News and Analysis

The Web? There’s an App For That

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I can't imagine what I'd do without the web.  Research, news, game tips, general amusement, and more are all there online.  Anyone can make a web page and create a new resource.  The web is vital to what I do, to my life, to my job – and I imagine you're the same way.

However we also know the web has problems.  We get bad pages and embed ads, corrupted sites and bad formatting.  How many of us have a few ad blockers, script busters, and other tools to make web-surfing easier?  How many of us sigh as we try and help our less computer-literate friends and relatives navigate the complexities of the modern web?  The web, for all its benefits, is complicated in many ways that frustrate our enjoyment of it.

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The Future of Hint Books

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I love hint books for video games.  Sure they're fun to get help on a game, but they're also chocked full of interesting details on the game, extra tips, and even instructions superior to the game manual.  They usually boast good production values as well – the really good ones are a pleasure to read and thumb through.  I think my love of hint books is easy to understand.

As I'm quite fond of hint books, I've noticed some trends that makes me wonder what the future of these large, beautiful guides is:

  • Downloadable content in gaming means more games coming out.  With the speed-to-market of games, with more choices to write hint books for, how will companies that make them choose?
  • eBooks.  It's rather obvious that more and more people are reading books in electronic format.  This is great to save trees, but are people going to keep their iPads on their laps to read their hint books while playing the X-box?
  • The internet.  Go to http://www.gamefaqs.com/ and you can get a lot of information for free on games.  It may not be as big or beautiful as some of the truly elegant books, but it's there for the reading.  Sites like GameFaqs also support communities so you can ask and answer highly specific questions.

So between more games, people getting used to electronic access of books, and the free online services used by people to get their game-hint fix, what is the future of Hint Books?  As you may guess, I'm going to attempt to answer this because it's a geekonomic area, and an area of career interest – besides for some of you hopeful writers out there, it might give you some career ideas.

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News Of The Day 8/24/2010

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A new GameStop launches, a look at cellphone and text usage, Google Book Search helps publishers and . . . THE NEW GAME STOP! More geek career news for you!

Economics/Geekonomics:
Via Richard Florida, Arnold Kling says it's time to get government out of the housing market. Simple and concise, I think he has some good points.

Social Media may be a boon to PR firms. Hmmm, potential career thoughts there?

Demographics:
Who talks and texts most on their cellphones? Check out the demographics. Something to think about if you work in the mobile market (and the chance for me to introduce a new demographics section!)

Anime/Manga:
Hello Kitty Online releases in the states. You can't escape, she's got her own wine, her own MMO, and more! OK, seriously I'm curious about this one due to the social network integration.

Media:
Old Spice Guy Commercial wins an emmy. This is great news for Wieden + Kennedy who should have your resume right now. Also Isaiah Mustafa, Old SPice Guy, is not just funny and good looking, he's apparently a total geek too. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him.

Technology:
A gorgeous infograhpic on the history of Google acquisitions – Great for all you Google-followers and geekonomists. Is it just me or am I posting a lot of infographics as of late?

The Northwest Open Access Network in Washington State Netted $54.5 in stimulus funds. People, send your resumes and put our tax dollars to work . . .


Writing:
Google Book Search seems to help publishers.

Video Games:
GameStop moves onward, and is setting up it 'store of the future'. This thing is near me, so I better go see it and review it soon! Looks like they want to provide a lot of in-store services and focus on customer loyalty. I also guess, based on the article, that in the future they may have less stores – once they find the ideal locations. I like what I see so far. If you work at GameStop, maybe you ought to prepare for these stores of the future . . .

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Does GameStop's new store have a chance to keep their company going – or even expanding?

– Steven Savage