Yesterday we summarized “The Great Yokai War” In 10 Screencaps Or Less™. Today, we extract a product management lesson from the strangest, most violent children’s film I’ve ever seen.

Once the young hero of the film, Tadashi, and a handful of Yokai understand the menace threatening them all, they convene a meeting with the other Yokai to enlist their aid.

Together, it is argued, they have a chance of winning. Separately, their chances of even just surviving are close to nil. The Yokai hem and haw and eventually reject Tadashi’s offer. How could Tadashi have run this meeting more effectively and maybe…

“The Great Yokai War” is a 2005 Japanese children’s film about a young boy who discovers a hidden world that threatens to destroy Tokyo and all humanity. Let’s look at “The Great Yokai War”… In 10 Screencaps Or Less!™

< SPOILER WARNING >
Key plotpoints of this film are pictured below. You have been warned!
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A young boy named Tadashi moves to a small town after the divorce of his parents. During a local festival, Tadashi is crowned that year’s “Kirin Rider,” the defender of all children from evil spirits. Much to Tadashi’s surprise, this is not an honorary…

This editorial originally appeared at http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008249.php

Casual Gamers Deserve a Bill Of Rights, Too

By Christopher Cummings

The company behind Galactic Civilizations, Stardock, recently posted a PC-specific Gamer’s Bill Of Rights. In their words, this document is “a series of guidelines we’re trying to introduce in an effort to get our industry to be a little more standardized in how we deal with our games.”

Some people see this Gamer’s Bill of Rights as a way to re-establish trust among players, publishers, developers and retailers. Others see it as impractical, wishful thinking, or too vague to be useful. Reading through its enumerated points, it’s…

What does a product manager actually do? The role of “product manager” is often loosely defined and not well understood . . . but a good PM can mean the difference between a product shipping on time or not, and meeting customer needs or not.

I’ve developed this presentation to help explain the role of the product manager to new and prospective PMs as well as those who will interact with PMs. Your feedback is most welcome!

Edit: Below is the revised and expanded of the original presentation, first seen at my webinar at community.featureplan.com on Nov. 12, 2008. You can view it below…

During this weekend’s clean sweep of the basement at Cummings Worldwide HQ, I unearthed this gem: Darkstalkers’ Jon Talbain.

Given the sheer volume of toys entering CWHQ, particularly during the early 2000s, this figure stands apart in two regards: 1) I can actually remember where I purchased it (KBToys) and for how much ($2.97); and 2) its terrific representation of the badass fightin’ werewolf from Darkstalkers 3.

Toy technology has come a long way over the last 8 years, with some reproductions getting ridiculously close to their original sources of inspiration while including unprecedented amounts of articulation.

How does Talbain stand up?

The sculpt rocks: This…

Let’s see…

1. New Wordpress installation in place? Check.
2. Selected new theme that’s easy on the eyes and easy to read? Check.
3. Finished photo-shopping that image of my new Godzilla toy as it stomps through Boston?

You Know It!

If the team behind this ad is still in business, they’re totally making my next commercial. Thanks for the heads up, beaucoupkevin

This editorial originally appeared at http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008398.php

Casual Games Are Recession-Proof

By Christopher Cummings

All year long, journalists, bloggers and various analysts have wondered, “Are video games recession-proof?” The consensus seems to be: Yes! No! Maybe! 

DFC analyst David Cole puts it best, noting that the fizzling economy doesn’t appear to be affecting game software sales. “Consumer spending on software is at record levels,” he says, “and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession, because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment.”

If you go back to the Depression, obviously times were tough — even tougher than they are today — but people still…

This editorial originally appeared at http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008304.php

Spore DRM Debacle May Help Stop Piracy

By Christopher Cummings

Over the weekend, dozens of reviewers bombarded Amazon.com with one-star reviews of EA’s Spore because of the game’s draconian DRM scheme, which limits consumers to three installations. And that was just the beginning of the bad press for Will Wright’s latest brain child.

How does Spore go from one of the most “eagerly anticipated” casual games of the year to the most pirated game of the year to the poster child for the death of PC gaming?

Search for virtually any casual game plus the words “keygen” or “crack,” and you’ll find dozens of…

This editorial originally appeared at http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008092.php

Is Casual Gaming Dead Already?

By Christopher Cummings

Since the debut of the Nintendo Wii, journalists have claimed there’s gold in the hills of casual gaming. Now, the claim–or is it, shark?–appears to have been jumped.

Late last week, Forbes declared, “Casual Gold Bust”. Venture capitalists such as Sharon Wienbar have predicted that most players in the casual gaming market will not survive the deluge of titles flooding the marketplace. PlayFirst CEO Jack Welch sees “a lot of dead bodies on the side of the road in casual gaming” coming soon.

Contrast that with announcements such as Viacom’s investment…