User-Generated Content and THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER.

 Hi Fangirls (and also Fanboys),

I feel the need to share with you the most awesome thing I've ever heard. I've crossposted from my normal blog The Mystery of Girls' Media, and well, just read this.

Remember Shaylyn Hamm? Author of The Aesthetics of Unique Video Game Characters?

Refresh your memory here:

"...My research suggests that it is possible to create distinctive and unique characters that have a generally broad appeal among different ages, genders, and gamer types. The characters I created have body types, features, and ages that do not follow the ideal of what is typically marketed in the video game industry, yet they were well received by the majority of people who have reviewed them. My feedback also suggests that there is a desire among many gamers to see more varied female characters in games, and perhaps when more of such characters are introduced into mainstream games, the perception and role of females may become less limited. This is an area of study that is very relevant to modern gaming, as female characters are found in nearly every game, and they are found by many people, both male and female to be lacking of interest and personality. For further research, I would like to see similar tests by myself and other artists, with characters designed to fit and explore a variety of video games in a variety of genres and styles..."

Well, Ms. Hamm just became one of my personal heroines because not only did she write an AMAZING thesis but she was a winner of the first ever Team Fortress 2 Polycount Pack,

Members of the Polycount Community were given 5 weeks to come up with a SET of items for one of the 9 different TF2 classes. These sets had to be within the same theme, and fit well within the TF2 universe. In total, some 70 sets were completed and entered (read: thats at least 210 items!) It’s no wonder they had their work cut out for them when choosing the first ever pack.

Now, why is winning a user-mod contest important to me? Especially when the winning design isn't even a girl, you ask?

Because, ladies and gentleman, two weeks ago these mod-packs were released for purchase in a user-generated virtual marketplace by Valve.

And.... (From Gamasutra) :

Her Winning Submission

"When Valve Software announced the results of Polycount's Team Fortress 2 item-modding contest, the winners were just excited that their creations would be in the popular mulitplayer shooter.

But with the recent introduction of the game's user-created virtual item marketplace, the Mann Co. Store, the winners' items went on sale to the Team Fortress 2 community -- and a 25 percent revenue share to the modders led to a surprising payoff.

Today, Valve said that community content creators Rob Laro, Shawn Spetch, Steven Skidmore, Spencer Kern and Shaylyn Hamm took home initial royalty payments ranging from $39,000 to $47,000 each from the first round of Team Fortress 2 content creation. And these are just the checks from the first two weeks of operation.

Kern told Gamasutra, "By having [user-generated content] implemented in the way that Steam has it, where people are getting monetary gains for the items they put in, it rewards people who put in the good items, who listen to the community and put in the stuff that everyone wants to see in the game. ... It'll bring out the quality artists to do the work."

He added, "It was completely mind-blowing, the size of the return that we're getting on these things."

Skidmore said, ,I feel like this is going to open up a whole new level for everyone in general that plays these games who has an interest [in game design]. .. It'll ultimately be better for the industry, attaching the community to the game developer.'"

This is fantastic evidence of the potential for revenue generation from user-generated content that can be applied much further afield as entertainment franchises seek out new ways to interact with fans, as well as examples for developing properties to establish strong conversations with fans early-on in their development. Suffice it to say I will be citing this campaign in pretty much everything I create from here on out when talking about User-Generated Content, and I will not be alone. See full post

Steam-Powered Gaming

I recently got a new computer, bidding Captain Old, Old Laptop farewell, and welcoming General Shiny Strong Desktop, and, since I play a ton of games, took this opportunity to re-acquaint myself with PC gaming. The first thing I did was pop the 2004 hit Half-Life 2 into my disk tray, since I'd never could play it on the Captain. But then a strange thing happened. The disks didn't install as usual, and a program named Steam took over. Little did I realize that these disks I'd been hanging onto for years were now obsolete, and that I would be ushered lavishly back into PC gaming by Steam.

Steam is, essentially, iTunes for games. Created by Valve (the gods who bestowed Portal upon us), It has an ever-growing library from most major publishers - Final Fantasy's Square Enix just hopped onboard - and is fantastically easy to use. Here's how it works...

You download Steam (like downloading iTunes) and create a free account. Finding and buying games is also similar to iTunes. Give your credit card information, and the game is yours, but that's where things get all happy and fun. Steam keeps a games list linked to your account of every game you own, whether the game is installed on your computer or not. This means you can uninstall and reinstall games on a whim, and save yourself all the hassles of hanging onto disks. And when you up and buy a new computer, just install Steam, sign in, and you've got all your games right there. On a standard cable modem connection, you can install a full game in about 10 minutes. Oh, and Steam also features a community with friends lists, chat, and voice chat, so you can link up with friends for online games.

So...who the hell cares? The industry does, and here's why. Steam may not be news to many people. It's been around for over 4 years, but it is a comforting glimpse of the future for the entire games industry. The industry is gradually transitioning to digital distribution (say goodbye, Gamestop), and Steam shows how it can be done properly. This is important because it means the industry is providing the service customers want early-on, exactly what the music industry failed to do, which prevents piracy from becoming the standard for gamers before the industry can catch up to digital distribution. It also means cost-saving. Games are getting more and more expensive to make - tens of millions of dollars - while the average price of a video game hasn't budged in the last 20 years. If more of the price of a game can go back to publishers and developers instead of Gamestops and disk-printers, that's more money that can be used to make the next game.

Digital Distribution is a scary thing for a lot of us. It summons images in our heads of icky iTunes sound quality, or DRM that keeps you from playing downloaded songs on anything but an iPod, or the terrible video quality that comes from buying a movie digitally, versus going out and buying a Blu-ray. But for games, you're getting exactly what you'd get in the store, avoiding the middle-man and getting the game saved to your account so there's no disk to lose.

You may not play many (or any) PC games, but whether you play on a computer or on an XBox 360, sooner or later you'll be buying all your games online. You're in good hands.

P.S. - Braid, the brilliant and beautiful XBox Live Arcade game, is coming out for Windows on March 31st, most likely available on Steam. Now you have no excuse not to play this game. See full post

Meet the Team

Here is a continuing example of a game developer being truly in love with their game. Developer Valve (Portal, Half-Life) have been periodically releasing machinima promoting Team Fortress 2, a first-person shooter multiplayer game. Each video introduces one of the character classes that you can play in the game by giving you a sort of day-in-the-life. Christopher Guest-ish biopic of him. The game has an awesome classic spy movie vibe, and the cast is full of delightfully tongue-in-cheek stereotypes. I wish more developers took the time (or had the money to take the time) to do stuff like this. It gets you excited about the game all over again. Thank the gods that Valve were the ones who scooped up the people who made Portal, or we may have never gotten as much fangirl/boy love from that game as we have.

Anyway... take a look. I recommend Meet the Sniper and Meet the Scout to start you off. See full post