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# this is funny for all the wrong reasons
http://www.netmag.co.uk/wb_details.asp?id=29010&ch=WB001

a marketing chairman's idea of what makes a good flash game in order to promote his idea of a 'good game' (to promote his company) which is perhaps the most unoriginal game i have seen (its slickness only goes to make it more dull).
Compare his game to cats and wonder why this man feels in a position to comment on what makes an entertaining game.
(not promoting a marketing company or being topical over original, I think is a good start)
As for his own accusations of being 'sick' .. ooh, don't get me started.
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:07, archived)
# that's Jim NcNiven ...
... hmmm... i knew him as a student at wolverhampton poly. he's a smart guy.

i mostly agree with his points.

and scooterdeath? well, it's out of date now, but when kerb launched it - it was spot on.

my take on web games is that we are giving people two minutes of entertainment.

it's all about mechanics vs theme.

we attempt to think of an interesting mechanic first, i.e. remembering objects, and then apply a theme afterwards.... like cats or bunnies.

personally, i am super bored of shooters, and racking my brains each & everyday to think of a different mechanic we can play with.
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:18, archived)
# i just always find
that slickness takes away any appeal, but thats just me.
That said, I stopped liking computer games after Matthew Smith retired.
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:24, archived)
# yeah, i generally prefer raw to high production
but i think it depends on the emotional reponse the designer is seeking from the player.

something like chicken - it's joy is from the sweet graphics & animation. where as kickups has shit visuals & a fresh mechanic.
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:30, archived)
# kerb
i much preferred the eastenders one to scooterdeath, much funnier less slick.

i'm waiting for lots and lots of online trump card games, it's a simple, winning, easily adaptable formula.
(Zannusi-Beatz, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:24, archived)
# i looked at trumps
it's deathly dull mechanic.

it's joy comes from the theme (i.e. cars/dinosaurs), and it being a two player game.
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:27, archived)
# But
Surely the eastenders one was the scooter one with the graphics changed?
Just a piece of marketing. (To be fair he's obviously good at marketing - I got sent that about 5 times and a free advert in netmag).
He makes fair points - but to other CEOs.
My point is that marketing by it's nature has to be inoffensive, and of mass appeal.
Remember games like the Attack of the Mutant Camels and Jet Set Willy - they only appeared because games then could be made by a single person - without each change having to go through a board meeting - and thus you'd get real eccentrics making games that were fun, playable and completely from nowhere. Flash at the moment has the potential to see the same sort of stuff come through. I just found that article amusing because it was simply a guide to how to make something by numbers, in my opinion.
Marketing's killing the web, y'know?
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:38, archived)
# marketing killing the web?
tell me about it. pop-ups, html emails, content split over pages to generate ad revenue.

but then we are marketing too. we are putting out weird little games to get the b3ta name about... and make people sign up for the email list.

so come on. tell your friends. we want people reading the damn email!
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 10:49, archived)
# that said
Do you want people to like your site - if it makes money, thats a bonus -
or would you like it to make monkey and if people like it, thats the bonus - "frankly who cares - we're getting hits".

(kept the spelling mistake in because it amused me upon re-reading this)
It's the old art vs capitalism one, methinks.

(I have recommended your site, btw - the cursor love bunny game is the most popular)
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:05, archived)
# peronally
i'd like it to make monkeys. lots of monkeys. rob keeps telling me that monkeys are out of fashion, but i reckon that's no good reason to stop making monkey things. i like monkeys. monkeys rock.
(I helped save b3ta! crab_bloke), Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:08, archived)
# i think we all would

or pandas
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:13, archived)
# i've yet to see...
the definative Mandrill game, I think there's definately potential in Mandrills

http://www.normsoft.com/tim/rafiki/mandrill.jpg
(Zannusi-Beatz, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:13, archived)
# yeah... well i thought monkeys were out in Oct 2000
and look how wrong i was.

there is life in monkeys yet.

however... it just feels a bit gay to still be harping on about monkeys after all this time.
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:17, archived)
# you would though, wouldn't you?
wouldn't you?
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:37, archived)
# actually
on a serious note- b3ta's not likely to ever make money in itself, but the whole point from my point of view is to get a collective of people turning out lots of cool stuff bringing people in to the site and the email, from where we can continue to promote the work of the members of the collective, which gets all of us (the creators) more likelihood of making money indirectly through commissions and provides our users with a genuinely fun and novel experience. Everyone should be able to win without directly making money from the site and tainting everything with evil.
Does that make sense?
(I helped save b3ta! crab_bloke), Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:13, archived)
# yeah
its good to have a site like this that (as far as I can tell) makes things for people to enjoy rather than just being some marketing device. That article just annoyed me with the way it suggested that a game is only as good as the hits it gets to your site.
I dont like such cynicism behind things.
I'd like to think that people do some things though simple love of an idea and hope that other people will enjoy it.
By all means use marketing to sell an idea, but not vice versa.
(my original point, I guess - clouded by the fact that you know the person who wrote the article!)
(I helped save b3ta! monkeon schmonkeon, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:27, archived)
# we reckon that if we make an online experience that people enjoy
... then interesting things will happen.

(BTW: and that doesn't mean selling a list of subscribers for spam.)

oh yeah... the bunnygame... yep it has a life of it's own. we tried to make something that would be popular - and it exceeded beyond our ambitions.
(I helped save b3ta! rob, Wed 19 Sep 2001, 11:13, archived)
# you sure
there aren't a billion billion versions already? I swear I've seen a few
(I helped save b3ta! pep, Thu 20 Sep 2001, 5:54, archived)