Colbert Nation

Colbert Nation (http://www.colbertnation.com/home) is the website of Comedy Central’s ongoing show “The Colbert Report.” I think it’s significant because it has clips from all episodes of the broadcast show online, free for anyone to view. Comedy Central seems to do this for a lot of its shows: “South Park,” “The Daily Show,” and several other key series for the network feature the ability to view show clips and even full episodes free online. Despite this, Comedy Central is an extremely profitable network. I think that this proves that eventually, Television could be done entirely through the internet and websites. There are a few other networks that do this; some even go so far as to make Alternate Reality Games on their websites based around the featured series. I know Adult Swim (Cartoon Network’s late-night section) have clips and new episodes for all their series available for free online; they even used to premiere new episodes online a couple days before the broadcast premiere. Looking at all these stations do this makes me really think that eventually, we could see TV played out entirely online.

Inglourious Basterd Commercials

I’m bringing up the ads for this movie because of the design principles behind them. The trailers clearly portray a movie packed from beginning to end with non-stop action. Anyone who’s watched the movie will tell you this isn’t the case. More than anything, the movie is considered to be a war drama (according to IMDB); there is a deep story involved. In fact, the trailers portray almost all of the action scenes in the movie, and the movie is over 2 ½ hours long. It’s a deep movie, but it’s still has its fair share of action sprinkled throughout. I think that the movie was advertised in the almost-misleading way that it was in order to draw a more action-oriented crowd that normally wouldn’t have bothered going to see some form of a drama. The movie was made to blend action and drama, and the advertising was made to draw the part a specific part of the target audience that may not have initially been interested in the concept. It’s a slippery slope between what these ads did and flat-out misdirection, but I still think they pulled it off well. However, I don’t think this should gain speed as a marketing strategy, because it would be far too easy for it to go off track.

Assassin's Creed 2

Assassin’s Creed 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed_2) is a recently released video game and the second installment in a trilogy. I’m talking about it because I admire a very simple thing the creators did in its design, and that’s actively listen to the consumers. There were a lot of loud complaints that many people had about the first game in the series. People just didn’t like what they got. So, the developers actually listened to these complaints, and they addressed them. Too often this simply does not happen in the video game industry. But, the developers of AC2 actually listened to their fans and the end result is a truly great game. I think this is a good sign of where the industry could potentially go in the future. People know what they want, and I think it’s important to listen to those wants in order to design something profitable and of high quality. If the industry could learn to apply the wants of their consumers more in their designs, instead of just following the same tired formulas, I think we will eventually see a lot more high quality works being produced.

Dead Space

Dead Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Space_%28video_game%29) is a video game that came out about a year ago. It’s classified as a survival-horror game. The game is about an engineer trying to fix a spaceship that has been taken over by aliens. I’m writing about it because I think the design principles behind the game are wonderful. In most modern horror-based works of fiction, the majority of fear comes from anticipation and jump-scares. Although there are a great many jump scares throughout the game, Dead Space tries to make horror through atmosphere. It packs you into tight corridors so you don’t feel like you can escape. It makes you feel like there are enemies around every corner and behind every door. It shows you just enough of what normal would have been like on this ship so you can contextualize just how horrid the place now is. The game was very successful when it released, and they are making a sequel to build on the atmospheric elements. If this series continues to have the success that it does now, I’m hoping that it will eventually lead to a reworking of the horror genre of media so that it experiments with things other than simple jump scares, and that the genre as a whole will put out higher quality media because of it

Penny Arcade

Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) is a webcomic that the creators have used to model a business around. I think the work Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik have done with their comic is an inspiration for what digital media makes possible. Penny Arcade is, today, a full-fledged company. Their core work is still the webcomic, which is based on video games and has an audience of over 4 million viewers a month. Beyond the free online comic, they sell print versions of the comic in volumes (currently there are 5 of them); they have a store with merchandise related to the comic; they sponsor a convention (Penny Arcade Expo) and a charity (Child’s Play) annually; and, they now have their own short internet show: PATV. They’re a perfect example of taking digital media and making something great and profitable around it. What started as a simple comic has blossomed into a full-fledged, internet-based company. They’ve shown how digital media can be a successful business all on its own.

Epic Mickey

“Epic Mickey” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Mickey) is a videogame being made that will focus on lesser-known/vintage Disney characters from the company’s earlier days. Though it hasn’t been released yet, the information given suggests a rather dark story compared to what Disney does now, and a return to Disney’s roots. Disney didn’t used to be as unbendingly innocent as it is today. The company’s mascot, Mickey Mouse, is today portrayed a generically heroic character, whereas in the beginning he was a curious, mischievous prankster. Disney intends to use the EM game as a way to reboot the character, and possibly the company as a whole. The implication here is that they want to get back to their roots of really making something of merit, rather than providing generic, friendly entertainment. I remember at one point reading that, in response to a letter from a concerned parent stating that Pinocchio was too scary for her child, Walt Disney himself said “I’ll have to congratulate my artists.” If this game sparks an eventual return to Disney making things that can evoke some varied emotions and teach something all at the same time, I’m personally all for it.

Game Informer

Game Informer (a videogame magazine) (http://gameinformer.com/default.aspx) recently went through a site re-design, and one of the biggest new features is digital media that adds onto the content of the print media. The first game they gave this treatment to was Disney’s “Epic Mikey” Project (http://gameinformer.com/games/disney_epic_mickey/b/wii/default.aspx). During the course of their interview with the game’s creators, they were given screenshots and video interviews that they released online over the course of the month following the release of the magazine’s “Epic Mikey” cover-story issue. I liked the idea because it gives more credence to the journalists’ reports of what they’re seeing, and gives me as a consumer a better picture of the product I may end up buying. Moreover, the introduction of digital media to their journalistic method makes me believe we’re getting closer to a culture where news is digitally based, and more freely accessible. Right now you have to sign up and pay subscription fees for even the most basic stories online that showed up at some point in the paper. I’m hoping that this free integration of digital media with the print story is a sign of where news distribution is headed.