CODA A sideways look at the games industry
THE INDUSTRY IN 140 CHARACTERS A month in tweets by the industry elite
@ian_livingstone I’m truly honoured to be going to Bournemouth University today to receive an honorary Doctor of Arts. A model Uni for the UK @bouremouthuni
(Ian Livingstone, Eidos) Wednesday, November 9th
@tom_watson Late, late night playing Portal 2. Early, early morning drafting questions and listening to The Clash on full blast. #brandnewcadillac (Tom Watson, UK MP)
Thursday, November 10th
@notch My wife is studying. She read to me from her book of famous philosophers. I felt like I was playing mental QWOP.
(Markus Persson, Mojang) Tuesday, November 15th
@HarmonixSean Dear PETA, Mario has been wearing the raccoon suit for like 25 years. Yet you fail to mention that he curb stomps turtles. (Sean Baptiste, Harmonix) Tuesday, November 15th
@adrianchm So, the reports of the death of Single Player games have been greatly exaggerated. #skyrim #batman #deusex #darksouls #skywardsword (Adrian Chmielarz, People Can Fly) Wednesday, November 16th
IT FIGURES: ZYNGA’S BAD MONTH
As November drew to a close, things started to look a little tough for that oft criticised developer Zynga. The New York Times suggested that Angry Birds studio Rovio allegedly rejected a buyout from Zynga worth around $2.25 billion, and went on report that “two people with first hand knowledge” claimed that another deal with PopCap, worth $950 million in cash, was rejected. Data also emerged that stated Zynga’s Mafia Wars 2 had lost 900,000 users since October. The Facebook title had peaked at 2.5 million users, and occupied the workload of 80 staff one year previously, but the AppData research suggested that less than ten per cent of its players are returning to play the game everyday. The online games giant had apparently targeted a retention rate of double that at 20 per cent. The same month, EA’s head of HR Gabrielle Toledano claimed that Zynga’s imminent IPO could lead to a mass exodus of many of the company’s 3,000 staff.
72 | DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012
@therealcliffyb Getting upset about buyable horse armor is like getting mad at Disneyland for offering to buy Mickey Mouse hats once inside the park.
(Cliff Bleszinkski, Epic Games) Friday, November 18th
@millsustwo Social media is doing my head in. Every talented arsehole in the world thinks they deserve fame time... I need to escape... need peace. (Mills, Ustwo)
Friday, November 18th
@gamesbrief Whenever asked to comment on Nintendo, I always end with “it’s a foolish analyst who bets against Nintendo” #bgf2011 (Nicholas Lovell, Gamesbrief) Friday, November 18th
@SpiralChris You’d have to have very high standards to think there were no good game stories. It’s like saying there’s no good plays since Shakespeare. (Chris Bateman, International Hobo) Thursday, November 24th
@BinaryTweedDeej I really hope everyone at Sonic Team is forced to play Rayman Origins. Most enjoyable and polished 2D platformer since Super Mario World. (DeeJay, Binary Tweed) Sunday, November 27th
AN OPEN MIND
BRENDAN MCNAMARA based on his line on bullying and rude names for Shanghai
11% Fictional colleagues
Strapping actors
28% The IRA 61%
Telling Eurogamer that Team Bondi isn’t a terrorist organisation:“We had a TV show in Australia, which was showing people who used to work on L.A. Noire with their faces blacked out and their voices changed. I was sitting there thinking, hang on, this isn’t the IRA. They didn’t enjoy working at the place and they don’t like me as their boss. Okay, but we made a video game. It was a difficult and terrible process, but nobody died making it.
Appearing smitten as he tells the 2011 Bradford Animation festival about mo-cap talent: “This guy’s name is Nathan Lovejoy. He’s got a great name. He’s a really good up- and-coming Aussie actor. He’s six-foot-eight, so he’s rather a large lad.”
Revealing to the the same festival about fictional colleagues:“I personally believe that it is easier to work with real people because you can discuss with them what you want.”
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