http://kleientertainment.com Official Klei Entertainment Inc. website Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:03:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We've been in radio silence for a while now, but we're finally able to open up a bit and say that our next Closed Beta is coming in November 20, 2008. Since our last release, we've waded through the mountains of feedback and created a crazy amount of new content ... http://kleientertainment.com/uncategorized/sugar-rush-closed-beta-begins-november-20/ Just a heads up -- I'll be doing a talk titled "Microtransactions in North America—Lessons Learned from the Pioneers" at Austin GDC, Worlds in Motion Summit next Tuesday. What a mouthful. If you're going to Austin, and you'd like to meet up, feel free to send me a message. ... http://kleientertainment.com/pax/austin-gdc-session/ I was asked a couple times if my slides are available for download. For those who are interested, Chris Remo of Gamasutra.com did a nice write-up of my panel talk regarding Free-to-Play games. It's far more indepth than my slides and I think you'd get more out of it. http://kleientertainment.com/pax/pax-panel-write-up/ The whole crew at Klei Entertainment will be attending the Penny Arcade Expo from Aug. 29-31. If you're planning on coming to PAX, please visit us at the Klei Entertainment booth (booth #151) where we've got a bunch of cool things in store! Also, while at PAX, I'll be giving a ... http://kleientertainment.com/pax/pax-2008/ Just a small, under-the-radar post that our newest game, Sugar Rush, is beginning its closed beta phase tomorrow. This game is basically the product of a few really passionate developers who wanted to make an intensely fun game with a really low barrier to entry. I hope you enjoy it. Link. http://kleientertainment.com/pc/sugar-rush-closed-beta-starts-tomorrow/ I'll be attending DemoCampVancouver later today, where I was invited to speak about my experiences in XBLA. This will be my first BarCamp experience, which are described as the "unconference". It'll be good to reconnect with Brendon (who I roomed with almost ten years ago) and Dustin. Also definitely looking forward ... http://kleientertainment.com/democampvancouver/democampvancouver06/ Mare and Raigan recently did a controversial interview on Gamasutra that seemed to have sturred a reaction among the press and gamers. The heart of the controversy is that Xbox LIVE Arcade has, by majority, very low rated games. This in turn hurts the developers who are making gems because: 1) ... http://kleientertainment.com/n/crap-games-are-not-the-problem/ As many of you know, Klei had a hand in the making of N+ on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. N+, having started life at Klei, used the Eets: Chowdown engine for the starting point of the project, giving Slick a head start on the more mundane portions of XBLA development. ... http://kleientertainment.com/n/legend-of-zelda-remade-in-n/ This article from Wired on the success of Apple is a mixed bag. The entire piece basically describes how Job's overbearing management style simultaneously motivates, demeans, and pushes people to create his vision. At the same time, you can't argue that he's been right. I personally have 3 iPods, a ... http://kleientertainment.com/business/three-things/ This one continues to baffle me. Why is it that none of the three consoles have user ratings on content? Why is it that things that take weeks in the Web 2.0 world take months or longer in the games industry? I suppose I can rattle off a few reasons ... http://kleientertainment.com/uncategorized/why-do-community-features-in-games-suck-so-much/