[casual_games] Top Download List

[Lennard Feddersen]

I split my time between Rusty Axe and Integrated Ads.   The IA SDK 
tracks game plays so developers who use the service can get those #'s, 
along with a revenue stream, today.  The SDK has to be removed before 
most of the larger portals will accept software onto their site.  One 
thing to consider before implementing some  kind of benign play tracking 
system is that you need some form of internet connection so peoples 
firewalls can wake up and frighten some people off, remember our core 
demographic.  IA handles this with a one time pop up telling the user 
what is going on, but it's still something that everybody who enables 
some kind of internet tracking system in their software would want to 
consider.

Personally, #'s of game plays per download is an interesting # but 
overall sales #'s and dollars, if I had to pick, would be what I want to 
know most.  OTOH, unless in a closed meeting, theres little upside to 
talking about your success in terms of $, or  lack thereof, so I don't 
know why somebody like PopCap or RealArcade might start reporting this 
kind of thing.  But it would be nice if they would :-).

My 2 cents,

Lennard Feddersen
CEO, Rusty Axe Games, Inc.
www.RustyAxe.com

Lennard at RustyAxe.com
P. 250-635-7623 F. 1-309-422-2466
3521 Dogwood, Terrace, BC, Canada, V8G-4Y7



Colin Cardwell wrote:

>Hi folks
>
>I think this is what the industry needs and I'm happy to volunteer our
>services to build this if required. The code base we have for MOG
>(www.millionsofgames.com) goes a long way towards doing this and it may even
>be appropriate for us to adapt MOG so that it becomes the chart. We are
>already planning weekly charts for MOG anyway so it is not very difficult
>for us to include some additional data about downloads and sales of games.
>
>We would also need to allow sites to register and get access to an API which
>we would provide, and they could then post both downloads and sales in real
>time. 
>
>I'd even be happy to provide access to the data and the code to either the
>Casual Games Association or the IGDA SIG so that the results can be audited
>and remain 'independent'. 
>
>I guess the tough part would be to get the big portals on board.  This
>really would be a good initiative as it would really help the industry to be
>taken even more seriously.
>
>I'm also happy to explore the development of 'play' monitoring tools too so
>that we could also track how often a game was played and for how long. This
>would need developers to buy in to that too, but I think it would be pretty
>valuable for the industry.
>
>I'd welcome any thoughts on this too.
>
>
>
>Colin
>
>Colin Cardwell - Director - 3RD sense Australia Pty Ltd
>T. +61 (0) 2 9959 1008     M. +61 (0) 401 888 322   
>E. colin at 3rdsense.com    W. www.3rdsense.com
>
>
>www.playaholics.com - play games and win stuff
>www.chickstop.com - for girls who like to play
>www.millionsofgames.com - source, save and share your favourite online games
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
>On Behalf Of James Gwertzman
>Sent: Monday, 16 January 2006 1:05 PM
>To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
>Subject: RE: [casual_games] Top Download List
>
>The IGDA Casual Game SIG is working on this, although it's a lower
>priority behind some of our other initiatives. This was specifically
>listed in a recent interview with the IGDA casual game SIG quarterly:
>
>Industry-wide top 100 billboard.
>
>Nearly every other entertainment industry (movies, books, traditional
>games, etc) has some sort of industry-wide "billboard". I think it's
>high time we had one in the casual game space. Not only would this help
>smaller developers "get noticed" more quickly, but it would also help
>our industry as a whole get more PR attention from mainstream media.
>Think about how often you see articles like "Star Wars captured the #1
>slot for the 10th week in a row" in the mainstream press - that's only
>possible because there is an official list to work from.
>
>Here is a link to the quarterly:
>http://www.igda.org/casual/quarterly/1_2/
>
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>  
>

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