ToppsTown: Avatar Smackdown & new Home

Huge freakin' changes to ToppsTown have taken place today! Are you watching?!

First off, there's a brand-spankin' new addition to the Game Zone: Avatar Smackdown. To get the full effect of this rock'em sock'em piece of brutality you need to go play it, but here are a couple of screen grabs to give you a taste.

You might notice that I'm playing as my own, custom Avatar (see below). And I just got my butt kicked in this game because I was trying to take a screen grab of it. Dangit, that was for ToppsPoints!

But let's back up! Did you happen to notice that your Binder did not launch right away when you signed in? Instead, you were routed to our new homepage... Today's Lineup has been moved into the world.
There are a couple of reasons for the change... the biggest one is probably that now you can click stuff. We loved having Today's Lineup inside the Binder but we were limited on how you could interact with it. Do you like it better this way? Here's a closer look at the new Home button and an example of a more dynamic message we can deliver now:

There are a couple of other new things floating around on the site, but I don't want to spoil everything. We're moving closer and closer to Football... who's getting pumped?

Day 3: The Sans Broadcast Television Week

Well, tonight I drove home and thought about my night without surfing the channels. I decided to grill out. Now, I don't know if I would have grilled out without TV or if I would have found myself sitting on the couch sandwich in one hand remote in the other. But I grilled chicken with a brandy barbecue sauce I made from scratch. Let me tell you, it rocked!

I watched last night's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Hulu, then worked for a bit. Later, I jumped back onto the net and watched Twin Peaks on CBS.com.

Here's what I learned last night. It's a bad idea to watch Twin Peaks right before bedtime. I had nightmares all night. Oh, also, grilling chicken is a fine alternative to watching another repeat you've seen a dozen times.

Day 2: The Sans Broadcast Television Week

Last night I was 42 minutes deep into my third episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation before I remembered about this "experiment." So, today was kind of a reboot of the experiment. However, this does bring something to mind.

Broadcast television is just too easy. At least it is for me. I walk in, turn on the TV and start to surf. It doesn't matter what's on, it only matters that it is mindless. So, if there are many people like me, and I believe there are, then some of the ratings reported for networks are really just people who find it too difficult, or inconvenient to watch entertainment on the computer. The important lesson: Easy is powerful. Make your site easy, simple and clear and you might actually be surprised by the response. Additionally, I've come to the conclusion that easy is also elegant. So, you don't have to give up on aesthetics.

Today, however, was success. I got my morning news from the radio, worked all day, then went over to a co-workers place and hung out with the guys. I have to admit, that it did cross my mind when I was driving over to Money's house that I'd rather do this, than go home and avoid the TV all night. Don't get me wrong, it's always a fun time hanging out, laughing, telling lies and relaxing for a change. I just appreciated it more than usual.

Broadcast television is habit forming. I have to think to keep from watching it. If I don't think, I find myself sitting in front of the box, thumb poised on the remote. I think this is the same with brands. Pulling someone from a brand to a new one is more than just convencing them the new brand is marginally better. You are also asking the consumer to break down a habit.

---

Tonight I watched clips from Saturday Night Live on Hulu. I saw commercials for Crest Whitening Strips and Macdonalds, so no fear, the spot is not dead, not yet.

Day 1: The Sans Broadcast Week

This work week, I'm conducting an experiment. I'm going to go 1 work week without watching broadcast television. I'm not talking about some kind of media fast, I'm really wanting to get a sense of where we are in the delivery of entertainment content via alternative pipelines. I'll be watching shows streamed on network websites, Hulu, Joost, Netflix Watch Now and whatever other sources I can find.

I want to answer two questions:

1. Can I really find enough entertainment to render my bondage to the cable company void.
2. What kind of advertising messages do I experience.

I'll keep you posted.

Meatballs, Iceballs

One awesome thing was just overshadowed by another awesome thing. Here goes.

Awesome thing: I just finished reading a borrowed copy of Seth Godin's Meatball Sundae. And it was fantastic. Full of brilliant ideas and the kinds of thinking that make Jeff and I bond so well (not that either of us are as ingenious or as articulate as Seth Godin, but we can aspire).

So I climb out of my bed and I'm formulating what I want to say from under the oppressive weight of such brilliant thinking, and while I'm mentally organizing I casually check my Twitter.


Mars Phoenix is the actual, official Twitter feed of the Phoenix lander. This not only marks a day so historic that I want to pee myself a little, but it also marks the first serious, important, world-changing event that I've learned about through Twitter. AND, in another credit to Twitter's instantaneousness (when it works, of course), may I add that I learned about this turn of events before my brother, who is an aspiring astronaut?

me: THEY FOUND ICE ON MARS!

Ryan: LKJ!L@J

Ryan: link me? something not a Rickroll or a picture of a glass of water atop a Mars Bar?

P.S. Follow the Twitter feed... updates keep comin'!
P.P.S. Here's the Phoenix story.
P.P.P.S. Seth Godin, I love you.

Sometimes We Go Too Far

I just stumbled upon this:

Suspension Sticker Ad

I have to say, I think this is a terrible idea. I'm all for edgy, remarkable advertising. I've built my career around it. But this, if it is for real, is a dangerous idea. Sometimes, selling things takes second place to people's lives. No really, I mean it.

Users Expect Information

I'm sitting here surfing the TV channels and I stumble across a show called "Visitors of the Night" on the Lifetime Movie Network. Okay, I have never watched Lifetime and never intend to. I am a guy after all. But, I was curious about this movie, cause I thought it was a science fiction flick. You know, visitors, as in aliens. So, I clicked the "info" button. Here's the description of this stupid movie, "A teen behaves oddly; her mother has weird dreams." Give me a break. You call that info?

What's most frustrating is Time Warner just downloaded a new software build for the system and now when you want info, you get about half of what you used to. In the past you would get the year the movie was released, the director, the actors and a decent description. They have removed the director from the info and shortened the descriptions.

I'm not surprised TW did this, since they are completely out of touch with their consumers and couldn't care less if they get what they want. But it illustrates an important point. When I'm surfing Netflix and I want information about a movie on my queue I just rollover the link and bada-boom, bada-bing, I get a lengthy description with everything I want to know.
My expectations, like most consumers, have been shaped by the online experience. Marketers had better learn this lesson or they will keep disappointing the consumer and the consumer will find someone who doesn't.

WALL-E game site

Tooting-our-own-horn time! Check out the recently launched wallevideogame.com for an awesome project by one of WonderGroup's teams. Awesome job, team!

So who's pumped about the movie (and naturally the game)?

TimesPeople

Every site in the universe needs a social network with chat, friend functions, voting options, etc etc etc!

Not true, and while I'm sure you realize that... I think that many companies still don't. Social networking isn't right for every brand, and even when it is, it might be that only certain pieces make strategic sense.

I know I'm not saying anything new here, but the reason I've set this all up is that BoingBoing posted an interesting bit about TimesPeople. The New York Times has constructed a social network that fits their brand: a toolbar built around the core of sharing news articles and adding social value to the content they're already providing.

Smart smart smart. Trim the fat and keep what adds value to your brand.

Word of Mouth

Over the course of lunch yesterday I started reading a book... and kept reading a book... and finished reading a book. (It ended up being a long, but massively productive lunch... in case the boss is reading.)

The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II is available on Amazon, but also as a completely free ebook. Here's where things get interesting: I found out about this book through a post on Seth Godin's blog. Author Dave Balter apparently gave ebook rights to a few prominent marketing bloggers-- in fact, you can't even get it directly from his post on his company's blog.

The word of mouth generated in this fashion speaks for itself. It isn't just smart, and it's definitely not a gimmick... it's putting your money where your mouth is.

Probably the most important fact about this whole thing is that the book is good. It's full of fantastic ideas, anecdotes and humor* about viral marketing, WOM and how marketing concepts fail. None of this would work without the strong product behind it.

Check out the ebook and let me know what you think. If you're motivated, you can get through it in 2-3 hours. ;)

*The book quotes The Big Lebowski, in case you think I'm hawking some kind of dry textbook.

Download Day 2008!

First, a fact that makes me squeal with delight: 51.94% of WonderBlog readers use Firefox. Of course I'd love for that to be higher, but it's a *much* higher margin than many sites.

That being said, don't forget to download Firefox 3 today! It's Download Day 2008, and they're aiming for a world record for downloads in a single day.

If you aren't part of that 52%, now would be a good time for conversion. (Although Kris has warned me against downloading software on the first day, but psh. World record!) And if you are part of the awesome majority... well, you're still probably an iteration behind.

Downloads start at 1pm. Let me know if you partake!

Hahaha...

Did I just get someone fired?

So here's a little anecdote about a marketing experience, more or less. On Saturday, I visited a movie theater to see The Happening (I'm a big Shyamalan fan, despite the mainstream's dwindling faith in him), and I had a fairly horrible experience at the concession stand, which I usually try to avoid because of similar experiences.

This one was particularly frustrating... enough so that I decided to write a letter to the theater. I tried not to be witty and cruel, but I mentioned that this was the most recent in a long string of repulsing experiences. Undertrained staff, managers hanging around joking while my cashier still doesn't know what a sugar cone is, having to repeat my order upwards of four times, etc etc etc.

The response back from the theater gave me a mixed reaction. First off, it was a human response... I appreciate that. But there were two other oddities about the email:

1. It was riddled with typos. Thanks for making the effort.
2. It asked me to single out the cashier.

That's right... as a follow-up, the theater would like to know who was The Problem. Could I describe what they look like? Do I know their name? What showtime did I attend? Which makes it a) feel like a threat (though not directed at me), and b) clear that they didn't understand that this was not a one-time deal.

They offered me some free movie passes, which I turned down because that wasn't my point. I'm not trying to milk the system... I'm letting you know that your theater, increasingly and increasingly, sucks. And your typo-ridden email didn't exactly help.

Are you a 'bandwidth hog'?

I don't usually buy a Sunday paper but this past weekend was an exception. An article happened to catch my eye in The Cincinnati Enquirer that was originally written in The New York Times about a topic that I don't think about on a regular basis. This question is whether or not people should have to pay for all of the time they spend online.
"Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic"

Think about this for a second. Have you thought about how much time you actually spend online? More importantly, do you think about how much bandwidth you are using when you download a TV show on your computer? What if you had to pay for the extra usage that you consume online?

The more I ponder the idea of paying more for bandwidth usage, the more I realize how this could be more money for internet providers and less opportunity for internet users. One of my co-workers who frequently writes on the WonderBlog, Spidey, asked this question," So are drivers going to have to shell out more money for driving more often than others?" It is kind of crazy to think of what could happen if this movement to pay for your "extra usage" really happens. Right now it is being tested in a town in Texas. I'm glad I don't live there. Here are some questions I have for everyone to think about.

• If users have to pay extra for bandwidth, how will this affect the way people use the internet?
• What will this mean for the future of interactive marketing?
• How can advertising agencies stay innovative when they have to put a limit on the types of information they can download or view like YouTube, for instance?

If you are one of those 'bandwidth hogs' you might be more than a little nervous, and I don't blame you. I personally don't want to worry about how I search the web. I don't even worry about my cell phone usage with all of the minutes I have, so I don't want to have to start worrying about what I do online. Maybe if internet providers want to lower there monthly rates, I might consider the idea of paying for usage. I take that back. I still think it will cause more harm than good.

ToppsTown: BaseballCardBlog

No lengthy post today... just a shout-out to a blog that heaped some praise on ToppsTown, specifically the Binder, our trading process, the anonymity that each user maintains, our graphics, and not being completely tied to reality.

That's quite a mouthful of good stuff... now we just need to tone down our sound effects a bit, perhaps?

ToppsTown: Topp Card of the Week!

Have you been paying attention? If so, you might have noticed a new piece of navigation in the Trading Zone in ToppsTown: Topp Card of the Week.

The Topp Card function means that suddenly even your so-so virtual cards could suddenly have a lot of worth. Our inaugural Topp Card, Tim Lincecum, is displayed in this section... this card is now worth 400 ToppsPoints, a freakin' sweet trophy, an underwater backdrop for your Avatar, a skull table for your Clubhouse, as well as four new ToppsTown cards for your Binder. Right now, this is the only way to get new cards without entering codes or trading for them.

We must be mad to make a trade like this! Used-car-salesman-on-TV mad! "I'll club a seal to make a better deal!" Anyone?


I'm thrilled about this function because I think it invigorates trading. Suddenly it's not just about collecting your favorite team (go Reds!) or getting a better pitcher so you can play Fastball Blast a little bit better. Now there's a capitalistic rush... but is that so different from the hobby? Aren't there cards that skyrocket in value for various reasons?

Each week, a new Topp Card will be announced. I'm curious to see if it will catch on, and if that card will become a particularly hot item. Right now I can tell you I'm seeing a lot of requests for ol' Tim in the Trading Zone...

P.S. I'd love to show you what it looks like when you redeem the card, but I can't get my hands on one. I'm telling you, we get no perks. ;)

DailyTwit

Ohmygawd guess what starts in less than 4 days?

From the Twitter blog:

DailyLit is a nifty service that will deliver entire books to you over email in small, manageable bits. The idea is to read a tiny bit of the book every day until it's finished. Now, Daily Lit has announced support for Twitter.

I am now "following" three books... one, two, three. It took me far too long to find these links on the DailyLit site, but hopefully they'll elevate them more when the project actually launches.

Thanks to a Firefox add-on called Twitterfox, I have my finger constantly on the pulse of my Twitter feeds, and I've been looking for a new Twitter application (Twapp? naaaah) to reward this vigilance of mine. I just *thrill* at the idea of getting a new, ultra-brief installation of a book (or three) each day-- what a compelling idea, at least in theory.

Will it make sense in the long run? Will the book fit together cohesively in my head? (Honestly, paying that much attention to every 140 characters might make me read a book more thoroughly, in the end. Maybe.) The bottom line is that I'm just plain curious about this whole shebang.

And of course, one of the inaugural pubs is a Cory Doctorow book-- how fitting!

ToppsTown: Crazy Cam

Woo! Time to talk about my other favorite ToppsTown game, Crazy Cam. All told I have about ten favorite games, but this is my favorite of the favorites. ;)

I have plenty to say about this one. It went through several iterations, and I am so happy with the way it ended up.

In terms of cameos, I'd like to mention that one of our copywriters, JP, is the crazyfan (red guy). Also, LaunchForce's Brett is the crazy dancing guy and Mark is the cowboy. Studs, these guys.

So let's talk game tips. Here's a screenshot of how awesome I am... #1 on the leaderboard at this moment, as my avatar Sir Sushi Sushi. Like my awesome pig arm? That cost me a pretty penny. (Yeah, you'd think I'd get some in-game perks, but nothin' happenin'.)

Playing the game well is easy. First off, find the crazyfan. When you see the red guy on the screen, hunt him down with great vigilance! He's worth 10x any of the other characters (500 points, I believe!).

My only other tip is to move in chunks. Instead of scrolling all over the screen, move a few inches and pause, then move a few inches and pause again. Why? Because all of the characters are animated to move slightly (or in Brett's case, flailing wildly), and your eye will pick it up much more easily if you stop the board from moving around. Personally I move along the bottom, then up along the top.

If there's an exception to this rule, it'd be the mascot (tiger). He stands out enough that you can usually just flounder around looking for him. The hardest to find, which you already know if you've played at all, are the baby and the grandmother... they just blend right in to the majorly blue background.

Did that help?

Here's a link to previous Topps Town posts.

About freaking time

AdAge: thank you for breaking the mold and writing an article about the Millennial Generation that's not about how we're whiny, anti-commitment, in-at-9-out-at-5ers. Or in your own words, "Article after article says Millennials have been coddled throughout their lives and expect high salaries, cool perks and flexible schedules, not recognizing the commitment needed for building a career."

Another highlight from the article that made my morning:

The Class of 2008 already knows a lot of things the current work force is still trying to figure out. They've lived in an online and offline world that makes them comfortable bringing new thinking to agencies that are working to bring their clients' brands closer to consumers. They "get" the idea of convergence -- in media, in technology and in the way people live -- because that's how they live. So we need to be willing to learn, as well as teach and mentor.

Don't get me wrong-- I don't think that the other articles I've read are necessary incorrect in their findings about my generation, but they are so often handled badly. You know that feeling when someone is talking about you as if you're not in the room? It's a bit like that. I can heeeear you.

3 ways your fabulous content ticks me off

Spidey and I have frequent discussions about user expectations, and while I'm sure mine are different than the layman's because I work in web, I think they're still relevant.

In any given day, I read a lot of content. Some relates to my job and some doesn't, but I've become a fairly intrepid skimmer. Today I found an article that was relevant to me, interesting, well-written, and a complete pain in my bum. Why? Because there was no "print this article" option. Here's why that's an issue:

1. People still print. Yes, I have tons of bookmarks, an overwhelmed del.icio.us account and a truckload of starred RSS items, but I still share and save about 5% of my content by printing it out, especially at work. I can write on a printed doc and hand it to Jeff to read on the plane (for that no-devices phase that drives him nuts).

2. Distortion. Are you aware that when I print your page from my browser (as opposed to the "print this document" option) that your article suddenly looks like crap? There are header links pushing the content down to the middle of the page, and your ads, links, blogrolls, archives, etc are causing the content to shrink and break awkwardly. I have to actually sort through this muck to get to the one-page article that you spent a lot of time working on.

3. Comments, forms, trackbacks. I printed a one-page article that spewed out six additional pages of inane comments, forms to leave inane comments, and a stream of trackbacks (which are unusable to me when I'm printing anyway). I just single-handedly destroyed the Earth.

It disheartens me to see this on sites that work so hard to routinely develop meaningful content, including tons of ways to sort and distribute their stuff digitally, and then miss this step, perhaps thinking that the printed word is incongruous with 2.0. I assure you that isn't (entirely) the case, in the same way that the Kindle, popular as it may be, won't replace physical books any time soon.

Buttons

Two buttons to share with you this evening (is it already evening?!).

The first is from a site that I merely stumbled upon, having never heard of it before. It is Blogged, and it ranks blogs. Simple as that. I'd love to know more about the criteria by which we were given an impressive 8.2!

The second is the Geek Test from innergeek.us, which a friend of mine (hi Yvette!) began years ago and I re-took last night. I scored embarrassingly low... a 30.4?! Certainly I am a bigger geek than that! I have a ton of ideas for areas that the quiz doesn't explore enough such as web (not programming... more like "how many feeds do you read" and "have you fantasized about Google" and "how many BoingBoing contributers can you name").

Sadly, I am only a "total geek"-- there are five rankings higher than that. Sadness. Guess I'm going to have to sell my soul to Star Trek for my street cred.

ToppsTown: Bazooka Blow

While I'm not trying to turn this into a ToppsTown blog, the site is really fun to blog about. There are so many behind-the-scenes stories that I want to tell you about, and as close as I am to the project there's still so much that's a surprise to me. I guess that speaks to how much combined effort goes into a virtual world.

Today I logged on and noticed that Bazooka Blow is the featured game. Huzzah! While I enjoy all of our games, this simple twitch game makes my day. (Besides entering ToppsTown codes, it's also probably the easiest to rack of a few quick points.) In case you haven't played it, I'm posting a few screen grabs.

Charlie did an awesome job with this guy's expressions. (Oops! I originally said it was Evan, who also does amazing work, but this game was in Charlie's court. Oooops!) That's what makes such a basic game really stand out: the style behind it.

We also developed the music for the game-- you can thank Mark for the goofy, classic arcade-type music that loops throughout the game.

And I think there's a great finishing touch on the bee and the claw, both which fly in randomly to pop your Bazooka bubble. TIP: If you haven't noticed yet, they don't automatically pop the bubble. Sometimes if you wait just for one super-tense second, they might... might... fly back out of frame, leaving your bubble intact. As far as I can tell, the claw is more likely to vamoose than the bee (whom I repeatedly curse to high heaven).

Question to anyone still reading: are you interesting in hearing back-stories on other Topps Town games?

ToppsTown: flattery

Today Nick found a bit of flattery at a blog called Game Guts, and coming from someone else in the biz it means all that much more.

Here's a part I agree with:

...if you're going to be selling the product anyway, and you're going to have a website anyway, you might as well have the two working together. This is particularly true of collectible and entertainment products.

I love talking about this site as added value! This is one thing I love about it-- people who already buy the Topps cards have this new experience at no additional cost.

Now here's a part that I'd like to expound on:

Toppstown looks to be a pretty modest site. Good for them. Keep costs down, make the thing do what it needs to do, and don't sabotage a good thing by breaking the bank.

Adam (author) is right, for the most part. Topps Town is modest-- we spent much of our effort making the Avatar builder streamlined and fun, into making the Clubhouse customizable, into tweaking the Trading Zone. But the part that I would like to add is that the site will grow. We believe that the site needed to be built on solid legs before pumping it full of stuff-- if the functionality isn't there, how can we expect users to come back long enough to see it grow? While I can't give away anything about what is coming in the future, I can say that football launches at the end of the summer and there are surprises to come.

Learning from BitTorrent

I was talking to our COO yesterday and we begin to talk about BitTorrent. Yes, we are just that interesting, given a free moment, we start talking about stuff like that. Perhaps you don't know what BitTorrent is. Well, first let's set aside the fact that it's often used to trade files that are in violation of copyright laws.

Now that we have that out of the way; BitTorrent is a system for sharing files over the Internet. What's unique about BitTorrent is how files are shared from user to user, what is called peer-to-peer sharing. When you download a Torrent file you are really downloading a rather small file that has some code to help identify where the file you are looking for might be. The BitTorrent software uses that file to start downloading the actual file you have requested. It looks for different computers that are currently online and that are "seeding" or sharing the file. So, when you are downloading a Torrent file you are really downloading parts of the file from many people.

For example, if I were the kind of person who would download an illegal episode of the Simpsons, I may be downloading that episode from dozens of other people who are also huge fans of the show. In other words, by its very nature, this system connects people of similar interests. It's difficult to grasp the power of a group of people with the same passion, coming together to make something happen.

The marketer can learn 2 things from the way this technology has flourished:

1. People are naturally drawn to people like themselves.
2. Certain users (according to most studies 1%) are highly motivated to share content related to their passion.

If we can understand that truth and tap into it’s power then we can have a huge impact on brands and on the bottom line.

Powerhouse/A Decade to Die For

Guess who made it into CiN Weekly? (Unfortunately I can't link to the photo gallery-- what the frick?-- but it's "Powerhouse Party.")

That's Nathan, Michael, myself and Meredith. We were there for the grand re-opening of Powerhouse (seriously click this link-- their new space in Newport is amazing), and specifically because A Decade to Die For was playing. Below is a picture of the band, with WonderGroup's own Aaron May being a goober in yellow.

ToppsTown: just for kids?

Well well well! ToppsTown launched this weekend (soft launch on the 30th, with a harder hit on the 1st and more users discovering it every day). So far so good, though every site has its glitches in the beginning. Overall I am pleased as punch, and so happy to hear that users are exploring it.

Because I'm a snoop, I've been keeping up with what people are saying about ToppsTown... not much press has broken yet, but Brandweek and blogs such as Virtual Worlds News and Virtual Worlds Forum Blog have mentioned the site. (Ooh, looks like the press release has hit... turns out you get a lot more if you search Topps Town [with the space].)


But of course I'm most interested in what individual people are saying-- at least more than seeing how many places the press release turns up. For instance, here's a blog that jumps to ToppsTown's defense regarding the privacy of the site. And even though no one asked me to, I'd like to respond to the question that was posed: is ToppsTown just for kids?

Topps Town was created for kids, to bring a whole new facet to baseball cards. The times, they are a-changing, and this site is about bringing trading cards back to a new generation of baseball fans.

That being said, of course we expect and encourage adults to explore. First off, we want parents to be able to see the world that their kids are involved in. Secondly, the site is fun and engaging, so why limit that to children?

Thirdly and maybe most importantly, it's the adults who are going to get kids back into trading cards. It's the dads and uncles and big sisters and older friends that are going to cause the spark in kids that makes them want to trade, collect and drool over their baseball cards (or whatever hobby they get into). This is just a new iteration of that passion-- bringing some of the time-honored tradition online, a new expression of a much-loved idea.

Alright, I've blabbed on enough now. To all you adults out there, especially the kids-at-heart, go log on and have a ball (pun intended). And if you want to add me as a friend, I'm Sir Sushi Sushi.