Gameaudiopodcast has a regular series that details the adventures of the people working on the audio side.

Great article on the Designing Sound Webpage about tips for sound designers.

Great article on Gamasutra about two game music specialists. They have some interesting discussion in the middle about how it’s much easier as a company to negotiate, than merely as an individual. You should read the whole article, though.

A simply amazing site (for game music geeks) called Gamemusic4al that has a weekly column entitled “This Week in Game Music”.

For an assessment of older game music, go to Critical Game Studies and read the post here. They list the tech specs of the NES, the SNES, and the Sega Genesis among others.

For the latest consoles: Xbox360, see Teamxbox web site: , but as a summary, “The console has a multi-channel surround sound output that supports 48 KHz, 16-bit for over 256 audio channels”… For the PS3, Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-based processing), from Playstation official specs. (Quick note about audio specs: This Gizmodo article points out the firmware updates through PS3 network (assuming you are connected) enhance the built-in hardware capabilities as technology evolves.) Nintendo Wii: An article on GizmoCafe notes that the Wii features ” Dolby Pro Logic II, an upgraded implementation of the popular original Dolby Pro Logic.” The article also adds that the Wii features actual speaker from the Wiimote.

Freesound is a collected repository of free (CC-licensed) sounds. (If you’re a developer reading this and saying, “Why is he giving this out for free?”; I found these resources in less than an hour; imagine how much I could save you if you paid for an afternoon of my time!)

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Below the fold; for those of you with the drive and the desire:

Rob Bridgett’s article on Post-production on Video Game Sound. Wonderful template for designers working on finishing up the sound in a video game. Worth it entirely just to read Footnote 14.

“The majority of sounds in thePlaystation 2 and Xbox versions of the
game were at 24khz. For Tony Montana’s M16 the sample rate was increased to
32khz. This had the effect of rendering it much clearer than all
the other sounds in the game.” If you don’t know what he’s talking about ask a teenager.

Another gem from IGDA, The Ten Commandments for Game Developers.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

A-Avatar (lawsuits in Madden, Guitar Hero, and Second Life for actions of avatars)

B – Banned in Games (lawsuits by Estavillo vs Sony, SD Cal Estavillo v. Sony Computer Entm’t Am. Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86821; along with others)

C-China – China shuts down World of Warcraft… twice. (Good story on Gamasutra)

D - Developer’s Corner ( a regular feature on this blog spotlighting a developer’s role in promoting fun and reducing lawsuits)

E-Everquest (the first, the groundbreaker)

F-Facebook (lawsuits over privacy and “scamming” games cause major changes in the principles on the Facebook platform)

G-Gamer’s Rights (Here, and on my own site)

H Harassment (Sexual) Article in the Guardian.

I- In-game bank (In Eve Online, a real in-world bank is embezzled)

J – Joystiq legal - still the best read every week; blazes the trail

K-Kurt Cobain …. his use in video game causes controversy and widespread comment about use of dead celebrities in video games

L-Lineage (the largest MMO in China)

M – Madden Football (sued by retired players for using their likenesses)

N-No Doubt …. sues Activision, is sued by Activision (lawsuit here)

O – online petition (for online game, Modern Warfare 2); gamers try to launch intiative for dedicated servers outside Activision control (FAILED)

P – Playstation Network (sued for updates which crippled add-on firmware)

Q – Questing – In WOW, Shacknews has an article about 9 problems of questing [[Author's Note - seriously, unless Qbert was sued in the last six months, just scraps here]].

R - Runescape; Jagex is the parent of Runescape

S – Second Life… a slow year for litigation, but these important lawsuits worth note (Bragg v Linden Labs, No. 06-08711, for land taken by LL, citation here)

T – Turbine sues Atari ; also Turbine mentioned here

U – User Interface; usability From the always worthwhile Gamasutra, a daily read.

V-Voice Actors (voting to decline union’s recommendation for new agreement)

W-World of Warcraft (sues to close Wow Glider add-on as an illegal “bot”; Virtually Blind still your best source)

X – Xbox; 1 million Xbox users banned

Y – Youth market; youth endangered

Z- Zynga (sues former developer for trade secrets)

My apologies to “bots”, “Lords of the Rings Online”, “virtual goods”, and others for the 26-sided tyrrany and limitations of the alphabet. Additions and corrections welcome; but if you think this type of a list is easy (complete with relevant links) try just doing a list with household goods.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Here is the Viewpoint from Hollywood Actor Prep, a Website run by voice-actress Dana Kaminski.

Link of the story from an industry perspective: Story of AFTRA being approved; while SAG turned down

SAG members not ratifying contract.

Maybe a little unrelated – but describes a weird conflict -Product integration and conflict (voice-acting) Okay, I’ll admit it, linked mainly because it mentions David Hasselhoff.

From game-makers perspective
Describes the conflict:

From a voice-actor:

Game magazine’s take on the controversy:

And the requisite how-to: Video games and Voiceover

Here are some more precise figures about how much the Talent actually makes:

From Voice.com
SAG rate sheets
And lastly on this story: another salary study

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Difference between a cheater and a spoilsport, towards the end of the lecture. The rest is a nice discussion of the roles of role-playing and the importance of narrative.. as well as games’ limitations.

Incredible lecture. Talks about the difference between one trying to belong (by winning) and one trying to defile (by destroying the environment or the gameplay mechanic). To a developer it may seem the same result; but different types of personalities which require different sorts of safeguards.

Related article discussing “griefers” (those who dissent/protest within a virtual world). My favorite quote is “The larger point however is that when designing any MMO, you either live in fear of your players, or you embrace and guide them.”

Distribution issues discussed by a developer. Good breakdown of the percentages of distributors, and a frank dialogue about the pros and cons for an independent studio.

Great collection of articles by a game attorney who pioneered the idea of a game attorney. Don’t know him personally, but he seems like the kind of attorney interesting enough he’d never have to pay for his own lunch. A very comprehensive bit of work, and has a gravitas that all IP/game/contract lawyers need to aspire towards.

Raph Koster talking about game mechanics. Nothing to do with law; today is just a great excuse to get in a great game mind like Raph Koster in my blog.

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Once again, below the fold, some intellectual egg-head discussions (which I admire).

How War has influenced Game Design

Are Virtual Worlds Waiting in the Wings?

From SSRN: login required “Politicization of the Online World”, paper by Olivier Mauco.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Here is the response from the Facebook developer’s blog. The main notable quote for me is that “In addition to steps we’ve taken to build teams and technologies devoted to this issue and continual outreach to work with members of the ecosystem on ways to improve their practices, it is the responsibility of both developers and ad networks to make sure the content running in third-party applications is appropriate.” Also surprising to some people might be that ” more than 70% of our(Facebook) 300 million active users engage with applications each month.” There’s a lot more in the article and if you use Facebook and use applications in Facebook you should read the article.

The whispering that started and turned into a roar is from an article by Techcrunch. Besides the tabloid-worthy headline, the story tells of the many complaints now being received about some applications in Facebook. From the story, “Major media can’t stop applauding the companies long enough to understand what’s really going on with these games. The real story isn’t the business success of these startups. It’s the completely unethical way that they are going about achieving that success.”

The story continues to tell of the different ways that consumers are deceived. It says, “Zynga may be spending $50 million a year on Facebook advertising alone, fueled partially by lead gen scams. Wonder how Facebook got to profitability way ahead of schedule? It was a surge in this kind of advertising. The money looks clean – it’s from Zynga, Playfish, Playdom and others. But a large portion of it is coming from users who’ve been tricked into one scam or another.”

You should read through the full list of accusations to see if you believe it holds water. The question of course is, who is responsible, Facebook, the developers, or the advertising networks? Just a little note regarding “they should be checking it” statements… if you look at TV programs that have the disclaimer, “This is a commercial programs and the programmer and the network has not responsibility”…. these came about because at some time in the past someone did think “If it’s on TV, it must be OK.” Its getting to the point Facebook has to look at the number of people who are saying (rightly or foolishly) “if it’s on Facebook it has to be OK.”

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Here are some other stories along similar lines.

An article from Pixels and Policy about “Cybercrime booms in the Virtual World”. One of the best points “With no standardization between worlds, there is no way of knowing whether one source is making and cashing out Linden Dollars, Warcraft Gold, or any other in-game currency. This makes tracking accusations of money laundering extremely difficult.” It’s a wide-ranging article discussing potential fraud ranging from money-laundering to identity theft to even terrorism. Well worth your time if you have any interest at all in the subject.

Here is an older, yet very well read article about Second Life. Its been attacked by many in SL, but it raises some very cogent viewpoints about attempts to make money in a market unregulated by monetary police. My favorite quote is ” Put simply, you can seldom trust those with whom you’re doing business in SecondLife. Even supposedly well established, well regarded business citizens are prone to defaulting on any obligations which prove inconvenient. Whole banks will disappear over night, along with your L$ (LindenLabdollars) balance.”

And as in any self-respecting article about cybercrime, I MUST, I SIMPLY MUST say something about jurisdiction. In the article “Cybercrime leaves Cybercops in the Dust” it is discussing jurisdictional issues and other complications. The article states “Online fraud perpetrators are also finding clever ways to launder their money, using non-bank payment services, such as e-gold, to make it harder for investigators to “follow the money.” They also set up accounts with their proceeds and have associates in another part of the world withdraw the money as profit or reinvest it in other criminal activities or spam campaigns.” There’s also some fairly depressing statements in the article, which echo advice I have to unfortunately give out to many prospective clients with small (but large to them) losses in online arenas. “In the courts, where penalties are traditionally imposed based on damages, the extent of damage caused by cybercrime is hard to assess, and it’s tough to get victims involved. Individuals often don’t realize what’s happened, and businesses — breach disclosure laws notwithstanding — are generally reluctant to go to court.”

So apparently, the losses are much larger than reported, as the damage to a business’ reputation, well, they perceive that to be a bigger hit than any possible reward by taking the matter to court. As a lawyer focused on this type of case, I’m hoping that this will change.

3 for the B

#1 Know who you’re dealing with. If it’s a brick-and-mortar company, there’s always somewhere to complain to. But if you are paying real-life (or even simulated) dollars, have a backup physical address when you’re dealing with large transactions.

#2 Don’t react slowly. Note everything down while it’s fresh in your mind, complain profusely and even annoyingly to any and all authorities, and then keep these emails in a dedicated folder for this particular issue. Use dates, names, tracking numbers, all these resources in your complaints as you will have difficulty tracking that down later should it ever reach the point of going to court.

#3 Do not, ever, take what “they” say for granted. 5 years ago, domain name theft or trademark hijacking were rampant and “they” said it was a cost of doing business. Now, there are dozens of cases that indisputedly show a trademark may be used as a basis for recovering a domain name if certain things are proven. Don’t believe that it is hopeless, document like there’s no tomorrow and then protect your rights in any and all ways possible.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

This is an article that gives a great insight into the audio portion of the video game process. Every developer should read this to determine if and when a lawyer should be involved in the negotiations. My favorite point is “Often, it’s not what’s in the contract that hurts you down the line. It’s what is unspoken or assumed. Informality of this sort almost always favors the party with more power and resources.”

Very functional general paper about the Function of Sound in Games by a “couple of chaps who run a sound company” (their description, not mine). Covering all the bases, it talks about music both from an entertainment persepective in the game as well as to progress the game forward. My favorite statement is “with advances in technology and greater emphasis being placed on sound effects and their importance, Sound Design has evolved into a wholly separate discipline (much like it is in film).”

Very good article on Gamestudies.org that discusses audio’s importance in World of Warcraft. An insightful point is that “The primary argument is that game audio is tightly integrated with gameplay in this game setting, not only as an information system and a support for gameplay, but also by providing an understanding for how the game should be played, and how to behave in a specific in-game context.”

Voice Actors Discuss Challenges in the Video Game Industry. Something pointed out I hadn’t considered before was, “Another actor talked about a typical day in the industry, saying that they get the “basic gist” of the story, but they’re mostly concentrating on “short snippets of dialogue”.

These hardworking professionals are starting to get more rights. Actors Union votes for Videogame Contract. It was reported by Gamesindustry.biz that “Hollywood union AFTRA (The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has voted in favour of an extension of its videogame contract, which has now been forwarded to members to be ratified.” Terms were “a 2.5 per cent pay rise and a 0.2 per cent rise in pension and health contributions. A new performance category will also be created, entitled “atmospheric performer”. ”

Older article, but well thought-out about the overall process of audio in games. Laboring to Compete by Jesse Harlin gives a great broad-spectrum look at planning and executing the audio in next-gen games. My favorite quote is ” the arrival of live recording to game music introduced a question that film composers have been wrestling with for years: is it a union-date or not? The answer has almost exclusively been “non-union” due to budgetary restraints and a union interactive media contract that doesn’t keep pace with the evolving technology of our industry.” If you’re a developer (or just curious as to the audio parts of video-games) you should visit the blog and read his other articles as well.

On Gamezone there is an indepth interview about audio direction for the game Everquest II. One staggering statement was “so far we have already recorded over 200 actors. We have been recording non-stop for the last 3 months and have accumulated hundreds of hours of voice recording.”

Of course, I can’t finish without a theoretical paper to ponder. Reference as Sounds and Sources in Sacred Kristine JørgensenPh.D. student Division of Film & Media Studies Copenhagen University kristinej@hum.ku.dk.

Here are several helpful starting points for clearing audio and music for your video games.

A pianist named Steven Cravis has a very helpful site.

The Harry Fox Agency is a great Website for your research of what you need to clear your songs.

At the site Video Game voice talent they have a wonderful Guide “How to Hire Voicetalent“. I don’t know anything about the organization, but it looks well-run.

3 For the B.

#1. If you’re planning a game, put the audio portion in the budget, and do it realistically.

#2. Clear your music and your voice-talent early. They are called “talent” for a reason (don’t talk directly to the talent, I’m the agent, etc.). You know that putting together a “team” for a project always involves many disparate time-sinks, don’t let this be one.

#3. Remember the user, your customer, will remember the audio as long as he/she remembers the graphics. Be giving in as much “ambience” and “textual-clues” from the game sounds as you can.

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Game design as marketing: How game mechanics create demand for virtual goods, download link: Cite as: Int. Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2010, Juho Hamari and Vili Lehdonvirta

The most notable quote, “they also suggest a radically new perspective to marketers of ordinary goods and services: viewing marketing as a form of game design”.

“Conclusion: Based on the findings, we assert that game designers, by creating and modifying the rules and mechanics of the game, SNS or other online hangout, have an essential, but sometimes unrecognised role in planning the marketing of virtual goods.”

Here is an oldie but a classic of game design: I Have No Words & I Must Design:Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games, by Greg Costikyan.

A notable thought is “A game’s structure creates its own meanings. The meaning grows out of the structure; it is caused by the structure; it is endogenous to the structure.” The article is worthy of a full read, but for my purpose let me give you his conclusion. “But your changes of getting that beautiful, wonderful, superb game will be much higher if you begin with intentionality, begin by thinking about the experiences you want your players to have, understand what makes a game, and understand what pleasures people find in them.”

This is the best article I’ve found by far about a detailed model for free-to-play. It is by Matthew Warneford, permission granted to share. (By the way, you should read some of his other ideas, too).

Free-to-play on Apple’s Iphone?

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And a couple of dissenting voices, and warnings of challenges, amid all this harmony.

Top 10 free to play growth killers

The Power of Free to Play: a recap of Adrian Crook’s presentation at the GDC (Gamer Development Conference) Most importantly, he notes the pink elephant in the room. “First, there are virtual property challenges. At some point that’s going to be decided by the courts.”

Shuttering Free-to-Play Servers Most shocking quote; “Nexon is pulling its disappointing ZerA and taking an unexpected road: repaying the people who purchased virtual items for real money”

MMO billing headaches, covering billing issues of free-to-play versus subscription based games.
The most important quote about the metrics of free-to-play is “And although it is much more difficult to calculate the average customer’s lifetime value using this model, Hoffman points out another way to measure the financial success of a free-to-play game.”"Another good approximation of the revenue success of a FTP model is charting the growth in average revenue per player, per month -– this would also account for the players who pay nothing,” he says.”

Finally, some notes about free-to-play from Asian, and also European markets, where free-to-play is more prevalent because of more extensively implemented broadband networks (among other factors).

Download link: Game Design on Item-selling Based Payment Model in Korean Online Games Gyuhwan Oh and Taiyoung Ryu Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference © 2007 Authors & Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA)

The most surprising and important quote, “Finally, we discuss game design issues to efficiently accommodate item-selling based payment model in online games: how to balance betweenitems obtained by game-money and items purchased by realmoney, how to abstract the function of such items, and how to strength events and communities.”

A great slideshow (and transcript) about the European model of free-to-play games

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Think about it. When there is a movement for “people’s rights”, who is it that makes the money? The politicians.

And whenever someone in Hollywood makes a movie that is “for the people”, who rakes in the profits? The movie-maker.

So today is the first of a regular feature that focuses on the people (publishers, artists, voice-over talent, and developers) who make all the gamers happy.

The Players are Wrong but Listen Anyway This article by a game developer goes into detail as to what type of feedback to gather from the users during the game-making process. This frankly doesn’t rise to the level of a legal duty, but more of a moral duty… that is from a game developer with a sincere wish to make as fair and as entertaining of a game as possible. If you are strictly looking for a legal viewpoint, maybe you could use the forums and feedbacks as a sort of “testing ground” to determine if the beta testers feel the game is working out as a fair and even playing field, depending upon the user’s choice of character, etc. But the developer does a great job of noting these opinions must be taken in the context that most of these early users have an “axe to grind” or may be overly skeptical types that over-critique a supposedly fun experience. A great read for developers or anyone.

Raising Startup Financing This list has a more general feel, as it would apply towards anyone raising money for a financial project. But for a developer with a great idea and some resources to start, the list is a great jumping-off point to investigate financing options.

Developer Links This is an incredible A-to-Z list of links of use to a game developer. Mostly the destinations are esoteric and specific to a developer’s needs, but there are some that might be good general reading. If you have an interest in developing games or even being a beta tester, you should browse the list and spend a couple of minutes to add to your knowledge.

SAG and AFTRA renegotiate their contract structure with Developers Gamasutra has an excellent story about the renegotiation of voice-actor talent. You may have noticed that voice-acting is getting better, and the voice talent are getting paid. And plus they are in a stronger negotiating position than artists, graphic designers, and programmers; who get 100% of their work from the game studios. For the voice-over talent there is always animation, film work, radio, and commercials. Thus they are more of a varying expense than those talents who are specific to the video game industry alone.

Three for the B(usiness). #1 If you don’t get legal advice at the beginning of a large financial venture(oh, but it’s just a video-game), then at least have some resources who can advise you WHEN to get an attorney. There are attorneys who deal specifically with financing, video games, talent agents…. but just make sure you have resources available for when you need them.

#2 Keep an open mind during the alpha, beta, and “gold” process for game dynamics. Listen to the critics, the testers, and the programmers, but most of all listen to your heart. Only you know what kind of game you are trying to write, and just like some books are not for everyone, maybe your beta testers should be playing something else, and upon release your dream will find its “true audience”.

#3 Game talent takes many forms. Keep an eye (and an ear) out for people that will help your final product. Set expectations on salary, benefits, accolades on the team you assemble, and under-promise and over-deliver. You may lose a few at the beginning of the process, but you can build a strong core of people that hopefully continue forward with you, and as any HR professional will tell you, it’s a lot cheaper to keep a good employee than to find one.

Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney. The words do not constitute legal advice, and no attorney/client relationship is created. Jay Moffitt does not claim a certification in this specialty, and TN does not offer a certification in this specialty. Copyright October 3, 2009. Comments will be answered in a timely fashion and with courtesy.