World Series of Video Gaming - The CEO's Corner

I Sure Do Like Battlefield 2

2006-04-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

I know it's been out for a while now but I still really like BF2. I didn't care at all for it at first, still choosing to play Soldier of Fortune II most of the time but as soon as I played enough to get a couple of new ranks I was hooked. Sure I had to upgrade my computer just to play it but you know what, I was going to have to do it eventually anyway. What's another gig of memory anyway? Now if I only had time to get those new Raptors...

I think this is the draw of games today. The game developers know that if they can get you to invest just a little time into their product, they will have you hooked. It's a smart way to do business but it's HARD to get people to switch games after their hooked on one. This is the dilemma of the producers; make a game so good you never want to leave it, but only until they come out with the next game. Tough business to be in.

Radio Paradise.com - I Like It

2006-04-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

I was lead to Radio Paradise .com by Fred Wilson of A VC blog fame. It's a listener supported net radio station. Lots of great stuff on the play list and lots of formats. I've been listening most of the morning and I like it a lot.

They even have a 192K mp3 feed. Nice.

Ghost Recon Advanced Fighter Comes to PC

2006-04-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

You've already seen it on the 360, now Red Storm will be sending Ghost Recon Advanced Fighter to a PC near you. We missed out on the 2nd version but not this time. IGN reviews it here.

Here are a couple of screen shots from IGN:

Thomas McDonald, PC round 2

2006-04-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

There's a forum post on the topic at the Maximum PC forum too.

PC Game Sales 2005: The Truth is Found

2006-04-12T18:41:00.000-05:00

LOTS of talk in the last couple few months about a research report put out on January 17 by NPD Group of Port Washington, NY which states very briefly the status of the PC video gaming sales for 2005. This is what most people have been publishing:

"PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, January 17, 2006 - According to leading marketing information provider, The NPD Group, annual 2005 U.S. retail sales of PC game software saw sales figures reach $953 million, a 14 percent decrease compared to the $1.1 billion generated in 2004."

Judgments have been made based soly on this statement and not much further investigation into the matter.

I was reading Maximum PC magazine the other day and I came across another example of someone not paying attention. Thomas McDonald (picture from Maximum PC web site) wrote about how bad the PC game industry is doing and that the end is near for all of us PC gamers. Consoles are going to take over the world.

I have two words to say to that; No Way.

What most people fail to understand (or maybe just read) is that in that very same press release from NPD is this, they really don't accurately state what's happening in the PC game market. Here's what they say about this:

" 'While we have seen retail sales of PC games decrease for several years now, we know from talking to consumers about their online gaming behaviors that playing games on the PC, whether it's via online casual sites or through MMO subscription play, has been increasing,' said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. 'As a result, NPD will be launching its new definition of the U.S. PC game market this spring which will include a combination of sales from retail, downloads, and both casual and MMO subscription revenues. We expect this will add significant dollars to the PC game market size.' “

Exactly. PC gamers are smart, leading edge and, well, different. We don't buy games retail, we download them. We subscribe to online games. We have fun our way.

Will Smith, Editor in Chief of Maximum PC sees the light though. He wrote a rebuttal to Tom's article stating the very same type of facts I've listed. Will doesn’t believe that the PC gaming market is drying up or heading out to pasture as Tom does. No, Will sees it as a vibrant market and one not soon to go away. Will's the man!

Here's a list of the top games for 2005 ranked by units sold and compiled by NPD Group:

World of Warcraft
The Sims 2: University Expansion Pack
The Sims 2
Guild Wars
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3
Battlefield 2
The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack
MS Age Of Empires III
The Sims Deluxe
Call Of Duty 2
Source: The NPD Group / Point-of-Sale

New Game Review From Future

2006-04-12T18:25:00.000-05:00

The people over at Future (Maximum PC, PC Gamer, Official XBOX Magazine, etc.) have added a new web site to their stable. It's called gamesradar.com and it focuses completely on gaming which is what we focus on as well. This is how they describe their site,

"GamesRadar is all about gaming. It's all about playing games and shouting about games and reviewing games and saying they're brilliant or trash and everything in between. GamesRadar is a truly global site. GamesRadar is new. GamesRadar is genius. Nothing like it has been produced before."

Check them out, post on their forum and tell them you heard about them from us.

Let's Help Hugh So He Will Help Us

2006-04-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

For those of you who read here often I'd like to introduce you to Hugh Macleod. He's a publisher of cartoons (Disclaimer: some are adult oriented; you are warned.), helps his friend Thomas Mahon, one of the top six tailors in the world according to Hugh, run a Savile Row tailoring firm called English Cut , a marketing theorist, author of the Hughtrain ebook and for the rest of his day job he's a marketing/blogging consultant. Oh, and he's into Yachts at the moment.

His current day job as marketing blogger has him working on promoting a South African vineyard called Stormhoek. He posted recently about an old client needing Hugh's help with a project and instead of the typical payment Hugh posed the question, "How are you going to help me sell more wine?" He further prompted future clients to take note.

I've taken note and decided to try to attract some attention to his product in the hopes of Hugh attracting some attention to our service. I can't do this on my own, however and I'm asking all of you for help. All of you have contacts (some more than others) so promote Stormhoek and comment back on how and what you've done. Being from wine country (OK Western Michigan isn't Napa Valley but we do have some fine wines) we know about wines and how to drink them. So lets see what you people can do. And while your at it, have some people start looking at the World Series of Video Gaming web site and signing up for tournaments too.

PS. A new, more permanent World Series web site is being developed as you read this so don't let the temporary site fool you. We'll be in full swing very soon.

Another One of Us

2006-04-10T16:41:00.000-05:00

Here's another gamer just like all of us. Looks like mournewind will be giving us some lowdown and some game clips in the future.

2006-04-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

American Express, Shame on Them

2006-04-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

Seth Godin spotted a sign in a coffee/tea beverage retailer that, as he put it, is "a billboard screaming about a lack of attention to detail." The person who did this cared enough to try to make a pleasing color when they crossed the items off the list, but my question is why didn't they care enough to restock the out of stock items? And if they were not carrying those items any longer, why not make a new sign? Attention to details.

Today I had to call American Express about canceling my Corporate credit card. The reason for canceling it is irrelevant but it's because my company changed card companies to one that does not charge an annual fee for their services.

I look up the American Express contact information on their web site and I find a general 800 number. They have a decent automated system that is somewhat convenient to traverse; adding my card number, speaking to voice recognition software to be directed to where I need to go which is customer service. I get there the first time with little hassle and no elevated blood pressure to hear a recording that states their hours of operation, M-F 8am to 10pm (I think) and Saturday from 8am to 6pm. The next statement says that they are closed and that I should call back during normal business hours at which point it disconnects the connection. Guess what, its 9:45am on a Saturday. IT IS DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS!

So I think to myself, OK it's just a simple mistake on their part. Someone's forgotten to flip the switch and turn off the answering system. I'll just get my card out and get the "24 hour Customer Service" number off the back. I call it, get a different system than the first one but it leads me to the exact same hours of operation message I received the first time and disconnects again.

I try for 15 minutes (all the while my blood pressure is rising, and so is my anger level), every time with the exact same result. I look for an online chat feature on their web site and find nothing; no way to easily communicate with this service provider.

Finally after talking to the voice recognition system and only saying "CUSTOMER SERVICE" when it asked me different questions about my card number and such did I actually get to speak with a live person. I cancelled my card and simply told her that there was something wrong with their answering service. The only response I got was "Huh". Not once did she ask what the problem was. I didn't even get into the fact that my card says "24 hour Customer Service" on the back.

Attention to details. A company the size of American Express should be able to get this right. Seth said it best, shame on them.

The cure for the Immigration dilemma

2006-04-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

For the last week or two I've listened to idea after idea for how we can fix the immigration issue. Some want to give green cards to everyone who is an illegal immigrant and is in the country now. Another idea is to erect a 700 mile long fence along the US-Mexican border. And there are others that blend a little of each idea to arrive at another. This is craziness.

My idea is simple; annex Mexico. Think about it. For the US, Mexico is a wealth of affordable labor. Jobs that no current US citizen wants to do could be filled legally and legitimately with independent migrant labor companies similar to our current temporary labor companies. These would be taxed at a rate consistent with current policies. Social Security needs an overhaul as it is so why not start fixing it with the addition of millions of citizens to our country. It gives US companies millions of new domestic customers as well as a completely new set of markets.

It could add an additional 5 states to our union, increasing the US land mass by a third and giving us the ability and opportunity for the discovery of new natural resources. It would double our coastline in the Gulf of Mexico and triple it in the pacific, adding thousands of miles of tropical beaches, beautiful vistas and desirable climates to our country and makes it available for tourist and housing developments bringing billions, maybe trillions of dollars into the US economy. The additional Pacific coastline will offer a release for the out of control California housing market by freeing up miles of vacant, prime real estate and slowly relieving some of the burden on the state.

For Mexico the US is a means to a better, more fulfilled life for it's citizens. It means a job that pays well relative to current opportunities and opens the door to entrepreneurship. It means they now have the financial clout the US currently has and allows them to play in the world economy at a level never before dreamed of.

They gain free reign to travel unimpeded throughout the US and freely return to there homes when they desire. Migratory employment becomes a means to a decent life without the threat of deportation, beatings from labor mules or death in the desert. They gain (over time) all the same standards of living US citizens sometimes take for granted like housing standards, water standards, non-corrupt police forces, the right to a jury trial, etc.

It's win-win for most and break even for the rest. President Fox can govern for the rest of his term and then take a seat in the US congress or become governor of one of the newly created states. The people who want the fence now win because the Guatemalan and Belize borders are only about 200 miles across and most of them don't want to come to the US anyway.

What else? How else can this work and what other benefits can you see? What's the negative side to it and how can we turn it into a positive? Lets get something together and if it's a legitimate idea we can send it to Washington and see what shakes out.

TALK TO ME!

Business Update

2006-03-27T23:14:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting but I've been busy with some things recently.

Here's a quick update on what we have going on. A tentative business launch date will be set for April and the first tournament will happen by the end of July, if all goes well. I have meetings this week with partners and a few lawyers to get a few more details sorted out so I'll have more on this next week.

There will be slots available for sign up on our website very soon so keep watching there for a new look and LOTS of information. Don't forget to tell your friends to sign up too. We still need some suggestions for games to play. I can't promise that we will host all of your recommendations because of some game logistics but we will do what we can.

The gaming industry is continually growing right now with nearly $1 billion in PC software sales alone last year which in my opinion was a light game release year. A couple of the top 10 games were EA Games' Battlefield 2, Activision's Call of Duty and a whole host of Sims. All this data can be found on NPD Group's website.

On a side note, I'd like to see some ideas for a logo for the World Series of Video Gaming. Send me your ideas or better yet an example and I'll pass them on to the others. If we like it I'll find something to reward with so start thinking.

Come on people, lets start some dialog about this subject. Have a blog of your own? Link to these posts. Have a favorite blog of your own, (other than this one, obviously!) comment on it and mention our blog and link to it. It's time to get this party started.

Randy

Big Companies Suck, And Baby Bush Too

2006-03-21T21:57:00.000-05:00

Corporate policies are moronic sometimes. I've advanced my education to a point where it's validated to get promoted to a different position. In the past 3 months I've been asked to consider a new position within the company. Let me prefix this by saying that I've been trying to move into a new position since January 2005. I worked in corporate marketing in a new business development function for nearly the entirety of 2005, all the while being told that advancement was pending.

Anyway this is slightly off topic. My point is that of all the positions I've applied for INTERNALLY I've not heard one response from any hiring manager. That's 7 applications and no responses. Is this typical? I've talked to many other managers within the organization and they emphatically say that it's common policy to at least inform all the applicants of the status of their applications.

OK, enough of that mess, lets talk about something else now, George Bush. He was quoted in the Financial Times of London today as saying that the country of Iraq is not in a state of civil war. I say to Mr. Bush, open your eyes! Where else in the world is it common for countrymen to kill each other in guerilla warfare and have it not considered civil war? Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, these were all considered civil wars but even though the same events are happening in Iraq how can Mr. Bush not admit that it's a civil war? Wake up and smell the small arms fire Mr. Bush, it's a war and it couldn't be more civil if all the Iraqi citizens were involved. Oh, I guess most of them are.

I read somewhere today, I think in Jeff Jarvis' blog, about journalist's asking democrats what they suggest we do in Iraq. I think this question goes well beyond just democrats and should be addressed to the entire population of the planet because it really does touch all of us in one way or another. I asked myself what I would suggest and honestly I can't think of an all encompassing answer. On one hand we can pull out and let the citizens deal with the mess the coalition forces made or we can stay and try to fix the problem. If we leave the country will be slammed into a deeply rooted sectarian civil war that could last for decades. On the other hand if we stay we will potentially divide the country into sectarian factions that will probably split the country apart. I really don't know what I would do at this point other than start talking to people that have influence in the region and try to get a plan together that satisfies most groups involved. What ideas to you have? Let all of us know.

What I'd Like to Be When I Grow Up

2006-03-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

Right now I do product design as a source of income. Trouble is I really don't like it much anymore. Actually that's not a whole truth, I really just don't like the actual drawing part of the design process. If I could just have someone copy my ideas and then draw things for me I'd have a more satisfying job. And job is the right word for this because I have different aspirations for a career. I've wanted to be an entrepreneur since I can remember and now I've got an opportunity to make my dream come true. Granted it's time consuming and already I feel like I've made a few mistakes but it's really, really satisfying to be a part of something that you really, truly feel is a good idea.

I'd do this video gaming thing even if I didn't make money because I really like this stuff. By stuff I mean the video game tournaments and the world series championships. Think about how much fun this is going to be! I get to work in a field where I usually play because I play PC games quite a lot. We even have a group of us with the same tags although it's not really a clan, just a bunch of us who play together a lot. We're the[Just] guys and I'm [Just]Ned, In case you were wondering. I usually play Soldier of Fortune 2 or Battlefield 2 but I can also be seen playing Call of Duty 2, Battlefield Vietnam or CSS on a rare occasion. I haven't been online to often recently because this business thing takes a lot of work and a ton of planning.

This venture is going to be designed by PC gamers, for PC gamers and we hope you like what we have to offer. I'd really like to have some feedback on any of your thoughts or comments on this venture, even something as simple as a game suggestion. I've commented on the basics of what we are offering in a different post so please check it out and ask questions at your leisure.

As of today it's a group of 3, one web guru, one IT guru, and me, the guy on the business end and I'll work with the games end. One thing, we will need game server controllers, those of you who command and control game servers. If this is you, email me please!

So that's it then. I'll have a different topic tomorrow or the next day. I really want to try to post an entry at least once every other day. I have one request though and that is that I'd like to know if ANYONE is reading this stuff so please leave a comment or send me an e-mail and if you want to discuss a certain topic, I'll start it up for you.

One other comment/note, my fiance Emily why I hadn't mentioned her in my blog so I thought I'd go it one better. Here is a picture of her and I at a party she had for school (she will be a veterinarian soon.) I know what you're thinking, "what's a hot chick like that doing with a dope like me?" Well I got lucky once in my life! Hopefully lightning will strike twice.

The 100 dinners in 100 days

2006-03-14T22:52:00.000-05:00

So Hugh MacLeod is offering a sweet deal for those of us who blog (or any geek in general.) He's promoting a South African wine called Stormhoek that's supposed to be good. I can't comment because I've not had any but the marketing involved with this is genius! Click on the link to the right to sign up, if you think you qualify.

What is the World Series of Video Gaming?

2006-03-13T18:47:00.000-05:00

I've been asked this a few times now so it's time to let the cat out of the bag, somewhat.

Well I'm starting a new company that specializes in online, PC based video games. I have a few titles to start with like Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, Soldier of Fortune 2, FarCry, etc., but I'd really like your opinion on other titles that would work well in a tournament setting.

The gist of it is that it's like the World Series of Poker but for PC based online video games. There will be tournaments held every month that consist of 4 qualifying tournaments, 4 quarter final tournaments, 3 semi final tournaments and finally a championship round so that's 12 tournaments a year.

We will setup the servers based on the number of people that sign up for each game. Right now we are planning on 15 game titles (some of which are listed above) and plan on limiting each game title to 300 people max. This will let us focus on the quality of the gaming experience instead of worrying about how many people we are hosting. Each game will have a referee to monitor game play and a server technician for server issues.

Now the good part. We will pay back to the winners 50% of the total revenue for the venue! That means if we bring in $100,000 we will pay out $50,000 to the winners, or if we make $1,000,000 we will pay out $500,000 to the winners! The winners list and what is required to win each game type will be posted on the World Series of Video Gaming web site, worldseriesofvideogaming.net. We will be moving the site to the .com domain soon but don't worry, you will be redirected if you still use the .net domain.

Here's the price structure we have established:

Qualifying rounds $25 entry fee
quarter final rounds $50 entry fee
Semi final rounds $100 entry fee
Final round $300 entry fee

Just to be clear, this is not gambling! It is a sport that uses the skills, experiences, know how and expertise that each of you possess. Some (newbs) may think they are good, champions know they are! This will be your chance to prove yourself.

Now this is just a brief synopsis of what to expect and nothing says that things won't change. Actually I can guarantee you that they will, but only for the better. Come see us at worldseriesofvideogaming.net and sign our guest book.

I look forward to your comments and any suggestions.

Karma sucks

2006-03-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

So I just spent the last half hour typing a huge entry about karma and what happens when I spell check it? It all disappears. The whole thing. To whom ever I've wronged I apologize!!!

What my previous entry said was that as I was on my way to my fiance's (Emily)house, some 80 miles away from my house, and I was just driving along talking to her on the phone when out of no where a full size spare tire appears right in the middle of the left hand lane on the interstate. The car in front of me swerves and misses it and I have just enough time to swerve and hit it with my tires at 80 mph. When I do this it launches my truck (SUV) into the air on the right side what feels like 3 feet and sends me careening toward the median. The impact immediately punctures and deflates both tires on the right side. The flat tires have huge rolling resistance which sends me shooting back into traffic toward the right lane where a semi truck is waiting to crush me and the truck into a little box. Luckily I fight the wheel back to the left and get the thing stopped in the median.

So it's over now and I'm wondering just how bad everything is. I get out expecting there to be people stopped to see if every thing is all right, only to find that no one has stopped. NO one. Well that's not entirely true. I look down the highway about 100 yards and see this truck that's pulling a snowmobile trailer parked on the shoulder on the right side. He was watching me hit his spare trailer tire and when that was done he adjusted what was left loose on his trailer and left. He saw me looking at him, but still chose to leave. Where did the kindness and personal responsibility go in society?

So now I have the truck towed to a local tire dealer where they are telling me that it's a weird size tire and they don't have any in stock anywhere in the city. I have to either wait until Tuesday (it's Saturday) or drive 50 miles to get a set from another store. I HAVE NO VEHICLE RIGHT NOW, so how do I drive 50 miles to get the tires I need to get the vehicle working in order to get to the tires I need?

Like I said, to whom ever I wronged in the past, I sincerely apologize.

A quick message from the CEO's corner

2006-03-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first entry of the World Series of Video Gaming blog. I've been reading blogs for a few months now but this is my first attempt at hosting one so please excuse any unintentional errors!

On this blog you will find many musings by me on many different topics, some of which will be business related (marketing, longtail things, small is the new big, etc...), life related, gripe related, but mostly it will be online gaming related.

We're starting a new business, and you can be a part of it.

More coming soon.

By the way, here are a couple of my favorite blogs right now:
Jeff Jarvis is a tech guy and a VC as well. He's pissed at Peter Biondi right now for introducing this idiotic bill to the New Jersey state law makers.
Guy Kawasaki wrote a good book (one of many) called "The Art of the Start".
Hugh MacLeod funny guy. Has lots of his own cartoons on there.

And probably my favorite right now is Seth Godin. This guy has his head screwed on just right! You must read his book "Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable". Great stuff. Oh yeah, he just spent some time at Google talking to them about marketing. Take a look.