[casual_games] Top Download List

Mon Jan 16 15:55:59 EST 2006

What is the motivation for theaters to disclose box office numbers? Isn't 
it because they serve as a marketing tool? If so, couldn't one make the 
same argument for aggregated sales data from casual game portals? 

Also, on the subject of visibility for developers, has anyone else noticed 
that there seems to be a trend *away* from crediting developers on the 
game pages of the major portals? Why would that be? 

Wade

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006, Ron wrote:

> With the mainstream PC/Console sales numbers, it's not the publishers 
> that are reporting the numbers, it's the retailers.  Isn't it the same 
> with the Box Office?  It's not the movies companies, it's the theaters.
> 
> One problem with Casual Games is that the portals are often the 
> publishers.  There is no clear Publisher/Distributer line.  I worry that 
> will make it all the harder to get real numbers.
> 
> I would love to think the portals could all agree to reporting to a 
> third party that only discloses totals.  I just don't know if it will 
> happen.  I'm not convinced the large portals will see any upside. 
> Mainstream game publishers like the data reports because it gives them 
> visibility into the competition, but with the way Casual Games are set 
> up, they already have that due to everyone selling everyone else's 
> stuff.  The people that have very little visibility are (as always) the 
> developers.
> 
> Ron
> 
> 
> 
> Austin Haas wrote:
> > You don't even need a subscription to Variety to see movie sales, just 
> > go to http://www.boxofficemojo.com. :)
> > 
> > -austin
> > 
> > Austin Haas
> > Pet Tomato, Inc.
> > http://www.pettomato.com
> > 
> > Hal Barwood wrote:
> >> We're in a sad business, because the echo of retail haunts us -- NPD 
> >> carefully conceals *everything* unless you sign up for very expensive 
> >> reports.  Contrast this with the movie biz, where all you need is a 
> >> subscription to Variety to get weekly numbers for movies and 
> >> television.  We don't need per-portal info, but any info is better 
> >> than none, right?  I can't imagine pop-ups on casual-gamers' machines 
> >> will ever be very popular, or even worse, eventual discovery of even 
> >> more stealthy tricks we might use, so let's hope that some form of 
> >> non-invasive guerilla action actually works.
> >>
> >> Hal
> >>
> >>
> >> James Gwertzman wrote:
> >>
> >>> I've talked to some of the major portals about this initiative. There is
> >>> some willingness to support this, however it would need to be
> >>> administered by an independent company/group which will guarantee to
> >>> keep the actual numbers from any one portal a secret. Just like NPD does
> >>> for retail sales today.
> >>>
> >>> I appreciate the offer of code, but technology in this case is not the
> >>> issue. The reporting could even be done by hand - it's not very complex.
> >>> A weekly spreadsheet report from 4-5 major portals would be enough. The
> >>> challenge instead is establishing the independent group with enough
> >>> trust from the portals to go along.
> >>>
> >>> --------------------
> >>> James Gwertzman Director of Business Development
> >>> PopCap Games
> >>> +1-206-256-4210
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org
> >>> [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Colin Cardwell
> >>> Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 8:53 PM
> >>> To: 'IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List'
> >>> Subject: RE: [casual_games] Top Download List
> >>>
> >>> 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/
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Casual_Games mailing list
> >>> Casual_Games at igda.org
> >>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Casual_Games mailing list
> >>> Casual_Games at igda.org
> >>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Casual_Games mailing list
> >>> Casual_Games at igda.org
> >>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Casual_Games mailing list
> >>> Casual_Games at igda.org
> >>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Casual_Games at igda.org
> >> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games
> >>
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> 

-- 
Wade Tinney
partner, game designer
Large Animal Games, nyc
http://www.largeanimal.com
(t)212-989-4312
(f)305-489-5790