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February 10, 2010
 
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Blogs

David Wesley's Blog   Expert Blogs

David Wesley is manager of Northeastern University's case research program. His award-winning cases are among the best selling titles at Harvard Business School Publishing and Ivey Publishing.

Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry: Avoiding the Performance Trap is a new book by David Wesley and Gloria Barczak that considers why companies with the most advanced products are not always the most successful.

Blog: www.performancetrap.org

Expert Blogs

The Economic Challenges (and opportunities) of Developing Games for the iPhone and iPad  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:31:00 EST in
On the surface, the iPhone and iPad seem to be ideal platforms to develop games for, but only if you ignore fundamental economics.
Read More... | 3 Comments

The Delicate Balance between the Art and Business of Making Games
Posted by David Wesley on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:41:00 EST in Game Design, Production
David Brevik, Studio Director at Gazillion Entertainment, explains that the discipline imposed by the business side of making games “helps both the artist and the business.”
Read More... | 0 Comments

Creating industry ecosystems: How indie developers contribute to large firm success
Posted by David Wesley on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:21:00 EST in Game Design, Production
With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, fewer publishers can afford to take risks on experimental game designs. That will be left to small studios that are either independently funded or that enter partnerships with larger firms.
Read More... | 0 Comments

Needless Complexity: The Classic Performance Trap  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:51:00 EST in Game Design
Needlessly complex products often fail to appeal to both casual and advanced players. One example is the recently announced Z-1 Hybrid Guitar for Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Read More... | 3 Comments

How Not to Build a Franchise: The Duke Nukem Experience  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:59:00 EST in Game Design, Production
Designers should have concrete plans of action before any serious work begins on their games. It is simply impossible to create any quality media product based on vague references to other products.
Read More... | 6 Comments

An Indie Developer’s “Biggest Mistake”  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:55:00 EST in Game Design, Production
Red Orchestra developer John Gibson points out that the path to indie success is long and hard. However, certain pitfalls can be avoided.
Read More... | 12 Comments

[More David Wesley Blogs]   

David Wesley's Comments

Comment In: EA Reduces Quarterly Loss, Claims #1 Publisher Position [News - 02/08/2010 - 05:14]

@Kevin It is part of ...

@Kevin It is part of the same issue. One of the ways to achieve the diversification that Hawkins envisioned was through acquisitions. However, most acquisitions do not make sense. As many as 70 percent of acquisitions do not live up to expectations and nearly 50 percent fail outright. Those that ...

Comment In: Fighting Piracy on the App Store [Blog - 02/03/2010 - 05:18]

Great article. I think you ...

Great article. I think you rightly point out how reported financial losses from piracy are grossly exaggerated because most pirated programs would not be purchased anyway. I also agree with your value added advice, which is one of the solutions that we examine in our book. Keep up the good ...

Comment In: State Of Game Development Survey Reveals iPhone Support Surge, Wii Lull [News - 02/05/2010 - 08:18]

@Christian The App Store has ...

@Christian The App Store has been a godsend to Apple and it will continue to be for some time , but for developers it could easily become a trap. On the surface, the iPhone and iPad would seem to be ideal platforms to develop games for. 1. Large install base ...

Comment In: Iwata On iPad: 'There Were No Surprises For Me' [News - 01/29/2010 - 05:47]

@ Chris I'm not keen ...

@ Chris I'm not keen on Natal, but maybe it will be fun. Just keep it away from my work. The last thing I want is a Minority Report future where I have to be a spaz like Tom Cruise just get a simple task done. The mistake many people ...

Comment In: Fils-Aime 'Confident' In Current Wii Hardware [News - 01/14/2010 - 11:13]

Ephriam I am not disagreeing ...

Ephriam I am not disagreeing with you. The problem is not innovation per se. In fact, we devote a good section of the book to Nintendo's innovation and why the DS and Wii were successful. The lack of innovation I speak of is in current R D. In the book, ...

Comment In: Needless Complexity: The Classic Performance Trap [Blog - 01/14/2010 - 02:51]

Stan, The Starr Labs midi ...

Stan, The Starr Labs midi guitars are niche products suited to a particular market segment professional guitarists and are priced accordingly 2,000 and up . This article is the last in a series focused on the various reasons for the decline of instrument based music games. It is not intended ...

[More David Wesley Comments]