Here’s a fun-to-read commentary by Raph Koster, “Why Games Matter”, which is a cartoon-accompanied thread explaining a few of Raph’s thoughts on the Theory of Fun:
http://www.theoryoffun.com/tfall.shtml
Recommended!

Read the rest of Why Games Matter

A comment on the last GameIS conference about the conversion ratio of users from Registering to Subscribing and paying, sent me thinking:

Naturally most subscription-based game services would like to maximize their revenues, traditionally originated from subscription or from virtual items sold to players.
But there is another type of revenue that multi-player games look at, that is obtained from the non-subscribed users, which are often the majority of the players, especially in browser-based games.�
The users registered for the free portion of the service also provide a great value to the player community, that eventually translates to more subscriptions. In some cases, they also provide indirect income through ads.
This, however does not come in free. There are costs associated with such users that must be weighed against their value to the game revenues.

Read the rest of Regs & Subs: MMOG Business Balance

Here’s the lab skin, finally approved to go online.
Real content will be added over the next few days.
If you would like to comment on the skin (too colorful, Eh?) or suggest an article (or maybe write it yourself?) – feel free to comment here or contact me directly.

Read the rest of MyGamesLab goes live (Alpha)