His line about "taking all the fun out of making games" was in support of his point that he came in to start making people in the company think about the bottom line and profitability. From what I get out of it, he wants everyone in the company from the top of the totem pole down all the way to the bottom to think better in terms of how to do things to make money and to save costs. Rather than having it relegated strictly to some individuals and letting others do the "fun things" with making games.
That's what I got out of it.
I'll be preaching to the choir when I say this but I think this approach causes franchises to turn out like Tony Hawk, and that it's a short term line of thinking (short term being a few years). And that if you don't at least let designers or developers "have fun" with what they're doing, and develop a company culture that focuses too heavily on profits and bottom lines, then games and franchises that are "churned out" every year/multiple times a year start to lose that extra spark of inspiration that separates the truly great games from the merely mediocre or OK ones. It's like taking that highly risk-averse line of thinking that a lot of top execs have against funding new/interesting ideas, and then fostering that mentality down to the developers.
What he's really trying to do is push the ultimate 'sunk cost fallacy' on the consumer. But he probably just doesn't know how to say 'In for a penny, in for a pound'...
NINTENDO'S HOLIDAY LINEUP HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Find Great Gifts for Everyone on Your Shopping List
REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 15 - As summer draws to a close, the air begins to chill and people begin to turn their thoughts to holiday gift lists. Whether the people on your list have been playing since the 1980s or only since last week, Nintendo has you covered. The Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems have a huge selection of games for everyone on your list, including many that you won't find anywhere else.
"This extensive lineup will keep players busy throughout the fall and into 2010," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Shoppers know that Nintendo offers fun for everyone in the household."
Upcoming Nintendo-published games for the Wii console include Wii Fit™ Plus (Oct. 4) and New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii (holiday 2009). These games will join the current hot seller, Wii Sports Resort™, which comes with the new precision-control Wii MotionPlus™ accessory. Fans of portable games will enjoy Pokémon™ Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (Oct. 12), Style Savvy™ (Nov. 2) and The Legend of Zelda™: Spirit Tracks (Dec. 7) in addition to the just-released Mario & Luigi™: Bowser's Inside Story, all playable on both Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems.
The changing autumn leaves will be in good company with some new colors for the Nintendo DSi system and the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers. New White and Pink Nintendo DSi systems made their debut on Sept. 13, while a Black Wii Remote controller and Wii MotionPlus accessory package will be available this holiday season. A Black version of the Nunchuk controller will be sold separately as well.
Third-party publishers are supporting Nintendo platforms with impressive quality and wide-ranging titles. Wii exclusives like Dead Space™ Extraction from Electronic Arts and FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS® from Square Enix will provide thrills that can't be found elsewhere. At the same time, Nintendo DS owners are anxiously awaiting another powerhouse release: KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS from Square Enix. And Activision's Band Hero™, available on both Wii and Nintendo DS, features compelling interactivity between the two hardware systems through wireless connectivity.
Below is a partial list of upcoming games for Wii, the WiiWare™ service, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo DSiWare™ service. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.
2K Play
Dora the Explorer™: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom™ - Fall
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day - Fall
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey™ Circus - Fall
505 Games
My Ballet Studio - November
Baby and Me - November
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Animal Planet Vet Life - Sept. 15
Marvel™: Ultimate Alliance 2™ - Sept. 15
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010 - Sept. 22
Rapala We Fish - Sept. 22
Bakugan® Battle Brawlers ™ - Oct. 20
iCarly™ - Oct. 20
Madagascar Kartz - Oct. 20
Mountain Sports - Oct. 20
Hidden Mysteries Titanic - Oct. 27
Barbie™ and the Three Musketeers - Oct. 27
Jurassic Hunter - Oct. 27
DJ Hero™ - Oct. 27
Chaotic™: Shadow Warriors - Nov. 10
Hot Wheels™ Battle Force 5™ - Nov. 10
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®: Reflex - Nov. 10
Tony Hawk®: RIDE™ - Nov. 17
Band Hero™ - November
Guitar Hero® Van Halen® - Dec. 22
Aspyr Media
My Baby and Me - Nov. 17
Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
101-in-1 Party Megamix™ - Oct. 27
Trauma Team™ - Spring
Shiren the Wanderer™ - Spring
Capcom® Entertainment, Inc.
Spyborgs™ - Sept. 22
Resident Evil®: The Darkside Chronicles - Nov. 17
City Interactive USA, Inc.
Chicken Riot - November
Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII - January
Art of Murder - March
D3Publisher
Family Party: 30 Great Games™ Outdoor Fun - Sept. 22
Astro Boy®: The Video Game - Oct. 20
THE SECRET SATURDAYS™: BEASTS OF THE 5TH SUN - Oct. 20
BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE™: Vilgax Attacks - Oct. 27
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight - Winter
Destineer
We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Oct. 13
Buck Fever - Oct. 20
Alien Monster Bowling League - Oct. 27
Marines: Modern Urban Combat - Nov. 3
Satisfashion - Nov. 17
Rec Room - Nov. 17
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Sing It: Pop Hits - October
Princess and the Frog - November
Electronic Arts
MySims™ Agents - Sept. 22
Dead Space™ Extraction - Sept. 29
Spore™ Hero - Oct. 6
CHARM GIRLS CLUB™ Pajama Party - Oct. 20
SimAnimals™ Africa - Oct. 26
LITTLEST PET SHOP™ FRIENDS - October
NERF 2: "N-Strike"™ Elite - October
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT 2 - October
FIFA 10 - October
Need for Speed™ Nitro - Nov. 17
EA SPORTS Active™ More Workouts - November
Knowledge Adventure
JumpStart® Escape from Adventure Island - Nov. 1
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Walk It Out! - October
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - November
Storybook Workshop - November
Karaoke Revolution - November
Ultimate Party Challenge - November
DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3 - November
pop'n music - November
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 - Q4
LucasArts
Star Wars® The Clone Wars™: Republic Heroes™ - Oct. 6
LEGO® Indiana Jones 2™: The Adventure Continues - Fall
Majesco Entertainment
Our House: Party! - Sept. 22
A Boy and His Blob - Oct. 13
Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 - Oct. 20
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - Dec. 1
The Daring Game for Girls - Holiday
Mastiff
Shimano Xtreme Fishing - Sept. 29
Remington Great American Bird Hunt - Oct. 27
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc
Dragon Ball®: Revenge of King Piccolo - October
Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked - November
We Cheer™ 2 - November
Nintendo
Wii Fit Plus - Oct. 4
New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Holiday
Playlogic
Sudoku Ball Detective - Sept. 22
SEGA®
Wacky World of Sports™ - Sept. 22
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games™ - Oct. 13
Planet 51 - Nov. 17
Jambo! Safari:™ Animal Rescue - Q4
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ - Feb. 10
Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll™ - Early 2010
SouthPeak Games
My Baby First Steps™ - Holiday
Sushi Go Round™ - Holiday
Square Enix
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS® - Dec. 26
Storm City Games
The Island of Dr. Frankenstein - Oct. 6
Vegas Party - Oct. 27
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral - Nov. 9
Tecmo
Family Fun Football™ - Sept. 29
THQ
The Biggest Loser - Oct. 6
Cars Race O Rama - Oct. 13
Marvel® Super Hero Squad™ - Oct. 20
WWE® SmackDown® vs. Raw® 2010 - Oct. 20
SpongeBob Truth or Square - Oct. 26
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: Game Time - Oct. 26
World of Zoo™ - Oct. 26
All Star Cheer Squad™ 2 - Oct. 27
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter - Oct. 27
Daniel X - Jan. 12
World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars - Feb. 2
Ubisoft
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs™ - Sept. 15
Where's Waldo®: The Fantastic Journey - Sept. 22
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Smash-up - Sept. 22
The Price is Right ® 2010 Edition - Sept. 22
Family Feud® 2010 Edition - Sept. 29
CSI™: Deadly Intent - Oct. 20
Monster 4x4™ Stunt Racer - Oct. 27
Rabbids Go Home™ - Nov. 3
Academy of Champions™ - Nov. 3
Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage - Nov. 8
Just Dance™ - Nov. 17
James Cameron's Avatar™ The Game - Nov. 24
Your Shape™ Featuring Jenny McCarthy - Nov. 24
UFO Interactive Games, Inc.
Army Rescue™ - Sept. 29
Rock Blast ™ - Oct. 20
Arcade Shooter: Ilvelo - Oct. 27
Geon Cube - Oct. 27
Smart Series Presents: JaJa' Adventure - Nov. 10
Vir2L® Studios
Medieval Games™ - Oct. 20
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Scooby-Doo™! First Frights - Sept. 22
Where the Wild Things Are - Oct. 13
Game Party® 3 - October
LEGO® Rock Band™ - Holiday
SCENE IT?® BRIGHT LIGHTS! BIG SCREEN!™ - Holiday
XSEED Games
JU-ON: The Grudge - Oct. 13
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga - Fall
WiiWare
Aksys Games
BIT.TRIP VOID - Q3
BIT.TRIP series (3 additional titles) - Q4, Q1
Broken Rules
And Yet It Moves - Q4
Frontier
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias - Q4
Gameloft
Ghost Mansion Party - Q3
The Oregon Trail - Q4
Natsume
Moki Moki - Q3
Harvest Moon: My Little Shop - Q4
Nicalis
Cave Story - Q3
Night Game - Q1
La Mulana - Q1
NinjaBee
The Amazing Brain Train - Q4
Nintendo
You, Me, and the Cubes™ - Q3
Eco Shooter: Plant 530™ - Q4
Nintendo/TPC
Pokémon™ Rumble - Q4
Press Play
Max & the Magic Marker - Q4
React Games
Archon: Classic - Q1
Taito
Arkanoid Plus! - Q3
Team Meat
Super Meat Boy - Q1
Telltale Games
Tales of Monkey Island™: Lair of the Leviathan - Q3
Tales of Monkey Island™: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood - Q4
Tales of Monkey Island™: Rise of the Pirate God - Q4
Nintendo DS/Nintendo DSi
2K Play
Dora the Explorer: Dora Puppy - Oct. 26
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: New Year's Celebration - Oct. 26
The Backyardigans - Oct. 26
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - Fall
505 Games
My Ballet Studio - November
Discovery Kids SpiderQuest - November
Dream Diary - November
Picture Perfect Hair Salon - November
IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey - Sept. 15
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Marvel™: Ultimate Alliance 2™ - Sept. 15
Animal Planet Vet Life - Sept. 15
Bakugan ® Battle Brawlers ™ - Oct. 20
iCarly™ - Oct. 20
Madagascar Kartz - Oct. 20
Barbie™ and the Three Musketeers - Oct. 27
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®: Mobilized - Nov. 10
Chaotic™: Shadow Warriors - Nov. 10
Hot Wheels™ Battle Force 5™ - Nov. 10
Band Hero™ - November
Aspyr Media
Fighting Fantasy™: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Oct. 26
City Interactive USA, Inc.
Sushi Academy - Oct. 13
Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple - Oct. 27
Animal Country: Life on the Farm - November
Party Designer - November
Art of Murder - February
Jewels of Sahara - March
D3Publisher
Astro Boy®: The Video Game - Oct. 20
THE SECRET SATURDAYS™: BEASTS OF THE 5TH SUN - Oct. 20
BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE™: Vilgax Attacks - Oct. 27
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight - Winter
Destineer
Satisfashion - Nov. 17
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure - October
Disney's A Christmas Carol - November
JONAS - November
Princess and the Frog - November
Electronic Arts
MySims™ Agents - Sept. 22
Spore™ Hero Arena - Oct. 6
CHARM GIRLS CLUB™ My Fashion Show - Oct. 20
CHARM GIRLS CLUB™ My Fashion Mall - Oct. 20
CHARM GIRLS CLUB™ My Perfect Prom - Oct. 20
SimAnimals™ Africa - Oct. 26
LITTLEST PET SHOP™ CITY FRIENDS - October
LITTLEST PET SHOP™ COUNTRY FRIENDS - October
LITTLEST PET SHOP™ BEACH FRIENDS - October
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT 2 - October
FIFA 10 - October
Ignition Entertainment
Nostalgia - Oct. 20
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
WireWay - November
LucasArts
Star Wars® The Clone Wars™: Republic Heroes™ - Oct. 6
Star Wars Battlefront™: Elite Squadron™ - Nov. 3
LEGO® Indiana Jones 2™: The Adventure Continues - Fall
Majesco Entertainment
Our House - Sept. 22
Sideswiped - Sept. 29
Cake Mania® 3 - Oct. 13
Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 - Oct. 20
Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop - Oct. 27
My Hero: Astronaut - Nov. 3
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - Dec. 1
Dawn of Heroes - Dec. 1
My Hero: Firefighter - December
The Daring Game for Girls - Holiday
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc
Dragon Ball® Z: Attack of the Saiyans - November
Nintendo
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Oct. 12
Style Savvy - Nov. 2
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - Dec. 7
NIS America
A Witch's Tale - Oct. 6
Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island - Oct. 27
PopCap Games, Inc.
Bookworm™ - Dec. 1
SEGA®
Bleach:™ The 3rd Phantom - Sept. 15
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games™ - Oct. 13
Phantasy Star™ Zero - Nov. 10
Planet 51 - Nov. 17
Jambo! Safari:™ Animal Rescue - Q4
Sands of Destruction™ - January
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ - February
Infinite Space™ - Spring
SouthPeak Games
Montessori Music™ - Oct. 20
My Baby First Steps™ - Holiday
Sushi Go Round™ - Holiday
Crime Scene™ - Holiday
Square Enix
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS - Sept. 29
SPACE INVADERS EXTREME™ 2 - Oct. 20
THQ
James Patterson Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion - Sept. 15
Fabulous Finds - Sept. 21
Just in Time Translations - Sept. 21
The Biggest Loser - Oct. 6
Cars Race O Rama - Oct. 13
Marvel® Super Hero Squad™ - Oct. 20
WWE® SmackDown® vs. Raw® 2010 - Oct. 20
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: Game Time - Oct. 26
World of Zoo™ - Oct. 26
SpongeBob Truth or Square - Oct. 26
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter - Oct. 27
MX vs. ATV™ Reflex™ - Holiday
TOMY Corporation
NARUTO Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 - Sept. 15
Ubisoft
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs™ - Sept. 15
Where's Waldo®: The Fantastic Journey - Sept. 22
The Price is Right® 2010 Edition - Sept. 22
Family Feud® 2010 Edition - Sept. 29
Battle of Giants™: Dragons - Sept. 29
Imagine® Salon Stylist - Sept. 29
Imagine® Sweet 16 - Oct. 4
Imagine® Zookeeper - Oct. 6
PETZ® PONY BEAUTY PAGEANT™ - Oct. 13
Imagine® Fashion Designer World Tour - Oct. 20
CSI™: Deadly Intent - The Hidden Cases - Oct. 20
Jam Sessions 2 - Oct. 20
PETZ® DOLPHINZ ENCOUNTER - Oct. 27
Might and Magic® Clash of Heroes® - Oct. 27
Imagine® Artist - Oct. 27
C.O.P. The Recruit™ - Nov. 3
Rabbids Go Home™ - Nov. 3
Imagine® Babyz Fashion - Nov. 3
Fairyland Melody Magic™ - Nov. 8
Style Lab™ Jewelry Design - Nov. 10
Style Lab™ Makeover - Nov. 10
PETZ® NURSERY - Nov. 10
PETZ® DOGZ® TALENT SHOW - Nov. 17
PETZ® HAMSTERZ® SUPERSTARZ - Nov. 24
James Cameron's Avatar™ The Game - Nov. 24
Virtual Play Games
Junior Brain Trainer - Nov. 10
Junior Classic Games - Nov. 10
UFO Interactive Games, Inc.
Smart Boy's Gameroom 2® - Sept. 29
Smart Girl's Playhouse 2® - Sept. 29
Smart Kid's Mega Game Mix™ - Sept. 29
Reversal Challenge - Oct. 13
Balloon Pop - Nov. 12
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Scribblenauts™ - Sept. 15
Scooby-Doo™! First Frights - Sept. 22
LEGO® Rock Band™ - Holiday
Where the Wild Things Are - Oct. 13
TouchMaster® 3 - Oct. 27
XSEED Games
THE WIZARD OF OZ™: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road - Sept. 29
Nintendo DSiWare
Gameloft
Uno - Q4
Hudson Entertainment
Bomberman Blitz - Q4
Nintendo
Art Academy™: Second Semester - Sept. 28
Art Style™: DIGIDRIVE™ - Q4
Electroplankton™ (10 titles total) - Q4
Picturebook Games™: The Royal Bluff - Q4
Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon™ - Q4
Sparkle Snapshots™ - Q4
Remember that Wii and the Nintendo DS systems feature parental controls that let adults manage some of the content their children can access. For more information about these and other features, visit Wii.com, www.NintendoDS.com and www.NintendoDSi.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.1 billion video games and more than 526 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.Nintendo.com.
Shantae for DSi? Okay, yeah, I have to definitely get a DSi now.
Doggone it, and I made a separate thread for Nintendo's release schedule. :P I don't think maximumzero can spoiler-tag, since he's jailed. Nor can he edit. :P
His line about "taking all the fun out of making games" was in support of his point that he came in to start making people in the company think about the bottom line and profitability. From what I get out of it, he wants everyone in the company from the top of the totem pole down all the way to the bottom to think better in terms of how to do things to make money and to save costs. Rather than having it relegated strictly to some individuals and letting others do the "fun things" with making games.
That's what I got out of it.
I'll be preaching to the choir when I say this but I think this approach causes franchises to turn out like Tony Hawk, and that it's a short term line of thinking (short term being a few years). And that if you don't at least let designers or developers "have fun" with what they're doing, and develop a company culture that focuses too heavily on profits and bottom lines, then games and franchises that are "churned out" every year/multiple times a year start to lose that extra spark of inspiration that separates the truly great games from the merely mediocre or OK ones. It's like taking that highly risk-averse line of thinking that a lot of top execs have against funding new/interesting ideas, and then fostering that mentality down to the developers.
Its one of those things. Arkham Asylum looks like a game that was crafted out of love and that they had fun making it. Call of Duty MW2 is probably influenced heavily by the higher ups but it will still sell well.
The problem is that there's already no fun in making most games. Working in the game industry is just like working in the sofware development industry, except you work longer hours doing more drudgework for less pay just so that you get the joy of working on a video game instead of accounting software or something like that. Implement business strategies that drop employee morale even more and you'll almost assuredly end up with a situation like the EA Blogger a few years back.
Q: You've stated many times that you're convinced there is a Wii HD coming. What are the incentives you see for Nintendo to actually make such a move? Nintendo can't realistically expect 50 million+ Wii owners to upgrade to another new console can they?
Nintendo can't afford to allow any potential PS3 or Xbox 360 buyer to pass up a Nintendo product in favor of the better graphics and more feature rich gameplay offered by the others. Many commentators continually state that "graphics don't matter." I completely disagree.
If one has a standard definition TV (that's 2/3 of U.S. households and 80% of European households), perhaps they don't care, since the graphics difference isn't quite as striking. However, when a household gets an HDTV, all they think about is HD content. There's a reason why every network has switched to HD programming, and it's not about being charitable.
Once the majority of households have HDTV (this should be year-end 2010 in the U.S. and year-end 2012 in Europe), the majority of households with consoles will begin to appreciate the inferior display offered by Wii games. The gameplay is great, but the experience would be more enjoyable in HD. Further, while Nintendo has its phenomenal first party lineup, third party games tend to be made "for" the Wii, and they're just not as good as the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions. Many games (GTA?) aren't made for the Wii at all. Ultimately, the Wii audience will grow more sophisticated, and will want games like BioShock and GTA, and they won't be offered on a Nintendo platform unless the platform can process content similar to what is offered on a 360 or PS3. That requires a hardware upgrade.
Who knows when? It will happen when Nintendo sees its lead eroding. They're still in first place, and likely will remain there with a $50 price cut. However, once they can make a Wii HD (I prefer Wii Plus) and price competitively with the 360 and PS3, they can legitimately say that nobody should ever buy either competitor device, since they will get all Nintendo first party titles plus comparable quality third party games. Of course, Microsoft will argue (likely successfully) that Xbox Live is a differentiator, and Sony will push Blu-ray, first party and PSN as differentiators. I think that Nintendo MUST do this to remain competitive, and think it's a fall 2010 event, driven by a need to respond to the introduction of Natal and the Sony Wand.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, no.
Will PS3 win this holiday?
Q: Judging by the August NPD, PS3 sales already saw a nice sales boost thanks to the lower price. Do you think PS3 will outsell the competition this holiday season? Who do you see putting up the best holiday performance - MS, Sony or Nintendo?
Sony will see a huge spike, probably to 400,000 in September and October, but these figures remain behind Nintendo's numbers from a year ago. If Nintendo cuts price by $50, they'll stay in first place. I think Microsoft finishes third this holiday, but expect another price cut from them next year.
Q: Madden once again sold pretty poorly on the Wii. Why do you think that is? Any advice for EA?
Madden isn't promoted properly to the Wii audience. They don't have a history of playing EA Sports games (at least half are new to the console experience), don't read IndustryGamers (or Game Informer), and the game is not at top of their mind four weeks before the football season starts. I expect a lift in sales now that Madden is getting more mainstream advertising with NFL games.
Q: During a recent event in San Francisco, Apple for the first time stressed iPod Touch as a gaming device and called out DS and PSP as inferior products. What signal does this send to the games industry? How serious is Apple going to get about the games space?
The iPod Touch is a serious problem for everyone in the games industry. Clearly, Sony and Nintendo will suffer if parents like me buy an iPod Touch for their kids instead of a DS (I intend to buy two this holiday). Anyone with a Touch can download several games for the price of a single DS game, and many kids under 10 don't really appreciate the difference between a high quality DS game and a low quality iPhone game. At the end of the day, Tetris is Tetris and bowling is bowling, but Nintendo will continue to differentiate with Mario and Zelda games. The bigger problem I see emerging is that consumers will be "trained" to expect games on portables to cost under $10, with many priced at $2 or lower. Once parents become accustomed to buying games for less than $10, it's going to be hard to win them back at the $20 - 40 price point commanded by DS and PSP games. The hardcore will still buy the Monster Hunter, GTA and God of War games, but even GTA is going to the iPod Touch.
I think it will be interesting to see if GTA is (a) good and (b) priced above market when it shows up on the iPhone and iPod Touch. If it's $40, my guess is that nobody will buy it. If it's $10, it has the potential to cannibalize the price point for DS and PSP games.
Apple is deadly serious about participating, and I think that they will use the wealth of games in the App store to migrate to the Apple TV platform, a la XBLA, so that they can kick off their console games offering with several thousand games, then upgrade selectively.
Toys 'R' Us and the used market
Q: What's your take on Toys 'R' Us doing a nationwide trade-in program for used games, even for legacy systems? Will this allow the toy chain to grab a bigger piece of the video games market? Will it have any impact on GameStop?
The Toys 'R' Us used game program shouldn't have much effect, since their core customer is a housewife with small children. The housewife doesn't play many games, and her children don't have many. It's highly unlikely that she has any legacy games, unless she kept them from her childhood. I think that the legacy offering is a gimmick, and think that TRU will not be a serious competitor in the space.
Since Sony dropped the price on PS3 to $299, launched the new model PS3 Slim and kicked off an appealing new marketing campaign, sales have really picked up, both here (up 300% at top retailers) and overseas. In fact, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, PS3 hardware appears to be ahead of market expectations this month.
"Our channel checks show that PS3 hardware sales remained strong in the second week of September following very strong sales in the first week of September. The first week of September saw a 300% lift at top retailers according to Sony. Our checks suggest stronger pent-up demand than expected. We now believe PS3 hardware sales in September have the potential to be up as much as 75% y-o-y versus our most recent upwardly revised expectation of +50% y-o-y. We believe this is stronger than market expectations," he said.
It sold 232,400 last September. That would make the sales about 400,000 in September for this year if their guess is right.
Well I think the analysis of the TRU program is spot-on. It's not going to do anything. For one, you can't buy these used games in store. TRU just sells them to a company, which probably sells them to Gamestop or someplace similar. Two, you must have original packaging. Nobody has packaging for cart-based games except collectors, and they aren't stupid enough to sell.
Cameron_Talley on
Switch Friend Code: SW-4598-4278-8875
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A page or two late, but on the issue of a Pokemon MMO: I don't see it happening not only because Nintendo's kid friendly and online adverse, but that the basic game design is so mired in single-player concessions that it plain just wouldn't work in a persistent online world. Out of all of the years of hearing people state that a Pokemon MMO would be awesome and make millions, I have yet to hear anyone offer up a basic compelling design.
On Kotick: The question is not "if" he'll run Activision into the ground like EA but "when." I'm going to guess at least 2 years, happening sooner if he tries to worm his way into affecting Blizzard more than what he has now (which is basically asking nicely while sitting across from them at one of those comically long rich person dining room tables) because that'd cause a pretty large backlash.
A page or two late, but on the issue of a Pokemon MMO: I don't see it happening not only because Nintendo's kid friendly and online adverse, but that the basic game design is so mired in single-player concessions that it plain just wouldn't work in a persistent online world. Out of all of the years of hearing people state that a Pokemon MMO would be awesome and make millions, I have yet to hear anyone offer up a basic compelling design.
I'm not totally versed in all the latest Pokemon news and spinoffs but I'm pretty sure there have been several fan projects already that accomplish exactly that. Sure they're not necessarily popular, but that's because they're a dime a dozen. Everyone's making online Pokemon games of their own.
The only Pokemon MMO I can think of (Pokemon World Online) is basically "play the single player game, but online, and you can see other people wandering around as well!" which is not a viable MMO design. Are there others I don't know about?
A page or two late, but on the issue of a Pokemon MMO: I don't see it happening not only because Nintendo's kid friendly and online adverse, but that the basic game design is so mired in single-player concessions that it plain just wouldn't work in a persistent online world. Out of all of the years of hearing people state that a Pokemon MMO would be awesome and make millions, I have yet to hear anyone offer up a basic compelling design.
I'm not totally versed in all the latest Pokemon news and spinoffs but I'm pretty sure there have been several fan projects already that accomplish exactly that. Sure they're not necessarily popular, but that's because they're a dime a dozen. Everyone's making online Pokemon games of their own.
It's not too hard to imagine that any Pokemon game with some form of online vs. mode with Nintendo's name on it would still do well.
The only Pokemon MMO I can think of (Pokemon World Online) is basically "play the single player game, but online, and you can see other people wandering around as well!" which is not a viable MMO design. Are there others I don't know about?
I don't think it would be too difficult to make work.
For a guild equivalent, you allow rival groups of trainers a la Team Rocket.
For PVPers, you can establish an official League, and there are lots of opportunities for timed special events.
You can have user-staffed Gyms (with some sort of special incentive to encourage people to work at the low-level gyms), which both allows the establishment of a community within each gym and gives something interesting to do for those who want to solo.
Since there are so many different canon geographic areas (Johto region, etc), that's a great way to handle world size. Maybe each server has a half-dozen different game regions (each with their own distinct set of gyms, league, pokemon availability, etc) with a relatively-inconvenient way of transportation between them. That would set itself up well to foster a small-world feeling (you mostly chill out in your own region), but would allow for special events that encourage trading and exploring (say a rare pokemon shows up in large numbers at a certain time in one region, so then people from other regions on the same server will want to trade with people from there)
Meh you'd let guilds set up their own gyms and badge for a very large cost, they can have rotating gym leaders or just a set one and if theyre offline you cant get a badge just like the regular games, go find another gym. Regardless you need at least 16 badges to enter a tournament or get higher level pokemon.
It would sell units in two different flavours, it would sell consoles, it would sell DLC. Then after that a special edition with a few extra features and a different pokémon selection would sell.
Then it would sell an animated tie in, happy meals, lunch boxes.
Then it would sell a DSi application with basic interaction with the Wii game. It would get people that would never think to get their Wii online doing so, and therefore sell VC and Wiiware.
Nintendo would make a fuckload of cash, even if it was only a bit better than OK.
Well I think the analysis of the TRU program is spot-on. It's not going to do anything. For one, you can't buy these used games in store. TRU just sells them to a company, which probably sells them to Gamestop or someplace similar. Two, you must have original packaging. Nobody has packaging for cart-based games except collectors, and they aren't stupid enough to sell.
What? I just went to TRU to pick up Scribblenauts, and just outside of their electronic section was a huge bin filled with used games that had been shrink wrapped by TRU. It was still a total mess (the bin just had ALL of their used games, so if you were interested in anything in particular good luck finding it), but you could buy used games in-store.
Well I think the analysis of the TRU program is spot-on. It's not going to do anything. For one, you can't buy these used games in store. TRU just sells them to a company, which probably sells them to Gamestop or someplace similar. Two, you must have original packaging. Nobody has packaging for cart-based games except collectors, and they aren't stupid enough to sell.
What? I just went to TRU to pick up Scribblenauts, and just outside of their electronic section was a huge bin filled with used games that had been shrink wrapped by TRU. It was still a total mess (the bin just had ALL of their used games, so if you were interested in anything in particular good luck finding it), but you could buy used games in-store.
Actually I like this best, I have a reasonable shot at at least one great rare game, rather than digging through stacks of sports games, second rate shooters and shovelware.
I am utterly baffled, BAFFLED that it is 2009 and there has not been a proper, online enabled (in at least some way), Pokémon RPG on a home console.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
I am utterly baffled, BAFFLED that it is 2009 and there has not been a proper, online enabled (in at least some way), Pokémon RPG on a home console.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
Yes.
Despite releasing Pokemon Emoticon Gale of Darkness which was kinda sorta a full Pokemon game.
I am utterly baffled, BAFFLED that it is 2009 and there has not been a proper, online enabled (in at least some way), Pokémon RPG on a home console.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
I am utterly baffled, BAFFLED that it is 2009 and there has not been a proper, online enabled (in at least some way), Pokémon RPG on a home console.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
Bullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllshit.
How is it bullshit? It's part of the fucking name!
I am utterly baffled, BAFFLED that it is 2009 and there has not been a proper, online enabled (in at least some way), Pokémon RPG on a home console.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
Bullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllshit.
How is it bullshit? It's part of the fucking name!
The name can and does refer as much to the in-game nature of them. The same people who churn out these games with increasingly poor excuses for 'monsters' do not choose to not print money because it violates the original artistic intent of sharing digital data in real life.
I'm still not satisfied with the Pokemon MMO ideas presented in the thread. They're all myopic and focused on basically the portable game, but online, and you can see other people who are playing too! There's tons of issues that an MMO needs to deal with--player power progression, monetary systems, gameplay style, item rarity, chatting system(s), player partying dynamics, player retention at endgame, where to go with an expansion, etc--that are just plain not addressed with most Pokemon MMO ideas.
The portable game is focused on solo play: you're basically the only person in the world who can do anything, you single handedly stop the evil team, all of the trainers are there for your player's progression and thus only can be fought once, gyms have a distinct progression path, world puzzles are limited by badges' control over HM use, battles are turnbased, and what little multiplayer that exists is primarily competitive or simple trading rather than the cooperative synchronous team play an MMO needs. It just doesn't translate well to an online world, especially since the game has no endgame at all and no endgame is one of the things a good MMO needs (one of the reasons Age of Conan died out so suddenly is because it had no endgame), especially since long lasting subscription fees are what they'd need to print more money than they'd get from a normal Pokemon portable single player game which has less overhead and headache inducing issues than an online MMO.
You get to level up any Pokemon you catch, tahts your levelling up/player retention. Its simple. Add in catching any of that huge number of pokemon and youre onto a winner. Battles would certainly be interesting.
You can do that in the single player game and why would you pay $10-15 a month to play the single player game? Why should Nintendo spend millions of startup costs for servers to run the Pokemon MMO when an offline experience with online battling accomplishes the exact same thing?
You can do that in the single player game and why would you pay $10-15 a month to play the single player game? Why should Nintendo spend millions of startup costs for servers to run the Pokemon MMO when an offline experience with online battling accomplishes the exact same thing?
You've just described every MMO ever. Congratulations!
Posts
That's what I got out of it.
I'll be preaching to the choir when I say this but I think this approach causes franchises to turn out like Tony Hawk, and that it's a short term line of thinking (short term being a few years). And that if you don't at least let designers or developers "have fun" with what they're doing, and develop a company culture that focuses too heavily on profits and bottom lines, then games and franchises that are "churned out" every year/multiple times a year start to lose that extra spark of inspiration that separates the truly great games from the merely mediocre or OK ones. It's like taking that highly risk-averse line of thinking that a lot of top execs have against funding new/interesting ideas, and then fostering that mentality down to the developers.
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Shantae for DSi? Okay, yeah, I have to definitely get a DSi now.
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Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Its one of those things. Arkham Asylum looks like a game that was crafted out of love and that they had fun making it. Call of Duty MW2 is probably influenced heavily by the higher ups but it will still sell well.
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On Kotick: The question is not "if" he'll run Activision into the ground like EA but "when." I'm going to guess at least 2 years, happening sooner if he tries to worm his way into affecting Blizzard more than what he has now (which is basically asking nicely while sitting across from them at one of those comically long rich person dining room tables) because that'd cause a pretty large backlash.
I'm not totally versed in all the latest Pokemon news and spinoffs but I'm pretty sure there have been several fan projects already that accomplish exactly that. Sure they're not necessarily popular, but that's because they're a dime a dozen. Everyone's making online Pokemon games of their own.
It's not too hard to imagine that any Pokemon game with some form of online vs. mode with Nintendo's name on it would still do well.
I don't think it would be too difficult to make work.
For a guild equivalent, you allow rival groups of trainers a la Team Rocket.
For PVPers, you can establish an official League, and there are lots of opportunities for timed special events.
You can have user-staffed Gyms (with some sort of special incentive to encourage people to work at the low-level gyms), which both allows the establishment of a community within each gym and gives something interesting to do for those who want to solo.
Since there are so many different canon geographic areas (Johto region, etc), that's a great way to handle world size. Maybe each server has a half-dozen different game regions (each with their own distinct set of gyms, league, pokemon availability, etc) with a relatively-inconvenient way of transportation between them. That would set itself up well to foster a small-world feeling (you mostly chill out in your own region), but would allow for special events that encourage trading and exploring (say a rare pokemon shows up in large numbers at a certain time in one region, so then people from other regions on the same server will want to trade with people from there)
Pokemon - Pocket Monsters.
Why are you baffled again?
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
It would sell units in two different flavours, it would sell consoles, it would sell DLC. Then after that a special edition with a few extra features and a different pokémon selection would sell.
Then it would sell an animated tie in, happy meals, lunch boxes.
Then it would sell a DSi application with basic interaction with the Wii game. It would get people that would never think to get their Wii online doing so, and therefore sell VC and Wiiware.
Nintendo would make a fuckload of cash, even if it was only a bit better than OK.
GOTY
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
What? I just went to TRU to pick up Scribblenauts, and just outside of their electronic section was a huge bin filled with used games that had been shrink wrapped by TRU. It was still a total mess (the bin just had ALL of their used games, so if you were interested in anything in particular good luck finding it), but you could buy used games in-store.
Actually I like this best, I have a reasonable shot at at least one great rare game, rather than digging through stacks of sports games, second rate shooters and shovelware.
Didn't Gamefreak team come out and say(around the time of diamond and pearl's release) they have no intention to make a main series Pokemon game for a home console because the whole idea of Pokemon is for the game to be portable rather than static.
Yes.
Despite releasing Pokemon Emoticon Gale of Darkness which was kinda sorta a full Pokemon game.
Bullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllshit.
How is it bullshit? It's part of the fucking name!
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
The name can and does refer as much to the in-game nature of them. The same people who churn out these games with increasingly poor excuses for 'monsters' do not choose to not print money because it violates the original artistic intent of sharing digital data in real life.
My best were on iCarly, personally.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
The portable game is focused on solo play: you're basically the only person in the world who can do anything, you single handedly stop the evil team, all of the trainers are there for your player's progression and thus only can be fought once, gyms have a distinct progression path, world puzzles are limited by badges' control over HM use, battles are turnbased, and what little multiplayer that exists is primarily competitive or simple trading rather than the cooperative synchronous team play an MMO needs. It just doesn't translate well to an online world, especially since the game has no endgame at all and no endgame is one of the things a good MMO needs (one of the reasons Age of Conan died out so suddenly is because it had no endgame), especially since long lasting subscription fees are what they'd need to print more money than they'd get from a normal Pokemon portable single player game which has less overhead and headache inducing issues than an online MMO.
You've just described every MMO ever. Congratulations!
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