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November 21, 2009
 
Video Game Watchdog National Institute On Media And The Family Shutting Down [9]
 
Modern Warfare 2 Infinity Ward's 'Most Successful PC Version' Yet [3]
 
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November 21, 2009
 
arrow Upping The Craft: Susan O'Connor On Games Writing [5]
 
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November 21, 2009
 
Monolith Productions
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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.

Expert Blogs

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... | 9 Comments

The Nintendo Wii is Back on Top, But for How Long?
Posted by David Wesley on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:57:00 EST in
The Wii is back on top in October Monthly sales, according to NPD. But for how long?
Read More... | 0 Comments

A Tribute to Alexey Pajitnov, On The 20th Anniversary Of The Berlin Wall's Fall
Posted by David Wesley on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:52:00 EST in Game Design
On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, let's not forget the important contribution of Soviet era game developer Alexey Pajitnov
Read More... | 3 Comments

"Enough Already!" - The Paradox of Choice  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:58:00 EST in Game Design
A paradox of choice happens when customers become overwhelmed by options and then decide to avoid the entire product category.
Read More... | 4 Comments

EA: Too Big to Succeed  Featured Blogs
Posted by David Wesley on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:33:00 EDT in Game Design
The video game industry's high variable cost makes economies of scale difficult to realize.
Read More... | 0 Comments

Explaining the Decline of Guitar Hero and Rock Band
Posted by David Wesley on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:46:00 EDT in Game Design
In the years since the launch of the first Guitar Hero, the number of instrument simulation games has increased each year to unsupportable levels.
Read More... | 4 Comments

[More David Wesley Blogs]   

David Wesley's Comments

Comment In: An Indie Developer’s “Biggest Mistake” [Blog - 11/18/2009 - 10:55]

Gersh is absolutely right. You ...

Gersh is absolutely right. You need some high quality samples of previous work to prove to your potential partners that you are worth betting on. Cloud was a university project that the founders of Thatgamecompany developed while at USC. The games they have done since then are completely different concepts ...

Comment In: Lead Designers Who Only Say 'No' [Blog - 11/17/2009 - 09:53]

Tim, you wrote: I've literally ...

Tim, you wrote: I've literally had a boss say to me. 'Sorry, you can't do that. It's not what Halo would do.' In fact, 'What would Halo do ' was his motto. In this case, he's not defying tradition as in the previous example, he's just not thinking beyond his ...

Comment In: NPD: Behind the Numbers, October 2009 [Feature - 11/16/2009 - 01:30]

Ken, my comment was not ...

Ken, my comment was not meant to be a scientific analysis, but rather a brief answer to your assertion that Nintendo's market lead is in no danger nor will it ever be. If you would like in-depth analysis of these issues, you are welcome to read my blog posts here ...

Comment In: A Tribute to Alexey Pajitnov, On The 20th Anniversary Of The Berlin Wall's Fall [Blog - 11/09/2009 - 10:52]

Beside the fact that the ...

Beside the fact that the game of Tetris is about destroying walls I was drawing a connection between the fall of two walls, the Berlin Wall and the wall between gamers and the masses, plus the fact that Pajitnov developed Tetris under the communist regime - the destruction of which ...

Comment In: Rock Band Drags On Viacom Margins, May Break Even At Holiday? [News - 11/04/2009 - 07:17]

Tom, It should dissuade publishers ...

Tom, It should dissuade publishers from putting out future band-centric games at the same high rate as we have seen in the past couple of years. However, the underperforming music genre is not an ominous bellwether for holiday sales, as analysts claim. See my post from last week titled, Explaining ...

Comment In: Surprise: Movies Based On Games Aren't Likely To Be Good [Blog - 10/30/2009 - 02:21]

Tie-ins are one way companies ...

Tie-ins are one way companies try to profit from the popularity of a product. Nintendo tried it in the early 1990s with the Mario Bros. brand. Educational software and movies were some of the big flops that almost killed the Mario brand. Does anyone remember this movie with Bob Hoskins ...

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