Reviewing the history of video games explains why Sony is dominant today, and why Microsoft is actually introducing competition, not limiting it.
Gaming the Smiling Curve
The spate of recent acquisitions in the gaming space — Take-Two and Zynga, Microsoft and Activision, and Sony and Bungie — make sense in the context of the Smiling Curve.
Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard, Notes on the Acquisition, An Interview With Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer
Breaking down Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, plus an interview with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer
Starfield, an Xbox Exclusive; Xbox Cloud Gaming; New Consumer Paradigms
Microsoft’s E3 announcement give more shape to its cloud gaming ambitions, and highlight how difficult new consumers paradigms are today.
Roblox vs. Second Life (and Minecraft), The Creativity Era, Roblox’s Business
More on what makes Roblox unique, and why App Store fees are ever more difficult to justify.
The Roblox Microverse
Roblox is something new and interesting that abstracts away the platforms underneath it.
PS5 and Xbox, Sony’s Console, Microsoft’s Service
Sony and Microsoft have both released details about their next generation consoles, and their strategies couldn’t be more different.
Microsoft Build, Microsoft’s Strategic Clarity, An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Microsoft’s Build was good for what it had — and what it didn’t, even accidentally. Microsoft’s future is about meeting real business needs, not wowing customers. Plus, an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Drake on Twitch, Fortnite vs PUBG and Selling Feelings, The Returns to the Best
Drake was playing video games on Twitch, and it blew up: there is so much to unpack about games, new business models, Twitch, and asymmetrical returns on the Internet. (Plus, a brief note on that Siri article)
CES 2016, Augmented vs Virtual Reality, The Resilience of Video Games
I continue to think that CES is getting more interesting, thanks to the maturation of the smartphone. Then, the differences between augmented and virtual reality, and how that explains the resilience of video games.