Penny Arcade has launched a menacing robot — that is, a mobile app called the Decide-o-tron to help you decide on video games you might like to buy.
The app is powered by Penny Arcade’s customary dose of dry, gamer humor compared with complex data sets from EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research). Users can upload their game libraries, sort by criteria such as review score and release date, and tell the app which games he or she liked or disliked. The app, much like a Pandora for video games, then suggests games the user might like to try out or look for in the future.
The Decide-o-tron also has a wishlist feature and will showcase suggested game lists from guest contributors, including Gabe and Tycho, the animated stars of the Penny Arcade comic.
The app is a surprisingly uncynical attempt to help fans make better game-buying decisions and to surface games that don’t get as much marketing attention. “I want, like, a game like Catherine, for instance, to succeed,” says Robert Khoo, Penny’s Arcade’s president of business development. “Everyone should play that game — I’m on an official campaign — but it’s stuff like that.”
Buying a video game is serious business: “Quite frankly, when you make a game choice, ‘I want to play a game,’ that decision should not be made lightly,” Khoo says, “You’re not only investing $60 but you’re investing a lot of time.”
The Decide-o-tron will learn and grow with the user, much like Pandora, to return better and more accurate game suggestions over time.
The free app will be funded through advertising, though Khoo was quick to point out that users won’t ever see sponsored results or game suggestions paid for by game companies. The app is available for iPhone with plans to create an Android version.
The Decide-o-tron was “born” at Tajima, a San Diego noodle shop, when Rob was pitched the idea by drinking buddy and EEDAR President Geoff Zatkin. The robot and app were designed by Erika Sadsad, an associate designer at Penny Arcade.
The robot she designed is also hilarious. The Penny Arcade team went so far as to create a Twitter account for the Decide-o-tron robot and even built a three-foot-tall replica of the robot, which now resides in Penny Arcade’s Seattle office.
What do you think of a Pandora-like service for buying video games? And what do you think of making it a potentially homicidal robot? Let us know in the comments and let us know what games you’d recommend.
More About: apps, comics, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, video gamesFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:44:55 +0000 at http://mashable.com/2011/08/31/decide-o-tron-penny-arcade/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/31/decide-o-tron-penny-arcade/#comments
The app is powered by Penny Arcade’s customary dose of dry, gamer humor compared with complex data sets from EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research). Users can upload their game libraries, sort by criteria such as review score and release date, and tell the app which games he or she liked or disliked. The app, much like a Pandora for video games, then suggests games the user might like to try out or look for in the future.
The Decide-o-tron also has a wishlist feature and will showcase suggested game lists from guest contributors, including Gabe and Tycho, the animated stars of the Penny Arcade comic.
The app is a surprisingly uncynical attempt to help fans make better game-buying decisions and to surface games that don’t get as much marketing attention. “I want, like, a game like Catherine, for instance, to succeed,” says Robert Khoo, Penny’s Arcade’s president of business development. “Everyone should play that game — I’m on an official campaign — but it’s stuff like that.”
Buying a video game is serious business: “Quite frankly, when you make a game choice, ‘I want to play a game,’ that decision should not be made lightly,” Khoo says, “You’re not only investing $60 but you’re investing a lot of time.”
The Decide-o-tron will learn and grow with the user, much like Pandora, to return better and more accurate game suggestions over time.
The free app will be funded through advertising, though Khoo was quick to point out that users won’t ever see sponsored results or game suggestions paid for by game companies. The app is available for iPhone with plans to create an Android version.
The Decide-o-tron was “born” at Tajima, a San Diego noodle shop, when Rob was pitched the idea by drinking buddy and EEDAR President Geoff Zatkin. The robot and app were designed by Erika Sadsad, an associate designer at Penny Arcade.
The robot she designed is also hilarious. The Penny Arcade team went so far as to create a Twitter account for the Decide-o-tron robot and even built a three-foot-tall replica of the robot, which now resides in Penny Arcade’s Seattle office.
What do you think of a Pandora-like service for buying video games? And what do you think of making it a potentially homicidal robot? Let us know in the comments and let us know what games you’d recommend.
More About: apps, comics, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, video gamesFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:44:55 +0000 at http://mashable.com/2011/08/31/decide-o-tron-penny-arcade/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/31/decide-o-tron-penny-arcade/#comments