How to convert me to a Hotlink/Maxis user, Part 2

First, you want someone cool with dreadlocks? Mr Reshmonu may be very talented, but he does not posses the menacing killer look that taunts people subconsciously into submission. Put in none other than Predator, they take puny humans for tea and vicious Aliens for dinner, need I say more?



Can you think of someone more fitting than Mr Predator? Will you submit to Maxis just yet? The best is yet to come, stay tuned...

How to convert me to a Hotlink/Maxis user, Part 1

As a frequent LRT user, I encounter this ad in many formats more than once a day. Four times or more per day, to be precise. The sight of it is pretty annoying. Lets first do an in depth analysis and the philosophy behind the ad campaign, and you may know why it pisses me off.



First, look at the dude behind, an dude with dreadlocks ala Jamaican. Alright, he may be Jamaican for all I know, and I recall seeing him on TV singing. The way he holds the Hotlink starter kit looks like its something so extreme that it might jump off his hands anytime and do a somersault. (heres an article by Maddox on "Extreme Marketing", WARNING!! not for the faint hearted, and most definitely not for kids) Maxis wants you to know that this dude is cool, Hotlink starter kit is cool, and by using Hotlink you’ll stand a chance to be cool too.

Next, the dude on the right. Again, I have no idea who he is, but he DOES look a tad geeky. Maxis wants you to know, if you’re a geek, you’re not left out, you’re not a social outcast, you’re IN by making the switch to Hotlink! Come on, geeks know tech, geeks know gadgets, you can’t be wrong if you choose something that a geek points a finger at and smile can’t you? Oh well, geeks rule the universe anyway.

I may know peanuts about pop, but I do know Siti Nurhaliza, the darling of all Malaysians, the one that charms her way into everybody’s heart. She is doing exactly the same thing here. As opposed to the other two dudes, she don’t even need to hold a starter pack! Just smile and melt away any passer-by’s hearts, and they will convert to a Hotlink user unknowingly. Pretty smart eh!

Pretty smart ideas above, but I say, its not enough to convert me!

Stay in touch, as I will do a complete rehash of the ad campaign, that will convert the staunchest of Maxis-Hotlink resisters! Too much crap writing in a day is bad for the soul...

Eye Scream #4

If Typical Males Stopped Playing...



Jesus said: "I tell you that if these(his disciples) should keep silent(stop praising God), the stones would immediately cry out." - Luke 19:40

I say: "If typical males should stop playing(video games), women and chefs would immediately start playing."

Picture taken at TechEd 2004, after the "typical males" got bored of playing Halo and left their seats.

Ooops... I smell of blasphemy

Blogging from a Hair Salon, Part 3

I approve of the most unholy union of all! Haircuts and games.
There are some games lying around on the desktop - O2Jam, Gunbound, Yahoo's Super Text Twist to mention a few.

I am dreaming of the day when I could level up my profession as an undead barber in the World of Warcraft, styling floating banshee hair, helping abominations to grow hair and giving haircuts to deathknights while in the real world, a barber is doing the same on me. (A check later shows that the profession of barber is missing in the World of Warcraft. You may choose to take tailoring or cooking as a secondary profession though. Another link.)

Many thanks to the hair stylist, Amanda who has been very kind for not chasing me away while I'm writing all these crap.

Blogging from a Hair Salon, Part 2

I'm still at the hair salon!

Going to the barber, or any hair salon had always been a phobia to me.

1. I go completely speechless whenever asked the question "how should I style/cut your hair". I have no freakin' idea myself!

2. In most of the barber shops/hair salons, there are no reading materials. (Master Q, Nu You, Cleo, Seventeen, etc are not reading materials!)

3. My fear of talking to strangers and suckiness of Cantonese(the most used language in Kuantan and KL) render me a social idiot in 1 on 1 situations, just me and the barber/hair stylist. (slowly overcoming that)

4. I hate looking at the mirror. Whats there to look at the mirror? Myself? I don't get any more good looking by staring blankly at the mirror. Sometimes, I even get depressed looking at my precious hair being cut off, or looking at myself slowly transforming into a geek. (in the case of geek haircuts)

That explains why I have relatively long hair most of the time. I dread haircuts!

However, there is no fear right now right here. My first haircut with an internet connection.
I am getting my daily dose of soccernet, bloglines, igda, while the hair stylist is doing whatever she wants to do on my hair.

I fully endorse the unholy marriage of haircuts and internet connection!

This unique experience is available at Time Square, fourth floor, Kimmarie Hair Salon. For a cost of below RM40(experienced hair stylist) or below RM20(inexperienced hair stylist).

Blogging from a Hair Salon, Part 1

I'm blogging from a hair salon!

Well not really, I've just finished my haircut, and places seem to be scarce here, so I might have to make a move soon.

More about it later then!

Eye Scream #3

Proton Boleh!



Proton cars making an appearance in the next AAA game title!? Too bad FIFA2005 is not a racing game, neither does it have anything to do with cars.

The Male Game Developer Ego

Last thursday, we had an informal game developer gathering at Mcdonalds, Midvalley. Here's the brief roundup, complete with 2 photos, courtesy of Yow Chuan.

Basically, its a gathering of wanna-be game developers still at the bottom of the game developer food chain, shooting questions after questions at two industry veterans: Robert Rice and Trey Ratcliff. Many thanks to Robert and Trey for sharing their industry experiences.

In the session, Trey shared something interesting about the mobile games industry. In the US, someone did a research on the American player statitics and habits of mobile games. Many would have guessed that most mobile gamers are male working adults aged between 20-30, playing while commuting or waiting for a bus.

We were all DARN wrong. Apparently, most mobile gamers are housewives between 30-50 years old, playing games sitting on their comfy couch. Right below that at second place, we have schoolgirls playing mobile games while their TVs(!) and computers(!) are on.

Although the mobile gamer statistics may differ in Malaysia, the results actually accurately describe casual gamers as the meat of the pie in the mobile games industry. Housewives and schoolgirls fit very well in the "casual gamers" category.

Many prominent marketing and sales figures have been hailing the coming age as the "women's age" as women slowly gain more buying power.If game developers were to capitalize on the lucrative women's market, with housewives and schoolgirls as focus groups, there would be games on infidelity, unhappy marriages, steamy romantic affairs and caped bandits who turn out to be exciting lovers. For the school girls, there will be games about prom queens, new shoes, puppy loves, senseless "i'm more popular than you" rivalries, and hunky football players.

In the market right now, there are games for children, games that obviously target blood thirsty male audiences, and sex neutral games(the sims, tetris) that traditionally sell very well, but how come there are virtually no games that targets the female audience?

Either its because game publishers do not want to venture into the unknown and face uncertainty, or there is a male game developer ego deep down within the majority male game developers.

"Our dream is to make fun games", or "our dream is to make fun games that will not put a dent to our ego"?