Xbox One, Transmedia Entertainment Hub

Following Microsoft’s abrupt about-face regarding an always-on connection and used game red tape for its new Xbox One, policy for the company’s machine has now fallen in line with their largest competitor, Sony’s PS4. E3 backlash from the would-be fans of the platform hit hard, but Microsoft listened…for now.

The details of the system had been murky until recently due to the market posturing that has been ongoing since the news on next generation game consoles started around the first of the year. This will likely continue until the actual release of both of the systems coming in the fourth quarter of 2013, but Microsoft’s mulligan may prove to be a lifesaver for what would have been a very grave error for an otherwise promising system.

The Xbox One is interesting on many accounts due to the further integration of Kinect voice and gesture interface control systems, use of the cloud for enhancing system performance, and finally, enhanced non-gaming entertainment which allows the user to operate their live TV through an Xbox interface rather than through the interfaces provided by the cable company’s boxes.

Transmedia entertainment could get a big boost in public awareness through this next generation console experience. It will be possible for Xbox owners to simultaneously watch TV and have an Internet browser window from a single location rather than across devices. While this is nothing new for PC gamers, it is a huge step forward for mainstream entertainment to use these machines in ways that have never been possible before. My last post touched on Syfy’s Defiance game and TV series; by having a console that you can play the game on, and console processes that make instant switching to live TV possible when the series airs, the franchise’s aim to have an integrated experience, could become much more seamless of an experience.  

Microsoft has been sending fans of the platform on a rollercoaster ride since details emerged from the first event. That lackluster launch event in May upset many fans and led them to believe that the manufacturer had possibly lost its focus on the gamers that made the predecessor so successful. Then, the June E3 bomb regarding a required always-on connection to the network and used games debacle, which they quickly rescinded, has taken those that care about new Xbox One from heightened levels of excitement and anticipation, to the pits of despair and disappointment. With a Sony price-point set at $100 less and none of the used game headaches, Sony could have developed a substantial lead in the console war of this generation. By reneging on the policy changes while remaining firm on price, Microsoft has positioned itself more securely due to most of their exclusive titles being highly sought after by the console gaming public, but Sony is certainly coming across as more reliable to target end-users.

There are still many things about next-gen console gaming that we don’t know yet, but in a sense, that’s nothing new. What we do know is that as this cycle matures, there will be many incredible options for players and lovers of interactive entertainment. With capabilities that these new systems provide, game developers who never seem short on creative application will give us as users many things to enjoy and talk about for the next 7-10 years. 

Mainstream Transmedia: SyFy and Trion’s Defiance

In the last year, I have explored many of the different facets surrounding transmedia and how technology is spearheading convergent media efforts to make for some very exciting entertainment options for fans. Multi-platform entertainment is here to stay, and embryonic efforts like the SyFy channel’s “Defiance” television series and concurrent game release “Defiance” MMORPG third-person shooter from Trion Worlds are helping to establish this form of storytelling in ways that are interesting, but also imperfect in the delivery.

After setting series debut records for a SyFy original series with 2.7 million viewers in the initial episode, television viewership for the “Defiance” effort has dwindled due to mixed reviews. Amazingly, the game portion has received mostly (there are exceptions) banal reviews and suffers from similar creativity and inspiration failures as the TV series, but has over one million registered users as of May.

Could this effort, widely described as “vanilla” and rote, all be due to a need to “play it safe” for the SyFy channel, as they have invested over $100 million into this transmedia effort? Historically, going the play it safe route doesn’t bode very well for getting fans back into the action once you have lost them, and these problems are now two-fold due to having a mediocre video game as well. Personally, I applaud the dual platform concept, while simultaneously finding the execution a bit off-putting.

An article from Rob Bricken of io9 breaks down the component parts of “Defiance” and makes plenty of comparisons to other science fiction franchises as well as Shakespearian themes that are present in the franchise. It seems that SyFy may be attempting to test the themes that are “sticky” with the audience, in order to mitigate the risk…hoping that something will attract fans to the series. This is the essence of what I find so disappointing, the total lack of innovation and edginess.

Part of the problem with “Defiance”, besides the lackluster storyline, revolves around the fact that the relationship between SyFy executives and the creators of the game, Trion Worlds, has been strained from the onset. Disagreements regarding launch dates and pilot episode scripting plots seemingly could have been ironed out in a far more adult fashion. For instance, an article found on Bloomberg Businessweek mentions both the release schedule and script writing as the two major problems* that the collaboration faced.

(*NOTE-- In my experience, when issues begin to bubble up from various contributing members associated with a project, there is a whole lot more than just two instances that have caused problems, these just made it to public awareness.)

It is widely recognized that a December release for a video game is ideal, yet a TV series release at that time of year could spell disaster. Trion wanted December, and SyFy wanted July, they ended up “compromising” on April. Another article mentions how season 1 of the TV series will not be able to incorporate much of the player action from the game due to not having enough in-game plots having been played. It seems like the perfect opportunity instead to allow both companies to release their individual products at the most opportune time. This strategy would have allowed considerable in-game plot to be developed and hence injected into the first season of the show. Maybe SyFy wasn’t confident about the product that was developed? Maybe they were afraid of giving away spoilers? There ARE a number of potential reasons why they would not go for this, but as trite as everything has been thus far, I don’t see a really good reason.

Secondly, it is common practice for game developers to write what is known as a “Bible”, a document that lists absolutely every detail of story history, character type, and every piece of information about the universe that is being created. The problem was, when Trion handed over the Story Bible, the SyFy writers were overwhelmed and stated that it was too “convoluted” to write their two-hour pilot script! Baffling to me, having parameters should make things easier first and foremost, but why wouldn’t there be more of an effort to have the writers themselves collaborate more effectively? Whether you are a game writer or a scriptwriter the fact remains that you have a skill for telling a story, only technical differences in the technique of delivery. With a mindset of collaboration and joint-effort, this should have been a non-issue. Both SyFy and Trion Worlds, I assume, wanted a successful launch for both of these products. That’s what transmedia represents, narrative storytelling opportunities; yet these professionals seem to have been stuck in their siloes, unable to unstick themselves from the processes of the past.

Make no mistake, as an Entertainment Business Master’s student I understand how pressure builds when substantial sums of money are on the line. This project had over $100 million dollars on the line and over two years of development leading up to the April 2013 release, but the innovation is in the concept itself, while being found minimally in the individual products.

While I am in love with the idea of a game and TV series intertwined, “Defiance” hasn’t done it for me yet. Also, although the series has recently been given the green light for a season two, I don’t know if it is for the right reasons. Maybe SyFy feels that too much has been invested to not give this further effort, or maybe they feel that they can pull more people in as the story develops further, only they know.

Perhaps the problem with the “Defiance” situation rests in the fact that the two companies had divergent goals for a convergent type of experience. Hopefully moving forward into season two of the show they are able to expand the integration with the game through synergistic effort in accordance with the native underlying roots of a transmedia experience. I have been pulling for this franchise due to the transmedia delivery and hope that they can pull it together and start delivering innovative content that is in accordance with the concept. 

From Business Plans to Businesses of Tomorrow

Art by: pictographik.wordpress.com/

Business plans are fairly intense pieces of work; I know this because I have been fully immersed in the creation of one over the last month. From this invaluable experience I have learned so much about what is required and not required in order to navigate through the hurdles that arise when you are trying to take a nebulous concept from your mind and have it make sense when you put it on paper in order to start a business that has any chance of getting funded.

Throughout this process, many things that I thought would be the easiest to implement have turned out to perhaps be the most difficult challenges to overcome. I have battled boredom and frustration on a number of occasions, not because I’m bored with my concept, but because certain things can be downright difficult in the process towards achieving fruition of one’s desires.

Therein lies the biggest challenge for many people, how to carry on through the pain of boredom and into the breakthrough stage which Robert Greene calls “the cycle of accelerated returns”. This stage, which Greene describes in his book “Mastery”, is the point where through vast amounts of trial and error, hard work, and focused effort, a person is able to complete a given task, making it appear to be automatic and easy. For me right now, I’m not at that point yet with my business plan writing skills. I’m not worried about the fact that I find the process of business plan writing challenging and more than a little bit tedious because, from past experience, I know that I’m close to having a breakthrough in the process of learning how to do it well.

In my last post, I described the methods of two experts concerning business plan writing, William Sahlman and Tim Berry. Both offered advice that I have used in conjunction with the advice of my two fantastic course instructors who have guided me throughout the process of writing my own plan. Most significantly, for me, is to keep things as simple and focused as possible.

Any 25+ page document that is detailing the complexities and inner workings of a business startup will be a notably exigent process, but if the overall concept is something that can be boiled down into a succinct phrase that provides a distinct solution to a public point of pain, the entrepreneur has an opportunity within his grasp to receive the funding that they may need. I have found that combining the advice from Sahlman and Berry to be incredibly useful. 

Take Sahlman’s four-element structure and overlay Berry’s four-step process. Sahlman’s “nouns” provide the skeletal structure to Berry’s “adjective and verb” system which provides the movement when you correlate the two…that HAS to be business plan gold.  These two minds together have provided what the body (business plan) takes to move forward (in the funding process) successfully.

Sahlman and Berry aren’t the only ones in the business plan world that seem to have an affinity for the number four either. Akira Hirai of Cayenne Consulting talks about “The Four Cornerstones of Every Business Plan" on the company’s “Hot Sauce! Blog”. According to Hirai’s theory, the opportunity describes the point of pain, the solution is the way your business eases the pain, the execution tells how you plan to do it, and outcomes tells of your vision of the business in the future. Pretty concise method if you ask me I feel like I’m seeing a pattern here.  All of these experts use very simplistic ways to describe what can be an overwhelming process, but when viewed through a simple four-step plan of action, the pressure is relieved a bit and a starting point is far more obvious.

My advice is to breathe, go through the plan in steps, write down ideas, and try to be as organized as possible. Even though these are fantastic four-step methods towards accomplishing a successful business plan write-up, the details can sink the ship before you even leave the harbor. Throughout the entire process make sure you go back and look to make sure you’re keeping on task and within both the structure and process of a well-written business plan as prescribed by Sahlman, Berry, and Hirai…these guys definitely know what they’re talking about. 

Mission_Start: Business Plan Gravity Clarified

There comes a point in any potential entrepreneur’s life where they have to buckle down and take active steps towards the realization of bringing their ideas to the world of form. As one of these individuals myself, there have been years of accelerated business education that has now led me to the point where I must mix all of the various skills and knowledge that I have gained and channel it all into the writing (and execution) of a business plan that can be used externally to attract potential investors to my cause.

But what is a business plan exactly? You can ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers as to what the function of a business plan is, how detailed it should be, even what format the business plan should take. Sure, details can be very important, but according to two very high level minds active in educating individuals on the process of writing business plans, it’s not so much the details that separate the good plans from the bad…it’s the people and ideas behind the plan that can make all the difference.

William A. Sahlman, Dimitri V. d’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Senior Associate Dean for External Relations, in his classic Harvard Business Review article “How to Write a Great Business Plan” states in the very first line “Few areas of business attract as much attention as new ventures, and few aspects of new-venture creation attract as much attention as the business plan.” This should automatically alert anyone concerned with beginning a new business to the value of writing a business plan, but by no means is it an indicator of future venture success.

Sahlman states that one of the big issues of business plans, in general, are that they are often based in some utopia world with overly detailed financial projections (including poor capital projection requirements) that literally are just plucked out of the sky to look good on paper; beyond year-one projections the numbers quickly become meaningless. This is common knowledge to experienced investors, and that’s why they look at other factors when critiquing plans for new ventures. The most important point to keep in mind regarding BP financials is to detail the financials that matter, as Salman says, “detail the numbers related to the business model that show the business' key drivers towards success or failure, be they distribution channels, production yield, or anticipated renewal rates.” Show within the business plan when the business hits the break-even point, and when cash flow turns positive, beyond these drivers and projections the rest is fluff that can really turn a potential investor off regarding your proposal.

Sahlman recommends a business plan structure that follows four key concepts to build the plan around:

1.    The People

2.    The Opportunity

3.    The Context

4.    Risk and Reward

In order to get another perspective on writing valuable business plans and to understand what the key objectives should be, I turned to Tim Berry. Tim is a Stanford MBA, and founder of bplans.com, Borland International, and Palo Alto Software, a company he “grew to 70% market share with no outside investment” developing Business Plan Pro and LivePlan business planning software. Tim has authored and co-authored books on business plan writing, and recently launched Eugene Social, a site that works to run business’ social media marketing efforts. In 2010, Tim was included in Business Week’s “top 20 entrepreneurs to follow on twitter”, “number 6 of the top 11 companies to follow on twitter” by the New York Times, and finally, one of Business Insider’s “top 20 entrepreneurs to follow”.

Tim says that the to-be business plan should follow a process that seems, to me, remarkably like a S.M.A.R.T. Goal model (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). He says the plan should be Simple, Specific, Realistic, and Complete. The process Tim prescribes looks like this:

To enhance further understanding of Tim's business plan theory, be sure to watch this 5 part video series Webinar delivered by Tim for Global Entrepreneur Week. In it he covers the fundamentals of business plans.

While the plans are certainly one the best exercises for discovery regarding how your business will operate and an exhibit for attaining capital for development and growth, perhaps their most important function is in how they guide the company throughout the lifetime of the business. Business plans MUST be considered as a living document, dynamic in nature, anything that tends to be unbending in this world tends to break. This is a concept that stems from my long history of martial arts, and it is one that makes sense in many instances. The business plan must be bending to the existing market conditions like water in a river conforms to its banks or obstacles in its path, but like the water in a gushing river…stay true to your course, a business plan should operate in the same manner.