This was taken in North Beach, the Italian section of San Francisco. I thought this cool corner spot was a lot like a smaller version of the Flatiron building in New York. That reminds me… I have a cool shot of that I need to find and upload. I didn’t stop in this cafe below… but it looked like a nice place to hang out.

There is nothing as soul-scorching as the search for Venture Capital.

This is normally a photography blog, but since my real life is comprised of running the stealthy John Galt Games (not currently seeking VC funding, incidentally), we are intimately involved with the games industry, acquisitions, investment, and the like. We were invited out to the Rutberg Quarterly event, ponderously entitled “Emerging Opportunities at the Convergence of Video Games, Social Networks, and Media”, in San Jose a few weeks ago by Peter Daley, who likes us because he is a closet objectivist and has a penchant for disruptive technologies.

Rutberg & Co is a research-centric investment bank that focuses in the wireless and digital media space. In my judgment, they are a leader in the games space and I always enjoy listening to Peter’s ruminations and reading his reports. He was nice enough to share the following data with me.

Oh, and since this is supposed to be a photography blog, I put a picture from the tech-booming Bay area below as well as a picture of the “Capitalist” in Ukraine, where our company does a lot of games work with brilliant ex-Soviets that used to launch rockets with slide-rules.

Directly below is a list of VC deals in the games space + Mergers & Acquisitions activity in the games space:

VC Deals (in no particular order):

Company: Red 5 Studios, Aliso Viejo, CA
Investment: $ 8.9 million
Investor: Benchmark Capital
Description: Red 5 Studios is an online game studio which develops original MMO games.

Company: Digital Chocolate, San Mateo, CA
Investment: $ 22.5 million
Investors: Bridgescale Partners; Chengwei Ventures; DN Capital; Glynn Capital Management; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Montagu Newhall; Outlook Ventures; Sequoia Capital; Sutter Hill
Ventures; WHI Capital
Description: Digital Chocolate is a developer of games and applications for mobile phones.

Company: Electric Sheep, New York, NY
Investment: $ 7 million
Investors: CBS; Gladwyne Partners
Description: The Electric Sheep Company designs experiences and delivers add-on software for 3D virtual worlds. The Company delivers strategic, creative, and technical insight and services to organizations, works with multiple virtual world platforms, and has developed many projects on behalf of brands.

Company: Double Fusion, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 26 million
Investors: Accel Partners, Hearst Corporation, IDG; Ventures Pacific, Jerusalem; Venture Partners, Norwest; Venture Partners, Sedona; Capital, Time Warner
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: Kongregate, San Francisco, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Independent investors
Description: Kongregate seeks to create an online hub for players and game developers to meet up, play games, and operate together as a community. By wrapping user-submitted Flash games with various community features, Kongregate’s site allows users to play great web-based games alongside friends.

Company: Cellufun, New York, NY
Investment: $ 3 million
Investors: Longworth; Venture Partners
Description: Cellufun is an ad sponsored mobile gaming portal providing free entertainment content and casual, connected, and multiplayer games for web-enabled mobile phones.

Company: Vollee, Hertzliya, Israel
Investment: $ 4 million
Investors: Benchmark Capital; BlueRun Ventures
Description: Vollee’s interactive video streaming platform delivers a catalog of PC and console titles with 3D graphics, artificial intelligence, and deep game play on mobile devices. Vollee packages the games it licenses from traditional publishers in an interactive mobile portal and partners with mobile operators to distribute and market the service to 3G subscribers.

Company: Exponentia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Investment: N/A
Investors: Emmis Communications
Description: Exponentia is a developer of mobile games and interactive applications for sports and entertainment clients that enable them to engage their fans across broadband and mobile devices.

Company: Atomic Moguls, Seattle, WA
Investment: $ 1 million
Investors: Amazon.com; Second Avenue Partners
Description: Operates a movie-based fantasy games website.

Company: GameGlance, Bangkok, Thailand
Investment: $ 2 million
Investors: Independent investors
Description: GameGlance is an in-game advertising network. GameGlance’s strategic planning, design, advertising, production, and gaming experiences have been applied across a number of gaming formats and categories.

Company: Areae, San Diego, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Charles River Ventures; Crescendo Ventures
Description: Develops technologies and content related to MMO video games

Company: Bunchball, Redwood City, CA
Investment: $ 2 million
Investors: Adobe Ventures; Granite Ventures
Description: Bunchball is a provider of social gaming services to personals sites, social networks, and online communities. Its hosted gaming service enables members to start and play games with each other, without leaving the customer’s site.

Company: OGPlanet, Torrance, CA
Investment: $ 1.5 million
Investors: Independent investors
Description: OGPlanet is a publisher of free online multiplayer games that generate revenue through the sale of virtual items.

Company: Mind Candy, London, United Kingdom
Investment: $ 7 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Index Ventures; NewMedia
Spark
Description: Mind Candy is an interactive entertainment company focused on puzzles and alternate reality games.

Company: Greystripe, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 1.2 million
Investors: Incubic Venture Fund; Monitor Ventures; WS
Investment Company
Description: Greystripe’s solution provides mobile content free to consumers in an ad-supported model. Greystripe operates an in-game mobile ad network and ad-supported mobile game distribution platform. Its advertising network takes full screen images, videos, and scrolling banners and dynamically delivers them into mobile games and applications.

Company: Trion World Network, Redwood City, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Doll Capital Management; Trinity Ventures
Description: Trion World Network is a publisher and developer of games and original entertainment.

Company: WildTangent, Redmond, WA
Investment: $ 13 million
Investors: Granite Global Ventures; WPP Group
Description: WildTangent is an online game network in North America offering online and downloadable games from publishers; WildCoins, an arcade style, per session payment system; a virtual game console, which facilitates the discovery of and access to games; and in-game and around-game advertising solution.

Company: Sulake, Helsinki, Finland
Investment: $ 7.6 million
Investors: Movida Group
Description: Sulake is an online community, entertainment, and media company focusing on virtual worlds, casual multiplayer games, and social networking. Sulake operates the Habbo community.

Company: IGA Worldwide, New York, NY
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Intel Capital
Description: IGA Worldwide provides in-game advertising solutions. Its ad serving network enables advertisers to target consumers across a range of platforms and genres. They also provide strategic consulting services
including integrated product placement and co-promotion through its wholly-owned communications consultancy, Hive.

Company: Stardoll, Stockholm, Sweden
Investment: $ 6 million
Investors: Index Ventures; Sequoia Capital
Description: Stardoll is a paper doll dress-up community site. Stardoll allows users to create their own doll or choose from a collection of celebrity dolls and dress them in virtual fashions.

Company: TVHead, Mountain View, CA
Investment: $ 11.5 million
Investors: Apax Partners; Bay Partners; Mitsui Incubase
Description: Operates an on demand television gaming service

Company: Winster, San Mateo, CA
Investment: $ 1.5 million
Investors: U.S. Venture Partners
Description: Winster.com is a social community where players cooperate to help each other solve puzzles to win prizes.

Company: Double Fusion, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Jerusalem Venture Partners
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: Super Computer International, Atlanta, GA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Verizon
Description: Provides free online communication, collaboration, and community, which provide gamers with additional features for their multiplayer gaming interactions, a set of social networking tools and a range of gaming experiences.

Company: Three Rings Design, San Francisco, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Mercury Capital Partners
Description: Three Rings is a startup developer of persistent world online games.

Company: Terraplay Systems, Solna, Sweden
Investment: $ 3.2 million
Investors: Cisco Systems; IT-Provider; Nordic Venture
Partners; VPSA
Description: Terraplay operates the Global Gaming Network, a hosted service enabling game publishers, network operators, and service providers to link their games offerings to a global gaming community and deliver revenue-generating connected gaming services across all channels. The Global Gaming Network supports mobile connected gaming on all platforms, including storefronts, content download, community, in-game payments and multiplayer.

Company: Linden Lab, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 11 million
Investors: Benchmark Capital; Catamount Ventures; Globespan Capital
Partners; Omidyar Network; Independent Investors
Description: Develops massive multiplayer online role-playing games, including Second Life.

Company: Exent Technologies, Bethesda, MD
Investment: N/A
Investors: Cisco; Intel Capital
Description: A solutions provider for broadband-based monetization of new and existing PC and video games. Exent’s product line supports multiple solutions, including digital distribution of video games, platform enablement, in-game advertising and community building solutions.

Company: Telltale Games, San Rafael, CA
Investment: $ 0.8 million
Investors: Keiretsu Forum
Description: Telltale develops and deploys cinematic quality animation and storytelling technologies, to create interactive content. Telltale offers content development and custom publishing services to assist license-holders in adapting their properties for interactive delivery.

Company: Stardoll.com, Stockholm, Sweden
Investment: $ 4 million
Investors: Index Ventures; Independent investors
Description: Stardoll is a paper doll dress-up community site. Stardoll allows users to create their own doll or choose from a collection of celebrity dolls and dress them in virtual fashions.

Company: Nephin Games, Galway, Ireland
Investment: $ 1 million
Investors: Independent Investors
Description: Nephin Games develops a marketing communications channel, accessible to mobile phone users, which enables brand to promote films, television programming, and consumer goods, while capturing consumer data and forming customer relationships.

Company: IGA Worldwide, New York, NY
Investment: $ 12 million
Investors: DN Capital; Easton Capital Group; Morgenthaler Ventures
Description: IGA Worldwide provides in-game advertising solutions its
ad serving network enables advertisers to target consumers across a range of platforms and genres. They also provide strategic consulting services
including integrated product placement and co-promotion through its wholly-owned communications consultancy, Hive.

Company: LiveHive Systems, Waterloo, Ontario
Investment: $ 1.8 million
Investors: Tech Capital Partners
Description: Provides two-screen, interactive solutions for the entertainment industry. LiveHive offers solutions for TV broadcasters, fantasy sports sites, and web portals.

Company: PlayFirst, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Mayfield Venture Partners; Rustic Canyon Partners; Trinity Ventures
Description: Publisher of original casual games, available across multiple platforms, including PC, Mac, and mobile devices.

Company: Mind Candy, London, United Kingdom
Investment: $ 3 million
Investors: Index Ventures
Description: Mind Candy is an interactive entertainment company focused on puzzles and alternate reality games.

Company: Double Fusion, Jerusalem, Israel
Investment: $ 10 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Jerusalem Venture Partners
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: watAgame, Copenhagen, Denmark
Investment: N/A
Investors: Private Investors; SEED Capital; Vaekstfonden
Description: Develops and operates made-for-girls mobile and web entertainment concepts. The company partners with mobile networks and portals, media companies, brand managers, and agencies.

Company: Jagex, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Investment: N/A
Investors: Insight Venture Partners
Description: Develops and operates java-based online games. Jagex focuses on persistent character games with immersive environments, which are 3D and can be played in-browser.

Company: Quazal, Montreal, Quebec
Investment: N/A
Investors: Collar Capital; FondAction CSN; La Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement du Québec; Viavar Capital
Description: Delivers multiplayer technologies to the videogames market. Quazal provides game developers with an SDK that includes features such as real-time data propagation and synchronized game inputs. Quazal also provides a lobby server that host game communities on all gaming platforms.

Company: Cellufun, New York, NY
Investment: N/A
Investors: Vaux Les Ventures
Description: Cellufun is an ad sponsored mobile gaming portal providing free entertainment content and casual, connected, and multiplayer games for web-enabled mobile phones.

Company: Massive, New York, NY
Investment: $ 10 million
Investors: DFJ Gotham; DFJ New England; NeoCarta Ventures; Newlight
Associates; RRE Ventures; Tobat Capital
Description: Massive operates a network for dynamic video game advertising that allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video, and game object formats.

Company: Xfire, Menlo Park, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Granite Global Ventures; New Enterprise Associates
Description: Xfire is a free tool that tracks when and where gamers are playing PC games online. It works across game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using.

Company: Sulake, Helsinki, Finland
Investment: $ 23 million
Investors: 3i Group; Benchmark Capital; Elisa Group
Description: Sulake is an online community, entertainment, and media company focusing on virtual worlds, casual multiplayer games, and social networking. Sulake operates the Habbo community.

Mergers & Acquisitions:

Target: 19% stake in Neowiz
Acquirer: Electronic Arts
Transaction: $105 million (Announced 3/19/2007)

Target Description: Develops and publishes online games in Korea, marketing its products under its online game portal www.pmang.com.

Acquirer Intent: To expand the existing co-development and publishing relationship and bring new titles to new markets in Asia.

Target: AdScape Media
Acquirer: Google
Transaction: $23 million (Announced 2/15/2007)

Target Description: Adscape Media offers dynamic delivery of in-game advertising with plot and storyline integration.

Acquirer Intent: To add value to users, advertisers, and publishers through the addition of Adscape Media’s technology and team to Google’s current advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers.

Target: Skyworks
Acquirer: Gottaplay Interactive
Transaction: N/A (Announced 8/14/2006)

Target Description: Skyworks Technologies develops video game content to engage mass audiences across multiple platforms including online, web downloadable, hand held video game consoles, and mobile phones.

Acquirer Intent: To achieve core business strategy of being a cross-platform gaming leader, and to leverage Skyworks’ library of over 100 casual games for both online and mobile delivery through in-game advertising, subscription fees, and downloadable game revenues.

Target: Atom Entertainment
Acquirer: Viacom’s MTV Networks
Transaction: $200 million (Announced 8/9/2006)

Target Description: Provides marketing and distribution solutions of broadband entertainment, including online games, on-demand viewing of film, and animation titles.

Acquirer Intent: To advance its multiplatform strategy of building a universe of music, gaming, entertainment, news, and interactivity for targeted audiences.

Target: Eiko
Acquirer: Double Fusion
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/10/2006)

Target Description: Eiko Media is a marketing agency that specializes in the promotion and utilization of emerging technologies to build marketing and branding campaigns.

Acquirer Intent: To offer the fullest range of marketing solutions, from dynamic in-game spot buys to fully-realized in-depth product placements with measurement and dynamic features.

Target: RedOctane
Acquirer: Activision
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/9/2006)

Target Description: RedOctane is a publisher, developer, and distributor of interactive entertainment software, hardware, and accessories.

Acquirer Intent: To achieve an early leadership position in the fast-growing music-based gaming genre.

Target: Massive
Acquirer: Microsoft
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/4/2006)

Target Description: Massive operates a network for dynamic video game advertising that allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video, and game object formats.

Acquirer Intent: To broaden it’s commitment to providing advertisers with a highly effective means of reaching specific demographic groups of consumers in the rapidly growing and interactive medium of online gaming, incorporate dynamic advertising into other online environments, such as Windows Live and MSN, and to make it available on the adCenter advertising platform.

Target: Xfire
Acquirer: Viacom’s MTV Networks
Transaction: $102 million (Announced 4/25/2006)

Target Description: Xfire is a free tool that tracks when and where gamers are playing PC games online. It works across game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using.

Acquirer Intent: To build a universe of music, gaming, entertainment, news, networking, and interactivity for focused audiences as part of its multiplatform strategy.

Target: IGN
Acquirer: News Corporation
Transaction: $650 million (Announced 9/8/2005)

Target Description: IGN Entertainment is a leading Internet media and services company focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. The company’s network of videogame-related properties provides a video game information destination that attracts a concentrated audience of young males.

Acquirer Intent: To become a leading and profitable Internet presence by enhancing its online reach and furthering its strategy to leverage the unique competencies the company enjoys with its news, sports, and entertainment assets to create a leading Internet destination.

Target: Neopets
Acquirer: Viacom’s subsidiary MTV
Transaction: $160 million (Announced 6/21/2005)

Target Description: Neopets owns and operates a virtual pet site on the Internet offering games, trading, auctions, greetings, and messaging.

Acquirer Intent: To move forward in its multiplatform strategy in addition to aligning its audience with MTV Network brands.

Target: MiXTV
Acquirer: Zone4Play
Transaction: Stock (Announced 3/11/2005)

Target Description: Provides an end-to-end solution to deliver multi-player interactive TV applications to all analog, digital, terrestrial and DBS-based networks.

Target Description: Provides an end-to-end solution to deliver multi-player interactive TV applications to all analog, digital, terrestrial and DBS-based networks.

Target: Stadeon
Acquirer: Yahoo!
Transaction: N/A (Announced 3/4/2005)

Target Description: Stadeon enables players to use mobile devices while competing with players on PCs.

Acquirer Intent: To strengthen its online games business by expanding into mobile phone games.

supporter:
Are you involved in the game industry?  Do you want to learn how to design games?  A game workshop is the place for you to learn more about your hobby.  Workshops are key to sharing and receiving more information.

The weather in San Francisco was not the most cooperative for every kind of picture I wanted to take, but I did come away with a few interesting ones. I went a little Orton on this one, but I like the the results and the colorful glowing houses dotting the coast.

supporter:
Do you want to go see the Golden Gate bridge?  Take your family and leave your car in a discount airport parking lot. Make sure to get parking reservations ahead of time to ensure a speedy depature. If you live in CA leave your car at San Franciso airport parking.

Whenever I shoot San Francisco, I think it JUST might be the very last shot before the big one hits. They say they pyramidal Transamerica building is fairly earthquake-proof, but I don’t really believe it.

I think if there was a big one, I would just climb out the window and slide down the outside, just in case. That seems like a pretty solid plan.

I have just joined MyBlogLog, so feel free to click here to join my community.

I had to spend about $300 in order to pay all the homeless people to get out of the way of this shot, but I think it was well worth it.

I like how cities are doing this artistic stuff and contracting with local artists. I’m not a fan of tax-supported public art, however. I heard that in Iceland that if you are a recognized, but unemployed artist, that the government will actually give you a regular stipend. Anyway, I digress.

Each corner of Union Square here in San Francisco had some uniquely painted heart. I thought this one was the coolest with the sky that day, so I had to grab a shot.

I am here in San Francisco for the Game Developer’s Conference. Believe it or not, I’ve had over 45 meetings so far and it’s only four days into the event. I’m so tired that I could barely even refuse when my friends at CCP Games in Iceland invited me to their little party tonight after dinner. Little did I know *what* kind of party it would be.

I show up, and it turns out that I am suddenly in this goth-vampire club in SOMA and the CCP guys have called in the cavalry of SF goth girls, vampiric wraiths, suicide girls, and the kind of people that sleep on leather sheets. I honestly don’t know where they found these people or where they were able to purchase insurance for this event.

The party was to celebrate Eve Online and its amazing success with over 180,000 players. They are also making a new announcement soon about something new they are doing (did they announce it somewhere)? Hilmar could have just thrown a little party in his hotel room and we could have ordered room service and had pillow fights, but he went with Reynir’s suggestion and decided to get whipped by women with a lot of iron in their blood.

I did not stay for too long because I started seeing strange things that can only be described properly with grunts and wild gesticulations. It shocks me how much these Nordic types can drink. The drinks were free, so it was like a non-stop Italian soccer match around the bar. None of them understood why I just ordered a Sprite. They looked at me like I didn’t like rotten shark.

Below you can see Reynir, the founder and visionary of Eve, with the dark hair. You can also see Hilmar, the CEO of CCP, with the sadistic faces and shock of red hair.

Below you can see Hilmar taking out years of frustration on Reynir. It was all in good fun until he sucker-punched him in the kidneys.

You may think that the face below is of Hilmar in pain, but this is how Hilmar usually looks. This is my payback to Hilmar for forcing me to eat Rotten Shark and Lamb Heart in Iceland.

All of this reminds me of my time in Iceland (other Iceland pics here), where I had a great time visiting their studio and the city. I think I know where they get their unique vision; everything there is so isolated from the self-replicating creative patterns in the rest of the world. Plus, they are surrounded by unique Eve-like architecture like the building below. How can you not want to make cool games when you have stuff like this you see every day?

For some reason, airports tend to accumulate some of the worst art in the world. This is almost as bad as the Bad Art in the Austin Airport. In the international terminal, there is this multicultural mosaic that is just plain bad. It features one person of just about every race, and they threw in two black guys just to make sure there were no complaints. That guy on the left kinda looks like Mao doesn’t he?

I think the reason that airports have such bad art is because the art is chosen by bureaucracies and panels of rather mediocre people who are more inspired by the “average” art that is sure not to offend anyone (meanwhile, conversely, not inspiring anyone).

As we began our trip to Korea, we stopped off in San Francisco to switch planes. Upon checking in, we were told to go to a little holding area because Will is on the “Terrorist Watch List”. Security came riding over on a bike through the airport and started doing a thorough search.

I told Will it DID NOT HELP that he was wearing his Woven Muslim Prayer Cap. I did manage to snap this picture while we were in holding.

They eventually let us go. We think it is because his last name is “Kelly”, and it sounds like he might have done some past work for the IRA… but we can’t think of any IRA bombings since 20 years ago at a Harrod’s in London. I cautioned Will not to say anything bad about London until we were safely at the gate.

Even though I have met many cool Polish people and eaten many great Polish pastry products, I have never had luck with Polish taxi drivers.

Okay I am not sure if he was Polish, but he was somewhere from an Eastern Bloc country and his last name was something like Ivarskyliskypaski. Anyway, this idiot is the moron that took me in a cab from San Francisco to San Jose Airport this morning. It was 4:30 AM, and I had to take the 7 AM flight to Austin because it was the only direct one. I would have used the car service from the hotel, but they did not arrive till 5 AM and that was cutting it too close. So I reluctantly hopped in this cab even though when a clearly said, “I have till 6 AM to get to the San Jose Airport,” he gave me a look just like my Shih-Tsu does when I ask her about the origins of hexamic pentameter.

An hour later, we are driving around downtown San Jose and he says, “I can’t find the Hilton.” In response, I thrust myself forward between the seats and I said, “You are an idiot.  Who needs to be at a hotel at 6 AM?”
Then he took me to the cargo area of San Jose Airport then had to ask a UPS guy how to get to the terminal. I was fit to be tied! Finally he got me to the terminal and he charged me $150! He argued it was a flat rate and I had no time to argue because I was already late. I called him an effing moron once again and yelled at him, as he drove off, to learn the effing language. This seemed to delight a lot of other travelers that were standing on the sidewalk, who have similarly had trouble communicating in the language of English.

I gotta get out of this country!!!