Cricket has lots of stats that are published every year into a huge (and expensive) tome called Wisden - my copy is from 2010 and runs to several hundred pages of that years cricket alone .
ESPNCricinfo has a statsGuru application on their website that, with a bit of arm-twisting can give you practically any stat out of cricket you can imagine (if the info is recorded of course, going back to 1820's for ball by call commentary is not likely).
The data is relatively open , the analysis will drive you crazy.
In the UK the comedian Richard Herring did something similar - gave away the podcast for free as a download and charged folks to go to the live performance.
The was called As It Occurs To Me a free wheeling weekly sketch and stand show where it was about things that 'occured' to Richard that week. So it was an hour of new material every week of the run.
He ran it for 3 series (plus special shows). It sort of worked - he wasn't getting huge amounts of money as he had cast to pay but it definitely got a bit of a following in the UK. And he did get recognition for it - a Chortle Award.
Richard decided to pull the plug mostly due to the insane demands of trying to write something like that in 2 days on top of his normal touring and performances.
Hmm well the style of the picture isn't particularly unique - more 30's drawing done with a photo .
Plenty of others have done the same. besides a picture of a sad boy doesn't mean anything without the tagline.
Personally I don't really see the copying, similar idea yes, copied no - its not that original and HP has a history and a brand that harking back to the 30's style is not out of character - besides framing is wrong and the background colour is pretty much the same as the label's background colour - and its been that for at least 20 years .
In the UK there's a comedian that's done 3 series of a weekly podcast that's run on the basis that its been funded by theatre sales and available for download for free. it was conceived as a way of getting his stuff out there when commissioning directors didn't want to . As a result he's been getting more work and more exposure.
Des[ite the fact he's decided to can the series (more for sanity reasons than anything else) I would describe this as a success.
That’s exactly what happened when Edison didn’t secure an international patent for his early film projector! Everyone in Europe, including those smarter and more passionate than Edison, had the opportunity to improve on his design and create the film industry that we know and love today!
Except that :
1 Europe isn't a country
2 various others on this side of the pond had already done much of the ground work and had patents on it .
see for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Friese-Greene
The important thing is not the weeks long death marches to get the phe product out - its a waste of time cos if it doesn't do well then you're fucked. small gradual uplifts either by subscription or one offs but the point is start small and build. If its good folks will stick around with games.
I was going to mention modding as it was one of the obvious ways to enhance value - Qauake, the Original and Best UT(tm) were fantastic for their buyable/home made add on's - one of the guys producing UT maps was so good he apparently ended up working in the industry *
* that's rumour , Angelheart is the guy I recall - if its wrong then its the industries loss...*
I agree , build the framework and a core of maps/scenario/story and encourage others to add and then as time goes on add more .
There is still a good amount of Unreal tournament servers out there still, (for me. the best of the series due to it s speed and fun value) so its not all about shiny , cos players know what they want , and that is fun ...
Got a friend who works in the computer games industry.
Industry is the right word as its stopped being about producing a fun game but churning out a "Flavour of the month" Play-alike, or porting whatever is popular to the other platforms .
Trouble is the 99c guys are just returning to the early 80's boom where you could buy a tape of a game that was for the Commodore or Spectrum (from the UK so they were the prevalent systems) for that price , load it and play it for weeks or months .
The Current games companies need to go back and strip out the "ooh shiny" and get back to inventing stuff. I've probably spent more time playing Spider solitaire or bejeweled than proper games since.... oooh Thief 2.
Not got a gaming console so I'm taking it from an old PC gamer perspective ; one that's so bored of the shiny and need to upgrade for no good reason that he's not bought a game for at least 4 years and that one got played 3 times cos it wasn't as good as the previous versions.
I'm happy enough to replay old games (stuff like atomix, Thief 1&2 and early Mechwarrior Doom and Quake are more than enough to entertain me besides the mindless doodlings of the likes of bejeweled
The games industry is relying on the small indies to invent new stuff that they can buyout and endlessly clone. The fact that they've bypassed them totally in new markets has completely got them foxed.
Bring back the early players (or the any folk that get it ) and get rid of the MBA's who can only look at the bottom line spreadsheet .
On the post: There's No IP In Team: How Protectionism Is Holding Back Sports Metrics (And Everything Else)
Wisden
ESPNCricinfo has a statsGuru application on their website that, with a bit of arm-twisting can give you practically any stat out of cricket you can imagine (if the info is recorded of course, going back to 1820's for ball by call commentary is not likely).
The data is relatively open , the analysis will drive you crazy.
On the post: Understanding The Legal Ramifications of Fan Fiction
and here is a sane response to fanfic
On the post: More Comedians Following Louis CK's Path... But They Don't Need To Copy It Exactly
Not the only guy to try different things
The was called As It Occurs To Me a free wheeling weekly sketch and stand show where it was about things that 'occured' to Richard that week. So it was an hour of new material every week of the run.
He ran it for 3 series (plus special shows). It sort of worked - he wasn't getting huge amounts of money as he had cast to pay but it definitely got a bit of a following in the UK. And he did get recognition for it - a Chortle Award.
Richard decided to pull the plug mostly due to the insane demands of trying to write something like that in 2 days on top of his normal touring and performances.
On the post: Just Because Two Things Are Similar Doesn't Mean One 'Rips Off' The Other
Hp ad
Plenty of others have done the same. besides a picture of a sad boy doesn't mean anything without the tagline.
Personally I don't really see the copying, similar idea yes, copied no - its not that original and HP has a history and a brand that harking back to the 30's style is not out of character - besides framing is wrong and the background colour is pretty much the same as the label's background colour - and its been that for at least 20 years .
On the post: Kevin Smith Continues To Innovate: Offering VOD Before Theatrical Release... But Also Offering Incentives To Go To The Theater
Nice
Des[ite the fact he's decided to can the series (more for sanity reasons than anything else) I would describe this as a success.
On the post: A Filmmaker Explains Why Copyright Sucks Today: An Excerpt From 'Sell Your Own Damn Movie!
umm
Except that :
1 Europe isn't a country
2 various others on this side of the pond had already done much of the ground work and had patents on it .
see for example
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Friese-Greene
Classic case of parallel invention .
On the post: More Video Game Makers Fear The Free Market And Don't Know How To Compete
Re: Re: It’s not $.99: Blame Al Gore & McDonalds
On the post: More Video Game Makers Fear The Free Market And Don't Know How To Compete
Re: It’s not $.99: Blame Al Gore & McDonalds
* that's rumour , Angelheart is the guy I recall - if its wrong then its the industries loss...*
I agree , build the framework and a core of maps/scenario/story and encourage others to add and then as time goes on add more .
There is still a good amount of Unreal tournament servers out there still, (for me. the best of the series due to it s speed and fun value) so its not all about shiny , cos players know what they want , and that is fun ...
On the post: More Video Game Makers Fear The Free Market And Don't Know How To Compete
This!
Industry is the right word as its stopped being about producing a fun game but churning out a "Flavour of the month" Play-alike, or porting whatever is popular to the other platforms .
Trouble is the 99c guys are just returning to the early 80's boom where you could buy a tape of a game that was for the Commodore or Spectrum (from the UK so they were the prevalent systems) for that price , load it and play it for weeks or months .
The Current games companies need to go back and strip out the "ooh shiny" and get back to inventing stuff. I've probably spent more time playing Spider solitaire or bejeweled than proper games since.... oooh Thief 2.
Not got a gaming console so I'm taking it from an old PC gamer perspective ; one that's so bored of the shiny and need to upgrade for no good reason that he's not bought a game for at least 4 years and that one got played 3 times cos it wasn't as good as the previous versions.
I'm happy enough to replay old games (stuff like atomix, Thief 1&2 and early Mechwarrior Doom and Quake are more than enough to entertain me besides the mindless doodlings of the likes of bejeweled
The games industry is relying on the small indies to invent new stuff that they can buyout and endlessly clone. The fact that they've bypassed them totally in new markets has completely got them foxed.
Bring back the early players (or the any folk that get it ) and get rid of the MBA's who can only look at the bottom line spreadsheet .
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