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Casual Play on 360 Live Arcade
twoallbeefpatties writes "Columnist Chris Suellentrop writes an article for Slate describing how his desire for casual gaming is fulfilled more by the 360 than the Wii due to the presence of simpler games available over Live Arcade. The availability of oldschool Nintendo games on the Wii network fulfills his nostalgic hardcore gaming side, but when he really wants to just relax, he'd rather be trying to top his Live high score on Root Beer Tapper. Says Suellentrop: 'The Nintendo Wii will transform the way we play games at home. But the Xbox 360, through its Xbox Live service, is building something equally compelling: a celestial arcade, where casual and hard-core gamers alike can connect over the Internet and find like-minded souls. For an old-timer like me, the celestial arcade also lets me feel like I still have some of my old gaming mojo.'"
In all fairness, the 360 has had a full year head start over the Wii. Which means that the Live! service is well developed to meet the needs of the (rather massive) casual gaming market. However, I do expect that to change in the near future. For one, Nintendo has already stated that they'll be hosting "Wii Ware" downloadable games that can be purchased from the Wii Store. Rumors are already circulating that Super Paper Mario could be the first.
For another, tons of gaming sites have popped up to fill the "casual" needs through the Opera Web Browser. In fact, the most popular of these sites just announced a new API that lets game programmers make use of *all* of the Wiimote's buttons. If they get multiplayer gaming up and going (e.g. poker, battleship, hearts, etc.), they could end up being an impressive force for casual gaming on the Wii.
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"But the Xbox 360, through its Xbox Live service, is building something equally compelling: a celestial arcade, where casual and hard-core gamers alike can connect over the Internet and find like-minded souls."
You don't even have to "find" people...and being an incredibly busy anti-socialite, I simply don't have the time or desire to make friends online for video games. I purchased "Small Arms" for $6.25 on XBLA...it's like Super Smash Bros., but with furries, guns and explosives (and no yiffing). I started an online match and in seconds I had 3 other people playing on my system.
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When did "columnists" and "journalists" begin writing about this shit? It's not news. It's not an editorial. It's an advertisement. Who cares?
You can chat with others at the table, the pacing is just right. You can build a competitive bank roll so, by the time you get to the second level, people play like they actually have something at stake.
And I got in on the game when it was available for free in the full version. But it's definitely worth the $6 or whatever it costs to purchase with points.
Obviously both consoles have fun, short/small downloadable games for cheap prices. In the end, the article is more about personal preferences in games, than any sort of comparable quality. Especially since the 360 has an entire year head start over the Wii.
Personally, I'd rather play Super Mario world and Legend of Zelda than most of the games on Live Arcade. One of the reasons is that they're known quantities, whereas many of the Live ports have been very dubious in quality (anyone who made the mistake of getting Contra knows what I'm talking about here). Everything from Nintendo has been incredibly well emulated, with the added bonus of being able to have a "save state" that means you can pause the game, turn off the console and come back to play later. Man, I wish my NES and SNES had that years ago.
So while I'd come down on the side of the Wii in this debate, in the end it's totally personal preference on the games - just like it always is with this console debates.
Geometry Wars is the best game ever for fans of old-school shooters like centipede, asteroids, & galaga
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Personally, I've enjoyed the Xbox Live Arcade features on the 360 ever I got mine back at its launch date. (Hexic being an all-time favorite.) However, there are a few areas I'd like to see more development in, particularly with titles you can quickly pick up and play for a few minutes (puzzle games) or titles that can be played with many people on the same system (board games or party games).
While I'll admit some of the newer 3D titles are fun, they're often far more complicated and would require splitting the screen to support more than one player at a time on the same system. There's definitely a market for titles like these, but it shouldn't become the sole attraction of the XBLA now that Microsoft has relaxed its requirements.
For right now though, I'd like to see games like Scrabble or Monopoly brought into the line-up. Even better, they could support up to 4-players online with the game boards and relevent info on the left side of the screen, while supporting a 4-way party-line style video/voice chat with the Xbox Vision camera, all displayed stacked on the right side of the screen. A setup like this would make a killing.
8==8 Bones 8==8
One of the bigger surprises when I bought my 360 was the arcade. I got it with Dead Rising and Chrome Hounds. After getting thoroughly frustrated or bored with both titles one night I started looking for something to do with my $400 investment. $30 later in the arcade and now I have a collection of games I can pick up and play whenever. Some of them are pretty inventive. Wik is very strange but good. Not to mention they have DOOM! Quite a few of them have multiplayer built in too.
Naturally these won't supplant the normal A list titles, but when I am looking for some quick game play they fit the bill nicely. Just have to make sure to download the demos before buying them, the quality can vary widely.
come on.. post with your real user account so you can modded down for flamebait or a troll... yes I'm aware I'm posting as an AC as well.
I agree about the dedicated servers. For a paid service, it's outrageous that the games are still hosted on individual players' home connections, which is what makes all the "standby" cheating possible. Matchmaking is cool and all, but Halo is a much better experience on the PC than on the Xbox because of dedicated hosts.
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And Microsoft is in the process of implementing a service whereby you can develop XNA-based Xbox 360 games which will run on the XB360 and Windows, and share them via Live. Well, that service already exists. But what's in progress is the ability for any Joe to create a game with XNA Studio, and SELL it via Live. I think that sort of idea blows both Sony's and Nintendo's out of the water. Think about it... indy games are quite often better than mass-market alternatives (note that they can be extremely crap too), so the ability to get them cheaply and have them just work - without needing the Code Signing that pressed games need - would really lower the barrier of entry to people with kickass ideas but no money (to get an XDK) to implement them. And the icing on the cake is that the same games "just work" on Windows too (NO, not just Vista. XP too).
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
One columnist finds himself playing XBLA more than Wii for his 'casual gaming fix', so he writes a column branching his feelings as the reality of the marketplace? Why is Zonk posting this 'column' anyway? It is all 100% of one person's feelings.
Here is some real information. Most casual games and gamers are on the PC. Most casual gamers are females. XBLA was not originally intended for what it became which is why the model for game releases cannot be met (there are weeks where there have been no releases or, worse, something worthless like Kameo Uno Theme Pack). People buy Xbox 360s for Gears of War, not to play UNO online. There is a reason why Gears of War has sold so much (which contradicts our "insightful" columnist).
It has been said that console companies were leaving much money behind on the table by failing to penetrate the huge casual gamers (on PCs). If a console ere to do that, it would sell and sell and sell. There is a current console out there that appears to be doing that. And, by looking at Japanese sales charts for the unbundled 'casual games', I see Wii Sports and Wii Play in the top ten weekly with the occasional first week of sales of a PS2/PSP game (which then immediately disapears from the chart). The rest of the top 30 are DS games.
Imagine if someone wrote a column where he "felt" that the PS3 was an 'incredible value' at its price. Would Zonk call it an 'article'? Sales data would refute the idea that most customers find the PS3 'an incredible value at its price' which is why no one would take seriously of such an opinion. So why is this story, which is one columnist's opinion, even linked on Slashdot?
A columnist can feel whatever he wants, but the market and sales data are the reality. Zonk linking to such opinion pieces is not helping readers understand what is really going on.
I'm waiting for all the arcade ports to come to the Wii. The games I'm thinking of just can't come to the other consoles without extra effort. I'm thinking of games that are more physically involving. We already have somewhat similar instances. For example, there is this silly samurai game that is played with a foam sword in a sensor cage at the real life arcade. Red Steel has this aspect to some degree. But honestly, I wish it was "on rails" like the arcade game. I know some people hate games on rails but that *IS* the arcade experience.
:)
Some games are there in some form or coming, like batting in Wii sports. If it was a little more simulation-like I'd be happier. Golf, bowling, etc. All games played frequently with odd physically interactive controls in a real arcade.
Of course, I have a 360 and definitely find the XBLA to be a great product of that system. However, I've yet to encounter a game that I can justify a purchase for. I'd be up for any suggestions anyone might have, so long as you are willing to describe your reasons for the suggestions.
As it is I'm enjoying graphically intensive, FPS, and RPG games on the 360 and casual, action, and adventure games on the Wii. Not to mention the Virtual Console allowing me to easily play (read: not with a contrived and obnoxiously designed emulator setup) some of my favorite games of all time on my 110" projected screen. Every time I boot up Super Mario Bros. I have flashbacks to "The Wizard."
I read the script, and I think it would help my character's motivation if he was on fire. -Bender
I recently read (apologies, forgot where) that Halo 2 won't be allowing PC vs console multi. Possibly by the time Halo 3 comes out for PC that will be an option.
Shadowrun, on the other hand, will be allowing PC vs console multiplayer. However, I've heard the game and particularly the interface is gimped on PC - no hotkeys for special powers, slow movement, stickyaim only for controller users, that kind of thing. Shame, I would have been up for settling that flamewar in the arena...
I think the writer makes a good point. Why play old Nintendo game when you can find simple, as much as addicting, and multiplayer games on Live? I myself have not signed up for the Gold membership, and didn't think much about those games on Live. However, after seeing this point, I have to ask myself why would I want to play Mario brothers again? I have already been there and done that. Still want a Wii though, and love my 360.
So while I'd come down on the side of the Wii in this debate, in the end it's totally personal preference on the games - just like it always is with this console debates.
Ironically I have the same gripe as the Parent column, but I agree with you. I have 12 VC titles now, and about 5 Live arcade games. In general I play Street Fighter II, or DKC or Mario64 more than the 'casual games' like Uno or Bejeweled. My issue though, is what about my parents? They are as Non-gamer as can be, but were entertained to no end with WiiSports, so much that I got them a Wii for Christmas. They still play it, and use the channels, but what VC games would you recommend to them? Where's UNO? Suduku? Bejeweled? Brain Age? Hell, even Tetris!
The funny thing is Nintendo is bringing in "casuals" into the market, but looking at their current software (both VC, and Retail) most of it is still targeting the hard core.
If he was a casual gamer then he wouldn't be paying for XBox Live! Obviously, since he owns both a Wii and a 360, he's so far from being a casual gamer that he doesn't even understand what the term means. I work in a videogame store and from this experience I know that the most popular games among casual gamers are NamcoMuseum (for Pac-Man) and sports games. The casual gamer is much more likely to spend money on Super Mario Bros. on the Wii store than buy a PC shareware game off of XBox Live!
Furthermore, the Wii's interactivity makes it perfect for most sports games (I'm still skeptical about basketball, but Madden 2007 for Wii is one of the best football games ever made). Anyway, it's perfect for golf, football, and baseball, which are all important to casual players. Then all the min-games for Wii add even more value to the casual player. Rayman, WarioWare, Wii Sports/Play, the upcoming Mario Party 8, and much more on the way. These are the type of games that casual gamers buy.
The XBox Live! Arcade is good for the casual gamer who lives with a hardcore gamer that already owns a 360, but very few casual gamers will pay $400 for a system to play Bejeweled on.
I really think this casual games movement could be a great thing. Whether you're a racist like me, a teenager who's looking to teabag his opponents in a more relaxed atmosphere, or just a griefer looking to annoy people without having to be constantly moving; casual games are the future.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Ummm....wow. If you think for a second that Microsoft would allow unsigned code to run on the XB360, let alone give consumers access to tools that allow you to develop unsigned apps, you are completely wrong. Unsigned code WILL NOT run on an XB360 (just ask Michael Klucher, Program Manager, XNA Game Studio).
And not just anyone will be able to develop a game and have it run on XBL. It still needs to go through the same testing and approval process that the studios go through.
I'll never buy a 360... ...but I've never even SEEN a Wii. Not even a demo unit. And I've been looking because back when they launched, I really wanted one. Now my interest is waning, but it's still (as far as I'M concerned,) as good as vaporware. No stores have them locally, and none even know a ballpark figure of when they'll have them on shelves.
*goes back to PS2 DC and GC*