The Pensive Gamer

Posted 05/21/2007 @ 07:30:59 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Site News , Wii , Xbox 360

Post Delays

Another long delay between posts; sorry folks. At scanR we have been working diligently to finish our latest upgrade to the service, which we released at the end of last week. If you are curious about what I do and if you have a mobile phone with a camera I recommend you check out the service. There is both a 'PC' site and mobile site.

With the release done I have a little more time to complete my XNA Thread series and Console Evaluation series, so expect some posts soon.

Gamerscore Road Tour

This week I'm up with the development team in Toronto. This happened to coincide nicely with the Microsoft Gamerscore Road Tour which I'll be attending tomorrow night. Should be a good time and I promise to report on the evening's festivities.

Console Shopping in Toronto

Today I spent some time looking to purchase an Xbox 360 for the Toronto office. I went to both an HMV and an EB Games and I noticed a few interesting things:

• The price of a Premium Xbox 360 was $500 CDN while the Elite was $550 CDN. The Premium did come with a game but the game was uninteresting (in my opinion).
• Non-bundled 360 Premiums were not offered for sale.
• The 360 Elite was sold out at both locations.
• HMV actually had a couple of Wiis, the EB Games did not.

Forcing a bundle seems a bit ridiculous and meant I went to the hotel empty handed (I would have taken an Elite if available mind you). The fellow in HMV said the Premiums came that way though he had no idea if Microsoft Canada or the store's HQ were forcing this.

Not allowing stand alone console sales or choice of games forces the consumer to make a decision which may result in no sale. Obviously if the price is right a bundle will get bought. When I was up in Toronto this past Christmas I bought my in-laws a 360 Premium with a full game and some Arcade titles for only $400 CDN. These kind of deals were pretty common at the time (before and after Boxing Day). It is pretty disappointing to seem them raised $100 CDN.

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 03/07/2007 @ 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 03/05/2007 @ 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 02/27/2007 @ 06:00:13 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Homebrew , PlayStation 3 , Wii , Xbox 360

Over the past few weeks I've explored the mass market homebrew options on the Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360. Today I finalize the 'Here Comes Homebrew' series by looking at what was preventing mass market homebrew and, for everyone's amusement, sticking my neck out with a few predications; appropriate on the eve of GDC.

What were the Barriers?

Four inter-related things: complexity, support, distribution and publishers.

Complexity

Console development is typically a complex undertaking. While Nintendo is historically credited with providing better tools than Sony, Microsoft and the Web changed things. Microsoft was built on the idea of providing tools to ease development and XNA lowers console development complexity to a new level.

As for the Web, its success was driven by the notion that anyone could bring their ideas to the world. Web development is more complex than envisioned in the early web days, but it is much less complex and more broadly reaching than traditional console development.

Support

Support needs cannot be understated. Not only are good tools needed, but so is good documentation and strong developer communities. This has been a strength of Microsoft's, from their developer website, MSDN, to Microsoft developer blogs, to communities built around Microsoft technology. The web is no different. Numerous companies provide free and commercial tools and there are plenty of communities built around Flash, JavaScript and HTML development.

Distribution

Until Xbox Live Arcade publishers owned the primary game distribution channel, retailers. With all consoles equipped with Internet connections and download services, along with two providing web browsers, getting homebrew to the console directly is no longer an issue.

Publishers

This one is not yet solved. It is easy to argue homebrew development isn’t competition for publishers but the consumer's time at the controller is likely a publisher concern. Particularly if homebrew games are free and publishers having rising development costs.

Microsoft Xbox 360

First off let's be clear, the $99 US annual fee for the XNA Creators Club isn't about Microsoft making money from the subscription. The number of people paying won't cover the engineering cost that has gone into creating and supporting XNA any time soon.

Requiring a fee and needing to provide source is about not drawing the ire of publishers and acting as a form of minimal quality control; only those serious enough to spend money will tend to create something. Microsoft is testing the waters while they complete full development and finalize their strategy.

So my predictions for Microsoft? I expect expanded APIs for Live support, including multiplayer, lobbies, etc. I do think they will eventually add VB.NET as a language choice, but they might wait to see some success first.

Microsoft will expand the Dashboard UI in a coming update. This will allow people to browse, play and rank homebrew games. Some form of both automatic and manual filtering mechanism will be put in place to minimize garbage, malicious and inappropriate homebrew applications.

While I don't believe they will remove the paid subscription for developing 360 homebrew apps, playing them will be free or require a Gold subscription. Publishers shouldn't view this as competition but as a way to find rough gems to turn into full titles. As a case in point, Sony took the free Flash game flOw and released it last week as a downloadable game.

Nintendo Wii

With the only current legitimate homebrew avenue being web, the question becomes what can Nintendo do to enhance it? They have already provided a strong browser. Providing some level of web API doesn't make sense when there really isn't the notion of a single sign-in/user focused central service nor the same kind of game completion tracking/achievements as on the 360.

They could offer extended support in JavaScript or Flash for mapping all aspects of the controller input, or offer application and game style guides including simple JavaScript/HTML/CSS templates. I don't believe this is high on their list and ultimately I don't think it matters. I really see the Wii community, not Nintendo, as the ones to carry Wii web homebrew along.

As for attracting native developers to the platform, a dev kit costs just under $2000 is well beyond homebrew developers. I think Nintendo is a bit taken back by their success and just trying to manage it. Demand by studios for dev kits even appears to be impacting Nintendo's ability to support indie developers, amateur support is likely an even lower priority. Ultimately, I don't see Nintendo sanctioned homebrew happening any time soon.

Sony PlayStation 3

While on the surface Sony has the most homebrew options, the options aren't viable as is. PS3's web browsers is apparently much weaker than Wii's and an installable OS is too complex. To compete at homebrew Sony has to bring changes.

While I can see Sony making updates to their browser, particularly as Nintendo gains attention with its browser, but just like Nintendo I don't expect Sony to create web APIs.

On the native homebrew side, Sony's Phil Harrison does have a keynote speech at next week's GDC that is meant to address 'Game Development 3.0'.

My primary guess is that it isn't homebrew, but instead APIs, store integration and maybe web support that game developers can use to allow user contributed content. While this will include game-specific scripts such as Unreal Tournament mods, this isn't true homebrew. Sony would need to officially provide tools and ideally allow mods without requiring the purchase of a game.

There are other options such as expanding upon IBM's Eclipse-based Cell SDK or porting Java with extensions just for the PS3. The former will definitely be more complex than XNA and harder to support. A Java port will be close to XNA's complexity, have benefits similar to XNA and even have a world wide developer community. I think both of these options are in the realm of possibility if Sony wanted to, but less likely than my primary guess. I anxiously await Sony's GDC announcements.

All articles in the series:

• The Sony PlayStation 3
• The Nintendo Wii
• The Microsoft Xbox 360
• Barriers and Predications

Posted 02/16/2007 @ 10:30:24 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: News Picks , Wii

Hi-Def on the Wii?

The Inquirer says a drunken Nintendo executive indicated the Wii has hi-def capabilities but that reasonable frame rates can't be maintained. As a blanket statement I personally find that hard to believe.

The GameCube ran slower than the Xbox but faster than the PS2. While the Wii's technical specs are not truly known, the Wii is considered to be at least twice as fast as the GameCube.

Given architecture differences you can't directly compare the Wii to the original Xbox but for sake of argument let's say the Wii is at least as fast (I actually believe it is faster). So then why can't the Wii do high-def? The Xbox had more than a handful of hi-def games. For example:

• Soul Calibur II (720p)
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (720p)
• Enter the Matrix (1080i)
• MX Unleashed (1080i)

I've been expecting Nintendo to do some form of announcement, ala Microsoft's 1080p upgrade. I'm not surprised they didn't mention it at launch since it would just bring attention to something that the Wii cannot do as well as its competitors. Selling folks on the controller and then later making the higher resolution seem like an extra bonus is a smart strategy.

So are they just waiting to keep it as a rumour until some big game is announced to support it?

Or is the Wii truly not capable of pushing things as high as the the original Xbox? I would find that hard to believe. But perhaps the visual fidelity at 720p is too far off the Xbox 360 and PS3 that Nintendo would prefer to never attempt to compete at that level.

Posted 02/12/2007 @ 10:30:10 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: News Picks , Wii

Wii-specific Video Web Applications

I mentioned in today's Wii homebrew posting that the Wii's popularity is definitely garnering the attention of web developers. Coincidently I noticed two more web applications attempting to ride on the success of the Wii and YouTube. One is called WiiToob the other a Wii version of StumbleUpon.

The Wii is selling incredibly well (though TechCrunch's 6 million number is high) and I would expect to see plenty of companies trying to capitalize on its success particularly when the web is an available development platform. I'm curious, however, how either of these two video sites will be able to maintain their businesses in the long term, certainly without some form of major backing.

Posted 02/12/2007 @ 06:30:00 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Homebrew , Wii

This post is a continuation of a series discussing the potential coming of mass market homebrew. The previous article discussed the Sony PlayStation 3 and today we discuss the Nintendo Wii.

The Nintendo Wii

Of all the current generation console makers, Nintendo appears to be the most reluctant when it comes to legitimate homebrew. They currently do not have an official strategy unlike Sony and Microsoft. While they said games by independent developers will happen fairly soon through a new Games Channel, I would guess 'independent developers' doesn't mean 'amateur/homebrew developers'. I'm sure we will find out at this year's GDC.

While Nintendo may not have an official homebrew strategy, the Wii appears to be the first of the current generation consoles to be hacked (no soldering required) to support homebrew applications and emulators. However, the only avenue suitable for mass market homebrew is the optional download of the Opera 9 web browser. The browser is currently a free beta but will apparently cost $5 dollars a few months after its official release.

The Web Browser

Nintendo's choice of Opera makes a lot of sense. Opera is feature rich and is available for numerous platforms including mobile phones and even the Nintendo DS. What is curious is the need to download it. Why not include it in the Wii, particularly when a less feature rich version of the Opera 9 browser is included and used by the Shopping Channel?

Perhaps it was the need to pay royalties or the fact it was going to take more time to perfect. Regardless, a downloadable browser that supports JavaScript, CSS and Flash (up to version 7) certainly provides a wealth of possibilities, like the PS3. Unlike the PS3 there is more talk of people doing web-based Wii homebrew. There are sites tracking usable Flash games, people figuring out how controller input gets mapped to JavaScript and Flash, and even media centers.

We are talking about web applications so many, if not all, of these applications and games will work on the PS3. However, people are building the sites and applications because of the Wii and as I mentioned in the PS3 article, you can build experiences specific to the console using user agent detection. Perhaps that is what WiiAim will do.

Console detection is important since there is a big discrepancy in the screen resolution offered by the Wii, which is primarily designed for standard definition television, and the PS3, which is primarily designed for high definition television. So if you are looking to build web sites or applications specifically for the Wii this design guide may be of help.

If there is anything to be concerned with, and this applies to any console based web browser, it's security. All web browsers have security holes, it is just a matter of finding them. Given the Wii's web browser is Opera 9 it has a high chance of having Opera 9 security holes.

In fact a vulnerability was already found early this year. The vulnerability can cause the Wii to crash requiring a power on/off to fix the problem. This may point to a weak or non-existent sandbox around the browser, which in turn could mean the potential to either brick the Wii or have the Wii run unintended code upon visiting a malicious web page.

This isn't scare mongering, the Wii just happens to be the first of the current generation consoles to have such a vulnerability revealed. Of course, I don't expect too many people to do their online banking via their Wii.

In general, seeing console vulnerabilities isn't much of a surprise. Traditionally consoles were closed gaming systems but today all the consoles are online and getting features that blur the line with a traditional computer. Hopefully all three console makers have done adequate vulnerability assessments of their system software and will patch adequately.

Bottom-line: In the PS3 article I mentioned web-based console homebrew being a wild card with potential. It is the Wii that is leading this charge. I doubt Nintendo will officially support it, but Wii owners are definitely making a mark. While security issues may eventually be a concern, the big thing that may stand in the way is that the web browser must be downloaded and will eventually have a small fee.

Follow-on blog posts ....

Later this week I will take a look at the Xbox 360 as I continue the look at how homebrew may be hitting its stride.

Currently in the series:

• The Sony PlayStation 3
• The Nintendo Wii
• The Microsoft Xbox 360
• Barriers and Predications