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Tag: insight

Do not get fooled

Published by Paolo on 29/11/2024

In recent years I have become an avid listener of content disseminated by experts on the video game business. The tendency is to take the few extreme successes and start breaking them down using visuals with curves and Venn diagrams.

Thanks to this content I have learned to interface with the business side, to better communicate my opinions and design solutions. I am immensely grateful to be able to live in the age where all this information is free.

However, I want to insist on one point: a video game is a fundamentally aesthetic experience. Aesthetics means many things, in ancient Greece aesthetics was the science that studied the essence of things. Video games touch fibers that are difficult to explain with charts.

We are approaching the time in the year in which all the experts will make their predictions, stating them with conviction and using swear words to underline the importance of what they say. Inevitably, this will affect some investments and opportunities. As always, those will not become reality, but then the marketer is always capable of changing the semantics.

I just want to say that it can be difficult to see the reality amidst so much noise, do not be fooled.

Monument Valley 2

Published by Paolo on 28/11/2024

Netflix has many games that you can download and play offline for FREE if you are subscribed to their service. I have completed yesterday Monument Valley 2.

I purchased the first chapter of this saga years ago on my iPad 2. The essence of the first chapter is still there, actually, the art style is the same and the core gameplay is almost identical. This second chapter adds an interesting narrative layer, and the theme is the relationship between a mother and her daughter.

Probably I was missing some little monsters and the patterns that are typical in Escher’s work. I think I would have appreciated something like that, representing better the dangers. The only things that break the order are buildings that collapse when the characters touch a trigger (sequence) and a new mechanic with a plant that you grow and shrink. I feel that more things could have been done there.

Monument Valley 2 is a little gem, a pleasure for your senses, a little box full of life. It’s based on Escher’s art and absurd geometries, but it adds color and animated characters to it. It is the kind of game that shows the potential of mobile in telling stories. It features a narrative full of metaphors and few texts, and I am not smart enough to have understood any detail. But it doesn’t matter, in the end. It’s the aesthetic experience that matters.

Find a way to talk

Published by Paolo on 25/11/2024

Years ago a politician spoke from a pulpit and people listened to him. Today there is a dialogue, real or virtual, with people. Otherwise, the politician has difficulty winning.

Years ago television told stories and people watched dancers and presenters from home. Today we see more dialogues and artists who train to become professionals.

Years ago the blog trend exploded on the Internet. People wrote and whoever wanted to read and commented. Today, various types of social media are used to connect with readers and dialogue. Substack works very well.

Years ago a company created a video game and put it on the shelves. People bought it and finished it. Today a company makes a video game and establishes a dialogue with the players. The video game is constantly updated.

The key to the intricate problem of distribution is to ease communication. Even while the game is being developed. Test the product with performance marketing, but open opportunities for dialogue, too.

Why not “best DLC”?

Published by Paolo on 19/11/2024

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is a candidate for “best game of the year” at The Game Awards. But it’s not a game, is it?

It would be wonderful if these events kept up with the times. We are clearly in the era of games no longer as artifacts but as entertainment. Living games, updated to keep the public’s attention for many months.

It is absurd to reward only the new, when an update or a DLC, as is the case of Elden Ring, receives so much admiration from the public. The Game Awards should start considering awards such as “Best DLC”, “best live event”, etc. The market moves on completely different perspectives than 10 years ago when these awards were created.

Iterations beat best practices

Published by Paolo on 15/11/2024

Now that money is moving toward financially responsible games, I am studying indie more and more. When I listen to people who have created successful products, everyone has found their way and that way is unique and difficult to repeat.

It could be a kid who has generated hundreds of thousands of euros with a game made with friends, or a company with financiers behind it and a business plan. Knowing some details and how to overcome concrete challenges is interesting, but human creativity is inimitable.

That’s why I do not believe too much in best practices as solutions. They are great starting points; knowing them speeds things up. But then you are in your context, with your skills, and you have to deal with specific challenges. Doing things repeatedly, possibly with the same group of people, is key. Not best practices, everyone can get them easily nowadays.

Setting up the day for success

Published by Paolo on 14/11/2024

I am a morning guy. I never set an alarm because I naturally wake up very early. I made my things to start the day and then I like to do my first tasks, usually related to communications. You know, reading and answering emails, thinking about my daily posts. Stuff like that.

And then I can start to work for my clients and bosses. This is something that only remote work is possible. And the value of this is huge also if often leads to work more time. Having no people around this first hour, maybe two is unpayable. Sets up the day for success.

A fact on career development

Published by Paolo on 13/11/2024

When you work for a company, full-time, you become skilled at working at that company. That’s all.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you will fit well in a similar project with a competitor. For creative jobs, like game design, you become skilled (or “talented” if you prefer) when you have the opportunity to interiorize, write, and develop your own strategic way of doing things.

That is hard to reach if you only work in a single company for years.

It’s the struggle, instead, the willpower and hitting your face against walls over and over (also with shitty and personal projects) that makes the talent.

Maradona came from a very poor situation playing at night with a broken ball hitting it against a dirty wall over and over.

The most talented people I know do not fit in the majority of corporations out there.

Nexflix will close the games department in 3 years maximum

Published by Paolo on 05/11/2024

At long last, I am ready to talk about what I’m doing next: I am working on driving a “once in a generation” inflection point for game development and player experiences using C++. This transformational technology will accelerate the velocity of development and unlock truly novel game experiences that will surprise, delight, and inspire players.  

I am focused on a creator-first vision for C++, one that puts creative talent at the center, with C++ being a catalyst and an accelerant. C++ will enable big game teams to move much faster, and will also put an almost unimaginable collection of new capabilities in the hands of developers in smaller game teams.

Sounds like weird, right? Well, someone wrote the same stuff, but instead of C++, he spoke about genAI. That guy earns more money than me, you, and everyone who will read this post altogether.

The difference is that in my version of the statement I named a technology that actually helped lots of people make fantastic games. This is not the case with genAI, which is a theft created to destroy jobs.

Game making is a creative activity, which means that there are a lot of micro-decisions that we have to make every day. It involves conscience. And conscience is not the result of a set of electric signals, it’s something higher that comes from above. The most powerful processor, or GPU, can create many signals and solve complex operations faster than our brain, but it can never have conscience.

Netflix will shut down its games operations in a maximum of 3 years. If you want to have a more secure/safe job do not work for a company that will fail.

Virality, Virulence, Infectiousness

Published by Paolo on 04/11/2024

A new team of ex-<FamousCompany> wants to “create games worth sharing, with two core pillars – socially engaging games with a word-of-mouth-worthy brand.“

This reminds me of a study I did with two colleagues when I was working at Digital Chocolate. A study on a made-up and also widely abused word: virality.

Virality is a term that doesn’t exist in any dictionary, but two words compose it:

  • Virulence: the strength of the thing’s ability to cause disease
  • Infectiousness: the capability of a thing to spread rapidly to others.

Most of the efforts towards this dream concept, virality, focus only on infectiousness. Invite friends, guild systems, and leaderboards. There are many best practices around that topic and it’s easier to find experts to help you.

You need to focus on virulence to create something innovative. If it were up to me, I would add a weekly internal playtest and a monthly external one. Clear heuristics to measure progress from an engagement perspective.

Again, SDT is the way.

Indie, AA, and AAA fundamental questions

Published by Paolo on 30/10/2024

The 3 main markets on PC and Console are indie, AA, and AAA. The discussion around them focuses on things like budget, scope, and quality.

I would like to propose two questions to address each of these three challenges. The first will be around our ambition (why), while in the second one, we will use the lens of the art (what).

Indie

Indie games for me are a message to the world. The message can be important on a personal level and an exercise of talent. You can want to change the world or show that we are here. So let’s ask ourselves:

1. Ambition: why do I want to say this to the world?

2. Art: what does the world should have the courage to listen to?

AA

These games come from companies who want a commercial product, doing a few things well. Let’s ask ourselves.

1. Ambition: why are we focusing on these 1-2 mechanics?

2. Art: according to current and past trends, what will be trending in 2 years?

AAA

These are spectacular games and full of things to do. We can consider these games like monuments, and the mental effort of the team is enormous. Let’s ask ourselves:

1. Ambition: why do we want to build a monument that big?

2. Art: what will make this work a masterpiece?