Top Five TwitchCon Takeaways for Communicators

“How can we get our game on Twitch?” As PR professionals, this is a question we often hear from our gaming clients. Alongside the oft-coveted cover story in print, or the front-page online feature, the industry has now fully embraced streaming as a critical goal in a campaign to drive awareness and sales. Twitch, of course, as the dominant platform in the space, is the place to be; as of this year, Twitch has 10 million daily viewers, and 18,000 live channels producing content at any given time, as per the keynote given at this year’s TwitchCon.

One needs look only at how the market is racing to embrace streaming to appreciate the impact Twitch has had on games, from design to marketing to community management. Titles like Choice Chamber, Streamline, and the Jackbox series have taken great leaps forward in directly integrating Twitch viewers into their gameplay, and publishers and developers worldwide have taken to Twitch to share news and gather feedback directly from a live, interactive audience.

The value of Twitch for your game may be obvious, but how can a publisher or developer participate effectively? This year’s TwitchCon included a business-centric series of panels and presentations, and TriplePoint was there to take it all in. Here are some of the main takeaways to keep in mind as you plan your Twitch outreach: Continue reading Top Five TwitchCon Takeaways for Communicators

Couches and Grouches

Those of us who inhabit the world of tech, gaming, and game tech are no strangers to the Exorbitant Buyout. The rumor that broke last month, however, that YouTube was looking to buy out Twitch.tv, got a lot of people outside the game world talking. Those on the inside began to ask what this might mean for eSports, or whether YouTube’s recent unpopular moves such as Google+ and overzealous content claims might sully the platform. Those on the outside asked a different question: “What’s Twitch?” Continue reading Couches and Grouches

Personal Branding: Picking a Twitter Name

The first online pseudonym I ever took for myself was “FreeK.” Yes, with the capital K at the end, and everything. My thin justification for that ‘edgy’ spelling was that if you wanted to, you could pronounce it “free-kay” like someone saying “freaky” with an accent. Don’t judge me too harshly; it was 1993, and I was 13 years old. Having discovered that Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was a magical technology where geographically disparate strangers could speak with relative anonymity, I was tasked with picking a username — much in the same way that the modern Internet denizen must select their Twitter handle. 13-year-old me had fewer concerns about the lasting impact of his nom de pépier, but admittedly that didn’t stop 30-year-old me from still being a smartass about it.

PR professionals are trusted to be caretakers of incredibly valuable brands. When we interact on behalf of a client, it’s understood that what we say and do reflects back on that client – for all intents and purposes, our words are coming out of their mouths, so we need to act responsibly. Just as often, though, we’re simply interacting as ourselves, whether it’s to swap jokes with industry contemporaries, share interesting news, or simply shout our fascinating thoughts into the ether. I’m speaking, of course, about Twitter, that marvelous social media equalizer that gives each of us the same 140 characters to act as cleverly or callously as we please.

The basics of how to behave on one’s personal Twitter account should, by now, be common knowledge in the professional world (even if one still sees occasional evidence that they’re not). I am not here to harangue anyone about the blurred lines between personal and professional personas; anybody in PR ought to understand that you need to be professional in both — especially in an industry driven by public interaction and relationships — maintaining one’s own brand takes just as much care as a client’s. My point of curiosity, instead, is this: if our online profiles are our brands, how do we come by our branding? In short, why do we pick the Twitter names that we do?

Based on my own anecdotal research, roughly 95% of us go the simple route, picking a handle that is directly derived from our real names. It’s a basic concept, of course — if we’re to establish ourselves as thought leaders, social butterflies, and other highly visible personalities, naturally we want our names out there, attached to our thoughts, standing behind our two cents whenever we chip them in. As with the rest of the world, including the likes of @tim_cook, @andersoncooper, and even @barackobama, most of my colleagues, contemporaries, and clients have Twitter handles that are simply their names (underscores or abbreviations notwithstanding). Simple, straightforward, memorable, and no explanation needed.

There are plenty of reasons not to go this route. Frequently, this is simply because one’s real-name handle is already taken. The Internet is a crowded place, and few want the stigma of imitation or “being late to the party” associated with a username like “@BobJones2.” Whatever the reason, however, picking a non-given name reflects a much more personal and conscious decision, much more in line with a brand. You’ve got just 15 characters to encapsulate some facet of yourself — so what will you pick? A favorite literary character? A frequent hobby? What is the element of your character that is so dominant that you have chosen to name yourself after it?

After doing a bit of digging, I discovered that, like myself, most of my colleagues with non-tradtional Twitter names (i.e. not their actual names) have a personal story behind their choices, typically one rooted in old real-world nicknames: names their friends and family gave them in school, or frequent pun-based alterations of their names that others have made. Branding by focus group, if you will. Like any brand, however, the double-edged sword is that once a brand becomes recognizable, you’re more or less compelled to keep using it.

My current Twitter name isn’t anything explicitly profane or offensive; I don’t profess a love of illegal drugs or antisocial behavior. It’s nothing bad, per se, but it’s questionable from a maturity standpoint. It’s irreverent at best, and that’s how I like to hope it’s interpreted — but, like so many others’, it’s “mine” now, and it’s been around long enough that several friends would blink if I were to drop it.

Could I rebrand myself if I needed to? Almost certainly. But the tongue-in-cheek nature of my brand is one I try to support with wry messaging, and I find it makes a more memorable first impression than a simple @MyName selection. Besides, I’ve checked on the Twitter names with my actual name on them, and there’s at least 7 of them. So far, I’m the only one using my particular Twitternym, so I’ve got that market segment locked up.

If you liked this post, you can follow me on Twitter (just not at @JesseHenning ’cause that’s not me).

Room for Everyone

When the subject of gaming comes up in conversation, it’s not dissimilar from discussing movies, television, or literature. “What are you playing these days?” is the gamers’ equivalent of “Did you catch the last episode of…” or “Did you go see…?” There are several unspoken questions that go with it; our friends are assessing where our interests lie, whether we’re keeping up with a franchise or a genre, which spoilers are safe to discuss, and so forth. Answering the question, though, involves assessing the party asking it, as well. If I’m asked what I played last week, do I open with the one about the bittersweet love story told through atmospheric exploration, or the one about punching the alien in the balls so hard he blew up a gas station? Continue reading Room for Everyone

Goodbye, LucasArts, and Thank You

This is my Corley Motors keychain. Corley Motors is a fictional motorcycle manufacturer that the player, as gang leader Ben, must save from a hostile takeover in the classic LucasArts adventure Full Throttle. 

Together with Grim Fandango and his work on the Monkey Island series and Day of the Tentacle (all also LucasArts games), Full Throttle is one of the original games that established Tim Schafer as the luminary designer he is today. It was a game with a mature story, where “mature” didn’t simply mean “guns and nudity.” It was a game whose cutting-edge CD-ROM media allowed it to have a fantastic soundtrack and amazing voice acting, including an unforgettable performance by Mark Hamill as villain Adrian Ripburger. It had clever puzzles, fantastic writing and dialogue, and an ending that dared to be bittersweet instead of gushingly triumphant. I must have played through it half a dozen times.

The cord on this keychain is frayed, held together by just a few remaining stubborn strands, ravaged by time and constant use. I have had this keychain with me for 18 years.

In 1995, thanks to good fortune and geographical convenience, I got to take a field trip with 12 of my high school friends to LucasArts, then located north of San Rafael across the bay from its current San Francisco offices. I still remember walking in and seeing the massive picture of Full Throttle’s Ben behind the front desk (Full Throttle having been the company’s most recent major release), and gaping in wonder at the broad array of Lucas paraphernalia and gear on display around every corner. On one wall, backdrops and concept art from Sam & Max cartoonist Steve Purcell. In the corner, a full-sized X-wing cockpit set in front of a green-screen, used to film the cutscenes for Rebel Assault II.

I’d been a gamer all my life, but this was my first visit to the inside of a game studio, and I was awestruck. I was too young and unfamiliar with the industry to appreciate who I was meeting and what I was seeing, but I knew the culture there was something I wanted to be a part of. On the way out, each member of the tour was given a Corley Motors keychain as a souvenir. In hindsight, I think I can pinpoint that tour as the day I started giving serious, non-daydreaming thought to working with games, one way or another.

Four months ago, Tim Schafer was the host of Ümloud in San Francisco, where I joined a group on stage to play Rock Band for charity. As the party was winding down, several fans had the chance to share a brief chat with Schafer and have their picture taken with the now-legendary game creator. When my turn came, I produced my tattered keychain, at my side where it’s always been, and briefly thanked him for being an inspiration so long ago. Tim’s eyes lit up in surprise when he saw the trinket. “Where did you get this? They only ever made a handful — even I only got a couple of them.” I explained its origin, and its significance to me — and Tim took my picture with it.

Today, Disney — the new owners of LucasArts after Lucas’ own sale of his properties — announced they were shutting down LucasArts completely. The licenses will still be out there, and there may be new games under the Lucas label, but the studio is gone for good. There will no longer be a place where people come and work on creative new ideas, in a sea of Star Wars art and classic gaming souvenirs and call themselves LucasArts.

I am sure, as is true of the studio’s original stars like Schafer, Gilbert, Grossman, and others, that all of the people losing their jobs today will find new chances to create, and go on to build magnificent things that will stand the test of time. To all of them, though, to anyone who ever worked for LucasArts — thank you, from all of us who ever wished we could do the same. I’ll carry this piece of your legacy in my pocket and in my memory.

Cross-posted to Frisky Mongoose, TriplePoint’s blog on social, local, mobile, and gaming news.

Mobile Game Design – Don’t Forget the Basics

Congratulations on taking the plunge into the mobile games market! No doubt it’s been a remarkable and difficult journey for you and your game, but the design is nearly perfect, and you’re ready to share your creation with the world. Mobile games have come a long way since we first figured out how to put Tetris on our graphing calculators in high school, and it’s an exciting field that’s evolving and improving every day.

Sadly, when you dwell exclusively on the cutting edge of game development, it’s easy to lose sight of the basics. There are a few core tenets of mobile design that should be prerequisites for publishing nowadays, yet every so often, even the most experienced of developers forget them. No matter how impressive the graphics or how amazing and innovative the controls are in a game, it pains us when designers still get some of the basics wrong after all these years. Continue reading Mobile Game Design – Don’t Forget the Basics

Surviving E3 2012

Whether or not E3 is still the games industry’s foremost gathering, or whether that honor has been usurped by shows like GDC or PAX, one thing about E3 remains true every year: It’s nuts. Whether you’re an exhibitor or a reporter, you can expect to run yourself ragged, staying on your feet for hours on end, scrambling to meet your various appointments while trying to wedge in just one more meeting in between the big presentations. Then, you’ll try to see just how much socializing you can do while trying to finish the rest of your workload that evening — assuming the Wi-Fi works in your hotel room — and convince yourself that 4 hours of sleep will be enough to let you get up and do it all again the next day.

This pattern of self-inflicted abuse is true for most conventions and expos, of course, but the brutal traffic of Los Angeles and the mainstream appeal of the biggest names in gaming makes E3 especially trying for even the most seasoned attendee. Thankfully, your friends at TriplePoint are here with another helpful set of tips and reminders to help ease the pain of next week’s quagmire. Continue reading Surviving E3 2012

Adventures in Hindsight

The games industry hasn’t been able to get enough of Kickstarter since Tim Schafer and Double Fine managed to pull together $3.3 Million for an as-yet-nonspecific adventure game title. The story has given everybody a new theory about what is possible with regards to game publishing: esoteric designs and genres finally have a way to get around cautious publishers. The adventure game is not dead. Gamers will gladly pay a reasonable price if their wishes are being met. Finally, game design can be a true meritocracy.

These are mostly exaggerations, mind you. Not every aspiring game developer gets to be Tim Schafer, with an existing track record of critically acclaimed games and significant cachet among press and fans. Double Fine may have raised an incredible sum, but there have been plenty of also-rans who have failed to magically capitalize on this amazing new source of revenue. Continue reading Adventures in Hindsight

Social Media Circus: Harnessing Social Influence for Games

Which social ploys do you employ in trying to generate discovery for your game? Here are a few of the usual suspects:

The Persistent Pesky Pop-Up
“Hey, you just set a high score! Want to share it? Oh, you’ve leveled up, that’s awesome; you ought to post about that! Did you know this game is more fun with friends? You might think about mentioning that to some friends you can have fun with! Oh, no way, you just harvested your 37th crop, hey you know what would be great is if you posted about that!!

The Bald-faced Bribe & Blackmail
“Say, you’ve gathered enough experience to reach level two! Now all you need to do is get five friends to click on this for you. You do want to get to level two, don’t you? Oh, and look at how nicely you’ve set up your mafia empire – it would be a shame if it were to burn to the ground while you’re offline. Maybe some friends of yours will keep an eye on it for you by clicking on this post you’re definitely about to make, eh?”

The Gut-punch Guilt-trip
“Thanks for playing this game of ours. This free game we provided to you, for no cost, out of the kindness of our hearts, which you’ve been playing for 5 hours now for free. We know you care about indie development and small studios – like us! – and you want to do your part to keep us afloat. Surely you can take a moment to write us a 5-star App Store review, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook, can’t you? After all, we live or die by your support alone, and if you like this game, and don’t want its creators to starve, alone, in the street, you could mention us to a friend… that’s not so much to ask…”

Nearly every social game is guilty of one or more of these “Please, please, share us with your friends” tactics, and it’s not restricted to Facebook. Show us an iOS game that doesn’t continually ask you for an App Store review, and we’ll show you a development team that forgot something. While you’re at it, ask us if it’s coincidental that every Steam Holiday Sale includes “write a recommendation” as one of its prize-worthy achievements.

Don’t think too poorly of the developers and publishers, though, for trying their hardest to leverage your social network. The personal recommendation still carries more weight than the advertisement for most of us, and as discovery becomes an ever-harder proposition in the crowded marketplace, it’s not just enough to get a few of your friends to talk to you; publishers need all of your friends to talk to you.

As social media continues to supplant traditional media in our attention spans, so too must our mass-media strategies adapt and evolve. In a world where the Internet has given a voice and platform to every single person you know, friends and family have now become analogous to the different channels on your television. Your daily Facebook crawl has taken the place of grabbing the remote and surfing to see what’s on. Furthermore, while we’d never admit this to our friends’ faces, let’s face it… there are channels we like and trust, and channels we almost always just flip past.

Much in the same way that we favor the opinions of certain news outlets, we categorize our friends and their “channels” for trustworthiness and taste. The decisions we apply to television (Bah, those hacks on channel 51 are so biased, and the guys on channel 28 just show fluff pieces. Oh, an interview on channel 12? This I’ve got to see!) have now migrated to social media (Ugh, Jesse posts a message every time he clicks a cow; I’ve just begun to tune him out. Wow, Kate usually hates all social games and works as a developer; if she posts about a game it must be amazing!).

Better Learning through Social Games

This carpet-bombing of coercion is the new version of a broad ad campaign across several TV networks, in an effort to secure as much attention as possible. It’s no longer enough just to get the casual posters to share a link to a game; it’s important to get a wide cross-section of evangelists who can capture an equally wide audience with their recommendations. There are thousands upon thousands of games out there, all hoping to turn into the next FarmVille, and they can’t do it with an audience that isn’t growing.

Until there is a scientific way to codify who the key influencers are in your social sphere, via Klout or otherwise, developers have to assume that every one of us could be the most trusted name in gaming to our friends and relatives – the Leonard Maltins and Roger Eberts of our own private circles, whose opinions drive the purchasing/playing decisions of the world. You are a media empire unto yourself, so you’d better get used to being schmoozed.

Window-Shopping: Whether to Put Your Game in a Browser

You’re getting ready to unleash the best game ever upon the unsuspecting public. This game is addictive, clever, charming, challenging, and fun as hell. The design is coming together nicely, the art is jaw-dropping, and your focus testers love it – even your mom loves it, and she doesn’t even play video games. All anybody wants to know at this point is, when and where can I play this thing? So, what’s your answer – can they download it, or can they play it in their browser?

Before you answer, take a moment to consider the major differences between releasing a browser-based game and a dedicated, standalone application. Better yet, take a moment to consider how many differences don’t exist between the two as of recently. Browser games have come a long way since the Bejeweleds and Desktop Tower Defenses of the world first began to appear. Not only have programmers gotten more out of Flash, but new platforms like Unity, Silverlight, and HTML5 now allow for the kind of rich game visuals, animation, and sound that one would expect from standalone games. The Chrome Web Store, in fact, offers a browser version of Bastion – graphically and functionally identical to its Xbox and PC counterparts – that will run in one tab while you read this blog in another.

Bastion in a Browser

If browser games can deliver everything that non-browser games can, is there a difference at all? Why shouldn’t everybody go with the browser route, and all of the accessibility and compatibility that comes with it? The answer is because, as capable as the browser may be, it is still a platform that isn’t a perfect fit for every game. It’s an issue of presentation: not everybody wants to browse and play at the same time.

Think about the word “Browse.” Merriam-Webster defines browsing as the act of “looking over casually,” or “to skim through.” While most of us frequently use a Web Browser throughout our days with a bit more purpose or direction, the meaning still applies. How many tabs do you have open right now besides this one? Five? Ten? A few dozen? The modern browser user is accustomed to multi-tasking, frequently changing focus and giving each tab only as much attention as it absolutely needs.

Framing and presentation are an important part of an experience. You wouldn’t want to watch Schindler’s List or The Shawshank Redemption at a matinee full of laughing children, nor would you want to try to take in van Gogh’s Starry Night through a telescope. When you play a game in a browser tab, you’re engaging in casual gaming. This isn’t to say that browser games are inherently “casual games” –we’ve already established that browsers can deliver “hardcore” games like Bastion, or 3D MMOs like FusionFall, or games from any genre. It’s that you are playing the game casually, giving it half your attention, and allowing for perpetual interruptions from the rest of your desktop.

This is appropriate for any number of games: any title meant to be consumed in brief, bite-sized chunks of time, or any turn-based affair makes a perfect fit in a browser tab. Being able to flick over to a simple Facebook game like Solitaire Blitz or Triple Town, play for 90 seconds, and jump right back to another task is wonderfully convenient. There are even games which stray towards the “hardcore” side of the fence, with tricky gameplay and emphasis on immersion and difficulty, yet are broken up into discrete instances or turns. For the typical multi-tasker, these experiences are great diversions to keep open alongside their email and news feeds.

Other games, however, demand the full measure of their players’ attention. How is a game like Deus Ex expected to establish the suspense of stealth or the intensity of a firefight if the player keeps glancing up at his Twitter feed? Who would want someone on their Modern Warfare team who kept idling during the match in order to read a new round of Huffington Post articles? There is a reason these games typically run in a full-screen format. More than just idle diversions, these are experiences that are trying to establish stories, characters, and moods, and you’re doing them – and yourself – a disservice if you’re not paying attention.

Some may argue that many browser games, from the average Facebook farming facsimile to the aforementioned Bastion, also give players the option to run in full-screen. If that’s the case, however, then the entire question of presentation is rendered moot. If a game operates as a discreet, non-streaming download, and occupies your full attention when in use, then the only real differences are technical – is your delivery mechanism a browser, or some other digital distribution platform like Steam or Impulse? Which one will provide you with the biggest audience? Is your company able to build a game that fits into HTML5 or Unity, or will you have an easier time developing your own code structure?

As technology improves and these differences continue to evaporate, the question of presentation will remain as the deciding factor for your game. To those who still doubt the value of environment and framing, consider the famous experiment run by the Washington Post, involving world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell playing anonymously in a Metro Station, to the utter indifference of a thousand people. Now, imagine that you’re Joshua Bell, and the game you’ve crafted carries the majesty and spirit of Bach’s “Chaconne.” Do you present it in a proper symphony hall setting, or does your audience pass right by because it’s just one more bit of fluff in their busy day?

Meet the New TriplePoint Office

Well, it’s finally done. The team at TriplePoint SF needed a change of scenery, and though we knew it would be hard to adjust, we packed up our gear and left our office on 1st Street. All of us knew, of course, that it would be difficult to lose all of our old local favorites… our familiar haunts for lunch, coffee, and so forth. Still, the time had come to look to the future, and embrace the unknown, so we bid farewell to the old office, and made the long trek to our new digs… traveling an unthinkable distance of two city blocks.

Wait.

Two blocks? Seriously? We don’t have to give up on any of our old favorites, or learn new geography, or even worry about catching different trains? Easiest move ever. I am not exaggerating when I say that, were it not for one particularly tall building outside our windows, we would be able to see our last office from here.

Still, there’s plenty of fun new stuff to experience when moving to a new location. Read on, and see it with us.

Continue reading Meet the New TriplePoint Office

IndieCade: Video Games’ Sundance

Last week, in our lead-up to GDC, we advised visitors to makes some time to stop by the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Pavilion for a look at what’s happening in the world of experimental and original games. Maybe you’ll be too busy with other GDC duties, though, or maybe you just can’t make it out to San Francisco this year. Maybe you just need more indie gaming – a distinct possibility! That’s where IndieCade comes in.

IndieCade doesn’t make indie gaming part of a larger gathering – it is the gathering, happening October 4th – 7th in Los Angeles. The LA Times calls it “the video game industry’s Sundance.” You’ve got networking, workshops, awards, bastions of the scene (and maybe scenes from Bastion?), and a great big street fair full of games, all open to the public.

The door has just been opened for submissions, and IndieCade is looking to bring in the indies by the (humble) bundle: Any team that submits a game automatically receives a pass to the main festival, and an invitation to participate in “IndieXchange,” which is “a day long program offering practical workshops, networking opportunities and one-on-one meetings with art leaders, publishers and potential funders.” Games can be ready to ship, or can be works-in-progress.

Got a game you want others to play? Want to play some games made by others? Want to get in on a city-wide game of zombie tag? Check out the festival’s website and keep your October calendar clear.

Surviving GDC 2012

The 2012 Game Developers Conference (GDC) is still well over a month away, but the program is steadily coming together in anticipation of the big event. Speakers are being confirmed and added to the schedule, and a few sessions are now on the list.

Sorry, did I say “a few?” I meant “over four hundred.” With more speakers and sessions being added every day, there are now 400+ sessions for GDC attendees to consider during the five-day conference. Do you have room in your busy schedule to see Dave Theurer, creator of Missile Command, receiving the GDCA Pioneer Award? Or do you want to check out Sid Meier’s advice on game design? How will you choose between Tim Schafer and Cliff Bleszinski? The mind reels.

TriplePoint will be there, of course, growing intimately familiar with the three-block stretch between our San Francisco office and the Moscone Center. We always enjoy having so many of our clients, industry friends, and TPPR staff in town at the same time. If you’ll be there, we’d love to hear from you – feel free to drop us a line, even if you just want to drop by to say hello, or see which parties we’ll be attending.

Also, if you will be attending, whether this is your first GDC or your fifth, TriplePoint is happy to supply you with a few helpful GDC tips:

  • If you haven’t completed your registration, create a new tab and do it now. Early Bird pricing ends in less than a week.
  • Wear comfortable shoes. Yes, you’re going to be meeting titans of industry and valuable new business contacts, but you’re going to be doing so while on your feet for several hours at a time, walking the length of the convention center and waiting in lines. Find a good balance between style and sensibility.
  • Master the Elevator Pitch. You’ll be meeting a ton of people, and those people will have tons more people to meet. When you get the obligatory “What do you do?” opening, you need to have an answer in 30 seconds or less that gets someone interested in your game or business. The better an impression you’re able to make, right off the bat, the more memorable you’ll be. If you work on a mobile game, don’t be afraid to say “Let me show you” and pull out your phone.
  • Pace yourself at the parties. Five solid nights of open bars can be extremely tempting, but with sessions starting at 10:00 a.m., and keynotes as early as 9:00, don’t be that guy who paid $1,000 plus travel to sleep through the morning sessions. If you have a booth to run at the expo, don’t forget you’ll need to arrive even earlier to set up.
  • Not sure how to manage all of the sessions, as mentioned earlier? The GDC website has a great Schedule Builder that will help you organize all of your desired events into one jam-packed day planner. Good luck, by the way.
  • There are some great new games you can check out on the expo floor, especially in the IGF Pavilion. Just watch out for cameras when you’re playing, or you might be recorded while making a really stupid face.

See you at the show!

Gesturing Forward with SoftKinetic

Every year, the Consumer Electronics Show comes to Las Vegas and shines a spotlight on what we can all expect from new technology and the world’s innovators. For attendees, it’s a great chance to hear valuable insight from industry leaders, and go hands-on with all manner of new gadgetry — or, in the case of our clients at SoftKinetic, hands-off. SoftKinetic was on hand to showcase their latest advances in the growing field of gesture recognition technology — a field we’ve seen grow in gaming, through devices like the Wii, Kinect, and Move. It’s not hard to envision a future, as we continue to migrate from keyboards to touchscreens, where ease of interface continues to rise through smaller cameras and finer tracking software.

Our sister site, Frisky Mongoose, caught up with SoftKinetic for a brief Q&A about the technology that debuted at CES. Follow this link for insight from SoftKinetic’s Virgile Delporte.