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Comic Truthiness
Colbert had another good show the other day, this time on the killing of Capitan America by Marvel (as mentioned by NYT).
To keep on the comic thread, there are three comics that I read on a regular basis: Dilbert, Get Fuzzy and Ctrl+Alt+Del. CAD is the latest to the mix and fits well since it is focused on gaming (not that I am hardcore). Last Christmas, Tim Buckley, the creator of CAD did a high-speed video of how he creates a comic. It’s interesting to see one made and the process to get it done. I also like the music he picked for the background.
GLG gets some credit for this.
Avoid
I always enjoy reading Defective Yeti, and this post about casual games lives up.
This game is to free time what whales are to krill. Even now, as I type this, I am trying to resist the urge to go play a few rounds (and my resolve has already faltered a few times since I wrote the first paragraph).
If this game were half as addictive, I would urge to buy a copy; as it stands, I’m afraid I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Peggle to anyone who has a wife, a child, friends, or reservations about wearing astronaut diapers to avoid ever having to leave your PC.
Good stuff. I still have yet to play Peggle but I have been playing most of the other ones on the market.
Virtual Communities
Lots of talk these days of Online or Virtual Communities. Everyone wants to create a Second Life Killer or at least not get left too far behind. At GDC yesterday, Sony announced Playstation Home for PS3:
Some call it “Myspace 2.0″ or “Third Life”, or “Xbox Catchup”. Xbox360 has had online community for years now and is the Console to beat:
The Wii has potential for the Casual Gamer, and online it really only has avatars:
I wrote before on Second life as well as on Entropia Universe. Another big Virtual hangout is Habbo Hotel, and I am finally going to check out The Sims Online (TSO) soon.
Guitar Hero
So this weekend while enjoying the splendor that is Connecticut, I finally got a chance to play Guitar Hero II on PS2. It’s been ages since I played anything on a console, but GH was a blast. There were all sorts of new as well as good players to show us all the ropes. So after getting kicked out of the first song I tried, we all decided training for me was actually a good thing. In general, I was hitting 75-85% accuracy in the easy level, not bad for a slacker that has never done a thing with a musical instrument, not that GH is anything like a real Guitar. The wireless guitar controller is the way to go also. But I still think I will end up getting a Wii, with Xbox360 as my second choice.
And you know you have a pro in the room when they starting playing the Trogdor song from Strong Bad. And in case you don’t know this little bit of net pop culture, enjoy:
Casual Games Advertising
The NYTimes has a good update concerning my new industry: More Marketers Are Grabbing the Attention of Players During Online Games.
Some interesting highlights:
In December, about 65.9 million people played online games, which include puzzle games and action video games. That was up 13 percent from December 2005, when 58.4 million clicked online for a quick round, according to comScore Networks, an Internet research firm. While traditional action games still draw more men than women, casual games are more popular with women and offer the kind of friendly online experience that ad executives say companies want to be associated with.
…
“Within AOL, games is only second to e-mail and I.M. as far as time spent per user, so you’re talking about a very highly engaged audience,” Mr. Rivera said. “Any time you have a highly engaged audience, you have advertisers who are looking to get in front of that audience.”
…
One appealing aspect of casual games is that players often start friendly dialogues with each other, and brands can associate themselves with that community building…
