Where the Heck Has Shannon Been, and Easter Eggs in Dragon Age. Yeah, THAT Easter Egg.

Well, apparently it's socially acceptable for me to say "Happy Holidays" to everybody now - and simply because "Happy Holidays" is PC. Little known fact about the Shanster...I am obsessed with Christmas. Although I haven't been blogging lately, I have been fanatical about listening to Christmas carols and secretly counting down the days until I can decorate.

I know lots of people hate people like me, and admitting this to me readers may cause me to read a few of you (i.e. 3-5 of you)... which would mean I would lose all of you. Shit, I've got to get better at math. Either way, it's out now - a scrooge, I am not.

But that's not the only "news" I have! What's mostly kept me away from my blogging is that I have been adjusting my job situation, and have started a firm with two of my colleagues (one of whom, Steven Shapiro, has a wonderful brand licensing blog here). Our name is still TBA, but the firm will still have the goal of serving "baby businesses," entrepreneurs and start ups, particularly in the areas of entertainment, brand and IP licensing, and complex corporate matters. So, lots of planning has been going on, but rest assured there are VERY exciting things to come!

Alright, enough about me. Let's talk about sex, baby. Namely, homosexual sex in Dragon Age: Origin. That's one hell of an Easter egg if I've ever heard of one. Now, this little "secret" has been circulating the interwebs for some time now, but I haven't read a whole lot of substantive commentary. It's almost like no one wants to say "that's what I'm talking about!" Well, perhaps that's not the way they feel, given that's it's two magical dudes going at it. Either way, this is my blog, so I'm going to share MY opinion on it (funny how that works out so nicely...).

Thanks to Mrs. Gore, all video games bear cover-ruining stamp telling parents the overall "level" of content in the game. Dragon Age is rated "T" for teen, which, in this day and age, parents are usually cool with purchasing this game for their ten-year olds. They may not, however, have gotten around to explaining homosexuality to their kids. Not cool (on two levels), however, a parent's choice. My guess is that the ESRB was not away of Bioware's hidden "extra content," in which case I think it's a little out of line. That being said, is your average 10-13 year old going to find this Easter egg? Probably not. But they could, to me, that possibility alone takes it up to "M," which doesn't stand for "Moms, buy this game for your ten year old."

Now, please don't get me wrong; this isn't about homosexuality - I would be saying the same thing if it was a hot female black mage and a muscle-rippling male warrior (woah, I got a little carried away on that one...). And I like to consider myself as socially "liberal" (dare I use the term) as they come. However, I believe that the ratings system is designed to educate parents - although, in my personal opinion, parents also need to engage in independent research before purchasing a game. Parents should be making educated choices about the content they expose their children to, and hidden sexual content makes that very difficult.

I completely respect developers and the hard work they put into making a visual masterpiece like Dragon Age. However, make sure you know your audience, or the focus will be on one tiny part of your masterpiece, and that should never be the case.

Editor's Note: My lovely fiance pointed out to me that Dragon Age is actually rated "M," not "T." I was looking at the PC version online when I was doing my research for this blog. Luckily, this serves simply to bolster my argument that parents should find out what's in games, and, in the case of Dragon Age, this SHOULD involve simply looking at the cover (which is a dragon made out of blood spatter) and the big "M" slapped on the front.

Minimizing Risks in Start-Up Gaming Co's

I read a great article this morning (thanks, Google alerts)about Kalypso, a Baltimore start-up that just launched it's first game, Tropico 3. That's right, Tropico 3. How did Kalypso accomplish the amazing feat of creating the third game in a popular series as their first release? No, my friends, they did not rewrite the laws of physics.. they purchased the right to the series from Take Two, creators of GTA. You see, as the article points out, while the Tropico series has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide (thanks in part, no doubt to both physical and downloadable sales on sites like Gametap & Yahoo! Games), it's still not profitable enough for Take Two to keep in its roster. Not when they have GTA (which sells millions of copies per release) and some of the best game developers in the biz; priorities = profit.

Now, that's not to say that Kalypso, who only opened their doors in June, don't have equally talented programmers and developers on their team. Quite to the contrary, I think this move was GENIUS for a start up, especially one in the cut-throat gaming industry. On the one hand, entrepreneurs "have no place to go but up," states Kalypso founder Deborah Tillet. But on the other hand, the risk of crashing and burning is higher, and of greater personal risk than it is with larger, established companies. So what better way to balance these interests than to purchase a more established IP? I touched on this topic a little while back, but it's certainly no secret that established IPs are an easier sell (and a better idea?) in this current economy. I applaude Kalypso for taking the leap and starting their own company @ a time when everyone is clinging to the known and the safe. I think purchasing the rights to an established title is a perfect & creative way to get on the map, and a chance for Kalypso to become truly innovative much quicker. Huzzah!

I Be Popular: Music Panel Discussion Tonight @ DART Boston

Hey entertainers! Wow, this month has been filled with speaking engagements - it's nutty! Tonight, I am excited to be on the panel @ "Pokin' Holes," a DART Boston event at Vlora in Copley. Tonight, we'll be discussing the Fary & Fiend, a French company that has invented a touch-pad guitar pedal. What's their plan to break into the US market? Will Americans love it or hate it? Come out tonight to find out.... see you there!

MySpace Tries to Get It's Brand Back... Good Luck.

I'm not going to lie; I jumped on the MySpace bandwagon when it was all the rage a few years ago. And as much as it kills me to admit it, I haven't deleted my account, and, to the best of my knowledge, MySpace hasn't either. There's something sacred in deleting a social network account or a blog.... I've got this mental block that it just seems "wrong." Either way, I log on every few months to get it another chance, and am constantly disappointed at the cess pool of social media laid out before mine eyes. MySpace is a complete disaster. It's covered in flashy, annoying ads that just scream "cheap!!!", and it's filled with unsavory characters. Tell me I'm wrong; I dare you. So how did MySpace get here? And can they fix it?

Apparently, they're going to try. According to that little blip, MySpace is attempting to get it's brand back my focusing more on music, videos and games.

I'm not really sure how this will help the brand recover. The issue wasn't necessarily content (although I've seen enough pics of people in their bathrooms trying to look sexy to last me a lifetime, thank you), but functionality and the AWFUL ads/spam. MySpace is still a place for music, and many bands and music professionals alike still swear you still need a MySpace page. I'm on the fence about this, because MySpace's search function is so band that it severs limited to ability of fans to FIND music that they might actually like. Instead, users are stuck fumbling around with random key words that MIGHT be the title of a band or song they like. For example, if I like metal, I should probably type in "Guitars of Death Steel," or "Apocalypse Babies" and hope for the best. There's no intuitive way to find music related to bands that you like. Sure, there are "genres," but how often do you look up a band you like and go "What the hell?? They're not [insert genre]!" Maybe I simply haven't played around with it enough to find the niche, but should I have to?

Moving on to videos and games, it's still going to be an uphill battle. YouTube has established itself as the top go-to for videos... what is MySpace's "hook" to top that? And what's the approach to gaming? Is is casual gaming a la Yahoo! Games? Or bigger, downloadable stuff a la Gametap? Either way, they're going to have to prove to users that not only have they cleaned up their brand (hurdle #1), but also that their services are BETTER than what's currently out there (hurdle #2). Can they do it? I'm not so sure, but I'm willing to hang on to m profile for a bit longer to find out.

Creative Commons is the New Way to License Music

Hellloooooo fellow creatives! I'm coming to you live on a rainy, cold day in Boston... but never fear. Creative Commons shall brighten the mood. For those of you that aren't aware, Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that uses an easy icon system to allow music users and other music makers to license music without having to ask the copyright owner every time. The entire site is beyond user-friendly, and there's a perfect video to describe how the system works.

Personally, I think this is an amazing system to promote creativity and a wonderfully streamlined way for artists to show, with simple pictures, exactly how they want folks to be able to use their music. It's completely voluntary, and any content owner can amend or withdraw their license at any time.

So why am I going on and on about this? Because Creative Commons is a nonprofit, which means it can't exist without the support of the folks that believe in its mission. I would highly encourage you to take just 5 minutes to understand CC and its mission, and if it resonates with you like it does with me, please consider a nominal donation. Think of it as an investment in the future of music, not just for you, but for everyone (awww! moment!).