The role of business model in computer game development organizations

The computer game industry has grown steadily for years, and in revenues it can be compared to the music and film industries. The game industry has been moving to digital distribution. Computer gaming and the concept of business model are discussed among industrial practitioners and the scientific community. The significance of the business model concept has increased in the scientific literature recently, although there is still a lot of discussion going on on the concept. In the thesis, the role of the business model in the computer game industry is studied. Computer game developers, designers, project managers and organization leaders in 11 computer game companies were interviewed. The data was analyzed to identify the important elements of computer game business model, how the business model concept is perceived and how the growth of the organization affects the business model. It was identified that the importance of human capital is crucial to the business. As games are partly a product of creative thinking also innovation and the creative process are highly valued. The same applies to technical skills when performing various activities. Marketing and customer relationships are also considered as key elements in the computer game business model. Financing and partners are important especially for startups, when the organization is dependent on external funding and third party assets. The results of this study provide organizations with improved understanding on how the organization is built and what business model elements are weighted.

Voces de mujeres de la plebe en el Hospicio de Quito, 1785-1816

Este estudio se propone recuperar las voces de algunas mujeres presas en el Hospicio Jesús, María y José, fundado en Quito en 1786, en el marco de las políticas sociales borbónicas de control de la población marginal de la ciudad. El Hospicio, creado para recluir a sujetos considerados improductivos –fundamentalmente, pobres-mendigos, ociosos y lazarinos–, también castigó con el encierro a mujeres imputadas de transgresiones sociales, con la intensión de redimirlas a partir del trabajo en la producción textil. Bajo la perspectiva de los nuevos enfoques respecto al concepto de control social, se pueden identificar algunos mecanismos que activaron las mujeres presas para elevar reclamos cuando percibían injusticias o para demandar su libertad. Esta perspectiva permite abordar el tema del control social bajo una doble visión: la forma como se proyecta el control desde «arriba», articulando diversas instancias de autoridad, y las respuestas de los sectores subalternos «desde abajo», activando no solo mecanismos de resistencia, sino también de agencia.

El pardillo : Cuentos pintados para niños

Cuentos pintados para niños.

Age model, isotope analyses, geochemical measurements and grain size analyses of sediment core GeoB9508-5 from the Senegal River Mouth

The influence of the large-scale ocean circulation on Sahel rainfall is elusive because of the shortness of the observational record. We reconstructed the history of eolian and fluvial sedimentation on the continental slope off Senegal during the past 57,000 years. Our data show that abrupt onsets of arid conditions in the West African Sahel were linked to cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures during times of reduced meridional overturning circulation associated with Heinrich Stadials. Climate modeling suggests that this drying is induced by a southward shift of the West African monsoon trough in conjunction with an intensification and southward expansion of the midtropospheric African Easterly Jet.