Category archive: Game Industry
Cell phone gaming disrupts the handheld market
From as far back as the Game & Watch in 1980 (or more likely for Americans, the Game Boy which came later that decade), people have been gaming on the go. Portable consoles have been a welcome diversion for commuters stranded on public transportation and other people looking to kill a few minutes (or hours) away from home the…
DetailsAchievement unlocked!
The achievement system (formally introduced with the Xbox 360) has fundamentally changed the way we play games. Whether they’re called “achievements” or “trophies” or something else, the system is a mechanism which, if done properly, can add value to a gaming experience by increasing rewards and exposing gamers to content they might otherwise have missed…
DetailsRelease now, finish later
Those of us who have been following the games industry since the 80s would be blind to not notice the sweeping changes made to the medium–the birth of the console, the annual upgrade in visual and audio fidelity, the extra buttons added to joysticks every five years–but no single change to the industry has been…
DetailsThe Evolution of Software Piracy
If you’ve never directly participated in software piracy or the trade of other counterfeit goods, you are no doubt aware that it happens, and that it’s a very real problem for many industries. Even when reading that sentence, you likely felt it was inappropriate to lump harmless file-sharing in with counterfeiting–to many, online piracy is a victimless crime,…
Details