So, now what? That’s the question many folks have been asking me over the last few weeks, since I announced my departure from EA. I’ve had to be understandably coy about the whole thing as to not ruffle any feathers at the mothership… I’ve got enough going on with an international move and such to not have to fight one last political battle.
International move, you say? Yes, we (me, the misses, the baby girl) currently live in Vancouver (well, Burnaby, but that’s besides the point). A week from now, we’ll live in… well, in limbo, as it takes a while for all of our belongings to make the long trek from Vancouver to Austin, Texas. We’ll hang around our parents’ homes in Northwest Arkansas, enjoy Thanksgiving (American-style), and introduce our baby girl to all of her uncles, aunts and cousins. Two weeks from now, we’ll be sitting in our new home in Austin, unpacking what I’m sure will be several million cardboard boxes (now, where’s my crowbar…).
So, that’s the physical “now, what?” over the short term. But what’s really going to happen? What are my next steps professionally?
Well, it’s still a little too early too say. It’s not that I don’t know… I’ve known for nearly six months! But, due to my employment contract with EA, I was unable to act on my plans for world domination. It’d be no good if I went and created the “next great IP” and it defaulted to the folks who paid my bills, now would it? Thus, these next few weeks will see the creation, tangibly in copyrightable form, lots of IP.
What is this IP, you ask? Well… I can’t say now. I’ve spoken to some offline about it, to make sure I’m not crazy, and responses seem to favorably indicate that, at least in respect to this idea, I am not crazy. In fact, it sounds as if I may be providing an honest-to-goodness service for my fellow developers.
Service, you say? Games aren’t services! No they’re not. I am not making a game. You are. We all are. Have fun!
Mmmmmm, thats ambigous.
well you have piqued my curiosity. If it’s anything to help facilitate independent game developers I will be all ears. I will be waiting for an update!
Troy,
I really don’t know what prompted this other than I thought you might respond to my non-technical speculation.
1. Did you see Nintendo stock rose 65% with inception of Wii console?
Market share is not even that important (profit is). Sony is losing 250 bones w/ every sale of the PS3.
2. Do you know the Kazaa founder’s name?
From what I understand he is introducing a new YouTube like project. If he does what he did with Kazaa then he will have current live streaming tv available for free on the internet and the ability to upload and download BIG files using newer tech that can do those projects overnight automatically and do it faster than trad. methods (I can’t remember name of tech). Then, he will evade lawsuits until big media mogul (prob Rupert Murdoch or the owner of the network/company that is most compromised – prob Direct TV). He sees tech that is slowed down by big companies and speeds up the process. I really think Napster and Kazaa gave rise to the IPod. I think this guy’s new project is going to give rise to network tv for free (for a few years) over the internet. Then, it will be used by big media companies to offer better satellite services. Then, it will speed up ISPs to be able to keep up with bandwidth needs. Then, it will speed the integration of the TV and computer. Also, the internet will eventually be pay by use. Then, another tech will rise that will be outside the internet completely. It is always rogues who develop ways around paying and thereby developing the best tech. In the past, the moguls would profit from the rogues but now that is changing with saavy rogues.
–Rob
Question: Why don’t they just put the doo dads that they use at EA on the athletes, etc. to make real motion sensing games?
The running shoe company I work for uses those devices for biomechanical analysis.
Hi Rob… interesting thoughts on the net tech. While it’s always great for the consumer when folks create tech to circumvent having to pay for stuff, it’s never sustaining… if no one is making money off of it, then there’s no money to produce the content. And at the end of the day, folks gotta pay their electricity bills and rent, so money has to change hands. Doing stuff for free is great in theory, but horrible in practice.
As an awful side effect, it also cheapens and devalues the product as well. If folks aren’t paying for it they see it as disposable.
In regards to the “doo dads that they use at EA,” by which I assume you’re referring to the motion capture equipment used for the game animations of athletes… the problem is that the data captured by those mocap rigs needs a lot of finessing once you capture it. And capturing it is a huge chore, requiring tens of thousands of dollars of equipment. *And*, you’ve got to put on the silly mocap outfits… quite a pain if you just want a quick game of virtual Tennis… ;-)
You know, though, that offering the free service causes The Man do one of two things:
1. Buy the free service (like myspace was bought by Murdoch) giving the rogue developer a lot of money to pay the bills.
Also, most self-made millionaires in America were made by buying a non-profitable business, making it efficient and then selling it as a profitable business. Repeat process many times. The Rogue developer, instead of using capital to buy a failing business, creates a new idea and then sells the idea as it becomes a threat to The Man’s monopoly. In one way, it is efficient for the Big Businessman because he doesn’t have to hire as many ‘idea men’. He can choose the best idea as it becomes profitable. The Rogue Developer is paid for his services. In this way, it is efficient for the Rogue Developer. I don’t think the Rogue sells out because putting his ideas into practice is a way of pushing technology to move faster and it a non-governmental way of threatening and checking The Man’s monopoly. It is the new competition for The Man unless one gets a team of Rogues that never sell out. The problem is that no Rogue likes an arms races and by getting in one The Rogue would merely become The Man.
I mean, “Tom” was making money from ads, like most free internet services. Really, the web is using the network TV model (NBC, CBS, etc.) to make money.
2. Lawsuit
Thanks for the insight on Motion Capture Equipment. That makes sense. One can only hope for genetics to be made up through a special suit. That is the beauty of video games (not that it is an emotional experience) but that I am transformed into the character. I go from having a 20″ vertical leap to a 40″ with no training.
-R
The guys I am thinking who have made a good bit of money being rogues are Niklas Zenstrom and Janus Friis. In my musings I am really thinking, most specifically, of them.
Troy,
I really don't know what prompted this other than I thought you might respond to my non-technical speculation.
1. Did you see Nintendo stock rose 65% with inception of Wii console?
Market share is not even that important (profit is). Sony is losing 250 bones w/ every sale of the PS3.
2. Do you know the Kazaa founder’s name?
From what I understand he is introducing a new YouTube like project. If he does what he did with Kazaa then he will have current live streaming tv available for free on the internet and the ability to upload and download BIG files using newer tech that can do those projects overnight automatically and do it faster than trad. methods (I can’t remember name of tech). Then, he will evade lawsuits until big media mogul (prob Rupert Murdoch or the owner of the network/company that is most compromised – prob Direct TV). He sees tech that is slowed down by big companies and speeds up the process. I really think Napster and Kazaa gave rise to the IPod. I think this guy’s new project is going to give rise to network tv for free (for a few years) over the internet. Then, it will be used by big media companies to offer better satellite services. Then, it will speed up ISPs to be able to keep up with bandwidth needs. Then, it will speed the integration of the TV and computer. Also, the internet will eventually be pay by use. Then, another tech will rise that will be outside the internet completely. It is always rogues who develop ways around paying and thereby developing the best tech. In the past, the moguls would profit from the rogues but now that is changing with saavy rogues.
–Rob