proven successful track record, then they may be able to wrangle out a higher percentage for themselves. Likewise, if the developers are unknowns then they may get stuck with the lowest end of the range (or lower...). If the marketing/sales team are the ones who create all the ideas, then they would normally just contract out the development/support for a work-for-hire salary/advances, and take 100% of profits (or maybe somewhat less if they add some profit sharing to the salary).
It works better for 'fluffy' subjects involving opinionated essay writing, but here's the method:
- Take all the submitted assignments and collect them in a big pile.
- Throw the pile down a flight of stairs.
- Everything that makes it to the bottom gets an A. For each step above the bottom take off 5% of the grade.
- That's it.
I would contact this guy. I saw him give a talk at the IndieGamesCon and he seemed to be knowledge about the linux games porting scene. His resume drives it home.
I applaud this ruling. The levy was an asinine idea that was not helping new technology spread as it should. Just imagine if the music industry wanted to put a levy on wires, or speakers, or stereo systems. It just wouldn't make sense, and this levy is no different.
Slashdot Mirror
Check out The Making of VIKTORY II, one guy's tale of creating and self-publishing his strategic board game. He is crazy persistent (and has some past experience) and manages to knock out a pretty professional final game.
MySQL is an established and growing open-source company that operates as a for-profit business. Seems like a good fit.
Today I happened to overhear a salesman going through his bit to a customer "and you'll want to include Office, which you can et a version of for $250." It too bad that customers are still under that impression. Open Office needs to get the kind of marketing push that Firefox has had. It's good enough for most people. If the people actually knew they could get a free office package they way more would opt for it. Instead, you have the salespeople padding their margins selling overpriced office software year-after-year.
Hmmmm..... perhaps there is an open-source urine2beer converter kicking around somewhere...
Get the beer kegs ready - endless chicken wings await. Once they learn how to regrow hot sauce western civilization will be complete.
Bolo Tank Wars - was an awesome old school multi-player game. Much fun was had.
Sounds like this guy wants everything. Up to and including the kitchen sync.
Michael J. Copps is nothing but a faker.
Haha, these guys are so clueless. They're so stuck in their rut that they can't see a changing paradigm coming up to bite them in the ass. Here's my paraphrasing of his genius quote:
"The idea of full downloadable games using our current bloated development practices is so far in the future that it's almost incomprehensible as an opportunity. I really can't imagine any new developers producing games targeted for digital distribution. The fact that they could produce games with a tighter art pipeline (or increased code-generated art) on a much smaller budget would mean they would eat our profitability for lunch. ('small' is a relative term here, most people would say $1 million dollars is a pretty big amount of money, but for activision that's a very small budget). Hmmm.... you say that's already started to happen in the PC and XBOX Live space? I'm just going to pretend I never heard about that and continue working my army of devs like the wage slaves I know they love to be."
Here's a mass email I got that shares some of the dirt:
Drink water. It quenches your thirst, is good for you, and is very easily available.
After a few years of updates and improvements (and graduation), it became my full-time job! So I would recommend this to you. Create a real product that you (and others) will use.
I have found forums to be the key in the communities I participate in. You can build other things around them, but the forums are the bedrock. Other then that, check out what Guy Kawasaki has to say in: The Art of Creating a Community
SWT seems to be encountering some growing pains as it really starts to cover everything that a toolkit must. I wish them luck in pulling through even stronger (on all platforms please). SWT certainly has had a strong start.
It seems like there are enough Java developers out there to support 2 GUI toolkits. I think in the long run this can only be good for Java as a whole. If people don't like one they can stick with Java and swap out the toolkit. If one eventually becomes "the one" then it will only be because the other pushed it to be the best it could.
apple update breaks: 7,470,000 results
apple update breaks java: 2,010,000 results
Apple have released updates that broke Java compatibility multiple times. One uptime introduced conditions where a user's home folder could be deleted! There have been some other issues with Apple updates. They are far from a spotless record.
When they say "control of the internet" are they just talking about the root DNS servers? There's nothing the US can do to stop other countries from designating some root DNS servers of their own, right? The only issue is whether or not they will share data with the current root servers. I'm not sure on the details, but all the root servers share data with each other now.I don't see the problem with more root servers being put up. Even if one of them didn't resolve some addresses based on nefarious ideas the other root servers would still be available for people to use.
Anyone who is interested in getting into indie game dev should definitely check out the indiegamer forums. There's tons of good info available and it's populated by a large group of indie/casual games developers along with artists, portals, and other and various other industry people.
These guys don't seem to get it, or they don't want to. A standardized 'open' IM system (similar to how email is open and standardized) would explode the IM possibilities. It doesn't matter how big your network is, if it's centralized and controlled by one company then certain users will never use it.
An open, de-centralized IM network where anyone can run their own identity node is what jabber has been focusing on. Google really missed the boat big time by not embracing it with their client. Now it's just business as usual: centralized IM networks fighting with each over for the same lowly slice of pie. All while ignoring the giant tasty cake that surrounds them.
Wow, that's totally awesome. Really puts it into perspective...
I have some experience with this kind of arrangement when dealing with downloadable computer games. It's normal for the distributor-marketer to take 50-70% of the money. This is a pretty big spread, and even then the figure is liable to undergo much flux. If the developers are willing to do their own sales and marketing, and are only looking for secondary distribution then the distributors will get less (down to a usual minimum of 30%). If the developers have a proven successful track record, then they may be able to wrangle out a higher percentage for themselves. Likewise, if the developers are unknowns then they may get stuck with the lowest end of the range (or lower...). If the marketing/sales team are the ones who create all the ideas, then they would normally just contract out the development/support for a work-for-hire salary/advances, and take 100% of profits (or maybe somewhat less if they add some profit sharing to the salary).
Or just add tigsource.com to your RSS and get notified of cool new games.
- Take all the submitted assignments and collect them in a big pile.
- Throw the pile down a flight of stairs.
- Everything that makes it to the bottom gets an A. For each step above the bottom take off 5% of the grade.
- That's it.
I would contact this guy. I saw him give a talk at the IndieGamesCon and he seemed to be knowledge about the linux games porting scene. His resume drives it home.
Good work Canadian supreme court.