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Weekend Reading: Rework, by Fried and Hansson

Read/WriteWeb

- 9 hours and 6 minutes ago

This week we've got a book hot off the presses for your weekly dose of entrepreneurial reading as 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are back with their second book in four months. Released earlier this month, Rework, a no-nonsense rethinking of how to successfully start and run a business, comes hot on the heels of their first book Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application, which published in November of 2009.

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This time Fried and Hansson take a more general approach to business by examining the ways that new companies are disrupting traditional business practices and making a big splash. They cover their entrepreneurial bases by reminding us that "no time is no excuse" and that "a business without a path to profit isn't a business, it's a hobby," but then also elaborate on less traditional practices that have helped them succeed.

The main theme of the book is to trim the fat and do fewer things better; simplifying every aspect of your business and doing a smaller number of things at a higher quality is far better than trying to do too much and a mediocre level. There were times when customers of their products wanted more features and they refused to comply because it would slow them down and decrease efficiency. They decry time-stealing meetings, lengthy contracts, childish office politics and bloated inventories because they weigh down companies from reaching their full potential.

Rework is a great read for entrepreneurs because it is very focused and doesn't waste any time with lengthy use cases. The book itself is an example of the principals it teaches; the quality of a written work is not based on it's length, so why should company be judged by how many features it offers? Fried and Hansson admit that the book, which comes in at a dense but brief 288 pages, was originally drafted to be nearly twice as long, but why say in 600 pages what you can say under 300? Another reason the book is a great read is because of the authors' open and honest tone.

"Ever seen those weapons prisoners make out of soap, or a spoon? They make do with what they've got," one passage humorously points out. "Now we're not saying you should go out and shank somebody, but get creative, and you'll amazed with what you can make with just a little."

Other useful and easily digestible analogies for their unique business ideas include comparing your company to a hot dog stand. They advise that the best way to trim down an inflated company is to find the "epicenter" by asking yourself, "If I took this away, would what I'm selling still exist?" The best hot dog stand doesn't worry about the decorations on the stand, or the condiments - it worries about the hot dogs.

There are dozens of other valuable pieces of advice in Rework that are sure to inspire any entrepreneur or small business owner. But as LeVar Burton famously said at the end of each episode of Reading Rainbow, you don't have to take my word for it. Seth Godin, who has authored several books on business and entrepreneurship including The Dip which we profiled earlier this year, had nothing but high praise for Rework.

"Jason and David have broken all the rules and won. Again and again they've demonstrated that the regular way isn't necessarily the right way," says Godin. "They just don't say it, they do it. And they do it better than just about anyone has any right to expect."

This book is an obvious buy not only because the of the expert advice dispensed by the successful founders of 37signals, but also because the book is an easy, quick and inexpensive read. Personally, in a few short hours I was able to breeze through the audio version, which can be found online for less than $10. But if you prefer reading words on a page, the Kindle version is also $10, or a hardback copy is just $3 more at some online retailers.

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SXSW 2010 Web Awards are Thingamagoopy

A review a day: West Coast Blues

Comics Should Be Good!

- 14 hours and 35 minutes ago

What the crap? A French comic? Are the French even allowed to make comics? Aren't they too busy being snooty and smoking Gauloises and wearing inappropriate swimwear? Where do they find the time to make comics, anyway?*

Look out! The French!

Well, the French can do all those things as long as they keep making comics this good, I tell ya. West Coast Blues is a cracking good crime comic, not really noir but definitely a tale of bad people doing bad things to each other. It's also, oddly enough, very wryly humorous, in a way we don't often see in crime comics here in the States. It was a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette in 1976, and in 2005, Manchette's old collaborator, Jacques Tardi, finally adapted it to comics (and then Kim Thompson translated it into English). Presumably, had DC's association with Humanoids continued, this would have been a DC book. As it is, Fantagraphics has published it in the States. Good for them!

The plot is deceptively simple, as for most of the book, we have no idea what's going and Manchette simply follows his main character around. We begin in the present with George Gerfaut, cruising around in his Mercedes in the middle of the night listening to West Coast style jazz (hence the name of the book - George digs the jazz!). After a few pages, we're introduced to another man, Alonso Emerich y Emerich, a Dominican of German descent who used to be in military intelligence. We have, initially, no idea what his purpose is, because we quickly get back to George, who is passed by two cars, one chasing the other. The first car crashes, the second car takes off, and George helps the first driver to the hospital. Then he returns to his house. A few days later, his family heads out on vacation. It takes us a few pages to realize that this is happening in time well before the opening scene, because Manchette doesn't give us any indication that we've flashbacked. That's okay, though - the transition between the "present" and the "past" is interesting because Manchette links them through George driving late at night. While we may be a bit lost initially, we quickly regain our footing.

George doesn't realize he's being tailed by two hitmen in the employ of Alonso, who goes by Mr. Taylor. Again, we don't know why they want to kill George (we can figure out it has something to do with the driver of the car, but we don't know what), but that's part of the fun. Because as the follow George to the seaside, the plot kicks into high gear. It's rather humorous - the hitmen can't kill George. Through, really, very little effort on his part, he manages to elude them. In their first attempt, he manages to grab one of the killer's balls, which of course tends to put him off. This attempt switches something on in George, and he abandons his wife and returns to Paris. The killers can never quite catch up with him, and when they do, he escapes again, killing one of them almost accidentally. Then he flees into the forest and ends up in the foothills of the Alps, where he's found by a slightly eccentric woodsman. And he simply stays there. He becomes someone else completely, learning how to be self-sufficient, hooking up with a woman, and changing his appearance by growing a beard. But the second killer tracks him down, and George ends up back in the world, ready to find out exactly why these two men were sent to kill him.

The fascinating thing about this story is the character of George. Actually, Carlo and Bastien, the two hitmen, are pretty interesting as well, but George is the central character, so he ought to be fascinating. As I pointed out, he doesn't escape from the killers because he's tougher than they are; he might be a bit smarter, but he's also really lucky. Manchette doesn't make it a ridiculous, corny kind of luck, but he does show that George happens to do things that throw them off the track without knowing he's doing it. This makes the pursuit rather odd and darkly humorous. The book is full of violent death, and it's definitely not a comedy, but just the fact that these two professional killers have such a tough time blowing away this rather inept sales manager makes it border on the surreal. Then, we think the book will be about George becoming more of an independent dude and less of a simpering whiner, as he's forced to live in the wild for so many months. But Manchette doesn't quite give us that, either. George is a complicated guy who realizes certain things about the way society is structured but still yearns for other things. By the end of the book, we're back on the freeway, but Manchette has made us see that George has changed, just maybe not enough that we would expect. West Coast Blues is, in my mind, very "European" in that regard - this is a broad generalization, but Europeans are more bound by history, both societal and personal, than Americans, so if this book had been written by a Yankee, it probably would have ended much, much differently. That it doesn't is a testament, I think, to Manchette's storytelling - he never takes the easy way out, even if George's fate might seem like he does. George has been affected by what happens to him, but in not so overt (American?) way.

Tardi's art is quite stellar, as well. He's amazingly detailed, but he doesn't pull any tricks on the reader - his work is very straight forward. He relies on very strong storytelling skills, as he simply takes us through George's story. We get a great sense of place from Tardi, either in the urban settings or, even more impressively, in the rural interlude George experiences. Tardi does masterful work with the characters, too - they look and move like people, stumbling when you might expect it, breaking bones when you'd expect it, acting like human beings. His best work might be with Carlo and Bastien, as George remains very low-key throughout (except for one brief scene). Carlo and Bastien, however, have a fun relationship, and Tardi helps with it. Manchette gives them good banter, but Tardi manages to portray their care for each other even as he keeps their faces impassive. It's a very verbose comic, but Tardi matches Manchette with panels that demand a great deal of attention - this is a visual feast as well as a literary one.

I suppose the only problem one might have with the book is its somewhat excessive narration, because often Manchette simply tells us what the pictures already do (and Tardi adapted it to comics, so why he didn't cut some more of it is beyond me). Occasionally, the narration is absurdly excellent - when Manchette lists all the weapons Carlo and Bastien have in their car, for instance, it's a comic mini-masterpiece - but occasionally, we can tell exactly what's going on and don't need to be told. Again, this is a comic adapted from a book into French and then translated into English, so there are many filters for it to go through. I don't have too big an issue with the words, but I should caution you that it feels bloated every once in a while.

Other than that, West Coast Blues is a very good crime comic. The fact that it has a slightly different sensibility than most American crime fiction makes it refreshing, and the fact that Manchette has a wry sense of humor about the material works well, too. And it looks great. And Ed Brubaker thinks Tardi is great. Dare you go against Ed Brubaker????

* Before you jump my shit, I'm joking. I am well aware of the long French tradition of comics, and cut my teeth on Asterix and Obelix before I had even heard of the X-Men when I was but a lad. Chillax, people!

Next: Can it be more Tardi? Well, of course it can!

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Hunted: The Demon's Forge - an interview

Guardian Unlimited: Gamesblog

- 1 days and 1 hours ago

New fantasy hack and slasher looks promising

Dungeon crawler games have fallen way out of fashion in the last 10-15 years, so the genuine excitement shown by the developers of new title Hunted: The Demon's Forge at the recent press launch was understandable. Clearly the standard marketing and focus group considerations would have been taking into consideration when green lighting the game but you definitely got the feeling that Hunted is a labour of love for the team. Not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that the project lead is Bard's Tale veteran Brian Fargo.

Hunted is a third-person, co-op based, action RPG with a standard fantasy setting that felt very familiar. The decent enough visuals won't win any awards either but this doesn't look like a game where you'll be gawping at the scenery. The demo showed a lot of hack and slash action and even more of the female protagonist â€“ yes, this isn't a good example to use in any "games have grown up, honest!" style argument - but it does look like it could be fun to play, especially in co-op. The dynamic between the male melee character and the female archer was an obvious co-op design decision and the demo showed what could be a common sight â€“ the archer picking off enemies from range while the melee character hacks away up close. This all sounds very MMO-like but while customisation is available you will not be able to create your own character from scratch. I spoke to game director Maxx Kaufman about design, influences and how co-op will work.

What is the background to the game?

Being huge fans of fantasy and Dungeon & Dragons, we were inspired to create a game that would allow us to get lost in a dungeon, fight AND explore a really cool fantasy world. As a kid I always dreamed of fighting monsters with a sword and a bow as well as exploring for magic and treasure. Now in Hunted I can do that. It is an exhilarating experience to see this world come to life.

Why is now the time to relaunch the dungeon crawler genre?

In the past these games have always been very successful but I think that they've gotten lost with the MMO craze. We really felt that it was time to bring the dungeon crawl back â€“ but in a way that made sense to today's gamer.

Hunted is a cover action game at its core but it also allows the player the opportunity to explore the game's vast environments. At certain times in the game the player will be fighting waves of enemies while at other times they'll be searching through dark, eerie dungeons.

Do you think the linear dungeon crawl experience will appeal to gamers used to the wide open worlds of Fallout and World of Warcraft?

The world in which Hunted takes place is really rich and exciting. We like to think of it as getting on a roller coaster whether you are alone or with a friend â€“ it's just a really engaging experience either way. Players will be on an adventure that takes them through numerous locales â€“ they'll go deep into underground dungeons, make their way through really awe-inspiring outdoor environments and wind their way through these old towns. Our goal is to create a compelling experience that gives players the sensation of being in a Lord of the Rings-esque movie.

How important is the co-op to the game?

Co-op is vital to our game. It was planned from the very beginning that this would be a co-op game and our design and story is based around that. In the past co-op games have had a tendency to tether players together. We have implemented the opposite philosophy that we call co-op at a distance. We encourage the players to separate and support one another from a distance.

All of our spells and skills are based around the idea of players being apart but able to help each other. For example you can heal a downed player by throwing a re-gen vial at a distance. This avoids the tedious task of running to your partner and slapping them back to life. Ice arrows will allow Elara, our ranged character, to shoot and freeze enemies from a distance. Caddoc will then simply smash them into pieces. Caddoc has a levitation skill that will allow him to create a radius of levitation around his sword that will cause enemies in the area to float harmlessly around him. Elara is then able to shoot them from a distance.

Co-op at a distance is threaded through every aspect of Hunted's design, from enemies to spells, and in the level design. It even carries over to the single-player mode. A player can play the game with an AI partner and still get a similar experience.

How important is the story to the game?

For us, the story sets the mood and it gives us an important frame work from which to create the game.

For players, as with most games, the story unfolds as they make their way through the game. Those who want to delve deeper in the story can find clues and information to the game's 500 year plus lore. Alternatively, if you are the type of player who is only interested in action, you can play through the game and still have a rich experience.

How does online play work - do you get XP etc in someone else's game?

Players that play online will gain crystals, which are the currency used to gain spells and skills. For example, if you play online and you are further ahead in the game than I am, I can play with you, and the crystals I gain can be transferred back to my single player campaign.

What customization options are available?

There are various weapons and items the player can pick up that will boost certain abilities, but the real customization comes in with our skills and spells system. The players trade in crystals they find throughout the world for various skills. Because the characters have unique abilities there is a lot of variation in the types of customization that can be achieved.

E'lara will gain spells and skills that are related to her bow while Caddoc's skills are based around his melee combat. Some of these skills are common to both characters, but there are many skills that are unique to each character based on their strengths, such as Levitation for Caddoc and Ice Arrow for E'lara. Ultimately playing Hunted will be a very different experience based on the customizations you choose.

Do you think co-op is more important than competitive play in online gaming generally?

It's not a case of one being more important than the other. In the case of Hunted, it was about what made the most sense and what people would want, and that's to experience this alongside a friend or someone else, not fighting head-to-head.

Can you explain how the levelling up and RPG elements work?

The leveling occurs when you meet up with an ethereal spirit named Seraphine. She tasks the player with collecting crystals and in return she will grant you spells and skills. By finding better weapons that are throughout the world, players can also upgrade their weapons. If you are the type of player that enjoys exploration we have tons of secrets. The more challenging secrets will yield better items and loot.

What sort of audience do you think Hunted will attract?

Because fantasy games have such a large fan base I think Hunted has broad appeal. We are melding two popular game genres â€“ fantasy and action - into one game which makes its appeal even wider.

While the MMO fans will enjoy the ability to just pick up and play, they will also be taken on a cinematic adventure in the genre they love.

The metal soundtrack and scantily clad ladies suggest a traditional gamer but do you think a wider audience may be interested?

We're going for a soundtrack similar to the movie "300". And who doesn't like scantily clad ladies? Both of these elements will appeal to a large audience and fit within the context on the game.

Is Hunted a reaction to more complex RPGs that have sprung up over the last 10 years?

Hunted is a reimagining of the forgotten dungeon crawl category using today's technology and gameplay styles, for today's gamer.

Hunted: Demon's Forge is released on PC, 360 and PS3 later this year

Games

Greg Howson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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