What Games Are

Tablet First, Mobile Second [TechCrunch]

In my most recent column on TechCrunch I advocated that it's time to stop thinking of tablets as streteched-out mobiles, and develop games for them as a primary platform. With over 100m iPads sold, the launch of the Mini, and many more from other manufacturers to follow, the tablet is no longer just a big-assed iPod Touch.

Here's the rest of the article.

Are You Crowd-Ready? [TechCrunch]

My latest column on TechCrunch asks whether your game is really in the right place for crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has become a very real path to funding for the sorts of games and projects with a marketing story. However those that fail often do because the particular crowd you're after is not big enough to sate your ambition, the story is merely a potential story, or the crowd is not yet aware of crowdfunding platforms.

Here's a link to the article in full.

The Free-To-Play Triangle [Game Economics]

I often see free-to-play game designs where every interaction is a potential monetisation path. These games want to sell energy, buffs, character unlocks, aesthetic items, rule adjustments, experience points and so on. Usually this is because their developers are trying to make the business cases for their games. By showing that all roads lead to cash, the hope is that the project will be signed off.

Creating many roads to monetisation might sound good but there's a point beyond which it becomes pay-to-win. At that point the game loses a reason to be played, and players sense it. You can sell a lot within a game, but its important to always have at least one dimension of it that can't be bought as that ensures the motivation to play. So I've created the Free-to-Play Triangle, which you can hopefully use to sanity-check your economy.

The San Francisco Games Revolution is Over [TechCrunch]

While the social/mobile story had its origins in a dozen different places, it coalesced into a real marketing story in the Bay Area. The resulting revolution fundamentally changed games, both in how we think of them and how the business of games works. Lessons have been learned from the revolution, but its shortcomings also became apparent and eventually overtook it. This is why I think that the "San Francisco Revolution" is over. 

Read more at TechCrunch.

Mobile/Social Games Are Not Safe [TechCrunch}

My latest TechCrunch post talks about a popular misconception over Facebook vs mobile social games. Many providers seem to think that the pressures that have applied in the browser space (currently causing Zynga much pain) do not apply to them. In my opinion they are very wrong.

You can read more about it here.