J Todd Coleman

My Apple Vision delay rumor take: After Meta's Orion revealed, there is a chance Apple recognized a longer term adjust was needed. It isn't just that there is a delay but I suspect leadership changed alongside AI incorporation alongside pointing toward a different product altogether. That M5 chip might have Apple Intelligence implications. We can see with Meta that there is a shift toward App Store models. If Android XR arrives in 2025 there will be two Android based storefronts fighting for the market. Meta and Google. Vision OS as a platform will remain but the M5 rumored model will possibly have local AI assistive capabilities. Meaning it works regardless of connectivity. In a world where Apple can know that two competitors will battle for market they might watch and build. This is very on brand. I hate that the cheaper model delay rumor has hit, but the overall business strategy unfortunately makes sense to me. Vision Pro is my favorite headset. I love it. But it had major issues... - Way too expensive - Comfort and weight - Interactive gaming oversight This put the Quest market at such a high value proposition in comparison. To Meta's huge credit! And fostering a gaming platform that works well for games has allowed for technological innovation and proven so many concepts. Meta did this very well. For Apple to catch up in gaming, it would take at least a year or two giving funds to devs to port because they would need to focus their IP for hand tracking use on a platform that is very small. This puts us in unrealistic territory. The push to 2027 makes sense if we see them going back toward a puck compute design. My suspicion is Orion hype's impact on financial industry was noted. We are seeing down wind shifts of these tactical adjustments. For developers, this means being realistic. Apple Vision Pro is amazing tech but look toward Meta XR and perhaps the incoming Android XR likely coming in 2025. Familiarity in all XR platforms is key. 🫡

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“NVIDIA initially had no name and the co-founders named all their files NV, as in "next version". The need to incorporate the company prompted the co-founders to review all words with those two letters. At one point, Malachowsky and Priem (two co-founders) wanted to call the company NVision, but that name was already taken by a manufacturer of toilet paper. Huang (the CEO) suggested the name Nvidia, from "invidia", the Latin word for "envy". It's funny, but also thought-provoking, to read these words on the Wikipedia page of the company leading the AI Revolution, which now has a market capitalization close to $3 trillion. The company, always close to the gaming world, recently introduced “Project G-Assist”: an AI-based in-game virtual assistant that could revolutionize how we use video games, and software. It's a text and voice chatbot capable of responding to what's happening in the game and even setting up the game system in real-time. Imagine, for example, an AI coach that analyzes our in-game activities and gives immediate feedback on how to improve. I can't wait to try it out, to get better at FIFA and make my opponents even more "env-ious" of my gamer ability! 😂 #NVIDIA #Gaming

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I'm a massive Fallout fan. Going back to Wasteland, then the original Interplay Fallouts (FO1, FO2, Tactics), and into FO3 (still the best in the series, IMO -- don't waste your time talking to me about NV), etc. I've talked a lot about how FO3 was a big inspiration for TLD. So know that I am as big a fan as probably can be. I was really interested to hear from both gamer and non-gamer folks in my social circle who really bounced off of the Amazon series, due to what they described as the "extreme violence". This includes people who are fans of the game, and people for whom the TV series is their first entry point into the IP. I've only seen the first episode so far, but I have to say...I agree with them? It's very clear that Nolan/Joy are huge fans of the IP, and I know the show was developed under the watchful eye of Bethesda, as it should be. But IMO, they really missed the mark on the depiction of violence. It's massively overdone and 100% unnecessary. And I think it speaks to the challenges of adaptation from interactive to non-interactive media. Over-the-top violence is a hallmark of the Fallout IP, no question. Actually, I think it's fair to say that "OTT" is really the core pillar of the Fallout IP in general. There's a huge wink behind everything in the game. And you accept it, because you're the one pulling the trigger. You're the one choosing the "Bloody Mess" perk so you can see enemies literally explode (which I have to assume is an homage to Wasteland, and the "___ exploded like a blood sausage..." combat description). But this stuff just does not translate well to linear media. When we are playing games, we are immersed in those worlds, and we don't stop to think of how brutally violent we are in them, how casually we dispatch hundreds or thousands of enemies during the course of completing a game. We are desensitized to it in the game. And it's ok, because we know it's not real. It's part of the magic, part of the covenant we have between ourselves and the game. TV isn't real either. But it's made of the "real world". Amazon's Fallout is not animated or 3D, it's live-action. It's made of pieces of the world we live in. We can see ourselves in this violence. As OTT as the IP is, and as successful as the show has been so far, I personally feel that they missed the mark with the depiction of violence. I think they have unnecessarily alienated folks who would have otherwise really enjoyed the show. (And yes, I know videogame violence doesn't translate to violence in the real world. I'm not talking about that.) I'll keep watching, but for me I wish Nolan/Joy and Bethesda had had the foresight to recognize that straight up adapting the level of violence in the game was not necessary for the adaptation to be successful. I don't think the game fans would have enjoyed it any less if the violence had been less graphic, and I think a lot of the folks who are newly discovering Fallout might have had a better experience with it.

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More #videogamelaw talk! You now know why #Roblox’s autopay function doesn’t always work for buying and selling percentages in Roblox games.   Let’s start with some solutions to the “cost and expense” problem.   The cost and expense problem: autopay pays out all revenue, minus only Roblox platform fees. So you can’t use it for sharing profits.   Let’s say you have a partner, and you want to split all costs, revenues, etc.    If you set your partner on 50% autopay, they’re getting overpaid, since they’re not sharing in the costs.    They’re getting 50% of revenue (minus only Roblox fees), but not paying 50% of the other costs (like development and marketing costs).    A potential solution!   Instead of doing a 50/50 split, you agree to be responsible for all costs except #Roblox fees.    But to make that work, you have to adjust the autopay (revenue) split.   So, using our example, if you know that costs are going to be 10%, you would agree in advance to be set at 55% on autopay, and your partner would be set at 45%. So let’s say the game generates $100k in revenue a month. Autopay will pay you $55k (55%) and your partner $45k (45%). Since you are responsible for costs (10%), your share is reduced to $45k.   Voila! It still nets out to a 50/50 deal! But what if you don’t know what the costs are going to be? Using this solution, someone might get a windfall. For example, what if you agree to pay for costs because you think costs will be 10%, so you agree to set autopay at 55% (you) / 45% (your partner). But it turns out that costs are actually 25%. Now it is no longer a net 50/50 deal. Using the $100k revenue example, on autopay, you get $55k (55%) and your partner gets $45k (45%). But then you have to pay 25% for costs ($25k). Thus, you keep only $30k and your partner keeps $45k. Now its no longer a 50/50 deal. The reverse can also be true. If costs are less than projected, the partner taking on the costs could get a windfall. For example, you think costs are going to be 10%, the other partner agrees to pay those costs, so you agree to set autopay 55% (the cost-paying partner) / 45% (you). But it turns out costs are only 4%. Now that partner is making more money. He gets $55k (55% autopay) minus $4k (costs) so keeps $51k.  You only get $45k. One way to think of it is risk allocation. Who is going to take on the cost risk? And who is in the best position to assess that risk? One partner may know more about costs than the other. And also consider incentives. If one party has to pay all the costs, he’ll be incentivized to keep costs down.  That could be bad. Maybe he’ll skimp on development and marketing costs so he can pocket more money.   All of a sudden this solution doesn’t seem so great. Well, it could be good in some cases, but in others it might not work. So if this doesn’t work, what should you do? Tune in next time!   #Robloxlaw #RobloxDev #RBXDev #gamedev #indiegame #indiedev #IndieGameDev #MarkowitzHerbold

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🌪 Fast Tips to Enhance User Feedback: Independent studios are often time and money restricted. One easy change that can instantly make a game better overall is to improve its user feedback. This involves providing immediate, clear, and satisfying responses to player actions. Here are (relatively) easy and inexpensive ways to enhance user feedback: 🎆Visual Effects: Add particle effects, animations, and screen shakes for significant actions or events, like scoring points or defeating an enemy. 🎵Sound Effects: Use high-quality sound effects for player actions, ambient sounds, and background music to create a more immersive experience. ✅HUD and UI: Ensure the user interface is intuitive and provides instant feedback for player inputs, like changing colors or highlighting buttons when interacted with. Also ensure rewards are clearly stated. 🎮Responsive Controls: Make sure controls are tight and responsive, so players feel directly connected to the game. Ensure players don’t ever feel like they are failing by “accident” ⚠️Feedback for Errors: Clearly indicate when and why something went wrong, helping players understand where they went wrong and empower them to improve their gameplay. Is there additional items I am missing or that should and could be added to the list?

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Here's some counterprogramming to the narrative pushed at The Game Announcements (TGAs). The TGAs is really about pushing announcements and paid trailers, not what is selling now, which is ... predictable. This below is what has actually SOLD in the US on PC/Console in 2024. Now Circana (former NPD) here tracks units sold and thus doesn't include monetization within Games as a Service (GaaS) titles. But look at this list. Where is China? No Black Myth Wukong, whose actual units sold are all in China. Like it or not this is what did well on PC/Console on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Steam, EGS across the year in 2024 in the US. Summary: (1) Electronic Arts - sports college football back (after a decade) (2) Microsoft - 1st person (FPS) military shooter (this year's) (3) Sony - 3rd person military shooter (sequel) (4) Bandai Namco - arena fighter (anime license) (5) Microsoft - 1st person (FPS) military shooter (last year's) (6) Electronic Arts - annualized sports pro football (7) Electronic Arts - annualized sports pro futbol (8) Electronic Arts - sports football bundle (college & pro) (9) Bandai Namco - 3rd person action/adventure open world (w/ GoT author) (10) Capcom - 3rd person action/adventure open world (sequel) Observations? --All about the multiplatform release. --No Nintendo exclusives were big enough. --Dragonball is the only anime. --Electronic Arts is absolutely killing it. --Where the hell is Ubisoft? Exactly. --The breakout hit? None. --This balanced out the Games as a Service of: Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto Online, & Genshin Impact. --The likely number 11 on the list? GTA5. --The US top selling list has become... predictable: brands, sequels, licenses, & annualized sports. Data Source: Circana: https://lnkd.in/gc2zBFkq ----- GamesIndustryBiz: "EA Sports College Football is now the US' best-selling sports game of all time | US Monthly Charts. But video games spending drops 7% to $5.8bn in CODless November, PS5 Pro sells fewer units but generates more dollars than PS4 Pro" (James Batchelor) (Dec 18, 2024) "Electronic Arts' college football game is now the biggest selling sports video game in US history when it comes to dollar sales. That's according to the November report from Circana, which also reports EA Sports College Football 25 is among the top 50 best-selling games of all time by the same metric. It is also the biggest selling game of the year so far in the US. Price promotions drove the title back into the Top Ten of the monthly charts, beaten only by Madden NFL 25 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The latter was cited as a key factor behind the year-on-year decline in spending last month, down 7% to $5.8 billion. November 2024 was up against the comparison with the launch month of Modern Warfare 3, while Black Ops 6 launched in October. This year's Call of Duty is the second biggest-selling title of 2024 so far." GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/ggiGWnjs #gameindustry #gamedev #gamepublishing

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I'm supportive of this but doubtful of the leverage a strike has. The reality is that voice acting typically impacts the last 10% of a game development cycle. And if it is being used in as much as 50% of the game dev cycle, its probably due to non-union actors, either internal staff doing placeholder voices during dev or indie talent getting involved early on. Nothing much will change in game development, but this pressure on larger game publishers to negotiate is still a good thing. ----- GamesIndustryBiz: "SAG-AFTRA calls for a "video game strike", effective from tomorrow. "Frankly, it's stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year" "The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has called a strike, effective at 12.01am tomorrow (July 26). National executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, acting under the authority delegated by SAG-AFTRA, says the strike comes "after more than a year and a half of negotiations [about the Interactive Media Agreement] without a deal." The convenience bargaining group with whom SAG-AFTRA is negotiating includes Activision, Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts, Formosa Interactive, Insomnia, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions, and WB Games. SAG-AFTRA says it was campaigning to offer critical AI protections for members by asking "any game looking to employ SAG-AFTRA talent to perform covered work must sign on to the new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, the Interactive Media Agreement, or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement." However, SAG-AFTRA claims that although agreements have been reached on "many issues important" to its members, "the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their AI language." "The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games," said Crabtree-Ireland. "That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies. "Frankly, it's stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year - that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to A.I., and the public supports us in that." (keep reading) GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/gG4HpeK5 #gameindustry #gamedev #gamepublishing #strike #voiceacting #sagaftra

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Roblox will give 𝟐𝟓% 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐮𝐱 for non-mobile purchases — that'll tip the scales from app store (Google, Apple) to retailer (Walmart, Target, Amazon), and put more money in the hands of players & creators: The 30% transaction fee on mobile platforms, often called the 'app store tax,' has long been protested by developers. At times, this can mean a legal fight, as with Epic Games v. Apple in 2020. But lawyers need not be involved. After all, the 'tax' only applies to purchases made through mobile systems — find ways for spend to come through other avenues, and you're golden. Hence why so many games with virtual currencies have been encouraging players to purchase gift cards online or at retail stores... a plan Roblox is now doubling down on. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: 1️⃣ A win for retailers... ...and, not just for extra purchases. Sure, they'll get some margin on gift card sales, but, more importantly, this will drive major foot traffic to their stores & websites, causing tons of extra purchases (who ever just buys 1 item?) It's for this reason that retailers are the more agreeable partner — the value they gain lies beyond the gift card's price. Where app stores must take from a set pie, retailers can grow it and take from the difference. That's a winning formula. 2️⃣ Most of Roblox Traffic is Mobile While this is a major change, do remember, it will largely apply to a minority. Last we heard, 78% of sessions occur on phones, meaning even with incentive to pay otherwise, many will still purchase through them. Will +25% affect some? Sure. But given so much spending is mid session, it's a habit that needs to be built — and that's why deals which give exclusive items with gift cards, like the recent Walmart x Paramount Spongebob one, will be huge in causing the shift. Because 'more' & 'better' can be trumped by convenience. Exclusivity can't. 3️⃣ The Roblox Tax Cuts If you think about it, that's what's happening: the government (platform) is leaving more disposable income for citizens (players), which they hope will be spent on small businesses (creators). I except to see the normal accelerated growth we do IRL, but am curious how far the resemblance could go — eg, do creators start raising prices? In either case, we've seen as developer pay-outs go up (now $800+ million the last 12 months) the quality of work rises with it... So if there's any incredible projects in the next few months: we'll know why.

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Immersive theater is a term used to describe experiences where the players and actors (non-player characters) mingle and overlap directly. Star Wars Galactic Cruiser was trying to do this. And along the way it lost itself making a bad game. They could have better spending their money on a better virtual game in the genre that we call... an MMORPG. Yes there have been Star Wars MMOs before, but a casual accessible Star Wars Mobile MMO would have been far better budget spend than this expensive trainwreck that never got a chance to pay back its considerable (half to $1 billion) physical construction costs. There is a space for immersive theater but it is NOT clumsy, buggy microtransaction theme parks. Immersive theater could be VR MMORPGs in the future running on Cloud with Cloud AI powered NPCs. Why? Games know this space already. And Cloud AI allows it to scale. Galactic Starcruiser was just a buggy launch in the wrong medium, poorly designed, with predatory pricing, that few enjoyed. --- Immersive theater: Wikipedia: https://lnkd.in/gPqgpfv3 --- Jenny Nicholson: The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gywE2mek --- Disney PR Rebuttal ScreenRant: https://lnkd.in/gwHxyHJY --- Kotaku: "The Star Wars Hotel Failure Was Just A Real-Life Bad Video Game Launch. YouTuber Jenny Nicholson’s experience at the now-closed Disney theme park is reminiscent of botched video gam launches. (Alyssa Mercante) (excerpts): "Titled “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel,” it goes into excruciating detail about why the immersive (and expensive) experience went off like a Wookie fart in the Jedi Temple. Throughout the video, there are obvious parallels to recent, spectacularly bad video game launches centered around popular IP, like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers. It’s almost as if no amount of lucrative lore can save something when it’s rushed or half-assed. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser opened on March 1, 2022 and permanently closed a year and a half later in September, 2023. During your stay, you spend almost the entire time “on” the Starcruiser, which promised wild views of space you could glimpse through its fake windows, and an excursion to Disney’s Star Wars world, aka Galaxy’s Edge. “Immersion” was the big promise here—you’d get pulled into your own unique storyline that was meant to seamlessly weave into other guests’ storylines as well as those of the cast members working at the hotel, like a real-world RPG. The experience proved lackluster for the price point, and thus the Galactic Starcruiser closed last year. Jenny Nicholson exhumed its corpse in her May 18 video." "1. The Star Wars hotel: expectations vs reality 2. The Star Wars hotel’s microtransactions 3. The Star Wars hotel’s bugged quests 4. What have we learned from the failure of the Star Wars hotel?" (keep reading) Kotaku: https://lnkd.in/gSDmtf_y #disney #starwars #gameindustry #themepark

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"Video Games Top Kids’ Wish Lists This Holiday Season. The Entertainment Software Association provides advice for parents and caregivers so they can feel confident gifting video games this holiday season." (Nov 12, 2024) "The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) surveyed U.S. kids (ages 10-17) to find out what they will be asking for this holiday season, revealing that video game related-gifts are at the top of kids’ wish lists – 76% of kids are asking their parents or caregiver for video games. Trailing behind video game-related gifts are requests for money/gift cards (67%), clothes/accessories (66%) and electronics/tech items, such as phones and smartwatches (62%)." The majority of both girls (67%) and boys (85%) plan to ask for video game gifts this holiday season. These figures track closely with the demographic data shared in ESA’s 2024 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry report – 68% of Gen Z girls and 82% of Gen Z boys say they play video games weekly. The top five specific video game-related requests for children are for video game consoles (47%), game subscription services (43%), console games (41%), video game gear (41%) and in-game currency (38%). And it appears that America’s kids will be happy when they unwrap their presents – U.S. adults who are planning on purchasing video game gifts this year say they plan to spend $312 on average for themselves or others this holiday season." ESA: https://lnkd.in/eVmCRwT4 ----- GameIndustryBiz: "76% of US kids want consoles and games for Christmas ESA survey also found that 38% of children were planning to ask for in-game currency" (Sophie McEvoy) (Nov 13, 2024) "76% of children in the US are planning to ask for game-related gifts this holiday season, with almost half of those surveyed requesting consoles. This is according to the ESA, which surveyed 500-plus children (ages 10 to 17) on the gifts they wish to receive this Christmas. This percentage has increased slightly from last year, where 72% of those surveyed planned to ask for video game products. Aside from consoles, subscription services came in second at 43% followed by a tie between console games and game accessories at 41%. In-game currency was the least popular game-related item, with 38% of children surveyed expressing interest. The ESA also surveyed 500 adults about how much they plan to spend on themselves and others over the holidays, which amounted to $312 on average. Game-related products were top of children's wish-lists, with 67% asking for money and gift cards or clothes and electronics at 66%. "With 83% of US parents who say they play video games with their children, games serve as a powerful tool for families to connect with one another." GameIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/etaJG_Q3 #gameindustry #gamers #gameaudience #esa #holiday #shopping #gifts #christmas

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