

Koduco (YC S10) Is Bringing Old-School Fun To Multiplayer iPad Games - px
http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/23/koduco-ipad-games/

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zavulon
First of all, congratulations to Koduco, this looks great, and I mean
absolutely no offense to them or YC by this post.

But... this is really getting old. It seems like EVERY SINGLE YC startup is
being featured on Techcrunch. How many iPhone/iPad games companies are there?
Thousands. Besides bringing some level of innovation in there, I don't see
anything special about this one, besides being a YC company. Yes, the games
look cool.. but in the end, it's just another company doing games.

I'm trying really hard to find another reason this got featured on Techrunch
besides being a YC company, and I can't. Would they get featured on TC if they
weren't funded by YC? I think that's a resounding "no". It's impossible to
take TC seriously anymore.

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monkeyboy
The collaborative, physical style of gameplay seemed unique to me. I think
it's an innovation in this space that is definitely worth a writeup on TC, YC-
funded or not.

~~~
megablast
I don't think it is that unique, it seemed like a stretch, almost as if they
were trying to prove to themselves that this was worth writing about. It is
only used in a tiny portion of the game.

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dongle
We had a mixed-gender development team and tested extensively at parties.
People like to pass the game around and show it off, and it's not so intense
that you can't talk while playing it. And even if you don't use PongVaders as
an intro, it provides a shared context which makes meeting new people easier.

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kyro
"It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these games are perfect for
breaking the ice when you’re meeting someone for the first time, or to flirt
with the cute girl who sits next to you in history class."

Is this how people break the ice and flirt these days, or am I now entering
the stages of being an old-timer (23yrs. old)?

~~~
inmygarage
As a female I would say unequivocally YES. I am dying to have someone ask me
if I want to play PongVaders with them...

~~~
riffer
where is your garage?

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TheEzEzz
I didn't even realize YC funds game companies. I'm in debt developing my first
game right now, but I'd love YC just for the name recognition, screw money!

I'm developing a game for Xbox, and the hardest hurdle is getting it onto the
Arcade marketplace. The difference in revenue between Arcade and the open
market is usually a factor of 10-100 (subjectively controlling for quality).
The clout of having YC funding would be a huge boon for getting Microsoft to
green light a game for Arcade.

~~~
blasdel
It's like YC funding film producers — it's a mercurial content business, not
something that can scale wildly like their typical investments.

I think they've funded at least a couple companies selling tools & platforms
for game developers (analytics, ads, login/matchmaking, etc.), but I thought
PG had an explicit distaste for this kind of thing. It doesn't seem like
Koduco intends to be something other than a content production company…

~~~
TheEzEzz
Agreed, content production is an inherently different game, with much less
explosive potential.

Still, there are some good investments to be made. Even mediocre games are
pulling down 7 figures on Xbox Arcade. With the development cost of a good
indie title sitting in the $10,000 range, that's a pretty solid opportunity.

I doubt I'm alone as an indie developer that would be willing to give up a
share of their game for zero investment dollars, just to have the YC name
behind them. There's still a cost to YC there though. The integrity of their
name is important.

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ashbrahma
Check out the Pawn concept on this website. <http://www.volumique.com/en/.>.

Koduco--maybe you could implement something like this for your Checker360
board game?

