Reflecting on smartphones and China

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Julianna

The following post was written by Julianna who just completed an internship at Papaya. We’d like to thank her for her hard work and wish her all the best on her term papers!

As an American student studying abroad in China, I’ve tried very hard to get used to my surroundings. It can be daunting. China is different. Crossing the street, picking something to eat, taking the subway–pretty much everything here can quickly become an adventure. Learning the ropes has been challenging, but I’ve gotten a lot out of the experience.

My internship at Papaya has definitely made me focus more on tech in China. One thing I’ve noticed is that smartphones are everywhere. I mean everywhere. On the bus or in restaurants, locals are glued to the ambient blur of back-lit smartphone screens. Some of them are iPhones, but cheaper Android phones are everywhere too. People use their phones to do everything: play games, check the weather, chat with friends and much, much more.

My school, believe it or not, is broken up into 2 entirely separate campuses: a foreign campus and a Chinese campus. I’m pretty busy with schoolwork, learning Chinese and my internship, so I haven’t had as much time to explore “the Chinese side of the Wall” as I would like.

Among international students, it’s safe to say that smartphones are the norm. My Korean classmates all seem to have iPhones. According to an informal survey I made in the dorm 4/5 in fact. Overall, roughly 75% of students I talked to have smartphones. The rest? Well they’re looking to buy one.

My time in China has been incredibly interesting. I’ve learned more about China and Chinese culture than I thought possible, and way more about mobile phones and mobile gaming too.

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An Interview with Sigmund Freud About Social Games

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Jonathan

 

I was at my desk on a grey Saturday afternoon in Beijing when my phone rang. Guess who was on the line? Sigmund Freud. Turns out he read my incisive yet whimsical interview with Nietzsche and wanted to get in on the act.

Freud was in Beijing to attend a Cigar Conference and wanted to know if we could meet somewhere for a cup of coffee. Naturally I accepted. What follows is a transcript of our conversation.

Jonathan:

So, what do you think about social games?

Freud:

On a personal level, I like to play them. They are a rather healthy diversion and I encourage my patients to play as well. You see many people have trouble socializing, like talking with other people, but the games are a sort of Social Lubricant and I’m all for that. I am actually pretty interested in using psychoanalysis to study how people play Social Games.

Jonathan:

Really? Like the Oedipus Complex or something?

Freud:

Ya sure, like that. To some degree everyone playing a game like X City or PapayaFarm is acting out a desire to be “the man.” I mean stealing crops, that is very Oedipal. Also I can tie behavior to psychoanalysis.

Jonathan:

How?

Freud:

Well back to stealing crops, that is clearly a manifestation of the id. The desire to be on top of Papaya’s leaderboards, well that is your super-ego talking. Also there is “Papaya Envy.”

Jonathan:

Excuse me? Papaya Envy? What?

Freud:

Sure, I don’t have Papayas, but you have them so I envy you. This makes me want to get some Papayas. You see it is not a difficult concept. I am even considering using Papaya to analyze dreams. What are social games but a waking dream. Papaya is a direct path to the unconscious.

Jonathan:

So you can analyze a game just like a dream?

Freud:

Let me use a case history to explain. You see I had this woman who was a patient. Her index finger, it just stopped working one day. She went to a doctor who found nothing wrong. Then she went to another doctor, again nothing. Test after test and they found nothing. I had the lady play PapayaFarm and then, you know we dug around in there, in her brain and got to the root of the problem. She had this unconscious desire to destroy her friend’s farm. Once we discovered this, she destroyed the farm with a working finger! Sure she lost a friend, but she gained a finger!

Jonathan:

Umm…Ah…Tell me, what do you feel when you play a game on Papaya? What’s the experience?

Freud:

First of all, it is quite a ritual. I like to play laying down on a couch in a quiet place. I smoke a cigar while I play, of course, then I just let my subconscious and unconscious take over. After it is over, well I feel relaxed, maybe enervated.

Jonathan:

Enervated?

Freud:

Sure a calm soothing feeling washes over me. You know, I used to be afraid of travelling, but since Papaya is on my phone, I can be relaxed, enervated wherever I go. Back in the day, there was nothing to do but read. So ya, I do have a good data plan, I play all the time when I’m on the road.

Jonathan:

Do you buy stuff on Papaya?

Freud:

Ha. (Looking sheepish yet pensive) Ya, I guess I’m sort of a whale. My publishing deal is pretty good and I mean, ya I’ve been known to buy lots of stuff for my Avatar. I wonder what that says about me?

Jonathan:

Well…

Freud:

I think it says nothing. Sometimes an Avatar Hat is just an Avatar Hat. It’s not like I’m discontented or anything. I buy because it’s bling bling awesome. You know it is important not to dig too deep into things.

Jonathan:

What does how you play Papaya say about your relationship with your mother?

Freud:

No comment…I uhh….

Jonathan:

Sorry, Sorry. How do we find you on Papaya Sigmund?

Freud:

SiggyIDGangsta. Friend me and follow my Circle. I drop the knowledge there. Can you add Cigars to Papaya?

 

Follow Jonathan on twitter

 

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How Popular are Games in China?

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Jonathan

 

Popular enough to support an energy drink.

I spotted these bottles of AK 47 in a small shop next to an internet cafe in Zhongguancun. The message is pretty clear: drink AK 47 and you’ll be wicked good at first person shooter games. The makers of AK 47 have gone as far as incorporating a CS into their design. CS, of course, being the abbreviation netizens use for Counter Strike. I also love the military motif. When I think energy drinks, I think special forces (or the Special Arms in this case).

Just a fun little glimpse into how big the online and mobile games market is in China. If it’s big enough to support sugar water laced with electrolytes, it’s probably big enough for you.

Note: I haven’t tried AK 47 yet, but I have been known to buckle to popular demand.

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Three Dinosaurs and the Final Stand

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Justin

 

 

What do you get when you mix old, uncool, and desperate?  The newest search parternship between Aol, Microsoft, and Yahoo. I’m surprised Ask Jeeves and Altavista didn’t get a piece of this action. I’m not saying they shouldn’t try but I’m pretty sure we all know the ending to this one.

Three reasons why this won’t last:

  • “Even as they share some resources, the three companies vowed to retain their independence and compete against each other with separate sales teams.”
  • “Microsoft’s online division has piled up operating losses of $7 billion since June 2008.”
  • Google and Facebook are unstoppable.

My best guess is someone like Baidu snaps them up once their combined marketshare drops to 10%. If not, Microsoft and AOL have enough in their pipeline to see it out of this but what about Yahoo? Can anyone really see them as something other than search?

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The Business Model for Android Developers in China

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jonathan

It’s hard to put a finger on what, exactly, is the business model behind Android apps in a market like China.

That’s from this post on mocoNews.net about the proliferation of Android app stores in China. The thing is, the post couldn’t be more wrong, at least where developers are concerned.

There is a successful business model for Android developers in China: freemium. Chinese internet giants like Tencent (the makers of the vast-reaching QQ social network) and social gaming companies like Perfect World rake in 4 billion dollars a year in revenue from virtual goods.

Chinese consumers are perfectly willing to pay for in-game purchases that either 1) give a competitive advantage or 2) allow users to express themselves through avatars. God knows how much money an ex-girlfriend of mine spent gussying up her avatar for Tencent’s “QQ Dancer” game, where she spent hour after hour tapping the arrow keys on her desktop keyboard to the insistent pulse of happy hardcore beats. (Maybe that’s why she’s an ex…)

If you’re an Android developer there is money to be made in China, but you need to make a few key changes for the China market:

1. Localize your game and make sure the Chinese is good. (You’ll need a partner here)

2. Make sure your gameplay includes social features like chat and avatars. Avatars are very important in China since they are a key form of self-expression.

3. Make your bread on virtual transactions. If you don’t know how to navigate billing channels in China, find someone who can help you.

4. Make your bread on virtual transactions part 2. Piracy is a problem in China, and so is the fragmented app store environment, but only if you’re hoping to get people to pay a buck or 2 to download. Virtual goods are very difficult to pirate, and no matter where a netizen downloads your game from, you’ll still be making coin when they spend their virtual ones.

Next time you hear “can’t make money China,” ignore it and think freemium.

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Retention.

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Justin

Flurry just updated their blog. In their latest post they revealed some pretty interesting gems about retention:

“…top rank lists are more like “paid search” since heavy advertising is what typically launches an app to rank high, at least for a while.”

“The bar required to make the top 25 keeps rising, as the installed base of consumers grows and more apps compete for a fixed number of top spots.”

“And while the industry often talks about discovery as a problem, we think the real problem is traffic acquisition.”

Take a look at the graph below:

After four months only 1 in 5 people are still playing the same game. The value in retaining users becomes much more important as “paid chart rankings” become more expensive. So the question becomes how can developers retain more users over a longer period of time?

Flurry is pitching their re-engagement app as the solution and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Just my opinion but having a banner ad remind me to play a game I’m not currently playing makes me want to ignore it more.

At the heart of it – if a developer is having to re-engage a user it means that at some point the game just got boring for them. Maybe they couldn’t get past a certain level or boss or mystery. Whatever the reason is, if not addressed, the game will certainly retain less users at a much faster rate. Can you really think of many times when you were convinced something was better through an advertisement even though you knew from experience otherwise?

Retention is directly tied to the engagement of users. Unlike what our competition would tell you it goes beyond achievements and leaderboards. Engaged users constantly post, chat, email, upload pictures, tag, recommend, like, share, trash talk, and make new friendships along the way. They are brand advocates who tell the story for free to everyone they know in the social communities they are apart of.

We are proud to offer iOS and Android developers the social tools to engage over 30 million Papayans. If you haven’t already checked out how easy it is to implement social features into your game head to http://papayamobile.com/developer/social for more info.

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Microsoft Windows Mobile… The Sinking Ship or Smooth Sailing?

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Justin

 

You’ve heard the phrase better late than never? Not this time.

Microsoft has unveiled the Windows Mobile 7 Lumia line and *surprisingly* it has been well received. It seems they actually did it right this time. But the real question is are they too late? The first phone won’t hit till the end of this year for the holiday season. How many of your friends can you picture clamoring to get the next windows phone? In my mind it’s as dead on arrival as the Zune, Zune HD, or whatever else they’ve tried to do lately. I don’t think what I’m saying surprises anyone but it still boggles my mind that they keep chugging ahead with pouring millions into a project that is doomed to fail. It seems to me they would just be better off supporting Android and collecting billions from the handset royalties. Microsoft’s patents cover more than 50% of all Android devices.

Not everyone agrees with me. Gartner and IDC both think that Windows Mobile 7 will actually capture 20% of total market share by 2015! A pretty BOLD claim. Nokia does have impressive distribution channels outside the United States and that can propel Windows 7 to some extent. But look at the upcoming phones for this year – none of them have 4G. They aren’t expected to until 2012 and that could be their biggest downfall. A major reason why HTC and Moto can sell phones at the same price point as the iPhone4S is because they offer something the iphone doesn’t – blazingly fast 4G speeds. This will make it a tough sell for WM7 this time around.

Will they see the volume pick up in 2012? It depends on when they can get 4G into their phones. Apple will be ready with a 4G iPhone 5 version by June/July (and everyone holding their breath and checkbook in the months beforehand) so what chance does WM7 really have? Sinking ship or smooth sailing? Time will tell.

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Tourist GFW Edition

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Jonathan

For those of you surfing within the confines of the Middle Kingdom, here’s the wildly popular “Tourist” video embedded from youku.

 

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Don’t Be a Tourist in China

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Jonathan

I don’t have a lot to say about this video. It speaks for itself. But, here’s the description from Youtube:

Watch this guy make a fool of himself in a crowded Chinese Market. Definitely not the way to get anything done in China. He needs help. Badly. He should probably go here

So do yourself a favor and give it a look.

 

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Apple has 81 billion dollars.. What could be next?

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Justin

Eighty. One. Billion. Dollars.

Wow. Apple is such a juggernaut. With Tim Cook “not religious” about holding the cash I think it’s time we see some M&A’s. Here are my top three picks:

 

1) Apple picks up Netflix on the cheap for a little over $6 billion. With Netflix losing nearly 66% of their value since the start of this year it could be a prime target for Apple. Even with the recent price increase debacle I’m a huge fan of Netflix and think streaming is where things are heading. With Apple focusing so much on mobile (iPad, iPod touch, iPhone) this could be a great choice.

2) Visa. The iPhone 4S wasn’t NFC enabled because “apprehension over the absence of clearly defined industry standards“. What better way than for Apple to set those standards? There could be some culture clash here but I’m excited to live in a world where I can pay for everything with a tap of my phone. With a market cap of around $65 billion this could be done.

3) Apple buys Spotfiy. For a mere $5 billion I’m willing to bet that Apple can acquire the hottest, fastest growing, music service. And to be honest they really should. Ever since Spotify launched in the US I have been HOOKED. I literally have not bought one single iTunes song since. And I’m guessing from the millions of users who are joining every month – they agree with me!

oh and what about Apple buying Facebook? Just because they can. =)

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