News of the Day 11/29/2010

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TV and video deals, a literally swinging musical, and Microsoft’s Kinect sales look good!

Economics/Geekonomics:
A roundup of the European bailout. Remember when people discussed the bailout in terms of one country or another . . . just a few weeks ago?

Geek Law:
Apple Lawyers up for it’s various patent showdowns. At this rate I’m having trouble keeping track of it all. This is pretty much business as usual it seems (notice how often Apple has gotten sued), but as this is in the very hot mobile space, it’s a bit more important. I expect things to be settled amicably . . . but if I’m wrong, then watch out.

US Government siezes websites over copyright violations. A rather aggressive approach and it may herald future, harsher approaches. It also further lowers the opinion of the Obama Administration among the geek crowd.

Comics:
Spider Man Musical? A roundup of reviews here, which aren’t exactly positive. io9 feels it’s an imperfect but compellingly surreal and over the top experience. I’m not sure what to say about this, as the musical sounds like some surreal meta-fictional endeavor, but it is certainly ambitious. Sadly no matter what is done I smell bomb.

Publishing:
Virgin’s iPad Magazine launches tonight. Time to see how it goes over . . .

Now that’s using backlog: Playboy releases every issue on a hard drive. All for $300. This is a recent trend that seems to have been building.

Video:
Disney in talks with Google over content on Google.tv. That’s two big powerhouses teaming up – possibly. Let’s see what happens . . . though certainly Google is charging ahead with it’s plans.

Meanwhile down Microsoft way, Microsoft is working on TV deals. So is the XBox going to become more a cable box? An interesting hint on their future agenda – media consolidation? That’s pretty much taking on Sony. Now I wonder how their motion control combines with an increased focus on multimedia – audio/visual TV viewing? Game/TV fusion?

Video Games:
Microsoft says they sold 2.5 million Kinects in the first 25 days. I actually have no reason to doubt them, and can buy the future sales projections.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:What superhero would make a good musical?

– Steven Savage

Further Freemium Thoughts

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Freemium is a term I see thrown around a lot this day.  It's sunk into the vocabulary of media producers, programmers, and marketers quickly – so quickly I don't think we've really analyzed the repercussions of it.  As I've seen the term used more and more, as I've played Freemium games, I think we've gotten so used to it we don't think about it.

This of course gets me thinking.  Not that it's not hard to do that . . .

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The Potential Of Monetizing Practice

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You've got practice software, unfinished (or not that great) stories, unused art.  Even if you're a progeek career-wise, you've probably got a lot of assets that  . . . well aren't that professional.  You're not sure you'd want to release that first Flash game, that fantasy story isn't that hot . . . let's face it some of your practice work may be decent or even good, but it's not your best.

Or maybe you're in practice phase right now, creating new stories or games or what have you.  You'd like to make money at it, but at the same time, well . . .

The thing is, in an age of print on demand, downloadable games, and eBooks you can easily monetize your practice efforts.  IN fact, I'm wondering if it's a good idea or an idea that may be normal in the future.

Consider the fact that, with little effort, you can get out an eBook, release an ad-supported smartphone game, and so on.  You certainly have the tools to get almost any media form you create out in some form of distribution, from a Print-On-Demand book to a full game download.  The fact that it might not be your best work doesn't stop you from getting it out there.

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