[casual_games] gamelab :: changes

Mon Mar 20 20:33:20 EST 2006

Actually, I wouldn't worry about it, for two reasons: 

1) Game ideas w/o implementation aren't actually worth very much.

2) No publisher could afford to have a reputation for doing that - people
would stop bringing ideas to them.

The truth of the matter is, unless you have something really extra
super-duper up your sleeve, they've probably heard the same idea 20 times
before, or already thought of doing something like it themselves. They are
much more likely making decisions based on the quality of the team, the
portfolio of past products, and the work you have actually done to
implementation (concept art, tech demo, gameplay prototypes) than anything
else.

It's an old question, and interestingly enough there really aren't many
ideas of stolen ideas in the industry. Now *after* you have shipped a game,
if it hits, prepare to have everyone and their dog steal your ideas - and
there is little or nothing you can really do about it but come up with other
good ideas... But that's the fun part anyway! (grin)

_____________________

Christopher Natsuume

Co-Founder 

Boomzap Pte. Ltd.

  _____  

From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Ryan Sumo
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 5:11 PM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] gamelab :: changes

Pardon my naivete, but let's say gamelab pitches a game to a publisher that
likes the game but doesn't like their price.  What's to stop the publisher
from declining gamelab's offer and looking for a less expensive gamedev
studio to make the game for them?  

In short, what kind of protection do you have so that your game ideas aren't
stolen?

Peter Lee <mice3nyc at yahoo.com> wrote:

The project based model is similar to the film funding
model. Unfortunately, there is only one funding model
in US, which is publisher-developer model. But, it is
very common is Asia to explore different funding
models including the film style project based funding.

Here is a something more on what is happening at
Gamelab.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/03/gamelab_finds_w.html

-------------------------------
Seung Taek Lee (AKA Peter)
Co-Founder/President
Gamelab
tel: 646.827.6644
fax: 646.827.6645
368 Broadway #210
New York, NY 10013 
-------------------------------

--- Matthew Ford wrote:

> In case you are not on this mailing list; this is a
> significant development.
> Good on them! 
> 
> I wonder if this means they will eventually pull
> distribution from their
> other channels?
> 
> And who knows more about the "project-based
> investment" pattern mentioned
> below? I *think* I know but I may not have it right.
> 
> _____ 
> 
> From: gamelab [mailto:info at gmlb.com] 
> Sent: Friday, 17 March 2006 8:59 AM
> To: gamelab
> Subject: gamelab :: changes
> 
> 
> 
> BIG CHAN GES ARE HAPPENING AT GAMELAB
> 
> The inventive game development company you've grown
> to love through titles
> like Diner Dash, BLiX, and LEGO Junkbot is busting
> out in all directions. We
> are becoming a game publisher, starting a new
> partnership with Curious
> Pictures, pioneering a new form of game financing,
> receiving a major
> research grant from the MacArthur Foundation, and
> we've got great new games
> to boot! 
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> 
> -Gamelab the publisher-
> That's right: Gamelab is becoming a game publisher.
> We'll be financing and
> distributing our own work. For a creatively-driven
> company, this is an
> important and necessary step in our evolution: there
> are new audiences to
> reach, new stories to tell, and new forms of
> gameplay to explore. Initially,
> we'll be focusing on t hree downloadable games - the
> same business model as
> Diner Dash - but multiplayer and handheld games are
> also on the horizon.
> 
> -Curious Pictures partnership-
> Gamelab is teaming up with Curious Pictures, a
> leading NYC-based animation
> studio known for award-winning series like Kids Next
> Door and Sheep in the
> Big City. Curious and Gamelab are creating a
> narrative property that we'll
> publish as a downloadable game and bring to a
> variety of other media.
> Code-named BRENDA'S BRAIN, the project brings a
> Hello Kitty pop sensibility
> to the adult world of psychological quirks. 
> 
> -A new funding model-
> It's one small step for Gamelab, one giant leap for
> independent games.
> Taking a page from the film industry, Gamelab is
> funding titles through
> project-based investment. Not a traditional game
> publishing de al and not
> venture capital, project-based investment has been
> bandied about the game
> industry for years - and now it's here. We already
> have one project underway
> funded through this model, a downloadable game about
> office life that we'll
> publish ourselves. More games funded on this model
> to come.
> 
> -It's genius-
> And now for something completely different. The
> MacArthur Foundation is
> awarding a major grant to Gamelab and the Academic
> Co-Lab at the University
> of Wisconsin, Madison. The $1 million+ award will
> fund the research and
> development of Game Designer, innovative educational
> software that will
> teach junior high through university students about
> game design by letting
> them create and modify games. The Academic Co-Lab,
> headed by leading game
> scholar Jim Gee, will work closely with Gamelab
> th roughout design and
> production. Game Designer is part of The MacArthur
> Foundation's ongoing
> support for research and innovation in digital
> media, youth, learning, and
> education.
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> 
> -Play games now-
> Of course, Gamelab is still making great games!
> We've got two downloadable
> titles just out on the web, both published by
> PlayFirst. Plantasia is an
> action sim about gardening, featuring a romance
> story about a hard-working
> fairy restoring the gardens of a dilapidated estate
> and a handsome
> groundskeeper with a tragic past. Egg vs. Chicken is
> a comedic action-puzzle
> romp through time, as the player helps a rag-tag
> team of eggs fend off
> marauding chickens as they battle over which came
> first. Both games feature
> approachable and addictive gameplay, chock-full of< BR>> music, story, and
> luscious visuals.
> 
> -More games soon-
> We've got several more original games coming out
> over the next few months.
> LEGO Fever, a project we're publishing in
> partnership with our favorite toy
> company, is one part wild LEGO brick building and
> one part hip nostalgia.
> Shopmania, published by iWin, is a frantic parody of
> consumer culture that
> puts the player behind the retail counter of a mega
> superstore. Two pop
> culture games with VH1 are also in development. Last
> but not least, Gamelab
> is continuing a partnership with NYC nonprofit
> Global Kids, in which we
> collaborate with high school students to make a game
> about a social issue.
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> 
> -Anything else?-
> Gamelabbers are busy as usual outside our office. At
> the Game Developers
> Conference next week, catch talks from Nick
> Fortugno, Peter Lee, and Eric
> Zimmerman. Eric also just launched The Game Design
> Reader, an anthology
> co-edited with Katie Salen and published by MIT
> Press. Greg Trefry
> continues to write smart game reviews for
> PopMatters.com and Nick Fortugno
> pens design essays for gamezebo.com. Jacqueline Yue
> created a series of
> information graphics for Metropolis Magazine. Nick
> Fortugno, Catherine
> Herdlick, Peter Lee, Mattia Romeo, and Greg Trefry
> are hard at work on Come
> Out and Play, a festival of street games running
> this fall in NYC. Lauri
> Berritta is getting her Manhattan-based Dirt Theater
> Company up and running.
> Beom Shim's award-winning animations are appearing
> in festivals in New York
> City, Paris, Rome, and Stuttgart. Ranjit Bhatnagar
> continues to exhibit his
> wack y robot musicians, at the Flux Factory gallery
> in Queens and the
> Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, CA.
> 
> -What is Gamelab?-
> The New York Times says Gamelab is a company with a
> "penchant for smart
> experimentation." But decide for yourself. The
> current Gamelab crew includes
> Lauri Berritta, Ranjit Bhatnagar, Naomi Clark, Tim
> Conkling, Josh DeBonis,
> Nick Fortugno, Heath Goldman, Catherine Herdlick,
> Yun Kyung Huh, Dauna
> Jeong, Peter Lee, Carolina Moya, Seok Min Oh, Peter
> Nicolai, Kyron Ramsey,
> Mattia Romero, YunHo Seo, Shim Beom Sik, Khoeun Tep,
> Greg Trefry, Howard
> Wakefield, Jonah Warren, Jacqueline Yue, Stephanie
> Yue, and Eric Zimmerman.
> Audio stylings by mixmaster Michael Sweet and his
> crew at Audiobrain.
> Gamelab TEENS include David Dai, Joel Esquite, Jane
> Friedhoff, Riley Gay,
> Ben Hayes, and Aaron Santigo.
> 
> Contact Eric Zimmerman for more information about
> anything mentioned above:
> 646 827 6644 / eric at gamelab.com. 
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> 
> Gamelab: www.gamelab.com
> Curious Pictures: www.curiouspictures.com
> MacArthur Foundation: www.macfound.org
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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