Sony’s PS Vita is now on shelves. A great gaming handheld, experts nonetheless wonder: With smartphone and app gaming on the rise, to just what extent will it succeed? Forbes.com has a breakdown of the Vita’s early Japanese sales numbers, and to be fair, the handheld didn’t exactly explode out of the gate: 320,000 units sold in the first week, followed by a mere 72,000 units in the second. Forbes’ games writer, Tero Kuittinen, has prophesied...
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Video games may be fun and exciting, but that doesn’t mean they materialize out of candy and rainbows. Putting together a game is very rough work. Failure or financial ruin is always hovering over a project, not to mention worker burnout and frustration. On the other hand, nothing ventured, nothing gained–and working through a project doesn’t have to be as perilous as navigating a minefield. A bit of preparation, foresight, and common sense goes a...
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When we think about the learning process behind video game development, we think about learning algorithms, animation, 3D environment design, and maybe a dash of storytelling. While that’s all extremely important stuff (no math and no art means no game), devs must also gradually learn the toughest lesson that every creative person is forced to study at some point in their lives: knowing when to let go of an idea. Rod Humble, a former Sims developer and the...
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With 2012 coming up fast, many of us are wishing and hoping for a fruitful, healthy year, preferably free of Mayan-predicted doomsdays. Conversely, in our darker moods, we think about ways in which the new year might be a soul-sucking series of struggles. 2012 is going to be a tense time for video game developers, too. The past couple of years have been volatile for the industry, and 2012 will prove no less challenging for the business thanks to some specific...
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There are certain and somewhat important characteristics about the Wii U that are currently up in the air, and might not be settled until the last moments before the console’s 2012 release. We don’t know an exact release date. We don’t know a price, or much about the system’s launch lineup. We do know that the Wii U will bring some interesting innovations to the console market. Even if the Wii U doesn’t revolutionize games as...
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When something goes wrong with today’s youth, the media is quick to loose the dogs on video games. The attacks generally portray video games as noisy, violent time-wasters that are the equivalent of a potato chip feast for the brain. Truthfully, playing games can be very beneficial for children. When combined with exercise, sensible time limits, and adhesion to the ESRB’s content ratings, video games are a relatively inexpensive and fun pastime that can...
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It might be hard to think of the digital realm as cutthroat territory, but believe it or not, online game stores are constantly battling one another for your space dollars. The market is a pretty interesting place at this current time: it’s a bustling jumble of services that includes veterans and dozens of newcomers that are trying to get in on a good thing. Some digital distribution portals offer access to exclusive titles, or are convenient to use thanks to...
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The video game industry is bouncing along with a level of vigor it hasn’t seen since the day the business was born. It is, however, human nature to look at a healthy animal and wonder about the possibilities of plague and death. So we talk a great deal about the Video Game Industry Crash of ’83 (Or Thereabouts), and wonder if it can happen again. In fact, some of us insist it will happen again, and when you take a quick glance at the industry as it...
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The games industry is doing everything it can to appeal to the mainstream, including offering free games, social games, casual games, games that fix dinner, etc. With so many titles trying to be all things to all people, you might be tempted to look at past gaming trends and declare them dead. Nope. The financial and critical success of games like Catherine and Dark Souls indicates that there’s still a market for niche games, and it’s a very hungry,...
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Of all the enormous changes that have swept over the games industry since the mid-Aughts, one of the most significant is the method by which we actually obtain our games. While console owners would almost exclusively buy their games at retail, the advent of digital marketplaces like Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and the Wii Shop Channel allow us to supplement our physical purchases with digital fare–and we are only too happy to oblige. What’s...
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of strategic consulting and consumer products testing firm TechSavvy Global, and the author of critically-acclaimed volumes The Crowdfunding Bible and The Business Expert’s Guidebook. A sought-after keynote speaker and expert witness, he’s among the world’s most-quoted high-tech analysts. As a bestselling technology and small business expert, he's covered the industry for 400+ outlets from CNN to Rolling Stone. He provides dynamic speaking presentations at events, meetings and conferences. For more, follow him on Twitter ( @AKeynoteSpeaker).