An unhappy New Year's Eve

Last New Years eve I decided it would be a great idea to beta test the first disk of Rewind 2006 on my unsuspecting friends. It was the first game built using our Software Development Kit (SDK) that was in development, so much of the programming from previous Rewind builds was different and we wanted to test it to see if our new streamlined code could handle real world game play.

The short answer was, it could.

The long answer was, for me it was the worst New Years Eve EVER!

I popped in the game, asking my willing guinea pigs to play a few rounds, and to really put it through its paces. There was about 30 or so people there, so they all ganged up in teams and away they went with me watching in the background looking for any bugs.

There were a few entry screen issues and some overlay misalignments, but beyond that, functionally it worked perfectly. After only one round I had seen enough and thanked everyone and suggested something lame like, “lets get this party started!”

Except no one got up.

They kept playing. And playing. And playing.

And playing.

Now, I’m not adverse to game playing at any time, as it is my occupation, however I wrote Rewind 2006 and it wasn’t exactly like I could participate knowing all the answers as I did.

So I sat at the back. Alone. For hours.

Happy Frikin’ New Year!

Now, the reason I’m relating this is two fold: First, if you are looking for a GREAT New Years Eve game for groups large or for small, the Game Wave is kinda perfect.

And the second is for my friends. Don’t even think about it, okay?

Have a Happy New Year Everyone, and here’s looking forward to a fabulous 2008!

Cheers - Gavin

The 20th - The most important day of December

Well, for us anyway…

That is the absolute drop-dead date for ordering a Game Wave or a Game Wave game – if you want it under your tree for the 25th that is.

And even that day is pushing it if you ask me. Most places stopped guaranteeing orders last week, but not us.

How do we do it? I have no idea.

Two weeks ago I asked our operations manager what was the final possible order date and after talking to our facilitators and shipping folks that was the date he came up with.

Just in case, I asked him a few days later as well, just to make sure he hadn’t been over imbibing on the eggnog, and once again he insisted the 20th was in fact the date.

So, you only have a few days left to get your order in if you need a Game Wave for Christmas.

Order here.

Of course you could just hold off a bit because the Game Wave is also the perfect New Year’s Eve game as well.

And there’s no rush for ordering for that – until there is.

Let's go Club-ing

Groucho Marx said, “I would never want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.”

Well, I hate to say it, but in this case, Groucho is dead wrong.

We’ve just introduced the Game Wave Club for all registered Game Wave owners.

It’s an exclusive-to-you club because we want to show our appreciation for how far we’ve gone since introducing the Game Wave about this time last year. From a kernel of an idea from a board game inventor named Richard Fast, (He also came up with MindTrap to name one of his more famous titles), to where we are today, we couldn’t have made it here without you.

So - what is the club about? From time to time, like now for example, we’re offering great insider deals to all Game Wave Club Members. For this holiday season, we’re giving away FREE games to all Club Members who take part in a holiday promotion. You can learn more about it HERE.

So – as a Game Wave owner, how come you’ve never heard about the thing? Well, we sent out a mass e-mail to all registered owners on November 21st. If you didn’t receive yours there are three probable explanations:

1. The e-mail you registered with is kaput. If that’s the case you can reregister with your new address and you will be added, once again, to our e-mail list.

2. You haven’t registered your Game Wave. If that’s you, simply go HERE and you’ll be added to the list.

3. Your e-mail program decided we were spam and sent the club invitation to the trash. To avoid that in the future, you can try one of these options:

Microsoft Outlook users: Follow these instructions to ensure that your Game Wave e-mails are always delivered to your inbox.

For Outlook 2003: (Other versions such as Outlook 2007 and Outlook Express may vary slightly)

From the Tools menu, select Options
Click the Junk E-Mail button
Click the Safe Senders tab
Click the Add button
Enter zapitgames.com in the text box provided, and click OK
For more help, see the Outlook help site.

Hotmail and MSN Users: Follow these instructions to ensure that your Game Wave e-mails are always delivered to your inbox.

Login to your Hotmail or MSN account
Click Options
On the left side of the page, click Mail, and then click Junk E-Mail Protection
Click Safe List
Enter zapitgames.com in the field provided, then click Add
For more help, see the Hotmail/MSN help site.

Gmail users: Follow these instructions to ensure that your Game Wave e-mails are always delivered to your inbox.

Login to http://www.gmail.com/
Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page
Click Create Contact
For E-mail, enter info@zapitgames.com
Click Save

Check out the Game Wave Club if you have a chance. It’s our way to give back to you, and for you to score some free swag along the way.

And isn’t that what the holiday season is all about?

Cheers

Where to Buy

You may have noticed a new button on the PlayGameWave.com website.

It’s all about “Where to Buy.”

Sure, we may have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing our state-of-the-art online shopping cart, but we still have to put our stuff in old fashioned bricks and mortar stores, because apparently there are some folks who remain gun-shy about this whole Internet e-commerce “fad.”

Me? I’m more of a sit-on-my-butt-and-order-via-keyboard-and-get-it-delivered-to-me kind of guy.

Going to stores means shopping and that invariably leads to me standing in a packed change room in a woman’s clothes store, suffering withering “is that guy a pervert” glances from ladies exiting and entering their cubicles, while my wife tries on 11 pairs of jeans requiring me to pass judgment on which of them makes her look less “fat.”

There is absolutely no good answer to that question so I try to avoid it like a paper cut.

But there are those who revel in the whole “got to feel it with my hands” tactile shopping experience.

For those folks, we’ve built this cool page with a map of North America allowing them to click on their state or province for the nearest store that carries the Game Wave.

Give it a go Here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go do some of that type of old-school shopping myself.

Flowers.

My wife might have read this….

Tales of a vegetable matter

So, what do Madame Bovary, Rocky, The Mikado and King David's encounter with the Philistine Goliath in First Samuel have in common?

They are all suitable subject matter for the next game we are going to release, Game Wave VeggieTales.

If you aren’t familiar with VeggieTales, which means you are also not familiar with having kids, they were first introduced in 1993 becoming the first ever completely computer generated “cartoon” series ever made.

Since then, and 50-million copies later, VeggieTales has grown into a Saturday morning staple and a major family favorite especially appreciated by kids of wee variety.

It’s a perfect pairing for us, as our current suite of games has a decidedly older slant to it. We've been working on this for a while, trying to find the perfect licensing partner to address that hole in our library. Who knew kids could be so tough! And the moral VeggieTales stories are a perfect fit for our family first, last and always philosophy.

However, perhaps the biggest bonus is how hilarious it is seeing all of our guys up to their ears in Bob the Tomato and Archibald Asparagus animations. It’s hard not to giggle during the sometimes heated meetings discussing staying "true" to the character of Larry the Cucumber.

But that’s the nature of the gaming business. We’re taking play very seriously around here, especially since the folks who are going to be playing the thing will be our own kids.

We’re thrilled with this partnership with VeggieTales, and I hope you are as well.

More details to come of course but for now you'll have to make due with the official Press Release.

What every dorm room needs

Got kids in higher education? I’m sure you are trying to convince yourself that the burgeoning scholars you just sent off to that psychotically expensive college are studying every waking minute they are there - and dreaming serious scholastic thoughts while asleep.

After all, that would be the only sensible thing to do, considering all that cash you just forked over.

But ummm…you probably went as well right? After my first day, I woke up the next morning with a lampshade on my head - and no idea how it got there.

Suffice it to say, things haven’t changed all that much when it comes to life at University.

Now, this may sound like a bit of a sales pitch, and in truth, it is. But I have to tell you about some of the feedback we’ve been getting from the college age crowd, and their Game Wave nights.

“We’re not nerds! Just had to say that up front, but I’d like to thank you guys, and my mom, for the Game Wave. We’ve been holding tournaments after class a couple of times a week, and everyone is going ape___ over the thing. We’re thinking of going to our house head and seeing if she can set up a college wide championship…”

Kids staying in dorm rooms to play educational games? It actually happens. So, if you’re thinking of dropping by the little Einstein to see how they are doing, why not bring along something that they will not only enjoy, but could also keep them out of the pub.

Well, not all the time.

Here's the promo we were too chicken to let fly

Last Christmas we wanted to make a splash in papers while all the Wii and PS3 frenzy was underway. Their consoles were dominating the press and we could hardly get a word in edgewise so the thinking was, we need to make some noise on our own.

This was the design for a flyer that was going to be released in major markets across North America at the height of the Christmas shopping season, but in the last minute, there was an internal mood swing and we collectively wussed out. (You can click on the image for a larger view)

Well, I have to admit, I didn't. I thought it was an awesome promo, but the powers that be ended kiaboshing the thing at the 11th hour.

I have no idea if it was a good decision or a bad decision, but I'd like to hear what you would have thought if you heard a gaming company suggest to you to "Beat Your Kids!"