Yet Another Example of Distribution Changing Content

From our friends at Content Agenda:

Only a few years ago, bigger guns, badder enemies and louder explosives mattered most in video games.

Now, small is beautiful, and Apple Inc.'s iPhone is largely responsible.

The surprising emergence of the iPhone and its phone-less sibling, the iPod Touch, as hand-held game consoles has started to change the dynamics of the $40-billion game software industry. In addition to making titles for the iPhones, publishers are studying the thousands of games already available, figuring out what works and applying those lessons to more traditional games.

After years of building large, graphics-intensive blockbusters that come out every few years, developers are starting to make shorter, less expensive games that are released in more frequent installments. They're also making iPhone versions of major franchises that tie into the version for the console or computer.

And as these things become simpler and more integrated it will change how people create those games they are playing. Groups will network together to create their own games, their own books, their own comics and their own movies.

The common wisdom of Hollywood blockbusters has always been to "develop" their movies so it hits the widest group possible... but now, thanks to devices like the iphone and the netbook and the "cloud" of online apps and storage -- the common wisdom is changing. Especially as more and more individuals are able to create their own professional looking content.

As a young man I remember APA's (Amateur Press Associations). They were groups of fans who created content, copied it on a Xerox and sent it to a central mailer who bound all of the members' content together in books and distributed them back to the membership. This of course was before Al Gore invented the internet, but the same networking and "niche-interest" principles apply. The APA's were each distinct and exclusive. Dedicated to their own interests and driving each other creatively.

Now apply that to today's media - Youtube, Lulu.com, Createspace, Goanimate.com, and so on...

Add into it that I can send emails out to people right now and connect with them to finance various media projects. I can consult with a variety of 'experts' all over the world with the time and tools to complete those projects for a percentage of the profits.

I can house and edit and score all of my movie footage online.

Just as television changed watching movies (edited for running time and content; the "TV movie" ) so too will iphones, netbooks, and Facebook change how we not only watch those movies...

But how we make them.

Game Changed (Again): Half Life: Escape From City 17

By now, most everyone in the blogosphere has seen this short film by the Purchase Bros:



Certainly Warren Ellis has seen it and has called "Game Just Changed."

Fair enough. And yes I agree - the game has changed. It's called the future.

How they did it is not the point. People are wailing and moaning and gnashing teeth about how MANY favors they called in to get the compositing done, that it isn't exactly like the game (what movie is, you wank?), and so forth.

The fact is - THEY got it done while you were sitting on your "potato chip and ice cream" fed ass asking for someone to do just what they've done - make a movie based on your favorite video game (or comic, or toy, or tv show, or sex doll that doesn't even love you back).

THEY. DID. IT.

(not only that - they did it well)

That's pulp filmmaking. It's this. This and yes, this.

It's getting it done and not bemoaning the fact you don't have any money to pay everyone. It's ingenuity, creativity and persistence.

See what these wanks who are complaining fail to realize is that ANYBODY can do it if they have the money and equipment. It takes genius to get it done for little-to-no-money. There were all those comments that the Bros. had this equipment and that equipment with which to composite and build the CGI.

No, they didn't have any of that.

They just had the guts to get it done.

Sony PSP: The New Pulp Media Option

From Video Business:

"Sony Computer Entertainment is taking another stab at establishing the PlayStation Portable as a film viewing device, by lowering title prices, signing studio deals to license content and making digital copies playable on the hand held system."

That's cool. That's fine.
But then they unload this little bit of business which shouts, "OPPORTUNITY!"

"Additionally, Sony wants to release titles that narrowly appeal to young men, who make up 92% of PSP owners. Its core demographic is the 15- to 17-year-old male teen.

“The biggest issue with UMD was the lack of creating for a targeted demo,” said Koller. “When we first launched, it was a difficult sale. I don’t think it’s a big stretch to say that a 16-year-old doesn’t have a lot of discretionary income. … We were offering UMDs that were more expensive than DVDs at the time. And we want content that is in line with what the demo is asking for, action and comedy … not romantic dramas.”

SPHE, for instance, has set Prom Night and Don’t Mess With the Zohan to bow on UMD on Aug. 19 and Oct. 7, respectively."

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Follow my thinking here little pulpsters because this is the future of entertainment. As great as TV and movies are as money-makers, the gaming community trumps them all. So why not make movies and so forth that kids can download / own for their PSP?

What we have to do (with a frikkin' vengeance no less) is to quit thinking that TV, and Theatrical and DVD are the ONLY game in town for creating cool entertainment. We are now living in an era where major stars are working in different media all the time - Rosario Dawson in GEMINI DIVISION. Samuel L. Jackson voicing AFRO SAMURAI. Bruce Willis adding his voice to games. Neil Patrick Harris becoming Dr. Horrible.

It's only a matter of time when name talent both in front of and behind the camera are doing media exclusively for download first...or exclusively for PSP first... or exclusively for theme parks...whatever. It is exactly the same thing that happened back in those "good old days" when name movies stars went and did television series. Initially looked down upon, but then accepted as a media in which good work can be achieved and appreciated.

Somebody IS (creating?) going to create a video game movie exclusively for the PSP. Or an action movie which will be made into a video game. Or a toy-based movie (ahem, G.I. Joe?)...

Or a pulp or comic based movie.

And those 15-17 year olds will reward them (maybe you) for it.