Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
I was recently informed that the RSS feed wasn’t working. Turns out that by forwarding the domain videogameinsider.net and by telling the blog that that is the new Blog URL, an error occurs. I’ve fixed this problem by telling the blog that the BLOG URL is the actual directory where all of this data is located.
Bottom line is that it should work now.
You know there’s nothing worse about the internet than spam. It’s the devil in discise.
For game developers it’s actually very easy to spam others, especially when you are in the launch phase. You want websites and distributors to talk about your game as well as sell it. But guess what, if they don’t reply within the first two weeks – they probably don’t care about your title. It is resonable to send them the same PR one more time, but it is better to ask them if they received the original email that you sent.
It’s important to setup a dialogue between you and the person on the other end of the website! Research into the website and don’t bother them if you have a game that doesn’t fit their audience.
Websites receive hundreds and sometimes thousands of emails a day from people just like you. They want their game on that site. Well that’s a shit load of emails to go through! Make it easier on the website and don’t bother them if you don’t need to!
With the recent announcement of not only a lower quantity of shipments and the delay of launch across Europe, is the PS3 Doomed?
Short term yes but we all new that to begin with.
Long term is almost impossible to predict.
There are so many variables with this machine that could change the outcome. Yes the PS3 will do fine, but who knows how well it will sell. Hardcore as well as mainstream gamers will eventually buy a PS3 once it reaches a price point of $300 (for the high-end package).
Mainstream gamers will not be buying the PS3 for at least the first year that it comes out. The costs of the hardware as well as the games will be too high when compared with the Xbox 360 and Wii. Plus the wider selection of games that these two consoles will have is another factor not in Sony’s favor.
People like brand names and the PS3 will be a hot item this holiday season but gamers will go elsewhere if they cannot find the consoles. This will hurt developers tremendously. Be prepared for major staff reductions. Come February/March 07 if the PS3 is still out of stock be prepared for PS3 development support to decrease and move onto other platforms.
Look bottom line is that you’re always going to be communicating through email. It’s ruid if you do not answer your emails in a timely fasion. If you are working on a deal and allow for a week to pass before you answer your emails those potential deals will be gone. At a maximum reply to your emails 2-3 days after you receive them. Even if you have to contact someone else before you get the needed answer, write an email to the sender so they know to wait a couple of days.
This is a huge issue no matter what side of the industry you’re in. It costs time and money waiting for people to respond to emails so please be concious of your response time.
After all the orientations and move in, I feel like there’s nothing for me to do. Classes aren’t starting till Tuesday. I don’t have anything major to do with my games right now. There was a lot of excitement on the first two days but this morning it’s all waning away.
Much like with game projects I always want to move onto the next thing. At times this can be a problem and with real life it’s something that I have to fix. As I’ve always told myself, enjoy it while it lasts.
There are only so many years that you’ll be an indie developer. There are is only one time I’ll have these college experiences. So enjoy it now and stop nagging.
For me tomorrow is a historic day. It’s one where in 5th grade I was completely baffled by being that old. It’s the reason why 11th and 12th grade were full of so much stress and expectation. Tomorrow begins the journey that in 9th grade I figured out that I would need to be a college student before I could ever complete a game.
Well that statement was technically disproved last year. The point is that tomorrow is the day that I’ve been waiting for years. I almost let it slip pass me, but the future has come to present and I remember.
I don’t know what I’m anticipating nor do I know why I’m excited. I’m officially leaving behind my life and starting over. There are only so many times that you can do this so enjoy it. Maybe I’m excited because I’ll finally find people who are interested in game design, maybe they’ll be serious about creating films, maybe it’s something that I can’t even think of.
The unknown, it’s dark very dark. I haven’t found the light switch yet but when I do I’ll let you know what it looks like.