So who the heck is IAC?
by Eric Fritz · in General Discussion · 09/17/2007 (10:49 pm) · 176 replies
As stories start rolling in, you folks will no doubt have a few questions. And we want to answer them.
Josh will be posting a blog first thing in the morning, and will try to answer as many questions as we can think up. Any that aren't addressed, we'll respond to here on the forums.
Thanks all for your understanding and patience!
Josh will be posting a blog first thing in the morning, and will try to answer as many questions as we can think up. Any that aren't addressed, we'll respond to here on the forums.
Thanks all for your understanding and patience!
#142
I did. That's what I took from all this that it was going to be.
09/21/2007 (2:23 pm)
Quote:
BTW: we have all been focusing on the fact game would be played within internet browser. Have some of you (I did not until a few minutes ago) considered a specific version of TG-something ;) being the browser for a whole range of games?
I did. That's what I took from all this that it was going to be.
#143
09/22/2007 (5:48 am)
Just wanted to say g'bye to the fine folks who have been sharing their thoughts and concerns in this thread, instead of - once again - drinking the tainted Cool-Aid. I'm not going to elaborate other than to point you all to this thread which has my final comments. They'll probably remove it, but I have it archived and will reference it in my blog next week when I write my thoughts on this GG/IAC issue since I can't do it here without being modded or threatened with banishment.
#144
www.portfolio.com/views/columns/the-world-according-to/2007/09/21/An-interview-w...
09/22/2007 (11:34 am)
Woah GG mentioned in story at top link at Drudgereport lol.. :)www.portfolio.com/views/columns/the-world-according-to/2007/09/21/An-interview-w...
#145
09/22/2007 (11:45 am)
Best parts.Quote:L.G.: And now games.
B.D.: And now games, yes. We keep adding things. I mean, every month we're adding a few things here or there, so we're tremendously acquisitive and opportunistic about ideas, and we have a system that internally tolerates it. Externally, I think, until things come through, people are skeptical, and that's okay with me. It just gives us an opportunity to buy more stock, because we throw out so much cash.
L.G.: What attracted you to GarageGames and this whole idea of getting games off the internet, not having to deal with the manufacturing of consoles?
B.D.: Well, because if you go over there [pointing to a large flat-screen TV and a couple of videogame consoles in his office] and see there are-well one is not, they took it away-there are three different game consoles.
L.G.: What have you got here? The Xbox?
B.D.: The Xbox and the PlayStation-and of course they're incompatible with each other. And they're whiz-bang on graphics-they're beautiful. But on both sides of it-on the equipment side of it that you have to purchase in on, the production side where you make a game-you're spending huge amounts of money. The Web, as is proven in so many other areas, is a pretty good distribution mechanism for programming. And very few people have done really high-graphic Web games in a system that will have-in InstantAction.com, which is a gathering place both for people who make the games and for viewers to get them-where there's one easy-to-use, fast place to do pretty sophisticated games. So we think it's a really original and good idea.
L.G.: Does this attract you because you know there's a market for games and people like to do it, or is it because you yourself enjoy them?
B.D.: No. I mean, I enjoy doing it. I enjoy playing games, but I am not the audience, you know. I'm too old and I have too many other things that I do. But I shouldn't even say that. Even if I had nothing to do I still wouldn't be playing games hour upon hour. But, you know, if you get me started, it's great-it's great fun. And it really is, because I think there's an opportunity for what we have expertise in. This company has expertise in all different areas of the internet, deep and wide, and this company has 20,000 people; we have 3,000 engineers, meaning people who do programming, internet programming of various kinds. We're very big players in advertising, both buying it and selling it, we have expertise in how to search the internet, search engine authorization, which is how you get people to come to your site, so you have all these levels of expertise. So when something comes along we think is an original idea or something that we think is interesting to do because of the experience and expertise we've built up, we plunge in. And in this case, this investment is more than $50 million dollars.
L.G.: I was going to ask you to show a little ankle on that.
B.D.: It's not a little start-up.
#146
09/22/2007 (12:13 pm)
I love this part. I can't wait to see how GG devs and founders, survive in this atmosphere. As I've said before, BD is not known for pissing around.Quote:
L.G.: I mean you're reported to have once made [DreamWorks C.E.O.] Stacey Snider cry [when she was running Universal Studios and Diller was grilling her in a meeting].
B.D.: Oh please! Stacey Snider cries for effect in whatever room she might be in. I mean, I didn't make Stacey Snider cry! Stacey Snider wanted to cry for her own demonstrative purposes. But, there's no question that our process, my process, is one in which I believe that in order to get to the truth of something, you have to argue it passionately. It's not a Socratic process by any stretch. But in any situation, you know if you have all the information, it's easy to make a decision. But with almost every decision, particularly the ones that get tougher and tougher, you don't have all the information; you're never going to get all the information; it isn't there to get. What you've got to try and do is listen for what truth you can hear out of the passions of people arguing what they believe in. Because it's what they believe in when you don't have the facts, where you can maybe find something that will give you a lead on what's more interesting to do, what's the right course to make a decision.
But it does get intense, and it does get into conflict-the conflict of ideas. And when people get exercised about that, there's no device to get them to do it, but just the fact that that's what you're really mining for, that's going to sometimes be noisy and sometimes confrontational. There are those that love that, and thank God there are enough people like that-those are the people I like to be around. I'm very uncomfortable when I'm in rooms with people, as they are uncomfortable with me, if they don't like this process. And there are people who don't like it, and that's fine. I don't think there's a value judgment here, I just think it's something that is either enjoyable and stimulating for people or they want to run out of the room. And people who want to run out of the room, should. I'm happy that there are enough to stay.
L.G.: The quality of someone who works for you is someone who is thick-skinned but also very obviously has to be smart-
B.D.: Well, when you say obviously has to be smart and thick-skinned, yeah, as I say.
L.G.: But don't take things personally.
B.D.: Well, I think everybody takes things personally, and to some degree you get to a point with people where there's no way not to take it personally. And in fact it comes simply down to people who like that process, and people who don't, for whatever reason, whether it makes them insecure or whether it just frightens them or whether they simply just don't want to do that.
#147
The thing is those "pesky" consoles do serve a purpose, else everyone would have PC's hooked up to their televisions...which we know is not the case (even if the hardware IS similar). It's interesting to me that when Mr.Diller saw the great success of these consoles, he decided to boo them and declare war via browser..?
The wiser thing to do with his $50 million, IMHO, would have been to market a "phantom" like console that is more open to developers than the existing consoles have demonstrated to be. Let's face it, the PC will NEVER replace fixed hardware like the Xbox or Playstation. So if you can't beat them, why not join them? The only reason the "Phantom" failed was the lack of $ to get it off the ground, otherwise I honestly believe we'd have them in many households by now.
He may be spot on about this part though (emphasis mine) :
09/22/2007 (9:05 pm)
Quote:
Diller reveals to Portfolio.com that [the GG deal] was a $50 million-plus investment to develop high-graphic videogames on the internet, without the need and expense of those pesky consoles
The thing is those "pesky" consoles do serve a purpose, else everyone would have PC's hooked up to their televisions...which we know is not the case (even if the hardware IS similar). It's interesting to me that when Mr.Diller saw the great success of these consoles, he decided to boo them and declare war via browser..?
The wiser thing to do with his $50 million, IMHO, would have been to market a "phantom" like console that is more open to developers than the existing consoles have demonstrated to be. Let's face it, the PC will NEVER replace fixed hardware like the Xbox or Playstation. So if you can't beat them, why not join them? The only reason the "Phantom" failed was the lack of $ to get it off the ground, otherwise I honestly believe we'd have them in many households by now.
He may be spot on about this part though (emphasis mine) :
Quote:Not very reassuring, is it?
L.G.: What do you think IAC will look like five years from now?
B.D.: Well, I think one of the things about this company is that's unpredictable, which is why I think some investors who have not been with us long-who have been in and out-it makes them nervous. I don't think you can predict what IAC will look like five years from now. You can certainly say that we'll be some form of an interactive conglomerate, but IAC three years ago had its principal business of being Expedia, leading travel online.
#148
09/23/2007 (12:37 am)
^ Somehow I doubt it that 50 million dollars will be enough to compete with Sony or even Microsoft & Nintendo. Even id software is going to make Quake 3 for browser now so basically this investment isn't a waste of time and resources.
#149
09/25/2007 (11:28 pm)
The concept of hardware will soon be obsolete, that's a point that Google's (amongst many others) been driving home for a while now. Garage Games and IAC have picked up on that and want to be first in line for games. In 10 years you'll be playing the same game on your PC, Super Wii, and your iPhone Nano all depending on where you are. Hardware devices will simply be portals to content instead of the seed from which content grows.
#150
09/25/2007 (11:34 pm)
@Jeremy: I agree with you, though: "The concept of hardware will soon be obsolete" and "in 10 years" are not really compatible. And IAC expectations for a return on investment are certainly not that long, so there is a problem IMHO.
#151
OK. LET'S DO IT!
09/26/2007 (1:40 am)
Concept of hardware will be obsolete? That too, in only 10 years? In 10 years PC, Super Wii and iPhone Nano will be using same hardware or some kind of virtual doomsday machine software to emulate cross-platform games?OK. LET'S DO IT!
#152
Total nonsense. Been there, done that.
A little more than a decade ago, vendors were pushing hard these cheap boxes that did nothing but plug into a network and run a browser to the corporate world. The equivalent of a dumb terminal for the web. Article after article about them in Infoweek. Fancy new buzzwords coined. Supposed to simplify services, Navigator would release corporations from the micro$oft juggernaut. The new revolution! These new devices will replace computers!
The concept fell flat on it's face. Nobody bought them.
09/26/2007 (2:45 am)
Quote:The concept of hardware will soon be obsolete, that's a point that Google's (amongst many others) been driving home for a while now. Garage Games and IAC have picked up on that and want to be first in line for games. In 10 years you'll be playing the same game on your PC, Super Wii, and your iPhone Nano all depending on where you are. Hardware devices will simply be portals to content instead of the seed from which content grows.
Total nonsense. Been there, done that.
A little more than a decade ago, vendors were pushing hard these cheap boxes that did nothing but plug into a network and run a browser to the corporate world. The equivalent of a dumb terminal for the web. Article after article about them in Infoweek. Fancy new buzzwords coined. Supposed to simplify services, Navigator would release corporations from the micro$oft juggernaut. The new revolution! These new devices will replace computers!
The concept fell flat on it's face. Nobody bought them.
#153
www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15624
InstantAction.com seems to be yet still, a far easier way than what that company is trying to do. GG may very well surprise alot of people. I for one hope that GG succeeds in grand style.
09/26/2007 (3:04 am)
Although this is somewhat different than what GG and IAC have plans for, I read this article this morning.www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15624
InstantAction.com seems to be yet still, a far easier way than what that company is trying to do. GG may very well surprise alot of people. I for one hope that GG succeeds in grand style.
#154
uhm, no. The Phantom failed due to misappropriation of funds. They burned through more than $50m of investors money and came up with, well, nothing.
We'll see.
When you invest $50m in a venture, I would like to think that hope plays no part in it. You either know what you're doing or you don't.
If Barry wanted to get on the ground floor of this concept as stated, he should've bought out the Phantom console assets. Obviously somebody (in his camp) wasn't doing their homework.
But you have to ask yourself, why would anyone want yet another box? Sure they already have a PC, but thats hardly the pathway to the living room.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself who you're selling browser based games to. Well, its the same market thats currently buying and playing them. No what you're left with is - yet another - player. Competition is good, but competition for the sake of competition - without bringing anything new to the table - is a waste of money.
I, for one, simply _cannot_ see how this browser base gaming initiative is going to move anything forward. Its not going to compete with the likes of standalone (boxed or ESD versions) gaming, nor is it even going to put a dent in console gaming. So, where is the market and whats the point.
Fact of the matter is, corporations don't go out forking $50m without reams and reams of [largely useless] paperwork showing all sorts of charts, graphs, projections and whatnot. So someone in Diller's camp obviously thought this was a good idea, took it to Diller and co etc. How they came to pair with GG is anyone's guess. And for some odd reason, nobody's talking about that in terms of who approached who, when and why.
The fact that this whole thing seems to be shrouded in mystery, shady, shody and cloudy explanations is suspect enough. Not to mention the fact that for months (since the investment was done) and up until now, the GG community doesn't know any more than what every other mere mortal on the Net, knows. Again, thats another Red flag. Seriously, whats the big secret - or the big deal for that matter? If they were going to wait until Austin to announce and reveal all, why uhm, pre-empt it with all these statements at all? Why not just, well, wait? Even if the whole cat out of the bag thing was to blame, my guess is no comment, wait for Austin could just as well have sufficed for what little information there is right now.
For my money, the IAC/GG camp still haven't figured it all out yet. Especially as it pertains to the existing GG community and its commitment (and investment) in Torque. So, they're probably just winging it. Sound familiar?
09/26/2007 (5:12 am)
Quote:The only reason the "Phantom" failed was the lack of $ to get it off the ground, otherwise I honestly believe we'd have them in many households by now.
uhm, no. The Phantom failed due to misappropriation of funds. They burned through more than $50m of investors money and came up with, well, nothing.
Quote:InstantAction.com seems to be yet still, a far easier way than what that company is trying to do. GG may very well surprise alot of people. I for one hope that GG succeeds in grand style.
We'll see.
When you invest $50m in a venture, I would like to think that hope plays no part in it. You either know what you're doing or you don't.
If Barry wanted to get on the ground floor of this concept as stated, he should've bought out the Phantom console assets. Obviously somebody (in his camp) wasn't doing their homework.
But you have to ask yourself, why would anyone want yet another box? Sure they already have a PC, but thats hardly the pathway to the living room.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself who you're selling browser based games to. Well, its the same market thats currently buying and playing them. No what you're left with is - yet another - player. Competition is good, but competition for the sake of competition - without bringing anything new to the table - is a waste of money.
I, for one, simply _cannot_ see how this browser base gaming initiative is going to move anything forward. Its not going to compete with the likes of standalone (boxed or ESD versions) gaming, nor is it even going to put a dent in console gaming. So, where is the market and whats the point.
Fact of the matter is, corporations don't go out forking $50m without reams and reams of [largely useless] paperwork showing all sorts of charts, graphs, projections and whatnot. So someone in Diller's camp obviously thought this was a good idea, took it to Diller and co etc. How they came to pair with GG is anyone's guess. And for some odd reason, nobody's talking about that in terms of who approached who, when and why.
The fact that this whole thing seems to be shrouded in mystery, shady, shody and cloudy explanations is suspect enough. Not to mention the fact that for months (since the investment was done) and up until now, the GG community doesn't know any more than what every other mere mortal on the Net, knows. Again, thats another Red flag. Seriously, whats the big secret - or the big deal for that matter? If they were going to wait until Austin to announce and reveal all, why uhm, pre-empt it with all these statements at all? Why not just, well, wait? Even if the whole cat out of the bag thing was to blame, my guess is no comment, wait for Austin could just as well have sufficed for what little information there is right now.
For my money, the IAC/GG camp still haven't figured it all out yet. Especially as it pertains to the existing GG community and its commitment (and investment) in Torque. So, they're probably just winging it. Sound familiar?
#155
10 years ago we didn't have portable hardware that was as capable as home hardware. Today we have things like the PSP and the iPhone which clearly demonstrate that home gaming consoles and PC's are losing their homefield advantage. In 10 years it'll be easy to imagine playing World of Warcraft on your cell phone or your PC ... perhaps the specs will be slighty different but that'll be controlled by the software. Virtual machines will sit on top of all hardware. There's a reason Sun created Java, Microsoft jumped on board with .NET, and Google has started creating software that is purely browser based and accessible from any hardware that can access the net.
Anyone talking about this 10 years ago was just too forward thinking. Today, the writing's on the wall. The difference between hardware isn't appreciable any more. You could make the same game on the PSP, Xbox 360, and the PC. The visuals might not be 100% yet but the gameplay and settings could be the same.
09/26/2007 (7:46 am)
Quote:
A little more than a decade ago, vendors were pushing hard these cheap boxes that did nothing but plug into a network and run a browser to the corporate world.
10 years ago we didn't have portable hardware that was as capable as home hardware. Today we have things like the PSP and the iPhone which clearly demonstrate that home gaming consoles and PC's are losing their homefield advantage. In 10 years it'll be easy to imagine playing World of Warcraft on your cell phone or your PC ... perhaps the specs will be slighty different but that'll be controlled by the software. Virtual machines will sit on top of all hardware. There's a reason Sun created Java, Microsoft jumped on board with .NET, and Google has started creating software that is purely browser based and accessible from any hardware that can access the net.
Anyone talking about this 10 years ago was just too forward thinking. Today, the writing's on the wall. The difference between hardware isn't appreciable any more. You could make the same game on the PSP, Xbox 360, and the PC. The visuals might not be 100% yet but the gameplay and settings could be the same.
#156
Saying that playing games - any meaningful game that is - on your cell phone (or similar device) is like saying that they're going to replace the combustion engine is ten years. Fact is, regardless of how many ways cars have evolved and no matter the electronics, the same old combustion engine is right where it is. Under the hood.
I don't know about you Jeremy, but when I want to play a meaningful and worthwhile game, I don't go looking for my PDA or cell phone. Unless I'm at a doctor's appointment, waiting for my daughter to get out of school or waiting Jesus H. Christ 'imself to show up at a bar mitzvah.
REGARDLESS of advancements in any form of gaming technology and/or delivery, there will always be more than one platform for gaming. There is a BIG difference between playing WoW on your PC and playing it on a console, let alone on a cell phone or similar device.
And I don't know where you got those rubbish figures from, but PSP (let alone the iPhone!) hasn't done _anything_ to cause gaming consoles or PC to lose their advantage. Are you kidding me?!!? Did you actually _check_ the sales figures for console and PC games since the PSP (and the DS for that matter) were released, before making that statement?!? If you did, you'd have noticed that, well, nothing could be farther from the truth.
None of which have anything to do with anything, let alone anything to do with the scope of this discussion. Java and .Net do vastly different things. And what has Google creating software got to do with the price of rice in China?
Rubbish.
09/26/2007 (8:41 am)
That whole thing about cell phones, PDAs and whatnot replacing gaming on large big displays is what it was ten years ago when they first said it. Rubbish.Saying that playing games - any meaningful game that is - on your cell phone (or similar device) is like saying that they're going to replace the combustion engine is ten years. Fact is, regardless of how many ways cars have evolved and no matter the electronics, the same old combustion engine is right where it is. Under the hood.
I don't know about you Jeremy, but when I want to play a meaningful and worthwhile game, I don't go looking for my PDA or cell phone. Unless I'm at a doctor's appointment, waiting for my daughter to get out of school or waiting Jesus H. Christ 'imself to show up at a bar mitzvah.
REGARDLESS of advancements in any form of gaming technology and/or delivery, there will always be more than one platform for gaming. There is a BIG difference between playing WoW on your PC and playing it on a console, let alone on a cell phone or similar device.
And I don't know where you got those rubbish figures from, but PSP (let alone the iPhone!) hasn't done _anything_ to cause gaming consoles or PC to lose their advantage. Are you kidding me?!!? Did you actually _check_ the sales figures for console and PC games since the PSP (and the DS for that matter) were released, before making that statement?!? If you did, you'd have noticed that, well, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Quote:There's a reason Sun created Java, Microsoft jumped on board with .NET, and Google has started creating software that is purely browser based and accessible from any hardware that can access the net.
None of which have anything to do with anything, let alone anything to do with the scope of this discussion. Java and .Net do vastly different things. And what has Google creating software got to do with the price of rice in China?
Quote:Anyone talking about this 10 years ago was just too forward thinking. Today, the writing's on the wall. The difference between hardware isn't appreciable any more. You could make the same game on the PSP, Xbox 360, and the PC. The visuals might not be 100% yet but the gameplay and settings could be the same.
Rubbish.
#157
All hardware platforms now support web browsers and each of the those platforms are offering more and more similar experiences in terms of what the hardware can do. You can now play a FPS game on any platform out there. The difference from platform to platform will be akin to the differences between high and low end PC's (now or anytime). Developers will simply create graphics options depending on which platform and browser you are using.
With InstantAction let's speculate for fun that I create my game "Oust" to run on the platform. Now on the PC I might offer real time shadows, bumps, high resolution textures ... etc... But the platform also supports the Wii, afterall Torque is supported on that platform which also has a web browser but the platform has more meager specs. The game could scale to both platforms easily. In fact if somehow InstantAction could run in the PSP browser that hardware could also easily accomodate the game but obviously the control scheme would be different on each platform. Then perhaps we start tracking high scores and such depending on what controllers you used etc...
I'll step on the limb just a touch further and say that I've had this very same idea for a while now and have put some decent thought into it. If you don't see it that's cool. Afterall experts in any field only have the ability to predict the future of their specialty 60% of the time. Really, not much better than 50/50 odds at this point between the two opinions.
I'd also like to comment on the PDA/Cell phone thing. Sure at this point the expereinces aren't great just a tiny screen with limited multiplayer and old games. However, imagine a future where (unlike Bill Gates home of the future which has projectors everywhere) just your cell phone as a projector which could soon well be HD or some sort of holgraphic image. In due time the cell phone will be the hardware platform of choice. No one will want to be tied down to a TV when you can share images at will anywhere in the world without a heavy monitor. Imagine even a simple networked game where one cell phone is the server and projector while others log into it. I can picture images akin to the old arcade days but with more people lining up to challenge eachother whilst viewing the images of gameplay via a large projection on a building wall.
A lot of this is a pipe dream right now but the future is always coming. InstantAction I'm assuming is gunning along these lines (not the cell phone thing necessarily but the multiplatform browser thing) and it might not succeed since it's the first one out there which historically doesn't guarantee any sort of victory as others duplicate and improve quickly off the base design of the forerunners. At the very least though it's a forward thinking idea (especially since work began on it 2 years ago) and whether this platform wins out or not is irrelevant because it's moving the industry forward. Seperate code on seperate hardware, seperate retail releases, seperate boxes, etc. etc... are all relics of the past. Soon you'll simply create the experience and people will have the ability witness it anywhere ... anytime.
09/26/2007 (10:14 am)
I wasn't making mention of the PSP or iPhone in terms of their sales figures just what they offer in terms of hardware and freedom. Sure people will still play games on their PC's and consoles but why make different versions of the game on a disc for each platform you want to support when you can just make a game that runs in the web browser of each hardware platform? All hardware platforms now support web browsers and each of the those platforms are offering more and more similar experiences in terms of what the hardware can do. You can now play a FPS game on any platform out there. The difference from platform to platform will be akin to the differences between high and low end PC's (now or anytime). Developers will simply create graphics options depending on which platform and browser you are using.
With InstantAction let's speculate for fun that I create my game "Oust" to run on the platform. Now on the PC I might offer real time shadows, bumps, high resolution textures ... etc... But the platform also supports the Wii, afterall Torque is supported on that platform which also has a web browser but the platform has more meager specs. The game could scale to both platforms easily. In fact if somehow InstantAction could run in the PSP browser that hardware could also easily accomodate the game but obviously the control scheme would be different on each platform. Then perhaps we start tracking high scores and such depending on what controllers you used etc...
I'll step on the limb just a touch further and say that I've had this very same idea for a while now and have put some decent thought into it. If you don't see it that's cool. Afterall experts in any field only have the ability to predict the future of their specialty 60% of the time. Really, not much better than 50/50 odds at this point between the two opinions.
I'd also like to comment on the PDA/Cell phone thing. Sure at this point the expereinces aren't great just a tiny screen with limited multiplayer and old games. However, imagine a future where (unlike Bill Gates home of the future which has projectors everywhere) just your cell phone as a projector which could soon well be HD or some sort of holgraphic image. In due time the cell phone will be the hardware platform of choice. No one will want to be tied down to a TV when you can share images at will anywhere in the world without a heavy monitor. Imagine even a simple networked game where one cell phone is the server and projector while others log into it. I can picture images akin to the old arcade days but with more people lining up to challenge eachother whilst viewing the images of gameplay via a large projection on a building wall.
A lot of this is a pipe dream right now but the future is always coming. InstantAction I'm assuming is gunning along these lines (not the cell phone thing necessarily but the multiplatform browser thing) and it might not succeed since it's the first one out there which historically doesn't guarantee any sort of victory as others duplicate and improve quickly off the base design of the forerunners. At the very least though it's a forward thinking idea (especially since work began on it 2 years ago) and whether this platform wins out or not is irrelevant because it's moving the industry forward. Seperate code on seperate hardware, seperate retail releases, seperate boxes, etc. etc... are all relics of the past. Soon you'll simply create the experience and people will have the ability witness it anywhere ... anytime.
#158
Hardware is, and always will be extremely important in software design. There is no way around it.
While everyone talks about exposing game features on cell phones, that doesn't mean that the phones are running the same games. They never will.
09/26/2007 (10:32 am)
@Jeremy- THis round of consoles has been really disruptive to the games industry *BECAUSE* of the hardware differences. In the last round of consoles, Electronic Arts specifically centered their development strategy around building for a common platform and then porting to each. But the wildly divergent hardware and control schemes in this round forced them to scramble. It's no longer just a question of a port (in fact, games that ARE just a straight port to the Wii are disappointing).Hardware is, and always will be extremely important in software design. There is no way around it.
While everyone talks about exposing game features on cell phones, that doesn't mean that the phones are running the same games. They never will.
#159
09/26/2007 (10:53 am)
Right, there are differences and everyone wants a solution which provides the path of least resistance. That path is through the Internet and browser technology.
#160
09/26/2007 (11:02 am)
Anyone have any clue what technology InstantAction is based on (Java, C#, etc.)? 
Derek Smart
Yeah, I just read that as well and it echos pretty much....oh, nevermind.