WHO WATCHES THE IP?

One of the most interesting advances in the leisure industry (to me a fairly wide concept which includes literature, cinema, comics, music…) is the IP (Intelectual Property) management. I personally prefer the term ‘Intelectual Franchise’, but since everyone uses IP, let’s go with it.

Once the main guidelines of the IP have been established and the original content is adapted/expanded into other platforms, there will be a huge array of people working on it, and creating content that needs to fit with those initial premises. However, while I was working on ‘Wanted – Weapons of Fate’, I missed someone fulfilling the role of what we may call ‘the IP watcher’. That person will be in charge of checking all the content to ensure the whole universe of the IP along different platforms is consistent.

During the development of ‘Wanted’ we checked the content we created with different people: Frank Millar (comic-book creator), Timur Bekmambetov (movie director), and several guys at Universal. But nothing was done on a regular basis, just from time to time, and frequently those content watchers would fight between them. It could have been worse. After all, it was a limited number of decision makers.

Anyway, I think that, in a future, this role will be common. Possibly the writer of the book/script, the movie/game director, or more probably someone of their total trust. Seems to me like a nice work to do, isn’t it?

ICARIAN: KINDRED SPIRITS

In case you haven't heard of them, a small group of ex-pyro workmates founded their own company named Over the top games, and they've been working on a new title for the Wiiware channel: Icarian Kindred Spirits (sorry, it's in spanish).

I'm really happy, I worked with almost all of them, and I sincerely wish the best for this title. One of them told me it was really hard to finish the game, but now they're about to complete it it's really rewarding.

With these new commercial channels that next-gen consoles allow (Playstation Store, XBLA, Wiiware) maybe more people will dare to create their own companies. Who knows, maybe I'll have the guts to do the same some day...

WORK IN PROGRESS

As you may have noticed I haven’t updated this blog lately. The reason is I’m focusing on a new project: I’m writing a novel. It’s something I always wanted to do, and since I’ve got the time and money I decided going for it. Being said that, I’m not quitting from the videogame industry. I keep in touch with my fellow ex-workmates, and I’m planning to go back to the trenches as soon as I finish the book. In the meantime I’m looking forward to feed the blog as often as it’s possible. Have fun!

BUBBLE BOBBLE'S FATHER DIES

More bad news for the videogame industry. Another classic designer passed away. This time it's Fukio Mitsuji, aka MTJ, Bubble Bobble's father. RIP. More info here.

SELLING NICHE GAMES

I think one of the pending tasks for this industry is marketing. Or more precisely how to sell niche genre games which can be perfectly profitable but no one cares to market approppiately. Of course this is not something developers can do much about it. Seems to me it’s something distributors and managers need to learn with time.

Apparently publishers don’t want to spend any time on ‘minor’ titles. They want to go for the winning horse, big titles with big profits. Each country division of that publisher release the game on each country, sells a lot of copies and everyone is happy. Sounds quite convenient for them. And a little lazy too.

The market for strategy PC games is reduced these times, but also other succesful genres in the past such as graphic adventures. If you sell those titles on each country you probably won’t get big selling figures individually, but if you put together all the people interested in those genres all around the world it’s worth millions of copies.

That’s why I think digital distribution platforms, such as Steam, should help a lot to these non-profitable-considered genres, allowing to make big profits when selling a product world-wide, instead of locally.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Bad news for the Spanish videogame industry. I've been told Arvirago has closed their doors, and Pyro has just cancelled Cops (one of the projects in which I worked) and laid off many people. Up to 21 have been fired.

This is no good at all for Spanish developers. I have huge concerns about the capability of the managers of those companies (particularly Pyro, since I know it best) but any way it's a lot of unemployed guys, and considering the current economic situation it's even worst.

Somehow I think this is the end of the 'old school companies', which rely on the inspiration of a guru-like creative director and their projects often pay little attention to the market needs but the intuition/vision of their managers. Design changes are constant and budgets skyrocket easily. Organization is reduced, and crunch is common. The disappearance of this company type is probably for the best, but in the meantime many people lost their jobs.

ROB PARDO'S KEYNOTE

As you may know I play World of Warcraft. The vast majority of designers I know play (or have played) it too, probably for a reason: Its design is really fucking good. Granted, not perfect, but 11 million consumers paying on a monthly basis can't be wrong.

I was recently given the tip (thanks, Ricard) about some interviews and keynotes available in the internet from Rob Pardo, Blizzard's Design Vice president and Starcraft lead designer. You can click here for a summary of one of his lectures from Raph Koster's website.

I think their approach in many aspects is really useful. Even though you'll understand it better if you've ever played WoW, I still recommend to read it if you're related with design. Enjoy!