Tech Boom or Bubble?

By Tommy Leung on 05/22/2011 in Games, Marketing, Tech

LinkedIn had their IPO and more than doubled their share value in a day. Of course, the whole world is now wondering if there’s another tech bubble brewing. The tech bubble in 2000 wasn’t that long ago so we haven’t yet forgotten about it. But, is this just a case of being wary of getting burned twice or is there really a bubble in our midst?

I don’t work directly in the technology industry that’s booming. I work in the games industry and we’ve received an echo effect from the tech boom–specifically social games and apps. Some can say that social games and game apps for mobile devices have driven the boom but, that’s an entirely different discussion. For the record: I think games are an innovative driving force everywhere but, that has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

It’s safe to say that I’m not an outside Wall St analyst looking in. I’m not saying that makes my opinion anymore valid or correct but, I think I understand what’s happening better than a talking head. Or it makes me completely blind to what’s going on. Either way, it’s always good to get different perspectives.

It’s a Bubble Isn’t It?

The analysts are generally espousing doom and gloom. Jim Cramer says it’s ridiculous, outrages, and preposterous. Okay, Cramer was talking about the way Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and others priced the LinkedIn stock initially. The story goes that the stock was priced too low initially and that’s why we had this ridiculous one day rocket launch that more than doubled the stock price.

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25 Years of Super Mario

By Tommy Leung on 11/08/2010 in Games

While it would make a very good story if SuperTommy had any roots to Super Mario, I cannot in good conscience make up that lie. SuperTommy has more roots in Superman and that connection is fairly weak.

But when it comes to strength of influence on my life, Super Mario wins hands down. I fell in love with video games the first time I played Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I can’t tell you how old I was with any confidence but, I was young. Single digits young.

Unfortunately for the houses that Mario did not build, my love for video games doesn’t translate into any inkling of fanaticism for them. There are no other video game company or any other type of company that I would be a first adopter of and even wait in line–sometimes overnight–for the privilege. This is the kind of fanaticism that every company wishes they had more of.

I wait with bated breath every year during game industry conferences and expositions for new and exciting announcements from Nintendo and secretly hope that they’ll oust their competitors. None of this is rational. I don’t own stocks in Nintendo and their success or failure is of no direct consequence to me.

Party With Mario

Nintendo made the announcement of a celebratory event at their flagship store in New York City with little fuss. It was presented as a low key and relatively small event with cake, Mario games, and a chance to take pictures with a guy in a giant Mario costume.

This might have been amazingly intriguing if I was 12 but, being twice that old makes it a lot less appealing. I went to check it out anyway. There was little to lose although a great deal of events in the realm of video games, comics, and anime are oft filled with some fairly ill-adjusted folks and in the case of video games: large dudes who reek of BO. I’m just saying it as I see–or smell–it.

While the majority of the convention going crowd will likely burn me at the stake or at the very least shun me for making such comments, I love them all the same. It’s not necessarily my world but, I enjoy visiting from time to time. It’s not that I’m too good for it. It’s just not where I’m most comfortable.

So braving potentially crazy folks, interesting smells, and possibility that I might say something offensive, I went to the Nintendo World Store to check out what Nintendo had planned for the celebration of their biggest, most iconic, and highest grossing franchise.

Lines and Surprises

Only Nintendo can send out an inconspicuous party invitation detailing some of the most mundane of activities and still end up with a line that goes around the block. The Nintendo World Store is fairly small so I’m sure Nintendo had to juggle safety and buzz.

None of that deterred Mario’s fans who came out dressed up, lined up, and patiently waited until 12PM–by which time the line had already snaked around a Manhattan block–to be allowed into the store to celebrate. I got there around 11:30 and was half way down the block on the line. Half an hour early to an inconspicuous Nintendo event is not early enough.

Upon entering the store, there was already a mass of people around playing Mario games, checking out the redesigned Nintendo showcase, browsing products, and getting in another line to take a picture.

I eventually got on this line after walking around, playing some Mario, and checking out what was around. I could have just left after seeing how mundane the activities really were but, I decided to give it a chance.

While waiting on an incredibly slow moving line due to printer problems, a live speed run through Super Mario Bros. that took around 5 minutes and 20 seconds was conducted. I didn’t actually see it because there were so many people but, it was still cool to be in the area while such a feat was accomplished considering–I’m about to unveil another sin–I have never actually finished the original Super Mario Bros.

After taking a remarkably silly picture with an 8-bit Super Mario backdrop, it was time for the cake cutting ceremony. Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, was introduced. He is a celebrity amongst gamers. Since there was no mention of his presence in the invite, Nintendo clearly had little intention of drawing too large a crowd.

Reggie’s appearance wasn’t that surprising. There was rumblings that he was on the first floor of the store and it doesn’t take that much to fly from Redmond, WA to New York–I’m sure he does it all time. Reggie did the customary thanking of fans and then gave every Nintendo fan in the relatively tiny upstairs area of the Nintendo World Store a moment of sheer excitement as he motioned to introduce the creator of Mario: Shigeru Miyamoto.

To say the crowd erupted in a fervor would be an understatement. I’m not sure how the roof stayed on. The noise level to crowd size was something to behold.

I was mostly in a state of shocked awe.

Almost all of us in the video game world will concede that this tiny yet brilliant Japanese man is the god of video games. So being in the presence of this man is akin to being in the presence of a god.

As the crowd erupted at the sight of Miyamoto a few might have fainted like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. This man may be the only rock star of the video game world who needs the protection of security guards when he makes appearances. Miyamoto said a few words in Japanese accompanied by a prerecorded video with subtitles that nobody watched because the man was right in front of us: live!

He then proceeded to cut the cake and stay for photo ops for the press. I sneaked in behind the TV Miyamoto was standing in front of and with the help of a very large yet nice security guard, snapped a blurry photo and then a non-blurry photo of the greatest man in video games.

That made all the waiting in line and unappealing body odor worth it.

When You Love It, Stick With It

While this was mainly a media event for Nintendo to generate some buzz for themselves and Mario’s 25 years as well as a thank you to the fans who made Mario the success it is, I came away with something slightly different.

It isn’t news to me that I love everything about the game industry from all its glories to all its quirks and negative stereotypes. This form of media, art, and entertainment is a passion for me. There are other things that I love as well but, not in the same way.

Like most people, I wonder if my career choice is the best I’ve made and in my case: if games is the best. I will probably never know if its the best since that’s open to interpretation. But I know for sure that there is no feeling like seeing other people play and enjoy a game you’ve made. Reaching the amount of people that Miyamoto has will probably not be in my cards but, changing, inspiring, or enriching just one person’s life is well worth it.

And while that can be done through books, film, music, and other media. My media of choice is video games because I love it.

SuperTommy at NY Comic Con

By Tommy Leung on 10/10/2010 in Games, Life

I have a bare bones knowledge of comics so Comic Con has never been something I’ve gone to. This year, a friend of mine had a free ticket so why the hell not? I couldn’t make heads of tails about the comic part of Comic Con and I didn’t know any of the artists. I did see Lou Ferrigno and Jerry The King Lawler. I know who they are!

There were also a lot of pretty pictures–I’m going to get stoned by hardcore comic fans.

While the comics didn’t do much for me, I still appreciate the culture that Comic Con represents. I proceeded to the other section of Comic Con with game companies. Aha! I know these. Much more at home here.

There was also an anime convention going on in the same place but, it was a bit hidden and half-assed. I generally like to look at cosplay photos because they are so elaborate sometimes. I appreciate the effort that goes into creating these costumes–kinda like Halloween. Maybe I should do some cosplay? Or I should get my lazy ass to actually have a costume on Halloween. One step at a time.

There were plenty of cosplayers at Comic Con and quite a few of them were very impressive. Loved it.

IGN and Sprint

While I don’t really read anything at IGN anymore and I’m an AT&T customer, I spent most of the last couple hours at their booth. They had a Kinect demo there but, that wasn’t why I was there.

My brother’s girlfriend was working the booth as a model–she might kill me for linking the picture from IGN but, I don’t think she reads my blog; she’s in the middle. She was X-23 from the new Marvel vs Capcom 3 game. I had no idea who X-23 was–see, my comic knowledge is crap. So I met up with my brother and he played a demo of Dance Central on Kinect.

That’s the one game I’d like to play on Kinect. Nothing else really interests me. My brother looked a little foolish playing that game for the first time. I assume we all would but, it looked fun. Dancing in front of a bunch of strangers is never easy so I guess my brother has some balls–so to speak.

We hung around the IGN/Sprint booth until Comic Con ended. I had already walked around and saw about as much as I could see. I played a demo of Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii at Nintendo’s booth. Coincidentally, I had a dream that I played that game and it sucked. Luckily for Nintendo, it didn’t completely suck but, it didn’t live up to my nostalgia for the original Donkey Kong Country. I’m going to have to see what the game media has to say about this game before I get it.

SuperTommy VS Chun-Li

Capcom should put me–SuperTommy–in the next Street Fighter. I’ll take Street Fighter V or the next incarnation of Street Fighter IV. Do it Capcom!

While this picture on the right isn’t a versus as much as a tag team, my digital fighter self can totally take Chun-Li. On a personal note, Chun-Li is my second go to character after Guile in the games. I would also note that I’m not that good at Street Fighter. I get my ass handed to me easily online in Street Fighter 2.

I shared this photo on Facebook and a friend of mine said I looked lean. I totally agree. So this is where I will pimp the diet that I think everyone should go on. It’s good for you! Go do it.

Being that I knew one of the models at the booth, I ended up mingling with some of the other booth staff. I almost always think of Zoolander–one of my favorite movies of all time–when I talk about models. Anyway, their model for Captain America was physically impressive. I always appreciate someone who clearly has similar training ideals as I do–I discovered later that we shared the same beliefs on chronic cardio. I also found out later that he was in The Real World: Brookyn.

All in all, it was a pretty entertaining Sunday activity to head down to the Jacob Javits Center and geek out a little. I tried pretty hard not to be a game developer and marketer dissecting why they were doing this at this booth and all of that. It’s how my brain naturally operates.

Just to continue my newly started tradition of announcing some of my public appearances. I will very likely be at Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity in DC October 30th. Maybe I’ll unlock some more Foursquare badges like I did today!

Games and Growing Up

By Tommy Leung on 08/30/2010 in Games, Life

For someone who works in games, I write little about games. I know quite a bit about the medium. I enjoy reading giant tomes on the history of video games. The topic might be too dry for some but, I love it. To learn what was going on behind the scenes during the development of various big name games is like reading US Weekly for celebrity gossip to me.

I have very little interest in celebrity gossip. I’ll watch and love their movies, TV shows, and listen to their music but, their gossip and drama is not for me. How companies go from almost bankrupt to becoming a major success interests me. How a few people can create a breakthrough game in their basement and go on to change the world interests me.

Games as a Kid

I grew up in the 90′s. Being born in the mid 80′s means that I really remember nothing about that time. It was 1990 by the time I was four. It’s really only from the early 90′s and on that I have any recollection of life–everything before that is quite hazy.

The first video game experience I had was with the Nintendo Entertainment System at my grandmother’s house. The first games I played were Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Those games are still entertaining today–a testament to their designs’ lasting appeal.

I can’t say video games played a bigger role in my life than anything else specifically but, it is one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I may have very well watched just as much TV, listened to just as much music, and even read just as many books–granted, I don’t read much fiction.

How major a role video games played in my life is irrelevant. I don’t love TV like I do video games. The business and development of games interest me a lot more than that of TV. I like to watch TV shows but, I don’t really care how it’s made–I care more about its part in marketing.

From Hobbyist to Professional

The amount of time I spend playing games–and playing in general–has decreased as I’ve gotten older. My consumption of all entertainment has probably decreased as well. It’s pretty hard to be consuming and producing at the same time.

These days, I spend a lot of time working. Not just at work but, also all the work I do for me. Apparently, life doesn’t really progress if  I just sit still. I need to be constantly learning and doing work so that I have things to show for. What a drag!

And, there’s quite a few people with my name–I have a common first name and my last name isn’t that unique in the country of 1.5 billion people. My Google rank is always in flux so I have to stay on my toes. If I want to stay up there in the rankings and continue gaining relevancy, I need to keep producing. Keep thinking. Keep learning.

I chose to be part of the video game industry. One of those technology industries where the technology part is always changing! And to make things worse, video games are purely entertainment. One amongst a sea of many others that are much easier to come by and more established. What we do is not a necessity so we have to constantly innovate and push the envelope just to stay relevant!

The video game industry is not for the faint of heart when it comes to doing work. Mix that with my drive to be more than just another anonymous face and there’s little time left for all those cherished childhood activities.

Everyone Needs Play

But, we all need a break sometimes that doesn’t include bars and alcohol–for the sake of one’s liver. I end up playing a handful of games over the course of the year. Usually they are the big releases or the releases from franchises I’ve come to know and love. I don’t often try new games. It’s sad. As a game developer: almost sinful!

When I do sit down to play a game, it’s usually over a weekend. I just disappear. I’m busy to everyone. I set aside a block of time and play the whole thing through and move on. I prefer the 15 to 20 hour games. I can mow through those in a weekend.

If I don’t finish a game in one set block of time, I don’t quite know when I’ll have that time again. When I do, I may have forgotten where I was in the game and what I was supposed to do next. All of which makes me not want to continue and I eventually forget about it.

This is a poor strategy for playing any large volume of games. In fact, in 2010 I have only completed Mass Effect 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I expect to play Metroid: Other M. I started Uncharted but, have yet to finish it–I probably won’t. I’m playing StarCraft 2 in super small bursts. I bought Suikoden on the PlayStation Network Store and I’m playing that right now–kicking it back to the mid-1990′s.

Game Experiences and Game Development

In all likelihood, I will end up having completed 5 or so games this year. Many times more games were released this year along with all the games I’ve not played from years past.

Which means I would have experienced a small percentage of all games released in 2010 and that percentage gets smaller and smaller as we add on the years. This appears to be a problem amongst most gaming professionals outside of game journalists–their job is to play every game that comes out.

I don’t foresee there being a way to increase the amount of games I experience in a year. I also think that’s perfectly fine. As long as I’m experiencing enough–from every medium–to be able to produce good games, there’s no problem.

There’s so much to do in life that getting any of this done is an amazement.

Book Review of Nintendo Magic

By Tommy Leung on 05/28/2010 in Games

Nintendo Magic: Winning the Video Game Wars

There is one other book that talks about the business and history of Nintendo: Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World by David Scheff. That book is no longer in print. It hasn’t been in print for a long time. I have the 1999 paperback edition. I bought it used many years go. The cover is worn. It’s an old book and it shows.

I have several books on the history of video games. I love the industry. I don’t play nearly as much as I used to but, I grew up wanting to make video games. Video games had me at Mario.

When Nintendo Magic showed up as a recommendation for me on Amazon, I was intrigued. There are few books about the business side of video games and even fewer about specific companies and their successes. I was waiting for someone to write a book about the amazing success of the Nintendo DS and the Wii.

I have closely followed Nintendo ever since I was able to figure out how to use the internet to find information. So when Nintendo was warning of troubling times for the video game industry, I was listening. I was captivated by what Nintendo was publicly saying about the video game industry long before the success of the Nintendo DS and the Wii.

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