I’ll simply hand you out a link to tell you about something very interesting:
About OnLive (Kotaku)
I find that highly interesting and i am sure it can be a success if done right.
I am still in talks with New York daily to figure out something for “my” future aswell. Something has to change and i am 80% convinced. I hope to sort out the percentage left within this week… so i can finally reveal more.
your ads here (468x60) - after 1st post.
So i got this offer. Something i don’t want to write about yet, but it is big. It contains all the important factors to be successfull in Web 2.0 and even more. A YouTube-like feature within my sites? Very nice, plus its something i could never afford myself.
A few phone calls and email discussions later… and i may be convinced.
Can’t wait to reveal more here once the time is ready.
The latest GameStar had an exclusive hands-on report about the popular Anno-series. (at least very popular in europe)
I’ve written down the most interesting facts for anyone interested:
- Complete overhaul of camera system. Instead of dull over the top view there finally are changing perspectives which makes the in-game graphic films more dynamic.
- There’s a new “needs-system” which makes the settlement-build far more more fastidious and exciting.
- The building sites alone show more activity than the whole map in previous Anno games.
- Near a scaffold GameStar finds a building master who’s in danger. They save him and receive 15,000 points in gold. The developers want to build in such little gimmicks and gags throughout the game to make the game more alive and less mechanic.
- The usability has been improved alot and especially the water looks stunning
- The story is quite interesting and idiom-rich, yet a little plateful.
- The new “currency”: fame is generated by small and big success experiences.
- The strategy card has been completely revamped for the better: comfort lives.
- GameStars final Hands-on potential for the game: “Excellent” which is their top rating for previews.
I didn’t want to pick up that topic again, but my attempt to write a final EMail to Lars Kuehme (Capcom Germany’s PR guy) was stopped because Capcom has all my emails blocked. So they don’t even accept a clarification, appologize whatever.
So what did reHorror.net, a really huge fansite delivering quality Resident Evil content since 9 (!!!) years do to receive such a punishment by Capcom? We posted links to the hacked Resident Evil 5 demo content. For remembers: The japanese Resident Evil 5 demo, a publically available FREE software piece had been hacked by one of our forum members. And its not like this happened for the first time. The exact same thing happened with the Resident Evil 4 demo a few years back. Did the sites posting these got harmed? No.
The friendly (no irony here!) email from BenLeRougetel asking us to remove it: “Capcom’s European operation has had a good relationship with REHorror.net and we appreciate your support of the series. In the spirit of this relationship we would therefore also like to ask you to remove any reference to the hacking of the demo and the supposed content from all sections of your site”
Until now i am trying to see our good relationship with the european branch of Capcom . Out of 100 requests we got an interview with Kobayashi (Resident Evil 4’s producer) 6 months after the release of Resident Evil 4. It should also be mentioned that we had a Takeuchi interview lined up which we didnt get back within 4 months, when all our questions already have been asked and answered in other interviews with Jun Takeuchi.
My reply to Ben’s email, trying to clarify things and remembering him that the same thing happened with Resident Evil 4’s demo and also again asking about the status of our interview we where waiting for 4 months already must’ve went to the bin directly. I’ve never received a reply to my email so we left up the link to the content… without thinking thats the absolute end of our “good relationship” with Capcom i must admit.
And what is Capcom going to do with the hacker group who hacked the whole game 10 days prior to its release?… Now that is a financial loss i suppose.
Did i mention that it was due to reHorror.net i was able to meet the Dead Space team at Electronic Arts Redwood Shores studios in San Francisco? They saw the importance of a fansite, invited me to play a new survival horror game which is in direct competition with Resident Evil 4. Sure, thats marketing, but clever marketing and if the game is amazing in the end i have no problem getting marketed by them. No one asked me to found a Dead Space fansite, yet i did, because i loved the game. Did EA know that i put alot of money into my fansites? I am a internet marketer myself and i guess no one sees my ad campaigns for my sites on Yahoo Search Marketing or Google Adwords. Everyone only sees the ad revenue i get out of it and blame me for that.
In the end i must say that the dissapointment of being unable to clarify a few things with Capcom led me to post this here. It is very frustrating to see a site you’ve put all your energy in for 9 years gets that kind of punishment by Capcom. Sure, we understood the drama about the hacked demo and I’d have removed it all if Capcom would have had a more professional view on this.
Another example that we’re not evil: I’ve summarized GamePro germanies world exclusive Resident Evil 5 review on reHorror.net the day it came out, including scans of the article. A few hours later i got this very amazing email from GamePro’s chief editor:
” Hi everybody,
I just noticed the scans of the latest GamePro magazine on your website.
Normally, I would ask you to remove them. After all, it’s probably our most important cover story this year and we went through great efforts to make this possible.
However, after discussing the topic with our editorial staff we decided not take this course of action. We don’t want to spoil your dedicated website and appreciate your work.
But you could do us a favor and add at least a link to our website www.gamepro.de, where we will publish the full article as soon as the online embargo lifts.
Keep up the good work,
I immediately removed the scans when i read this and they didnt even ask us to do so. This is professional and if Capcom would’ve treathed us that way everything would still be fine.
With all this happening, reHorror.net is still running, more popular than ever but there’ll always be a bad taste in my mouth when i update my life’s work.
Good luck for the future Capcom, i’ve definitely learned my lesson and i hope you guys did too. There’s only so much companies can do to prevent leaks of their work. The first thing would be to not put the whole games’ content into the demo.
Will & Zack Gibbs
Gender: Male
Age: unknown
Origin: America
Lost since December 2008. Have you seen them? They’re proably already travelling through the artic cold…
If you find one of them and make him email me i’ll hand out USD30 to the lucky winner. Word.
Given that my previous blog posts only reached the people i DID NOT want to reach it, i’ve decided to pull all previous posts offline.
There’s now a portofolio page with all websites i am involved in so you can get a glimpse of what i am doing online.
Highlights for reHorror.net included the 10,000 visitor mark it was able to break a few days ago. The negative highlight is that i may need an even bigger server soon.
Highlights for deadspacehorror.con included an exclusive interview with Dead Space director and General Manager of EA Redwood Shores, Glen Schofield. And this will definitely not be the last exclusive for that site. Unlike reHorror.net this site enjoys huge respect from Electronic Arts and the work relationship between fansite and game developers may even become closer.
I was working 3 sundays every month in the copper factory since November 2008 and therefore i should be able to finally buy my dream car, an Audi A3 soon. Or i may just continue to save up to finally … buy the 75,000 dollars version of Josh Freese’s (NIN, A Perfect Circle) new album:
-Signed CD/DVD and digital download -T-shirt -Go on tour with Josh for a few days. -Have Josh write, record and release a 5 song EP about you and your life story. -Take home any of his drumsets (only one but you can choose which one.) -Take shrooms and cruise Hollywood in Danny from TOOL’s Lamborgini OR play quarters and then hop on the Ouija board for a while. -Josh will join your band for a month…play shows, record, party with groupies, etc…. -If you don’t have a band he’ll be your personal assistant for a month (4 day work weeks, 10 am to 4 pm) -Take a limo down to Tijuana and he’ll show you how it’s done (what that means exactly we can’t legally get into here) -If you don’t live in Southern California (but are a US resident) he’ll come to you and be your personal assistant/cabana boy for 2 weeks. -Take a flying trapeze lesson with Josh and Robin from NIN, go back to Robin’s place afterwards and his wife will make you raw lasagna.
A great way of marketing if you ask me and i am definitely sure all of these packages here get sold:
The year 2009 will be a pleasure for me when it comes to new album releases of my favourite artists: Isis, Mastodon, Dredg and many other great things like Justin Wilson’s (Porcupine Tree) first solo album which i REALLY love so far
The new dredg album should a bix between “Catch without arms” and hopefully “El Cielo”. The sound clips available on their YouTube page already indicate a great production: http://www.youtube.com/user/7billionth
