QuicklyBored

Here is the QuicklyBored Podcast with Wes Tam of Magmic that I said would be up yesterday but is instead up today. Sorry the quality is so bad but it’s hard to keep 20 minutes under 1GB. I sat down with Wes to primarily talk about mobile content distribution and how it pertains to the various platforms: iPhone, BlackBerry and WinMo. We also talked about Magmic’s upcoming game based on the Hollywood movie Eagle Eye.

We started off talking about the International Game Developers Association. They had a meeting here in Ottawa and it was a good way to network with people in the gaming industry. It will be a regular meeting so if you’re in the Ottawa area, I suggest checking it out.

On the issue of iPhone content distribution: It’s a developer’s wet dream. The second you’re finished developing your app, it goes live. One device, one platform and a simple discovery method. You simply can’t get any better. Wes, brought up a good point that Android may falter in the sense that fragmentation will make developing for Android difficult.

Android has an opportunity to provide a great mobile content discovery portal. Where it lacks, is the idea that money made from the Android Market, will not get reinvested in hardware. Vendor driven distribution models are great because it allows a vendor to reduce hardware prices because it knows it can recoup the costs in software sales. This makes me want a Google Phone. There was a lot of talk about this in the past, and it was quickly killed when Google made the official announcement that there will be no official Google hardware. If they were to develop some hardware, it would give them a real edge on Apple.

RIM doesn’t have a content discovery portal that makes sense yet, but it’s hopefully in the works. Their current content discovery method is just a hyperlink to BlackBerry.com that aggregates some apps but it’s basically useless. RIM doesn’t want to take your money as a store, they’re focused on hardware. There could be some issues with the fact that enterprise users could be dissuaded by an app store because companies tend to lock down devices and wouldn’t like the idea of having their employees constantly distracted by games and apps. Also, we’ve seen that investors get weary of RIM moving into the consumer space because its core business is enterprise.

Eagle Eye the mobile game has been released by Magmic to coincide with the launch of the Hollywood film. The film opened number 1 with 29.2 million dollars at the box office. Wes got the opportunity to work with the film makers and tour the set for creative inspiration. Eagle Eye the mobile game, is a 2D side scrolling game that ties in closely with the movie.

Check out the game from Bplay here.

Related Posts:

• QuicklyBored Podcast up tomorrow - Talking mobile content distribution Diggnation style
• International Game Developers Association - Magmic Games
• New York Times Crosswords for BlackBerry by Magmic reviewed
• The QuicklyBored Podcast - Episode 7 - October 23,2006: Magmic CEO John Criswick, Blackberry Gaming and More
• Mobile Content 2008: Mike Pearson of Google talks Android