Tag Archives: Games

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Roblox, Massive Tween Gaming Platform, Goes Public

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Popular tween gaming platform Roblox filed to go public on Thursday. The company declined an interview, citing a quiet period.

Source: Roblox, massive tween gaming platform, goes public – CNN

My son and I, OneWildRide,  are hooked on the Roblox game Theme Park Tycoon 2   I’m fixated on building out my park.  For beginners, there are the “out of the box” rides you can buy, and the amount of items you can use to accessorize your park is staggering.    Not only can you add “canned” rides, such as the Gravatron, but the theme park builder can add all different types of roller coasters, water rides, park transportation, etc.

Users of the Theme Park Tycoon 2 are Graded by:

  • number of active users in your park
  • the amount of money you make based on park admission, pay per ride, and concession stands
  • People can “like” your park, and provide feedback at the entrance

Commoditizing Roblox Games

I will shamefully admit that I purchased Roblox Bucks, with real dollars, that can be used on a plethora of items to build my Theme Park.  For example, the Theme Park has a height limit for how high you can build your roller coasters, so naturally, the builder/user has the ability to purchase to lift the height requirements.  You can also purchase additional “packs” that provide the builder enhancements to their rides, such as running the ride in reverse or looping the ride three times instead of the default single loop.  There’s also the conversion of USD to Roblox $$ because builders need to buy the components to build water rides or roller coasters.  You can even purchase concession stands (e.g. Popcorn Vendors).  The builder of the amusement park must also buy/build restrooms and spread out trash cans throughout the park.  There is also the concept of day and night, so make sure to buy/place lamps across the park.

Pay to Play – AI Bots = Theme Park $$

These “auto” bots/characters paying to play in your park may leave if they are dissatisfied, such as no bathrooms.  Also, without trash cans, there will be visible trash on the ground that must be painfully cleaned up, pile by pile, or left there to pile up.  On the flip side, these AI amusement goers will pay:

  • Park Entrance Fees
  • Pay Per Ride
  • Pay to use the loo
  • Pay for Concession Stands, such as Soft Drinks, Popcorn, and Pizza
  • Pay for Theme Park Memorabilia, such as Santa Hats, Tis the Season!

The Theme Park Builder sets the prices for EVERYTHING.  The AI Bots have “thoughts”, such as “This ride is really cheap.” to help you gauge your ride pricing, or “I’m Hungry”, to imply you should buy/place concession stands throughout your park.

Minecraft Anyone?!

I should say someone should have seen this coming, several someones.  You build this Theme Park at the “block” level, very similar to Minecraft, however, it seems, as far as I can tell, the graphics of Roblox seem somewhat superior to Minecraft, although this is a very debatable topic.  Minecraft has lots of 3rd party “mods” or customizations/modifications to the game.  Minecraft has had a lot of time to cultivate its userbase as well as a marketplace for users to buy these modifications.  Roblox as an application/gaming platform seems intriguing in light of the IPO.  I wonder what the highest-grossing games are on the Roblox platform.

Availability

Roblox Theme Park Tycoon 2 is available on Xbox, iPad / iPhone, and Windows to name the environments we use, jumping from device to device wherever is convenient.

Multiplayer Environment

My son constantly wants me to go over to his Theme Park, and go on rides he has just built.  It’s really a lot of fun to go to other builders’ parks.  There is a basic transit system to move between amusement parks.  You can get LOTS of ideas by looking at other builders’ parks, some of these parks put the “real world” amusement parks to shame.  So far, I’ve seen six (6) people playing concurrently, where you can see who has the most Roblox Bucks, and who’s park has the most visitors currently.  Naturally, if you’re not the big kahuna, you’ll want to stroll by the other builders’ parks.  If you are in close proximity, if you time it right, you can log in to the same server, and play with friends.  Doesn’t always seem to work quite right when people jump on and off the game.  There is probably a feature I’m not using to guarantee the same server with friends, maybe the “Premium” version of Roblox?

Build Your Own Roblox Games?  Monetary Incentives?

Wow, I really didn’t contemplate it that much.  I didn’t even think about the possible monetary returns from building one’s own Roblox game.  Not sure what the requirements would be to be a developer, how easy or hard it would be to build Roblox games, i.e. is there a coding language to use, a proprietary language, or just a simple graphical tool to build games.  No clue if there is a “developer/partner” annual cost, which is what I paid when developing applications for the iPhone / iPad.  Also, playing on the iPad / iPhone Roblox platform hosting the Theme Park game, would Apple get a percentage of “In-App” purchases for Roblox dollars?  We purchased Roblox bucks from the PC, and XBOX, so it didn’t occur to me there would be margin paid to the platform on which it runs.

Disclosure – I am not a “Premium” Roblox member or a “game” builder.

Entertainment, Fun, Technology

When a Game Graduates from a Smartphone to a Console

A short time ago, we had fewer avenues to produce and distribute games, either game consoles or desktop personal computers. When a console game came out that was insanely good, it may have been distributed to the personal computer as well.

In this era, we didn’t see the channel of distribution go massively wider, or consistent with their graduation.  There may be a time when a game gets so massively popular,  a major game label company picks up the smartphone game company for their intellectual property or licenses the game to produce it on other mediums, such as consoles. and expands the experience of the game by leveraging additional inputs, keyboard-less, and mouse-less mist screens where users user literally pinches the air, and it’s like clicking the mouse on a coordinate on this screen/input device. Or, maybe expands the game to the XBOX 360 and Kinect is used to interact with the game objects.  A whole new world of opportunities may open up to the fan of the game, so instead of selling less consoles, and making the shelf smaller for game makers, we could look at the game board of opportunities as a larger, not smaller funnel of opportunities.

Business, Entertainment, Technology

Hybrid TV and Game Integration

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The article I read on Defiance says it’s a TV Show Game Hybrid, great media vertical to test it out.  I’m not sure if they are talking about one of these opportunities, regardless interesting:

  • it’s an on line multiplayer game where a hashtag appears on the screen, the user has to decipher it, and then take action in the game, e.g. find an object,  kill an opponent or game character.   The clues would appear during the show and users may get distracted.
  • And/Or just like the classic movie Clue, multiplayer gamers could influence the story line    There would have to be many takes of multiple scenes, OR computer generated characters, like the Final Fantasy movie, this way the show and the multiplayer game are synced in real-time    There might be an SOA tier that both the software rendering the TV show, and the third party hosting gaming software may input user events.
  • A Microsoft, or Sony, could use their game platforms, Xbox or PlayStation to host the multiplayer game, and in a picture in picture format, show Sony Television.
  • The multiplayer games could run on any platform from PC, Tablet, or smartphone, and broadcast through the Television or streaming though Internet.

Maybe even through the new Google street rendering for gaming, and the Television show can take advantage of this technology.  See previous post.

The game and streaming may even be hosted on your sight, collecting ad revenues, but you would have to build the platform.

Business, Technology

Google Project Glass / Glasses and 3rd Party Application Development

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Google’s Project Glass, or Google’s augmented reality glasses, I wonder, as propably others, if ANY 3rd party developers will be allowed develop and roll out applications just as they have done with Google’s Android OS, and Google play.  There may be liability concerns with applications, and how developers and their users engage in their use.  It should be very interesting if 3rd party application developers, any, are allowed to develop and roll out apps.  I can think applications will certainly go beyond what pop culture is expecting.  If Google allows for any 3rd party applications, with development toolkits and a simulator just as it does for Android OS, it will streach all of our imaginations what the system and its users are capable of.

The list of applications is extensive from your basic set (i.e. checking email) to:

  • Partnered with a Lucas Films licensee, use small plastic force feedback sticks, the handle of a light saber and leverage Force Feedback for game play with the glasses for the ‘light’ of the light saber (game)
  • Just like there are apps for speed traps, and social network GPS network location check ins, application developers could really be ‘creative’ with this one, and some could similarly border the ‘speed trap’ legality issue.
  • And finally, what parts of the spectrum will Google Glass allow the user to detect.  I can see, excuse the intended pun, enabling the user, with an app, to view alternate parts of the spectrum, not visible light, and their could be a tremendous set of applications for this last point.  If Google doesn’t include it, alternate competitors could, and there is an opportunity.  Baby steps.
  • The visible spectrum, with a creative application developer, could filter or disect    parts of the view-able spectrum, and apply it to specific applications. Polarize me, Scotty!