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Andy Phelps Proposes 'B-Sides' For Games
Andy Phelps has once again begun blogging. A recent post of his to the Corante Tech site suggests an intriguing idea: B-Sides to major commercial games. "I think there is an interesting opportunity here: stick some "B-Side" experimental games on the DVD with the big title. Little Flash games, or student games, or Internet games that haven't taken off yet. Don't advertise them on the box, sell the "big game" just like always." Thanks to Hylton Jolliffe for the submission.
Pack games on the disk and don't advertise them on the packaging? While I can see a point to that (to reduce criticism), I'm sure marketing won't let anyone get away with packing in features and not advertising them. Marketing would make a bullet point out of the number of times the lead coder sneezed if that'd interest anybody. They sure as hell wouldn't let the opportunity to write "includes 5 additional Full Games as a bonus!!" on the box pass by.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Not everyone has a high-speed internet connection.
Not everyone has internet access, period.
Not everyone is willing to leave their computer on all night for a download when they're being billed for the amount of time that they're connected to the internet.
Not everyone has access to a GameStop, EB, or a store that sells more games than the big-budget titles that Wal-Mart sells.
Not everyone feels comfortable buying games online.
Beyond all of this, the fact remains that publisher pays the development team, even a relatively small amount ($10,000, perhaps) might more than cover the costs of making the game.
Really, who loses out if a company decides to try this? All we'd lose would be the pretty screenprinting on the top of the CD, and that's not a very big loss...
Goo goo g'joob.
And they have in lots of games, whether as Easter Eggs, unlockables or just fun minigames. Presumably, these are side projects thrown in to add something to the mix
These major ones spring to mind:
Pyoro 1 and 2 in Warioware Inc. Fantastic fun little things
The lightgun game Demolition Racer for Dreamcast. Lovely fun little game
The useless VMU games and both Pocketstation games that no-one ever played
Galaxians in the Ridge Racer loading screen
All the retro games in modern titles (PoP and the NES games in Animal Crossing)
NiGHTs and Puyo Pop for GBA in PSO and Billy Hatcher for GC
Blackhole Assault with an inbuilt pong game
After Googling, there's a whole FAQ full at http://www.steverd.com/faqs/hiddengames.htm - dates back to 1999, but the point is still there.
It sounds like a cool idea to help independents get a start. Which is probably why it'd never happen. Does any major studio want to encourage independent game developers? This is a billion dollar industry we're talking about. I'm not sure it would be in their best interests. Although it would make for an easy was to do market research of their own fringe ideas. I just doubt indies would get much exposure.
Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
You know what's great? Little mini-games you can play while the main game is loading. Too long have we been fobbed off with high-res ingame shots or unused coverart! Give us scrolling text that adds to the story, or a mini-game to occupy us - because sitting still for more than 30 seconds is *hard*.
I think software companies should bundle REAL things in the box, like manuals, action figures, cloth maps, anything to reward people for purchasing the package. A bunch of tossware would be pointless.
As a fellow game designer, I have to agree that "Why spend X dollars on a B-side that isn't neccessarily related to the A-side game at all when you could spend those X dollars to make the A-side game better (or, in most case, bigger)?" is probably the biggest reason why you don't have B-side titles. Trying to make the core game interesting and fun is tough enough by itself, let alone having to ensure that a bunch of little extras are themselves fun. This sort of energy should circle around the main attraction, rather than the sideshow.
bah. on one hand, your 'sense of history' fashions the statement 'represented a unique channel of distribution' as a lecture of pre-modern 'media'.
on the other hand, your flimsy argument dismisses all that implies, entirely, when applied to 'back of the DVD scan-in' "alternative-channel" video games/hacks.
the point is, video games mfr's have "MORE CHANNELS THAN THEY KNOW", in that they can create a sub-market/culture/environment with sneaky 'B-side' style thinking in their box delivery channel. do for videogame
In other words, put stuff physically *ON* the DVD which makes it more valuable, so that its not so 'readily' depreciable by online content delivery systems.
this is 'B-side' thinking.
It's even kind of interesting. But I don't see how it would do anything for resurrecting "innovation in gaming" any more than new channels of distribution (e.g. the Internet) are already doing.
In the eyes of a media person, the notion of 'unique channel' is an interesting one. What I hope comes of this is renewed thinking on the part of 'media giants' on the values of independent channels, created at will by any group who wills it.
This is the lesson of the Internet, after all, that it is groups of people, organized, who get things done/make things happen/blow big bubbles... if they create a 'counter-culture' B-side media channel on their boxes and in their games packages, I could see there being a lot of interest in actually buying these things at retail.
Bar-code videogames/cheat-codes that work with Nintendo and are printed on my XBox game CD might make for some interesting 'warfare' among the media giants..
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --