The Pensive Gamer

Posted 03/22/2007 @ 06:30:49 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Wii

I thought I would start a new series that is a checkpoint evaluation of the current non-handheld console strategies behind Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. Today I take an early look at the Nintendo Wii.

A Well Managed Launch

Prior to the release of the Nintendo Wii you would be hard pressed to have picked the success Nintendo is currently seeing. The GameCube was in a close but disappointing third place in the recent generation but the downward slide started with Nintendo 64, where it was overshadowed by Sony's introduction of the first PlayStation.

So what has Nintendo done right so far? They changed the game and opened up the market.

The Controller

This is perhaps the obvious one. In a great move to differentiate themselves from the competition Nintendo built a new controller that does not scare away the non-gamer.

• It looks like a remote, which everyone is familiar with.
• It reacts to your movement, which everyone understands.
• It teases your imagination by bringing you into the game.
• Hardcore gamers get something new to experience
• And to parents wishing their children would be more active, the Wii controller's gameplay at least looks more strenuous.

The Name

I have to admit I was taken back by the name but today I think it was a great decision. 'Wii' sounds friendly, even jovial and has removed all notions of being technical. And in a brilliant PR move, the announcement of the name 'Wii' garnered a huge amount of attention for Nintendo.

Wii Sports

While the game received okay, though not stellar reviews by gaming sites, this social game was a huge key to Nintendo's success and Nintendo's marketing ensured it. All mainstream demos of the Wii used Wii Sports because it is immediately engaging even to those watching. Add the viral aspects of a very social game being played around the holidays when families are together and then, the best part, include the game with the Wii (in North America and Europe) ... just plain brilliant.

Marketing and Public Relations

Nintendo did an impressive job getting the media outlets to bring the story out for them. Take an interesting name and new controller and you will definitely garner some attention. Then send Wiis with Wii Sports to major publications to try. The result, every major publication from the likes of Forbes and Washington Post to gaming magazines and sites are turned into fans. Perhaps even better was the sheer number of major talk shows that had someone demoing the Wii, like Conan O'Brien playing Wii Sports Tennis with Serena Williams. A demo of someone playing Wii Sports will sell way more consoles than someone holding a standard controller trying to explain the on-screen action.

The Price

Certainly the high cost of the other current consoles made this easy on Nintendo, but Nintendo's pricing strategy started by continuing their investment with the GameCube. It allowed them to keep hardware development and manufacturing costs down making them the only current generation console who profited off the hardware at launch. Of course, the price looks even better when a game is included.

 

Managing the Future

Even with all I've stated above it is way too early to declare the Wii this generation's winner. While it has an impressive looking trajectory, I get the impression that Nintendo successfully fought for a great launch without having a strong post-launch battle plan. Here are some things that Nintendo needs to watch. Not surprisingly, they are all game related.

Size/Quality of their Library

A view over at Metacritic is a bit sobering. While it doesn't include the Virtual Console titles, the Wii hasn't had a significant number of reviews rated at 80 and above particularly when compared to the PS3. Even more interesting is that the 360 has more games with an average score of 80 and above than the Wii has games. Yes it was a launched a year earlier, but in general size and quality of their library is going to be an important long term factor.

Attach Rate and Third-Party Developers

While attach rates aren't currently a concern for Nintendo, given the broader audience and the previous size/quality point, the question is whether or not we will see the attach rate change. For Nintendo this may not be much of an immediate concern since they make money on each console, but it may be an important factor for third party developers

Deciding to develop for a platform is a matter of weighing development costs and the potential to recoup those costs based on the install base and willingness for that install base to purchase games. Given the graphical and input differences between the Wii and PS3/360, it may also be harder to recoup Wii development costs through multi-platform development.

Importance of Online Multi-player and High Definition

While the combination of Sony and Microsoft could put a lot of heat on these two items, Nintendo made a conscious effort to not compete directly with the PS3 and 360.

The question is will the graphical limitations become a limiting factor over the lifetime of the console and therefore have an impact on sales. Bottom-line, it doesn't have to if you have a set of great games. And good looking and enjoyable games do not have to be hyper-realistic.

As for multi-player, Nintendo is working on that now. Regardless, the Wii is perceived as a great social in-person console. Traditional gamers are the ones more likely to be annoyed at a weak online multi-player system.

Keeping the Buzz Alive

The Wii's success has a lot to do with the buzz generated by being an enjoyable brand new product that no one had really seen before. A lot of this buzz was generated by one game, Wii Sports.

If Nintendo wishes to continue to attract the attention of a wider audience then undoubtedly more engaging titles that can attract the mainstream media and be easily demonstrated on talk shows will be important. If the Wii does not remain in the mainstream consciousness then it will end up competing more directly with the 360 and PS3 ... which may not be a battle Nintendo wants to have.

 

Articles in the series:

• The Nintendo Wii
• The Microsoft Xbox 360
• The Sony PlayStation 3
• A Look at What Winning Means (coming)

Posted 03/20/2007 @ 10:30:11 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Site News

Hi folks, just doing some expectation management. With my wife out of town and little one sick I haven't had the time to finalize some articles. To hopefully whet your appetite I'm actively working on both my continued adventures with XNA and a new series looking at where we are from a market standpoint with each of the consoles; first in the series is the Nintendo Wii.

I expect to be able to get at least one, though hopefully both, out this week. Stay tuned.

Posted 03/15/2007 @ 06:30:00 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Developer Diary , Homebrew , Programming , XNA

Each week I like to set aside a few hours to explore software development technologies I haven't tried. This past weekend I started to take a deeper look at XNA.

I'll be documenting my XNA investigation with periodic updates as a Developer Diary. Today's Developer Diary is simple, I documented what I did to get a base understanding of XNA.

The quick summary, I downloaded a variety of tools, read a variety of blogs/tutorials and created some code derived from the tutorials. So this entry is largely a collection of links that will ensure a solid start.

As a note, while I'm new to XNA and 3D programming, I'm extremely familiar with C# and .NET (background here) so I'll be assuming readers know C#.

The Base Tools

Before you can really do anything (except read) you need to install the tools, Visual C# Express and XNA Game Studio Express.

Since I'm on Vista I followed David Weller's guide to installing the base tools on Vista. Even if you aren't on Vista it is a good general description of getting the tools in place.

As a note, Dave's blog post pre-dates Microsoft's release of the Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Update for Windows Vista, so make sure you get the new update.

Also, an updated version of XNA Game Studio Express is coming this April.

Auxiliary Tools

With the base tools in place I found and installed some tools to aid my XNA experimentation.

• Paint.NET: If you aren't a graphic artist or designer but need something to help with creating textures from photos this free tool should do the trick.
• FX Composer: A free environment from nVidia that allows you to create shaders. Definitely a great tool for experimentation; wish they had more samples.
• Turbo Squid: This site contains free and inexpensive 3D models that can be used with the XNA framework. I recommend experimenting with some free models.
• Blender: Blender is a free open source 3D modeling and animation tool. It can export to .X files (one of two model formats that XNA readily supports). I find 3D modeling packages a bit daunting but this tutorial was helpful. I haven't played a ton yet, but it works on Vista (I tried SOFTIMAGE's free tool, but it wouldn't work consistently).

Tutorials and Samples

With all my tools in place, I used the sites below to get myself familiar with XNA development.

• First place I visited was the MSDN XNA site (the same information is included as a help file with XNA Game Studio Express).
  • The Getting Started pages and the Programming Guide pages give a great overview of XNA's abilities (and provide samples).
  • I also recommend reading the Application Model Overview page to get an idea of XNA's general execution model.
• Next, I found Riemers XNA Tutorials. These are the most comprehensive set of easy to follow 3D tutorials I found. They progress nicely from beginner to advanced.
• Once you have gotten the basics the XNA Creator's site samples are not a bad place to go next. While some overlap with Riemers, the samples are great for experimentation.
• The blog Ramblings of a Hazy Mind also has a series of tutorial articles. As a slight warning, the tutorials are really guiding the creation of an XNA-based 3D graphics framework and the posts started in the betas so I don't believe the early code will work on the release version of XNA.

With the tutorials done you should be in a pretty good spot to write something more original by experimenting with the tutorial samples. I also recommend getting familiar with the growing XNA community. Here are some of the XNA related sites I regularly read.

My Bookmarked or RSS Subscribed Sites

Developer blogs that caught my attention:

• Manders vs Machine: A Microsoft employee providing some interesting insights into various XNA problems and techniques.
• Shawn Hargreaves: Shawn is also a Microsoft employee. His blog contains various code snippets and background information on the XNA framework.
• abi.exdream.com: Benjamin Nitchke's blog commonly lists advanced technique's and details about his XNA work. Benjamin is definitely someone to watch.
• Aliens of Extraordinary Ability: This blog tends to have interesting shaders being used or explored. Side-note: I'm assuming his blog's name is a reference to a special form of US Immigration Visa ... as a Canadian in the US, you become quite familiar with Visas.

Community sites:

• Ziggyware: Contains tutorials and information about XNA built games.
• Mykres Space: Gathers updates from the XNA community and commonly has code snippets to share.
• The ZBuffer: Tracks the general pulse of the XNA universe.
• XBOX 360 Homebrew: Contains information on XNA games, forums for developers, etc.
• Let's Kill Dave: Personal blog of David Weller, Microsoft's Game Developer Community Manager.

Official Microsoft Sites:

• XNA Creators Club Online: The official Microsoft site for XNA developers.
• MSDN XNA Site: The Microsoft Developer Network site for XNA. Unclear if this will continue now that XNA Creators Club Online is, um, online.

Follow-on blog posts ...

My next post will describe my initial reactions to XNA, things to consider, and some questions I'm hoping to eventually find answers to.

Posted 03/14/2007 @ 12:30:47 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: News Picks , Windows Vista , Xbox 360

Games for Windows - Live Details

So the official announcement is out, we have Games for Windows - Live details. In particular, the question people were really curious about has been answered. Will a Windows gamer be required to pay in order to play with other Windows gamers? The quick answer, no, but cross-platform play between Windows and Xbox 360 games will require paying for Gold.

This news isn't surprising, but I am curious of two things still:

• Will features like cross-platform gameplay and multiplayer achievements really be a enough of a draw for Windows gamers to pay for Gold memberships?
• With Windows gamers and Sony gamers getting free multiplayer, will Xbox 360 gamers start feeling jaded?

Honestly, the draw to pay for Gold, if a Windows user, seems low unless something else is added to the equation. However, if you play games on the 360 and Windows you can now pick which platform suits you best when buying a game.

My guess, as more revenue is generated via purchases (or perhaps ads) through Live, surpassing the profit generated from Gold subscriptions, you will see Gold either change or go away.

Posted 03/13/2007 @ 06:30:43 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: PlayStation 3 , Product Feedback , Product Ideas

When rumours of Sony's PlayStation 3 Home first came to light I couldn't help but think of books like Neuromancer, Snow Crash and the movie The Matrix. Now that we have a good idea of what Home is, I thought I would put forth some of the more (or less) reasonable additional ideas that what went through my head when I first read the rumour.

Note: I'm purposely not outlining how any of this could be monetized.

Avatars

• The avatar should be customizable such that it may not even look human (think Spore).
• Reward exploration of Home, time spent in Home or certain actions in Home. Example rewards:
  • Allow better looking/more sophisticated avatars (read Snow Crash)
  • Gain abilities like flying, swimming, jumping (e.g. Crackdown)
  • Earn homes in more exclusive locations
  • Create in-game scripts, objects and even full spaces (e.g. Second Life)
• Users can get in-Home portable media players so that they can watch/listen to music and video accessible to their console while anywhere in the Home world.
  • The accessible media should include what is on their PC (similar to media center extensions and media connect in the Xbox 360)
  • The media player can be shared with another user while both users are online (like how you can share headphones in the real world).

The Home World

• Make a proper sandbox with sophisticated physics that is fully explorable and appears as one contiguous world with no loading screens (except when teleporting).
  • Fully connected internationally; public spaces exist for each geographic region but any location can be visited.
  • Spaces can have environmental effects (e.g. day/night, rain/snow) based on current conditions in a real-life geographic location
  • Certain spaces can only be discovered by exploring. This may require abilities like flying/swimming (see Avatar abilities above).
• Allow communities/clubs to register to have large invite-only spaces in Home.
  • Support existing web communities (e.g. Evil Avatar, Kotaku) by allowing single sign-on so users of those web communities have instant access to the Home space.
  • Support reading the web community news inside the community space (Sony already mentioned they could show web sites within Home).
• Support in-Home exclusive events:
  • Have tie-ins to real life events viewable through video feeds (e.g. be front-row at GDC while sitting in Home).
  • Like a massive multi-player game, support Sony and community driven challenges including tie-ins to alternate realty games.
• All locations, including personal spaces, are persistent and accessible to people with authorization to enter.

Personal Homes

• A user can give people keys to access their home and keys can be revoked any time.
• Some areas of the home can be fully private/invite only.
• A person's personal space can take on any look/style.
  • A person can have an outside area that is customizable, from gardens to sky, or environmental elements like rain.
  • The outside of a house is customizable (e.g. dilapidated shack)
  • Internal rooms are fully customizable (e.g. you can have a cell-shaded room).

Not Game Trophies, but Game Rooms

When you buy a game it gives you a whole new room in your house. Achievements can stack up in this room, but you can do plenty more.

• Rooms are styled after the game (e.g. dungeon for an RPG or garage for a Racing game).
  • Allow atmospheric music from the game
  • Allow animated figure/models from the game (e.g. a racing game's garage room could contain the cars you own in the game)
  • Your avatar could optionally change to the character from the game. When guests join you in the room and they own the game, you see their avatar change to their game's character.
  • If the game developer didn't create their own room then a room can be auto-created randomly from a series of templates created by Sony based on the genre of the game.
• Save games could be launched here.
  • Take on appearance suitable for the game (e.g. garage doors for racing games or a portcullis for fantasy games).
  • Multi-player/co-op games could use this as the launching point to a particular save game for the group.
• Support accessing tie-ins to other spaces or web properties. For example, if a game has an auction house to sell cars, then it could be directly accessible in this room.
• See your friend's scores/achievements from here, including a portal to their room.
• Support optional mini-games (e.g. if an RPG has an in-game puzzle/card-game, it could be made available here too).

In Closing ...

Home has garnered a lot of attention but hopefully this gives you some insight as to why I was a little under whelmed, particularly after seeing LittleBigPlanet. To engage gamers and the gaming community I believe the missing elements include:

1. a sense of creativity
2. a feeling of personal involvement
3. reasons to want to spend more than an initial investigation in Home

Posted 03/07/2007 @ 10:30:52 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Games , News Picks , PlayStation 3

Sony's Home

While interesting, I'm a little under whelmed by Sony's Home; this is the problem when leaks occur. I had a preconceived notion of what it could be and unfortunately the real thing didn't live up to those expectations. Next week I'll post a follow-up with what I was hoping for.

What I liked:

• Driving a sense of community in a much more interactive fashion than other platforms.
• Having a private space that I can customize and have others join.
• Social based mini-games.

My questions:

• How much can I truly customize and own? Can I create public or private spaces beyond one house and is money required to do so?
• Is any form of user based scripting accessible?
• Phil mentioned live streaming HD content, but how realistic is that? What are the bandwidth requirements? This seems unfeasible, particular when we are talking 1080p and/or when there are multiple video streams in a single space.
• Can I allow people to enter my private places when I'm not online?
• Are the trophies/achievements only viewable while in Home or can I easily see at least something while in the XMB dashboard.
• Is the Home network international? Can I visit user or public spaces that were designed for or located in different geographic regions?
• Phil mentioned clans. Is there going to be a clan system coming or will I need to individually invite a large group of people?

What I disliked:

• The graphics seemed uninspired particularly after seeing LittleBigPlanet.
• Spaces didn't really appear to be connected; a sense of exploration is missing.
• Home is a separate application which means I'm fully disengaged from my gaming experience. It would be great to see more of a connection than unlocking items.
• It came off more as a means to advertise or make money via company shops, billboards, premium clothing/housing purchases, etc. I suppose I'm not shocked given today's audience of developers and publishers. Just seemed more like a big ad than a place I would want to hang-out.

There is no doubt there is huge potential here but I'm not sure this approach will help sell the PS3 beyond the hardcore gamer, particularly at the console's current price.

The Amazing LittleBigPlanet

This 'game' is absolutely stunning. For those who haven't seen it, I'm not going to use words. Just watch this:

This is an example of what Microsoft and Nintendo should be afraid of. Using flOw and LittleBigPlanet as examples, Sony is willing to take a more avant-garde approach to games.

As seen with Capcom's Clover Studio there is risk that this approach won't prove commercially successful. However, it is great investment; it will paint Sony as a company willing to engage creative people and companies.

I personally believe games like LittleBigPlanet are more likely to help sell the PS3 than Home.

Posted 03/07/2007 @ 06:30:00 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Wii

On Monday I posted a showcase of XNA-based games. Today I have a cross sample of what people are doing with the Wii web browser. Games are obviously high on the list but given the freedom of the web, people are doing much more. Enjoy!

Yatsha Games has a variety of nicely stylized casual games designed for the Wii controller.

Over at WiiCade not only have they gathered a wide variety of games that work on the Wii but last week they released an API for Flash developers. As reader 'thewiirocks' mentions here, games are already taking advantage of the API.

The folks at Warp Pipe Technologies have put together an application they call wiiminder. In essence it is a site that enhances the web browsing experience by supporting tabbed browsing and start pages while allowing you to manage commonly accessed sites.

There are also multiple media centers being built. I have previously mentioned Red Kawa's Wii Media Center X but the video below is demonstrating another media center called WiiCR.

Posted 03/06/2007 @ 06:30:06 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: The Weekly Curiousity , Xbox 360 , Xbox Live Arcade

What is the Xbox Live Arcade Certification Process?

This question isn't ill intended; I'm aware of how difficult software certifications and releases can be. I am just curious since it is often referenced by Microsoft and XBLA developers and I think would help people understand what it takes to get software out the door. Plus, with the influx of indie game developers looking to get games published, I'm sure they would love to know prior to becoming a Registered Developer.

Posted 03/05/2007 @ 10:30:56 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: News Picks , Virtual Console , Wii , Xbox 360 , Xbox Live Arcade

Microsoft to Nintendo: Banjo-Kazooie for Diddy Kong Racing?

Play-Nintendo has an article up with some quotes from the Rare Scribes pages that mention two things. First, Rare/Microsoft hasn't dismissed the idea of Banjo-Kazooie showing up on Wii's Virtual Console. Second, Diddy Kong Racing isn't clearly Nintendo's.

SPOnG has an article up where Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, said "We know that there are a lot of fans from Microsoft and Xbox because they call us constantly trying to get product."

Speculation: Why would Microsoft let Nintendo put Banjo-Kazooie on the Wii? Seeing the two articles made me think the idea is a negotiating tactic. Microsoft would love to see a Nintendo property on their console. If Diddy Kong Racing isn't clearly Nintendo's (and this could be due to an old contract between Rare and Nintendo) it could be the perfect game to grab. Microsoft could offer Banjo-Kazooie to smooth out even the potential of a legal situation.

Posted 03/05/2007 @ 06:30:16 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Homebrew , Xbox 360 , XNA

After all those articles on homebrew I have a couple posts to showcase what people are doing with the tools the console makers are giving them. This post gives some great examples of XNA's abilities (and those of the developers). I'll put some Wii examples in a follow-up. Enjoy!

From Gamey Little Hacker we have this beautifully stylized RPG. The site contains more examples of the game but this one is my favourite. Can't wait to see the finished product.

From Heloli (Japanese site) we have this space shooter. From a rough translation it looks like it is meant to be an entry for Microsoft's Dream-Build-Play contest.

From abi.exDream.com we have this shooter. The site contains many other games and test code videos. Benjamin Nitschke is clearly a talented XNA developer. Looks like he has an XNA programming book being published soon.

This interesting game is more sophisticated than it looks; it is a shooter that involves math. For more details read this article.