Re: FLASH: Pricing Guide (+ Licensing)

[Laura Mollett]

Franke,


Thanks for the info!


> The example I

> referenced IS a sophisticated game in many ways, however I used the word

> "basic" because it is not a breakthrough concept -- pinball games are all

> over the place, and the programming does not require a rocket science

> degree.

Well, programming isn't all there is to how many man hours something takes

to put together (for the kinds of Flash games I was talking about that I

know took big teams or long development times (Arcane), good portions of the

work is in the graphics - probably half of the mahjong time was in the

graphics and it woulda been more if we'd known more actionscripting at the

time). Nor does any of it take a rocket science degree... though CS or

equivalent might be handy ;) My employer is fond of that comment too -

they're car ads people, it's not brain surgery ;)


> However, it IS beautifully and intelligently executed using the

> client's (Clearnet) imagery. The game is created in Shockwave.


> You can see the game for yourself at:

> http://www.clearnet.com/english/pcs/coolstuff/games/clearnet_pinball.html


Cute game, not the best pinball game I've ever seen, not the worst either.

Director though is a whole 'nother story from Flash though. Not knowing

anything about lingo, I shouldn't comment on how long it would take to do,

but I'm still having a real difficult time thinking they couldn't make back

the basic expenses with $30,000.


> Splashworks.com are the creators of it. They have a very good idea -- to

> create fun and entertaining experiences using a client's advertising imagery

> and logos. It's product placement versus banner ads.  And to me that wins

> hands-down on the net.


Hardly a new idea as you point out yourself. The lifesavers candystand site

has a whole pile of product branding games, some flash, some director, some

both, including two (iirc) pinball. My youngest adores wonkanoid (the Willy

Wonka breakout version) and it's one of the best "for product"

implementations I've seen. There's tons of others on the wonka site as well.

Clevermedia will "personalize" (businessize?) and license any of their

games, and there's another company that I can't remember just at this moment

that sells game engines (to put together jigsaw puzzles and things of that

nature) that businesses can personalize with their own pictures/logos etc. I

think it's national geographic, but it might be one of the zoo sites with

the really clever interactive jigsaw puzzles. Anyway take a wander through

the Macromedia sites of the day, or use "games" as a search term -

practically all of them have a business application of some sort (was it

pepsi or coke where you handed out the bottles of softdrink to party goers

at the door. Oh and applejacks where the hangman game builds a breakfast?)

We did a maze game and a jigsaw splash for two banks (though the banks went

to full online banking and dispensed with the gaming concept - not licensed,

I was an employee, so not much use to you), and proposed a bank robbery, but

they were concerned about the implications in having a bank robbery game

when they do actually get robbed sometimes :) We've got another

business/game implementation idea we're working on right now for the

advertising agency I work for (again, not licensed, oh well) but it's not

ready yet... I'm hoping it'll be kind of a new take, but probably not.

There's nothing new under the sun...


> So, to me this type of information is very valuable and a key to Flash

> artists success on the web.

There's still a big difference between flash and director. Actionscripting

is a year old and everyone is still pushing the limits to see exactly what

can be done with it - creating the same game in director and flash would be

very different, in terms of how much "rocket science" it takes to do it.

Just because pinball games have been done in director, doesn't mean they're

not break-through concepts in flash. Worth keeping in mind.


Laura


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