DVD Ghosts — Computer Wins — Sid Meier, Game Emperor — Blue Everything — Video Stores Forever

Gruvi Weekly Digest #20 — A weekly catch up on what we found interesting at Gruvi.

This week we’re looking at both the past and the future. DVDs and video stores go head to head with computer algorithms that surpass human skills in board games. If that makes you feel blue, don’t worry, you’re blending in perfectly- there’s a lot of blue everywhere in designs these days. Probably Sid Meier’s games are no exception.

Ben, CEO

How the DVD Business Is Destroying Alchemy via Indiewire

Think DVDs are a thing of the past? Think again! If anything, their ghost is here to haunt the present and Alchemy is learning it the hard way.

Matt, Operations Lead

Google’s DeepMind algorithm edges human Go champ in man v machine chess battle via The Drum

It started with chess in ’97, now it’s the Chinese board game ‘Go’, as Google’s AlphaGo computer program defeats a humbled world champion. This is a pretty big deal. Computers have been thumping humans at board games, like chess and drafts, for decades now, but Go is different. While there are 10¹²° possible chess game variations, there are an estimated 1076¹ possible Go variations!

Johnny, Lead Developer

The man who made a million empires via Polygon

Colin Campbell conducts a rare interview/profile on Sid Meier, with topics ranging from game design, gaming history and Meier’s status as a household name within the gaming community.

Mirona, Gruvi’s Go Getter

The Premature Death of the Video Store (And Why It’s Worth Saving) via Flavorwire

The video store is dead. Long live the video store! With various business models and a strong tie to their communities, a number of such establishments not only survive, but even thrive across the US. For all its government support for the film industry, the EU could do better at distribution. I’d love to see some video stores (re)pop up around this side of the Atlantic too!Read about alternative production and distribution for the indies in our interview with Danish producer Jakob Staberg:

Making “The Man Who Saved the World”- a documentary that turned into a feature film

Or check out some of our research into the entertainment industry:

Digital Single Market- The Good, the Bad, and the Future of the European Film Industry

The Myth of the Opening Weekend as a Key Performance Indicator

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