A weekly newsletter of what I've seen in (mostly) tech & games and thought was interesting. This week: China Switch, female office rivalries, and Sagrada Familia…
😳 Must reads of the week
◼ Tencent will start selling Nintendo’s Switch console in China next week, the first time the Japanese company’s flagship product will be distributed officially in the world’s largest videogame markets. This could be big for Nintendo. Link ($)
◼ The persistent myth of “female office rivalries”: there’s no evidence that women are more hostile to other women than men are to other men. So let's bury that myth, shall we? Link
🗞 Tech News
◼ Top Apps in the U.S. for October 2019 by Downloads. Hands-up if you know the name of the #1 app that is “YOUR NEW Portrait & Selfie Photo Editor!!". Also, apparently I look like Pep Guardiola. Or Angela Merkel. Depends. Don't worry, you'll get why. Link
◼ Larry Page and Sergey Brin will hand control of Google/Alphabet immediately to Sundar Pichai, Google’s existing CEO. End of an era? Maybe, but also it felt like it's been a long time coming. Link
◼ Amazon is sending out paper printed catalogs of “Amazon's ultimate wish list for kids!” for Xmas. Interesting experiement. It would help of course if they sent it to people who actually have small kids. Big data, eh? Link
◼ “Apple pay express transit mode is now available for London underground.” Barcelona next, pretty please! Link
◼ Lots of stats and figures on telco development: Ericsson Mobility Report November 2019. Includes forecasts of 5G ramp-up. Link
◼ Apple and Google reveal the best apps and games of 2019. Link
🕹 Games
◼ 2020 mobile gaming trends: great collection of trends and forecasts from various sources. Lots of room to grow across the board. Link
◼ Call of Duty Mobile is Google Play's best game of 2019 – it won top award as well as users’ choice and best competitive game. Well played! Link
◼ Star Citizen hits $250m raised through crowdfunding. I loved Wing Commander and hence was very excited when this was announced. Then it became the Sagrada Familia of games. Call me when it's done (a beta version is fine). Link
◼ “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s first season detailed, battle pass teased.” Link
◼ “You quit when you are shot in the back, without having an opportunity to face your enemy.” More realism doesn't mean a better gaming experience in Battlefield. Link
◼ Roblox surpasses $1b in lifetime revenue. This one still baffles me, but then again, I am nowhere near the age of the target group. Also: 100m monthly active players. Amazing success. Link
◼ Metacritic reveals Resident Evil 2 remake is the best-rated game of 2019. Innovation? Link
◼ An estimated 192 million U.S. consumers — or 70% of Americans ages 13 to 64 — play games, according to a new Consumer Technology Association (CTA) study. Link
😋 Tasty Tidbits
◼ Jason Kottke's collected lists of “The Best Books of 2019”. Link
◼ A Deepfake rendering of Nixon giving the speech that was written in case the Apollo 11 astronauts had died. It's absolutely crazy if you think about how fast we got to this level of fidelity of fakes. And scary too given that conspiracy theories and “fake news” are already flourishing industry as it is. Link
◼ 18,000-year-old frozen puppy. Who's a good doggie? Link
◼ 11 Levels of Origami. Insane stuff. I still think there's a great game idea somewhere in this. Who has a pitch? Link (Video)
◼ 10 new science fiction and fantasy books to check out this December. I am running out of stuff. Additional recommendations welcome Link
◼ “Apple Watch Siri Interrupts Live Weather Broadcast to Contradict Presenter.” Oopsie. Link
◼ Ultraviolet photography: just look at these images of a colored fluid dripped into water. Very cool stuff. Link (Video)
◼ 40+ years of continuous great UX design: the New York City Subway map. Link
◼ Due to current events: a stats deep-dive on the impossible GOAT. Link
◼ Is it Christmas yet? Link
I work for King. All views in this newsletter are personal and my own. They do not represent the views of King or ActivisionBlizzard. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and it's surely no investment advice. This newsletter links to other websites and information obtained from third-party sources and I cannot ensure nor verify accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.