Lil’ Birds

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Meg

Cute and casually addictive Lil’ Birds, from Villain Games, is a free iOs game of players of all ages. This is one of those rare but wonderful times in which family friendly is not secret code for as engaging as endless rounds of Candy Land.  Lil’ Birds lets players of all ages care for adorable baby birds, pet them and breed them.

Players begin with a couple birds in a small aviary, and are quickly introduced to caring for their new pets. The goal in this cute aviary is to acquire certain color combinations and patterns. New feather colors can be acquired by buying new chicks (Before handing over the phone or iPad to a little one, though, it’s worth noting how easy it is to make an in-app purchase.) There’s also a simple minigame of searching a forest for new and unusual birds.  Once your aviary starts to fill up, these birds can collected or sold to loving families, just waiting for an adorable new pet. The themes make it a children’s game, not an adult game like World of WarCraft or PartyCasino, but it’s nice to know my cute birdies are going to good homes!

Cute lil’ birds, and their DNA of colors and feather patterns, can also be exchanged with friends. And social gifting in Lil’ Birds is done right.  Because players are giving a specific bird from their aviary — a red and yellow chickie called Rupert instead of an another anonymous and unseen instance of Cow — it feels more like trading than friendspamming. You might want to share a wing pattern or color combination you’ve developed. There are hundreds of combinations, so each player’s aviary tree can look quite different.

Birds are hatched with unique names, but can be renamed by the player. (I will not admit to having a birdhouse full of Roman emperors, with pink and lime-colored feathers, I’m just saying it’s possible.) This is the cuteness and pet care I liked in Tamagatchis, and the flurry of virtual pets, without cleaning up virtual litterboxes.
Lil’ Birds is definitely worth installing to play with young children, and the cute feathered pets may well keep adults playing, too.

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Dateini

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Meg

I have a new piece on Dateini from TechCrunch Disrupt for Yahoo! Shine:

Dateini, one of the startups displayed at TechCrunch Disrupt, promises to help users “plan dates like Houdini”. Users select their location, cuisine type, budget, and theme, and Dateini plans a date using those parameters. I love living in the future… or I will, once Dateini is finished.

Dateini is established in a couple major cities in the US, but fortunately for me, New York is one of them. (Because this is the greatest city in the world!) Current theme choices are Music, Romantic and Entertainment, but more are in the works. Like many TechCrunch displays, the current Dateini is much more an interactive proof-of-concept than a working product, more a demonstration of what Dateini could feature than a finished product.

I chose my city, favorite food, theme and budget, but disappointingly, Dateini sent me on a date to Central Park… which wasn’t exactly the unknown date spot I was hoping to find. With everything Manhattan has to offer, all the dates I requested as “Romantic” sent me to Central Park. Central Park’s a lovely place to go, but does it really require a date-planning app to think up bringing a date to the giant green square in the middle of Manhattan? Again, much more of a proof-of-concept than a final product.

Via Dateini | Love + Sex – Yahoo! Shine

Posted in Brooklyn, My Other Writing, New York City | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

End Credits

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Meg

Wednesday the entire staff of Next Island was let go. Although I knew we weren’t being called to this urgent company meeting so we could pet kittens and eat cupcakes, it is still terribly sad to leave a project I’ve been on for almost two years now, and leave so many narratives unfinished in the gameworld. I’ve been so involved in Next Island for so long, leaving so abruptly is almost like getting dumped.

I came in Thursday to finish a dialogue, originally for August, er, October, and now for personal satisfaction. It was originally constraining to write missions and lines for stationery NPCs, but it’s taught me how effective one line of dialogue can be.

Thursday night found me in the office, clearing out my desk around the time I’m usually calling Harold and telling him that perhaps he shouldn’t wait for me to have dinner. The night janitor came by and saw the state of my desk.

“Moving out?” he asked.

I nodded.

He asked if I got a new job, and I had to say no.

He asked if I got a promotion, and I had to say no.

He asked if I lost my job, and I had to say yes.

“But you? You are always working. You are always here at night,” he said, “How did you lose your job?”

That one line of dialogue can really be effective, I thought, and I picked up my box of island maps, Hello Kitty desk toys, Screamland copies, and XYZZY coffee mug, and walked to the elevator to go home.

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Making Fun Of Southerners, Part 497,862

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Meg

“… and he goes around crying poverty with a Christmas ham under his arm!” Harold finishes the story he’s telling to Roy and me at a Bed-Stuy coffeeshop.

“That’s such a Southern phrase,” I say, because really, who says things like that?

“Is it?” Harold asks.

“Well, it’s not a Jewish phrase.” Roy says.

“You mean, because of the ham part?”

“And also the Christmas part.” Roy says.

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Waitress

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Meg

Professional connections have taken me to lunch at a trendy midtown restaurant, where one of the artistically-styled small plates cost the same as an outfit. One of my outfits, at least, which I’m rapidly realizing is not quite up to a Manhattan meeting where multi-million dollar deals are being tossed around. I had no idea one could be under-dressed for lunch!

When I consider my outfit, I think of boiling water in Yantai for my speed shampoo, soaping and bucket-rinse, I think of tying a scarf over my hair in a Mongolian dust storm, and then I hope that my jeans and t-shirt is charming and unpretentious and appropriate for a creative, and not a total faux pas.

The restaurant is so fashionable that they’ve deconstructed soup, making the serving a two-person job, where one waiter places graceful porcelain bowls of streamed mini veggies and fresh handmade pasta, and a second waitress pours boiling broth from a graceful porcelain jug. At this point, the lunch’s host is making a particularly forceful point about some losers in Silicon Valley who just aren’t visionaries, and bumps the soup-waitress’s arm, spilling a few drops of organic, artisan broth on the 400-threadcount tablecloth.

My table companions are talking about massive sums of money, dropping names of companies and C-level staff, who has no vision and who has no follow-through, who has a talented staff, but the market isn’t ready for their product, who’d have a game-changing product, if their staff weren’t such clowns, and finally the chosen ones, who’ve turned vast sums of angel investment into even more massive sums of money.

As we eat. there are tales of the start-ups at the perfect nexus of knowing the right people, knowing the market, getting the money in, spending it on the best coders and famed glad-handers, catching creative lighting in a bottle, and packaging it to sell.  I’m simultaneously thrilled to be part of this fast-moving, exciting realm, and uncomfortable, because I feel like an impostor in the world of multi-million dollar investments.

“I’m not going to tip,” the lunch’s host says to his assistant, at the end of the meal, “If she wanted a tip, she wouldn’t have spilled that soup.”

Posted in New York City | Tagged | 5 Comments

Getting Better

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Meg

I have a new piece up on Indie Game Mag, about Robert Yang‘s talk at Games For Change. Yang talked about queer themes in games, in his own projects like Radiator and CondomCorps,  and Anna Anthropy’s games, which deal with transgender themes. This was a really interesting topic for me because:

As an often-sidelined female player and designer, it’s quite easy for me to get caught up seeing gamer identity as either Mainsteam Male, that stereotyped angry 18-24 year old with a collection of AAA console titles, or the Female Other, forgetting how many other identities don’t even get a mention. A while ago, one of my players commented on some dialogue and characters that I’d developed for Next Island, laughing at an unrealistic age gap between a young woman and her much older suitor. It wasn’t meant to be personal expression; I’m constantly aware that I provide creative ideas on someone else’s project, according to a company’s vision, and yet, that piece of my experience slipped into the games’ content.

And I’m excited that indie games are allowing many different narratives and voices into gameplay.

First comment is, of course, wildly negative (Games For Change filled me with enthusiasm for the changing landscape of game narratives, but I still wasn’t expecting great feedback on a piece about queer narratives in games.) but oddly enough the attack is that I sound too much like Kotaku. Which is not really much of an insult if you think about it.

Via Getting Better: Robert Yang, LGBT Content, And Identities In Indie Games | The Indie Game Magazine

 

Edit: Via a writer friend from GDC’s game writing class on my game content: Young and bubbly + older and responsible is almost a friggin’ trope. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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Satisfied: Whit.li at TechCrunch Disrupt

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Meg

TechCrunch Disrupt NYC is a showcase for tech startups, which seems to almost universally mean apps. But Whit.li, one of the standouts from the show in the Pier 94 industrial warehouse, is an API, not an app. Whit.li uses social media, like Facebook status updates and shared links, to extrapolate the user’s personality.  The existing version is more of a proof-of-concept, essentially a playable demo of some possible uses for Whit.li-based apps. One of those uses was to suggest introductions, based on projected compatibility and shared interests, between TechCrunch attendees.

I signed up with Whit.li’s demo, and talked a friend into signing up as well, overcoming the reluctance we all have with connecting experimental apps of unknown origin to Facebook. Sadly, Whit.li parses your public Facebook posts to determine your personality and compatibility, so that’s the only way to try out Whit.li. If you can’t talk a real life friend into trying it with you, you can compare scores with Jon Stewart, Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton.

Whit.li called my personality type Satisfied, and adds that these types feel they have risen above the problems of living and are content with things as they are. They see little point in getting involved in a rat-race to struggle to the top of the heap. Whit.li assesses only the things I chose to post on Facebook and share publicly, and I tend not to vent about ambitious deadlines at work, or worries about the future in my status updates.There’s a good amount of real satisfaction on my Facebook page, with a strong streak of not clogging up your feed with moans about work and late trains.

I couldn’t blow this off entirely, since my friend’s chosen personality type was dead on, and we figured that a 92% travel compatibility sounded about right.

Whit.li shows whether a user’s mood is trending up or down, which could be a thoroughly useful extra sense. Ideally, I’d be able to check my boss’ mood before asking for a raise (in a totally contented sort of way, I mean, I don’t really need the extra money), or my fictional husband could see I’m having a rough day before I get home.

One of the potential uses of Whit.li is for human resources, finding out if potential new hires would be a good fit for the existing team. My Satisfied personality type could read as unambitious, or a relaxed teammate. A quick view of other personality types revealed a mix of positive and potentially negative traits on all of them, cutting quickly through the usual job interview questions about one’s strengths and weaknesses.

Another potential uses are collective consumerism and brand engagement, allowing brands to learn more about their customers, and would-be shoppers to see the relevance of other reviewers. But even once this is up and running, any advertisers can probably skip targeting me, since according to Whit.li, I don’t really need anything — I’m content right now.

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Circle Back

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Meg

My game design class goes out to a pub after Wednesday night class. Last time I ended up talking with a woman I really admire, and talking about working in tech, and somehow got onto the subject of corporate communications.

I admitted that sometimes I can’t fully understand what’s being said. This is embarrassing, and I’m not trying to be completely non-corporate hipster creative here, but there are clearly layers of nuance here that I’m just plain missing. At what time does one circle back, and will it require facetime or just dialoguing? Am I meant to be taking notes on our actionable items or just the next steps going forward?

“It’s a specialized vocabulary,” She agreed. “Loop me in. Or circle around.”

“Touch base.”

“Reach out!”

At this point, another classmate overheard us and joined in.

“Value-add!”

“Risk averse!”

The best part of this is that now, when someone tells me they’ll need to touch base, or circle back, or dialogue with someone, I just smile and think of sitting in the pub with my friends.

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Murlocs and Dating

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Meg

Turned this up working on my portfolio. Originally written for WomenGamers.com, December 2006

I often wonder if MMORPGs are adding new friends and new activities to our social lives or replacing meaningful interaction with three-letter abbreviations. Are our on-line hours helping or harming our offline friendships?

Where Everybody Knows Your [Screen] Name*, discusses the social aspects of MMORPGs in terms of three social zones. Home is the first place, and then your second place is work or school. Second places provide some community but differ from third places because the priority isn’t on social interaction. Third places are the coffeeshop from Friends, the bar on Cheers or, possibly, Ironforge and Starcrest.

We’ve all heard the accusation that gamers are anti-social. Sometimes we respond angrily, other times we embrace the solitary geek descriptions. But social gaming provides an essential third place, where online friendships and teams might actually be helpful and healthy.

Initially connecting with others is easier online. MUDs often offer an easy way to tell other players that you’re looking for a group or that you’re flying solo for a while. How great would this be in real life? “Look buddy, if I wanted you to buy me a drink, I’d have put my Available flag up!” And with the ease of entering and dissolving alliances, socialization is easy and low-pressure.

Like a local pub or coffeeshop, regulars on a server can either welcome and encourage newcomers or make n00bs uncomfortable. Third places, according to Steinkuehler and Williams, “include a cadre of regulars who attract newcomers and give the space its characteristic mood”. This is true of online gaming realms, although unfortunately the regulars often set the mood of Chuck Norris jokes and requests for high-level walkthroughs. Beloved third places often evoke feelings of possession, and regulars on a server may feel that new players are invading their home. Preying on newcomers, either in a PvP setting or socially, can be frustrating for a new player, but these feelings of possession show just how much the preexisting players value their virtual haunt.

Game developers and manufacturers are often talking about ways to attract women to game. But girl-focused games are often too much of a third space. The entire focus is on social activities, and some (dare I say most?) of these games fail because there’s nothing else to do. It’s like chatting over a game of Monopoly, only without the Monopoly part. Sure, I want the pretty armor, and I love in-game shopping, but I need more than that to justify my monthly fee.

Although I’m much more interested in a game than a chatroom, I don’t want to understate the importance of socialization online. I’ve met up with many real-life friends in MMO worlds, and it’s often surprising who can offer help and who needs assistance ingame. GPA, salary, age and offline skills are totally unrelated to one’s success ingame. The quests require teamwork, and having a good team, guild or online buddy makes my online game time so much better.

All those hours online have affected my offline relationship. I don’t think my boyfriend and I would be as good at solving real-world problems together if we hadn’t practiced collaborating to solve so many in-game puzzles.

While questing separately or running virtual errands in different realms, my boyfriend and I use the chat channel to update each other on our progress. This style of communication set a precedent for our real life communication when we were separated for the last year. A running commentary on what’s happening is a reminder that out-of-sight is not out-of-mind, and a little while between update doesn’t mean a lack of affection, but an abundance of hungry murlocs. (Or a heavy workload.) All those hours on World of WarCraft and Everquest are really relationship skills.

* Where Everybody Knows Your [Screen] Name is by Constance Steinkuehler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dmitri Williams, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Governor’s Island

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Meg

The Figment Project was on Governor’s Island last weekend. Roy wanted to go see it on Sunday, but I have class on Sunday, so I talked him into going on Saturday instead.

“Sure you can’t come on Sunday?” Roy texted, “The chances of juggling or hula-hooping will be much higher on the island than in your class!”

“Agreed.” I wrote back. (Although my classmates are pretty creative people — I would not be surprised to find a closet juggler* or hoop dancer among them.) “But the chances of career improvement will be lower.”

“You never know what will happen on an island with creepy abandoned buildings!”

I figured that no was was going to come out the old Coast Guard houses to offer me a writing gig or a game job, so I on Saturday, we caught the ferry to Governor’s Island, where we rode bikes and checked out some of the installation and cooperative art projects around the island.

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I'm very sad after some kind of monkey-related apocalypse.

We watched a hula-hooping performance, on a lawn where I could see both the Statue of Liberty and the rising new World Trade Center, over the hundred neon-haired and costumed hoop dancers. Why does anyone want to live anywhere else?

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On the way back, we crowded onto the ferry with dozens of other tired Brooklynites. We got talking to a girl juggler** (well, more Roy than me, if you know what I mean), and then met one of the guys who runs MakerFaire. We exchanged cards, talked about last year’s MakerFaire, and asked if I’d be interested in covering the show in the fall as a tech blogger. Clearly, I’d underestimated the awesomeness of a tiny island with creepy abandoned houses.

 

*That’s someone who secretly juggles, not someone who juggles closets.

**That’s a girl who juggles, not someone who juggles girls.

 

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