Innovation in the online media space

I usually like calling out an innovative new business model whenever I see one, but usually I wouldn’t equate World Wrestling Entertainment (or WWE for short) with an innovative new business model that will prove to the the rule rather than the exception.

Anyways, most people think of pro wrestling as a pseudo-sport, and while that is partially true, I feel that the whole idea of entertaining people in an athletic way is something that all the major professional sports leagues are doing anyway, and the WWE (or WWF/World Wrestling Federation as it has been known in the past) has really become known as kind of an innovator in sports being classified more as entertainment than as actual sports.

So, that innovation has become the new WWE Network, where basically you pay just $9.99/month, with a 6 month commitment, to have access to the entire library of WWE pay-per-views, including live WWE pay-per-views, and have something of a nonlinear network structure to boot.

The nonlinear network structure, and the fact that you can actually queue up old programming, or start from the very beginning of a program you want to watch, is a truly innovative idea that, in my opinion, supersedes that of the whole idea of sports-as-entertainment as being the most innovative idea that has sprung from anyone’s mind, ever.  I challenge everyone who isn’t a fan of sports being entertainment to stop for one second and figure out if that is, indeed, what the professional sports leagues are REALLY doing and see that the idea of actually UNDERVALUING their content, and charging a REASONABLE price per month like Vince McMahon is doing is actually really the wave of the future.  

People are going to try to DVR your content anyway, so why do you continue to stick like glue to an antiquated business model that basically the WWE Network has essentially upended?

Happy 2014! Also, A Wild Focus Shift Appears!

Well well well, didya miss me?

Welcome to my first blog of 2014!  And this is a goodbye of sorts to the way I *was* blogging towards the end of 2013.  You see, I took an entire month and a half off to completely retool how I was to be blogging.  I’ve been noticing how much my focus has been wavering from topics that everyone can be enjoying, and this year, 2014, will be my return.  Specifically, it’s time I tried focusing on one subject as my main blog.  Which, as of February 1st, isn’t going to be this one.  Let me explain:

I’ve been trying to build a relationship with a gaming-focused PR firm, Evolve PR, and one thing I am noticing is how unprofessional it seems to have a blog that isn’t entirely laser-focused on video games.  

So, as of next Monday, February 3rd, 2014, I will be blogging primarily at bjsgaming.blogspot.com.  That’s just a temporary domain, but that will be exclusively about video games.  

As a result of this, I will be working on the transition to my new gaming blog over the next couple of days (and even a bit on Super Bowl Sunday), so this is going to (hopefully) be temporary and I will hopefully be posting more and more over the next few months.  Right now I have quite a few posts on here that I am going to be gradually transitioning to the new blog, and as a result of preparing posts, I am going to be exceedingly busy the next couple of days.

Also, posting will now be at least every Monday Wednesday and Friday.  I say at least because there may be breaking news like Nintendo Direct broadcasts which I will want to continue my coverage of.  

Also, one significant change is that I am finally going to be retiring my As The Steam/GOG Turns column.  The plan was at least to have a month-end wrapup, but as I continued to retool what I’m going to be doing moving forward, I realized that even that was going to be overwhelming.  As a result, I am going to be covering a great many more GOG releases as a result moving forward.

Also, I am eventually going to be reviewing games that can be found at GOG.com (many of which are exclusive either permanently or temporarily), because many people don’t actually like Steam as a store, and I totally understand that.  Also GOG was practically winning most weeks that they didn’t have something on a ridiculous sale anyways, so declaring a winner and moving on instead of continuing the soap opera was hugely beneficial for me as a writer and it frees me up a lot more than people will realize.

One final thing: I will be trying to space out posts you’ve already seen, so much so that Flashback Fridays will be a thing.  And after I’ve exhausted all my gaming-related postings, I am going to be using Flashback Fridays as a venue to espouse about retro gaming related topics, something I continue to learn more and more about all the time.  You’re welcome.