Three new additions to the collection

Last weekend, I joined "the dark side" by purchasing the 40GB Playstation.

At the same time, I added Guitar Hero III for the PS3.

Then, of course, I had to add Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the 360.

GTAIV "could ship 8.1M copies

Analyst: GTAIV could best Halo 3's debut - Xbox 360 News at GameSpot

I recently posted on the delay of GTAIV and I've been keeping my eye on the games progress ever since.

I thought I would share this link as some sort of credibility or confirmation to my thoughts.

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Hero

Hero:
Master Chief

Reasoning:
- He represents one of the largest marketing campaigns ever (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/halo3/news.html?page=1&sid=6178582). As my profession, marketing is what geeks me out.

- He saved the planet from domination and humans from extinction.

- He is a symbol that says, "Everyone in hollywood these days were the people that made fun of the geeks in high school. Now, my friend, above everything hollywood has produced the geeks hold the
#1 (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=55799)
and #2 (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/oct04/10-19halo2momentumpr.mspx) entertainment records of all time."

- He has created a community of empassioned members that is every marketers dream (http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.xbox360fanboy.com/media/2007/09/halo3launchandimexcited.jpg).

- He is the result of a small company with a passion going big (http://xbox.ign.com/articles/081/081026p1.html). As an entrepreneur, its encouraging to see a start-up make it big.

Bungie/Microsoft split

Bungie and Microsoft officially split - Xbox 360 News at GameSpot

I have been wanting to write about this since I heard the news, but didn't know how to immediately react. Since the news broke, I have had many thoughts (which I will save you) and have ultimately arrived here:

Bungie = Innovation

I respect the developers there at Bungie for the splash that they have created in the gaming industry. I went back and watched my 'bonus disk DVD' that came with my collector's edition of Halo 2, then watched the 'anatomy of a game' documentary that came with my Legendary edition of Halo 3. What I saw was a developer that struggled immensely with Halo 2 (right after the MS acquisition), and subsequently had a much more professional approach to game development in Halo 3.

I encourage you to go back, watch the bonus disks and conduct your own comparison.

Yet, instead of thinking that the break-up would be the demise of Bungie, I think the short-lived tenure with MS is exactly what the team at Bungie needed to elevate as a one of the only top-tier game developers in the industry. (Bungie, Epic, id, Infinity Ward, Rare, Rockstar)

To me a "top-tier" game developer is one that takes a platform like Xbox Live and revolutionizes online multi player. Ask yourself, how many times has Halo 2 been played online? I think it is upwards into the billions.

A "top-tier" game developer is one that holds the nations #1 and #2 entertainment records (Halo 2 landed ~$125M in its first 24 hours, Halo 3 landed ~$170M in its first 24 hours).

Now is that resume possible because of the financial stake that MS had in Xbox? Of course! Is that resume made possible by the 100's of millions of dollars that MS put into marketing Halo. Yes. That's exactly why I think the team at Bungie had the fortunate son experience at MS to polish its professional game development skills. (see: Gamespot's review on Halo 3 and pay particular attention to what Jeff says in that last minute or so)

So, in my mind, the short-lived relationship was mutually beneficial; Bungie put Xbox on the map with Halo a hell of a lot quicker than most in the industry expected to see MS rise to the top, and MS gave Bungie the time, money and skills it needed to help perfect its game design/development skills. In other words, Bungie knows by first-hand experience what it takes to develop a game that makes ~$170M in its first 24 hours.

So why does Bungie = Innovation?

Bungie will now take off as the market leader, based on its future innovative ideas, that are derived from its successful days at MS and what it takes to have a historically successful game such as Halo. I look forward to what Bungie can do with a blank palette. I look forward to midnight releases for upcoming Bungie games.

My fear is that it will be a long time before we see a "halo-class" game again. Meaning, what other hardware manufacturer is going to take a developer and put the same resources into it that MS put into Bungie and the Halo series. I just don't think it will happen again. I think you will see more and more games that are marketed at the level that you have seen Gears of War, GTAIV, COD4: Modern Warfare, Guitar Hero II & III, Rock Band, etc.

I just don't know how confident I am that another video game will top the entertainment charts again like Halo did.

In sum, I think Bungie has a bright future because of its experience at MS, an experience that no other developer can claim.

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I own it

The accompanying picture is fruit of my labor yesterday.

Yesterday, if you hadn't heard, was the launch of the most anticipated video game in history. In sum, Ashley and I were at the local GameStop from ~8:45 to 12:15 in line with probably 100 people.

It actually worked well. Everyone in line had already pre-paid and was there only to pick the game up; so the line went really fast once midnight came. We were in and out of the store in less than 5 minutes.

Its quite a sight to see if you haven't been to a midnight release party. Ashley, however, said the she won't be attending any more in the future. It was her proverbial "first, and last."

Took it home, unpacked the box and played for a little while. I didn't go crazy with it yet; still saving it for when I can sit and focus (and not be sleep deprived).

Starbucks + Apple

For this post, read this Press Release

There are a lot of reasons why I like this story:

1. As a marketer, I am a big fan of Apple's marketing strategy. This marketing move for both companies is, what I believe, real marketing. Its not a fluffy super bowl commercial that makes an undeliverable promise, or a billboard that I cannot react to, or a banner ad on a site that I will never click on. This story, in a way, creates the demand in me to have that new iPod Touch or iPhone and enjoy my technology over a great Latte.

2. As a person with a digital life including smart phone, blog, iPod, website and web 2.0 social network, I like that Starbucks is enabling me to carry on that digital life at every one of their stores. Apple's marketing team, I believe, understood an affinity in their target market (ie, that they frequent Starbucks for the coffee and atmosphere) and developed a strategy to leverage that affinity knowledge and create more iTunes sales at the same time. Beautiful!

3. As a gadget geek, I am a big fan of Apple's products all together - although I only own an iPod. I like that Apple is working to make its products more prevalent, regardless of the PC vs. Mac debate. Apple, in other words, is not spending its marketing dollars just trying to convince me of why they win the PC vs. Mac debate, but rather Apple is making it more and more enticing for me to buy the Mac or next iPod because I know I can use it everywhere. I know my Mac product will be supported.

All around, I like this story. The marketing and economic implications is what makes me deem this story blog-worhty.

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Halo 3

I hope you are ready to 'finish the fight'...

Is it a confirmation or rebuttal to government regulation on datacenters?

The DOE Joins The Green Grid - Data Center Knowledge

In my last post (which I realized I didn't actually post the day I wrote it), I attempted to bring up a thought-provoking question about the inevitability of government regulation.

Today I read that the Department of Energy (see link above) has joined an industry-created organization called The Green Grid. By definition, "The Green Grid is a consortium of information technology companies and professionals
seeking to lower the overall consumption of power in data centers
around the globe."

Some observation points:

- I like that a government agency is following the lead of a 'market-created' organization. Is that a reflection of a Republican being in office?

- There is something fundamentally different between the energy-consuming companies in the datacenter industry when compared to other large energy-consuming industries. Many of the regulation tactics mentioned in the articles I have read are all reminiscent of government's attempt at regulating other environmentally harmful industries (see: carbon credits, tax implications, standard metrics, etc.)

- The market found profit in self-regulation. Why have the leaders in the datacenter industry decided to self-regulate? You know it must be because they found gain in it. Therefore, its nice to see that the industry leaders took that marketing lesson on the political environment back in their college days seriously.

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Government regulation on datacenters?

Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives : ENERGY STAR

I'll admit to you right now that I have not read or investigated the Energy Star report delivered to congress in detail, but I ran across an interesting blog entry over at Data Center Knowledge debriefing the report.

My gut reaction is that the industry *without government intervention* was already beginning to regulate itself (to which I applaud). See: the recent creation of the The Green Grid, or see the recent webinar by Digital Realty Trust on "Green Datacenters", and 365 Main's marketing efforts on becoming "green" certified.

I have my hesitations about any further government intervention - at the same time, know it is inevitable when you reflect on the startling fact that datacenters make up between 1 and 1.5% of the U.S.'s entire energy consumption.

I saw mention of tax credits, standardized metrics and utility rebates and don't have any faith in the government actually being able to regulate accordingly. When we discuss datacenters, we're essentially talking about one of the most innovative areas in our entire economy (on the part of the companies that consume datacenters such as Google and other major internet properties). Therefore, I must ask, "what would it take for a government agency to regulate such innovation?"

If there is one thing that the government does well, its definitely not regulation - now taxation, on the other hand, is another story.

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On the wharf

our trip begins..

I heart Ashley

Good times with Ashley and I playing the Nintendo Wii

The Baseball Game

One of my favorite places to be.

View is pretty good from our seats, huh?

Government regulation on datacenters?

Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives : ENERGY STAR

I'll admit to you right now that I have not read or investigated the Energy Star report delivered to congress in detail, but I ran across an interesting blog entry over at Data Center Knowledge debriefing the report.

My gut reaction is that the industry *without government intervention* was already beginning to regulate itself (to which I applaud). See: the recent creation of the The Green Grid, or see the recent webinar by Digital Realty Trust on "Green Datacenters", and 365 Main's marketing efforts on becoming "green" certified.

I have my hesitations about any further government intervention - at the same time, know it is inevitable when you reflect on the startling fact that datacenters make up between 1 and 1.5% of the U.S.'s entire energy consumption.

I saw mention of tax credits, standardized metrics and utility rebates and don't have any faith in the government actually being able regulate accordingly. When we discuss datacenters, we're essentially talking about one of the most innovative areas in our entire economy (on the part of the companies that consume datacenters). therefore, I must ask, "what would it take for a government agency to regulate such innovation?"

If there is one thing that the government does well, its definitely not regulation - taxation is another story.

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Test

Starting the mobile blog...

A different way of serving ads to me

Official Google Blog: Online ad-serving tests

Have you heard of Google's new ad-serving tests? See the link above.

A couple of quick points:

I like that it is targeted. SEM should be a part of any company's "meat and potatoes" marketing tactics.

I like that you can opt-out. Are people afraid of Google collecting data still? If so, they can opt-out.

I like that Google is attempting to ONLY deliver ads that are relevant and pertinent to the buyer in the context of that buyer expressing his/her own affinities. Meaning, if that buyer is on the sharperimage website, then Google only displays ads contextually relevant to what that buyer is looking at (if that user has cookies enabled).

Quote from the blog post above: "giving users the ability to provide feedback to us about the ads they like and don't like."

How often have you gone to a site just to look to see if their advertisements were posted? Have you done that with Apple's ads? What if you could now choose which ads are delivered to you in the place you (probably) spend the most amount of time - the Internet?

It's interesting food for thought and I seem to like what Google is doing here. So why does it feel a little awkward to have ads customized to me on the Internet?

...don't know. Probably all of those years I have been told by marketers what I should like; now, evidently, I get to choose what I like.

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Its done when its done

Grand Theft Auto IV delayed to 2008 - PlayStation 3 News at GameSpot

My favorite game site (and every other gaming site on the net) has been discussing the recent GTA IV delay basically framing the discussion around the question: "are the consumers reacting negatively?"

In my case, I think the answer to that question is, simply, no. Here is why:

1. Rockstar has made the GTA series a huge hit. When, in the marketplace, the supplier reaches a level of dominance that Rockstar has achieved, the consumer is much more forgiving. Why? Because the consumer has expectations that they know the supplier will deliver on (e.g. based on previous experience with Rockstar games and and the GTA series in particular, they know that whenever they get their hands on IV, that it will be a superior product).

2. "It's done, when it's done." My much admired developer/publishers over at id software coined the phrase that the gaming industry lives and dies by. The consumer sits anxiously awaiting the next blockbuster hit from the top developers and publishers, while the marketers go to work building the demand and anticipation for launch date (see our recent history with Halo and Gears of War). The catch phrase generated by John Carmack is exactly what that consumer understands most about his/her gaming addiction: "I want the game now, but I do not want the game now if it is going to suck!" My response: take your time Rockstar and build a great game, you will be rewarded for such fortitude.

3. Maybe, just maybe it has nothing to do with the game itself. What do I mean by that? I first have to discuss one of the things I hate most in the gaming industry: packing the holiday season with releases. The strategy of packing the holiday season with releases is a strategy of, I believe, easily capturing the low hanging fruit. Most of the money in the entire gaming industry is made during the holiday season because, obviously, that is when the "gaming core" are receiving presents. In other words, what does the gaming core ask for during the holiday season? Video games. When do most people have money that they are willing to spend? The holiday season. Well, look at this crowded holiday season for 2007.

What I hate about that is that it leaves the consumer begging, pleading for new content in the first half of the new year. So...what if Rockstar is going against the usual marketplace norms and this delay has nothing to do with the game itself?

Hear me out on this one - what if Take-Two was deliberately delaying its release into 2008 to avoid the high competition of the holiday season and the potential to be overshadowed by the likes of Halo 3, Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, UTIII, etc.? If so, that is smart in my books for two reasons: 1. the part of the year that the gaming consumer hates most, Q1 and Q2, is exactly when Take-Two will be releasing one of its most highly-anticipated games ever. There are NO new blockbuster-level games in Q1 and Q2 of the new year! So, what if Take-Two was releasing IV to drop in the period of the year when there is little competition, and is betting on the fact that so many people will buy IV because of their previous experience with the entire GTA series (see: point #1 above)?

Note: the press releases have all said that Take-Two is delaying the release until "the second quarter of its fiscal year 2008". That means the release could be somewhere in the months of May, June or July - sounds like the summer months to me, when there is no school.

====

Food for thought...

A gamble strategy by Rockstar/Take-Two? Possibly smart?

Only the financial performance of the GTA IV release will tell us.

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Video game marketing

Halo 3 marketing invades BK, 7-11, Pontiac and more - Xbox 360 Fanboy

As a marketer I read this article and think, "how much fun would it be to be one of the guys on the 'Halo 3 marketing machine'?"

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A datacenter in your home?

HP MediaSmart server powered by Windows Home Server | Crave : The gadget blog

By definition, way of wikipedia, a data center is "a facility used to house mission critical computer systems and associated components".

I bring this up because my client, DLR, is a major data center provider to the worlds largest corporations. They lease out data center space into the 100s of thousands of square feet to Fortune 2000 companies and the like.

So am I correct to read that computer manufacturers like HP, Dell and Cisco are attempting to take the data center into the home? Yes.

And it makes sense. In fact, I am anxious to build my own data center.

What does this mean?

Well, how many people do you know have their own domain? I own shawnfranklin.com and shawnnashley.com. I am even attempting to acquire shawn.com and ashley.com. Now imagine a data center in your home that houses your domain (e.g. shawnfranklin.com) where your website is designed to be your own "MySpace" like website that contains:

• your blog
• your slingbox connection
  
• your own email address and one for every member of your family (if you do not already have one set up through a service like Gmail)
• your photos (which you have housed on Google Picasa because you are a good data center manger of server spade)
• your own T1 connection (because everyone in the family is streaming video all at once and you need the bandwidth)

Now doesn't that fiber to the home look even more attractive?:

1. Telecommute - e.g. use an internet video phone to work from home in Dallas for a company in New York
2. Your own web hosting - e.g. if your site goes down, its because of factors that you may have more control over

What implications does this have?:

1. Power consumption - e.g. data centers are notorious for the amount of power they consume.
2. Technical saavy - e.g. are you equipped with the knowledge you need to manage a web/email server?
3. Cooling - e.g. these places need to be cool, much cooler than your normal 70 - 75 degrees in your house.

There is much more, but this is good food-for-thought for someone like me.

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Latest blog post for my company

Starr Tincup: The ever and ongoing battle of print advertising

Thought I should add a link here to a post I recently created for our company blog.

Please read it above before continuing with this post...

My secondary thought I had that I did not add to my company post was:

- Is this divergence from print advertising a generational thing?

Today, we have Digg / News, Google Reader, FeedBlitz - The Leading RSS and Blog to Email Service, del.icio.us, and countless other news and RSS feeds.

But how much advertising do you get through those RSS feeds? NONE. That's right; and that is exactly why so many people have opted-out of receiving the news paper at their front door and, instead, have chosen to receive their news and information via the Internet.

So, I wonder if a driving force of this abandonment of the magazines print edition is 'generational.' More than likely, yes.

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One of my favorites

I really like the way Google does business in many regards.

One of my favorites is the way they change their logo according to the holiday. Here is the Google logo for Independence Day:

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone! Enjoy this great country we are blessed with...

WOW

One word:

iPhone

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Examples of work

Here are some links to some of the clients I have managed:

Digital Realty Trust - DLR

This is currently the largest client I manage. I have been working with DLR (the companies ticker symbol) since February 2006. Its been a good run so far. Looking forward to what we do in 2008. Our engagement with DLR is a 'flagship' project; meaning every service we have is available to them. And let me add, we definitely use all of our services with DLR.

Recruitment Enhancement Services - RES

My newest client - started in mid-June. We are just getting started...


Starr Tincup : Example - Our Work is second to none

Anything you see listed on our examples page for DLR, RES, AMG, CPB or 3n1 was a project I managed.




Historical clients:

C. Pitman Baker & Associates, Inc.

CPB was only a client for a short while. They were acquired shortly after we started working together.

3N1 Promotions

This was one of the websites I project managed recently.

Alta Mesa Group | Executive Coaching | Dallas, Texas

This was a client I managed for only a couple of months.

Texas Cup Invitational

This HS golf tournament is run by the brother of one of the owners of the company I work for. That was a fun project!

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Help with creating blog entries

ScribeFire (previously Performancing for Firefox) :: Firefox Add-ons

A really cool tool I just downloaded to help with blogging updates...

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The meaning of business

Check us out: http://www.starrtincup.com

And our blog: http://starrtincup.blogspot.com

I just recently celebrated my three-year anniversary with the firm. There is a lot I could say about that feat. Some people have boring jobs - I cannot say that for mine.

Without my elaboration on that point, meet some of the people I work with.

The company turn-around that we have been able to pull off in the past year and a half has definitely been "business". I say that, because, I think (as I generalize everyone into huge buckets) most college business students or MBAs have a perception of what business should be like; that it is all about growth, and that smart people can create plans to achieve that growth, and that if you follow that plan it is a relatively smooth ride.

I will save you from what I mean by all of that, but it hasn't been a smooth and easy ride at Starr Tincup. But we are better for it. We are really good at what we do because of how hard it was to learn.

It's been a ride, to say the least. Its been "business".

This will be the blog all about the thoughts of Shawn Franklin.

Right now, all my attention is focused on www.shawnnashley.com and shawnnashley.blogspot.com