As far as investments go, if Stardock was publicly traded I would be an investor.

The upcoming new platform announcement is intriguing. I suspect it's iOS, which has absolutely no importance to me as a consumer, but I'd like it if I was an investor.

Windows 8 probably won't be great, but so it goes.

Ah well I never get the 3rd quest tech.

 

Kudos!  I really don't get phone gaming either.  I mean, sure a little Angry Birds while you're sitting around at work is okay...but that should comprise less than 1% of any respectable gamer's playtime.

 

I still remember you from csipgs. That old school enough for ya?

 

 

Agreed, but then you have to realize that 99% of people aren't "respectable gamers" There's certainly a market out there for smart phone and tablet games, it's just that we (and probably anyone who plays games like Elemental or Sins) aren't it.

Interesting to see the large number of Android users over iOS.

Phone gaming is not really gaming, it is just something you do to occupy your mind while something boring happens irl. As long as the only control method is to poke the screen we wont have anything worth mentioning other than silly puzzle games.

Phone games, while impressive compared to, say, an original Game Boy game, are still nothing more than simple amusements for me. I would never consider playing one for longer than a few minutes at a time. They're difficult to control and hard on the eyes. But I see a lot of potential for deep, meaningful games on tablet devices, provided that the UI challenge can be overcome. Just look at ID Software's Rage technical demo for the iPad. That was amazing, and rivaled any modern PC game in terms of graphics and production values. The iPad adaptation of Dead Space was also really well done, with graphics and gameplay that rivaled the console version. If FE was available for iPad, I would buy it without a second thought. Tablets are an ideal device for TBS games imho. I spent many happy hours playing Battle of Wesnoth on my iPad.

 

I never even got the survey this year for some reason. 

 

 

I don't think consoles have a long future either.    The business model is becoming unworkable for all but the very large or very small.

 

 

The digital distribution chart worries me. I don't trust Gamestop, EA is worse, everyone loves Steam but it won't let you play anything without asking for Valve's permission... Am I still going to be able to buy games in the future? It's starting to feel like no one wants me as a customer anymore.

Gamersgate.com is a good option that I use quite a bit.

 

 

Yes, I find them the best too.

I've actually been using Desura lately, as several of the Humble Bundles came with keys for it. No DRM, no need to run anything in the background, easy to find updates... They only seem to have old and/or small indie stuff, though. I love indie games and classics, but I also like the occasional big AAA title, and it looks like all of those are being tied to Steam or an even more restrictive service.

Then again, it's been a while since I've seen a AAA title I was actually interested in...

Well WE love you.

What I gotted from the survey:

 

2008: Steam had 10% of the DD market - Small player.

2009: Steam had 18% of the DD market - Still small.

2010: Steam had 30% of the DD market - A normal player.

2011: Steam had 50% of the DD market - The main player in the DD market.

 

 

Male/female ratio: Kinda proves that women don't like real games. Guess they're playing farmville and stuff....

Would seem to prove that they aren't interested in skinning and organizingsoftware but I believe that they simply don't know that it exists until some guy or website points it out to them.

 

Gamersgate, GOG, and Desura are all solid options- but I preferred Impulse.

 

I don't like the direction Gamestop went with Impulse- I felt under Stardock, that Impulse did a great job getting the little guys on the service.  I  can think of two games I really enjoyed that I discovered through Impulse, but never got onto Steam, and never will.

 

Maybe this new direction will work for Gamestop, but it's clear that it didn't work for Impulse's old customers.

My current preference is to purchase Stardock games directly from the Stardock online store, and evaluate other games based on prices from Impulse, Origin, or whatever (Steam last).

I know one woman modder and there are about three female code monkeys at Stardock. I stand by my plan to only have girls and make them super intelligent gamers that have serious coder skills. If each make nerd can learn to train their children in the ways of geek, we can turn the next generation into something really special. So far my Craigslist post has only attracted thieves... 

 

Kidding aside, the report looks good. How much does Stardock profit from Ironclad? They seem to be a fledgling of Stardockia, or very talented and awesome in the vernacular. They are making some really nice games. Of course the numbers for FE sales are going to be much more interesting. The only problem will be advertising to former MoM fans that have given up on gaming. They must be reached. I suggest a network of D&D players to spread the word. It worked for Obama.

 

Yep all that is missing right now is a better graphic engine and oh wait something quite major.. like a battary that last more than 2 hours while playing with it.

 

I phone need to be charge everyday, I can't even imagine how long it would last with a full pledge game on it. 2 hours max I would think... Phones are not even close to being on par with pc and who wants to play on a 4 inch screen anyway...

So, maybe I'm missing something here, but the "Which consoles do you own?" pie chart seems a little fishy. Since the percentages total to 100%, it implies that everyone surveyed owns EXACTLY one console or no console at all. I would assume there are a fair number of people that have more than one, right? Maybe that is so incredibly uncommon that it was less than 1%? Hmmm.

"What other platform would you like Stardock to develop for?"

question is how many people clicked Android only since there was no "none of the above" option in the survey.

 

The surveys have always been a bit leading/biased. I've done surveying as part of my job, and it's not an easy task to create questions that are meaningful yet applicable. Other than demographic info, hopefully the next survey will contain more meaningful questions. For example, things like:

*What does Stardock do well?

*What does Stardock need to improve upon?

*What applications/technology should Stardock consider expanding upon?

*Which of the following products would you like to see Stardock explore creating (Option A, Option B, etc.)?

*What type of Internet connection do you have?

*Do you have any feedback regarding this survey?

*What do you think of the Stardock website? Are there any ways it could be improved?

*Please rate your experience with Stardock support (list some options).

etc.

This isn't a complete list, but you get the idea.