We discuss everything from doing a startup in Tokyo to some new services we’ll be rolling out over the next few months. If you’re curious about how myGengo go started, the type of jobs currently being translated through myGengo, or what we’ll be launching in the next few weeks, do give the podcast a listen.

Supposedly this is an industry first – a major record label, Columbia Music Entertainment, releasing content under a Creative Commons license. And not just one track, but for an entire album! Of course, many other artists have done this before, so the concept isn’t new. It’s true that we could have gone further – to allow reselling of remixed works would have really made headlines, and I pushed for it really hard, I did, I was thiiis close – but alas, the appeal of being able to say you’re signed with JASRAC was too great for the artists.

Baby-steps, as they say. Especially in Japan. So download the tracks while you can and go have some fun!

Update 3/25/2008: The local Creative Commons chapter has issued a press released – w00t!

Give it a spin, then let me share how much was spent on making it:

15,000 yen.

Update: The YouTube link is here. Thanks Gen!

Quote of the Month:

I’m beginning to suspect there are two “Matts” – because you never sleep, man!

Apologies to those of you who haven’t heard from me in a while.  This quote is in response to my work on a project called 音レボリューション、 or 音レボ for short.  Here’s an old interview with the current CEO of one of the companies helping build it out.  From the few brief encounters I’ve had, Hirose-san strikes me as an amazing man.  A music company run by an engineer = change or bust :)

I believe there are few times during one’s life when an opportunity or project comes along that makes you want to drop everything and help out.  The speed of development and intensity of the team have contributed to this effort; the project is awesome, the people are amazing.  We’re still far from done, but the potential is limitless.

w00t!

Readers of M@Blog may recall a few entries I posted while working in Sony’s Audio Codec Development Group – the folks responsible for ATRAC.

- Sony get a hint
- ATRAC vs the world

The sad part of all this is that many of the engineers will simply be shuffled around to other groups (and the smart ones will be cherry picked by other companies), when what’s needed is a clean sweep of 20% of the C- and VP-level “managers”.

In fact, who cares?  Sony should keep the old farts and “decision makers”; that leaves more for us startups :)

２くらべのうちわが今朝２００枚届きました！渋谷近辺で配る予定です。欲しい方はメールでご連絡ください！

“you guys are a cheap money making scheme. anybody who comes to you is either blind and cant make a mii, or slightly retarded. its extremely easy to make a mii, i made one in 10 minutes flat. why would someone pay 10 worthless dollars for a stupid mii. i hope you go bankrupt”

Although I probably shouldn’t be surprised any more, it stuns me a little that people would actually take the time to write and submit such a comment.  It serves absolutely no purpose, and brings absolutely no value to anyone – except perhaps the sender, who has so little self-esteem that the only way they can feel good about themselves is by making other people feel bad.  What a way to live.

What’s sad is that the minds of these kinds of people are so closed.  Had this person done a little more research, they would have learned that Wii owners are only 50% of the customers seeking “designer Miis”.  Creating a pet-project service has helped us discover new business opportunities, further allowing us to bring value to those who seek it.  That’s more than I can say what the author of this message brought to the online community.

For those who are curious, we’ve made enough to pay at least two month’s rent in Tokyo – an amount anyone in their right mind would agree isn’t bad for a project that consumes just a few hours on the weekend.

When customers who can’t get their hands on a top selling game console still aspire to be a part of the action, you know you’ve got something special.  I would say at least a third of our “Make Mii” orders were from customers who don’t have a Wii console but want a Mii they can use in other digital contexts (chat avatars, blogs, even power point presentations!).  Before Nintendo’s Mii started making the rounds, most avatars lived in their closed environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft, and were not very relatable to others outside of those environments.  With the Mii, Nintendo has essentially established an ‘avatar platform’ that anyone can understand in practically any digital domain.  The mr. potato head-like pieces are just simple enough for non- geeks and gamers to understand and relate to, and just fun enough to want to share.

When MiiStation made the rounds on gamer websites, we received a lot of traffic but few orders.  So far the Wall Street Journal article has brought in about a 1/3 of the traffic but with a much higher ROI: significantly more customers and happier ones to boot, like this person:

“I am so impressed with this service, I can assure you that … I shall be sending you additional photos of our other 2 boys … so that they can have their own Mii created.”

Yay! :)