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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yes, I find them the best too.

Well WE love you.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.