Author: Rob

Writer. Film-maker. Cartoonist. Cook. Lover.

The Pod Of Future Cast!

X-Men: Days Of Future Past. You’ve read the book. You’ve seen the film. Now hear the podcast!

Rob and Clive are joined by comic fan and Wolverine lookalike Graham Williams as we go in-depth and full-bore into the Claremont/Byrne classic. Remember: in this episode, everybody dies!*

 

 

 

*disclaimer: no-one dies in this episode.

pod of future cast

Sorbet Colonel

Last night, I finished my meal with a refreshing, traditionally Flemish dessert: Sorbet Colonel. It's light, simple, and surprisingly easy to recreate at home.

Take a chilled ice cream glass, one of those flutey numbers that looks like a frilled petticoat in motion. Half fill it with vodka. Top with two scoops of lemon sorbet. Eat, feeling the chill of the ice play enticingly against the burn of the raw alcohol. You'll end up with a cold slurry of molten sorbet mix and vodka in the bottom of the glass. It's perfectly acceptable to drink this off while loudly declaiming a toast to The Colonel, whoever he may be. Well, I hope it's acceptable, because that's what we did.

 

Greetings from Bruges, where booze is part of the culture, history and religion of the city, as well as being the national sport. Sköl!

 

In Bruges

Next week, Excuses and Half Truths will be reporting from Belgium. A place where cultural boundaries blur and blend, a hub of European commerce, trade and co-operation.

We'll be looking at the culture and Art Nouveau architecture of historic Bruges and paying a visit to stunning, medievel Ghent. In the interests of our Fodderblog fans, we'll sample the best food and drink that Belgium has to offer. There's more to the place than beer and sausages, you know. Although I am looking forward to the beer and sausages.

We'll also take a look at the rich art scene in Bruges, home of the master of surrealism Rene Magritte. And it wouldn't be Excuses And Half Truths without a focus on one of Belgium's great passions: comics. From the birthplace of Hergé, how could it be otherwise?

Join us, whydoncha, and TLC and I take a week off… in Bruges!

 

 

Mobile Casino Games: A shift in the gaming demographics

The following article is a guest post.

 

 

A new generation of young professionals has changed the way the gaming industry works. Aside from revolutionizing the industry with fresh ideas and concepts, they as consumers are also starting a shift in the demographics for a lot of games, especially in the social casino genre. Before the dawn of casinos for the mobile platform, casino gaming was strictly confined to a certain age group. But as the PlayStation generation entered the professional world, their taste for games changed as well—and gaming developers are lining up just to get the biggest slice of the cake.

 

In a report by Super Data Research, the $2.9-billion industry became one of the fastest growing segments of the digital gaming industry. According to their research, the growth is attributed to the emergence of younger players to the once highly saturated niche gaming enterprise. AppTopia, a smartphone application analytics firm, said that the former target demographics of social casino games is the 35-50 age bracket divided equally among male and female players.

 

So what changed the landscape of social casino gaming? What paved way for players aged 21 and up to join a previously uncharted territory?

 

According to Zoe Mavrofora, Marketing Manager for Lazyland, social casino games’ biggest draw to younger players is the social aspect of the game. “This provides users with all the tools and applications they need in order to play, share, communicate and have fun, whilst drastically increasing user loyalty through constant activity. The main advantages are in reaching a wider, younger audience, creating revenues from user in-game spending and activating word of mouth and viral effect advertisement mechanisms,” Mavrofora said.

 

Christopher Palmeri of Businessweek said that social casino games heavily borrowed elements from the console gaming industry “to reach beyond its core customer—women 55 years old and up—to a younger demographic.” One notable example is IGT’s Avatar, which uses assets such as 3D animations. The gaming manufacturer, which worked closely with the likes of Pocket Fruity operator Gaming Realms and the Bellagio, goes beyond the usual casino experience and tries to make the games as immersive as possible.

 

The social gaming industry is expected to become bigger by the end of 2015. While social casino games have already penetrated the younger market, consistency is the key to stay relevant in a volatile market like the social casino industry.