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Selfishly I'm going to occupy this space in celebration of being in remission for 10 years today. And I'll start with the punch line: being really ill doesn't lead to enlightenment. For some reason I had expected the chemo to cleanse my mind from its impurities and allow me to emerge from the fog as some perfect being of light. Yeah, not so much. You deal with it every day until it is done and then you move on with life.
Along the way, I did notice two things, though. The first one was the 'other patients.' The waiting room at an oncology department is a buffet in human fragility. You fill out your insurance forms while someone else breaks down in tears, the guy next to you fainted again, and yet another is carried out by a panick-stricken doctor. Once inside you sit for hours listening to everyone's IV beep out of unison. The mind-numbingness of it makes you turn to others for reprieve. Sharing your story helps but comes at a cost: you learn how many people are out there struggling to stay alive, to hold on to their spouse a little longer, to see their kids grow a little older. It is humbling and it changes everything.
Second are the nurses. These are the people that deal with you when you're crying and sick and angry. They are not saints. They are regular people that wake up every day to deal with a reality that a few lucky ones like myself manage to survive and get away from. (Feel free to lend a hand.)
There is a distinct intimacy between you and the person who is about to try another vein on your other arm after a bunch of failed attempts. Your part is getting through this pain here and now. Theirs is to keep doing it so that a few may live. And if it all goes right, your reward is that you'll never see each other again. As I go through my days now, watching my kid and my company grow, I try to do so in the light of such selflessness.
Anyway, thanks for allowing me a moment to reflect. We'll revisit it again in 10 years. Back to work.
NEWS
Facebook announced its Oculus Go. Last week the firm revealed details on its stand-alone, low-end mobile VR headset. We’ve come a long way from its initial pricing of $599 for a base model without any fixings two years ago. It feels, though, that the lower price point is a dollar short and a day late. Apple and Google are already in the throws of AR, while Facebook is learning the ropes of the hardware biz. And we’re still waiting for that amazing content—game or otherwise—that is going to deliver on what is now three decades’ worth of promises. The re-upped effort strengthened Facebook’s position compared to Microsoft, largely because it is starting to developed more brand awareness than the latter. Given Facebook’s recent claim to ‘double-down’ on esports and other gaming video content, I see an opportunity of having millions of people simultaneously attend online event. But in this vision Facebook also values content more. Link
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegroud is going to Russia. This year’s most talked-about game is expanding its addressable market. With some of the big firms out there eagerly looking to ride newcomer PUBG’s coat-tails (yes, I’m talking about you Take-Two and Epic), Bluehole apparently dispatched the game’s creator meet with Mail.ru I’m glad to see that the firm has accurately identified that they have a blockbuster hit game on their hands and are betting the farm. There’s a growing inventory of great viewable content out there (DrDisRespect vs Summit1G ftw) and Bluehole’s been aggressively booting nitwits from its servers. Meanwhile incumbent titles like CS:GO are about to be bombed out of the red zone. Bluehole’s path is steering towards longer-term independence, because neither Microsoft or Tencent needs to spend that kind of cash at this point. Link
Pokémon GO as a tool for misinformation. The escalating news about tech companies being involved in a concerted effort to disrupt a democratic process is concerning. Apparently an organization intent on spreading divisive information appropriated game assets without permission to set up a location-based treasure hunt asking players to visit sites of police brutality. No blame falls to Niantic. This only really makes the news because most of us know about Pokémon GO. What’s truly concerning is the malicious life-hacking that’s going on to destabilize social and political discourse. Companies like Facebook are acting sheepish, claiming they’re not really media firms. (Nonsense, of course, considering it is a top news source for US adults, is actively trying to fill its portfolio with original content, and employs about 7,500 content moderators.) It makes good old-fashioned propaganda look quaint, and I’m not sure most of us are ready for this level of misinformation just yet. Link
UK government to weigh in on loot boxes. There’s a growing concern that randomized loot boxes constitute a gambling mechanic. A growing number of big, mainstream titles are using it, and, rightfully, people are asking whether this is appropriate, especially since kids and teenagers play these games. Remarkably, China is the only country to have a law requiring publishers to display the item probabilities. In the west it is a grey area, evidenced by both the US and UK game ratings organizations passing it up the chain. The implication is that games-as-a-service publishers will lose a valuable stickiness driver from their arsenal and, worse, push more games towards pay-to-win. (And here I was thinking that game design is about working with limitations.) The good people from England will soon let us now. Link
Dev studio Disruptor Beam laid off a third of its staff. Layoffs aren’t so special in creative industries. What’s different about this one is that it’s (1) a shop led by seasoned folks, and (2) they had some top-shelf IP. It wasn’t lack of experience. CEO Jon Radoff worked on one of the first online multiplayer games in 1991 that launched on the CompuServe Network, for crying out loud. And it wasn't crappy IP either: Star Trek Timelines is a pretty strong franchise. Often regarded as a firewall against the barbaric hordes in the digital marketplace, intellectual property is a tried-and-true way to answer the discovery question. So the obvious implication is that even having an experienced team working on well-known IP doesn’t necessarily pay off. Less obvious, and arguably disappointing is the idea that narrative-driven game design doesn’t work well on mobile. When TV became popular, the movie studios balked at its mundanity. Maybe this is that for games. Link
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