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Taking Gaming To the Next Billion Players
Hugh Pickens writes "June marks the launch across Brazil of Zeebo, a console that aims to tap an enormous new market for videogaming for the billion-strong, emerging middle classes of such countries as Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and China. Zeebo uses the same Qualcomm chipsets contained in high-end smartphones, together with 1GB of flash memory, three USB slots and a proprietary dual analogue gamepad. It plugs into a TV and outputs at a 640 x 480 pixel resolution. 'The key thing is we're using off-the-shelf components,' says Mike Yuen, director of the gaming group at Qualcomm. This approach means that, while Zeebo can be priced appropriately for its markets — it will launch at US $199 in Brazil compared to around US $250 (plus another US $50 for a mod chip to play pirated games) for a PlayStation 2 in the region — and next year the company plans to drop the price of the console to $149. But the most important part of the Zeebo ecosystem is its wireless digital distribution that gets around the low penetration of wired broadband in many of these countries, negates the cost of dealing with packaged retail goods, and removes the risk of piracy, with the games priced at about $10 locked to the consoles they're downloaded to. Zeebo is not meant to directly compete with powerful devices like Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360, or the Wii. 'In Latin America, where there's a strong gaming culture, that's what we'll be, but in India and China we can be more educational or lifestyle-oriented,' says Yuen. One Indian gaming blog predicts Zeebo will struggle, in part due to the cultural reluctance toward digital distribution and also the lack of piratable games."
Maybe the "pirating" is just a symptom of a failing business model, don't you think?
They could just all get netbooks and play web games, like Game!
Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!
Let's see - an XBox Arcade costs $200 and has pretty much everything the Zeebo has, minus built-in wireless. I fail to see what market they're going for...
Now if that console would be $50, maybe $75, they'd have a shot at getting into the middle-class market in emerging economies. And considering the hardware involved, I don't see how it would be that hard to get there.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
Zeebo may not be meant to directly compete with the 360, the PS2 or the Wii, but I'm sure their potential customers may think otherwise, as soon as they know they can get a hacked 360 for the same price or a PS2 with swap magic for a lot less.
One Indian gaming blog predicts Zeebo will struggle, in part due to the cultural reluctance toward digital distribution and also the lack of piratable games."
I've heard it speculated before that piracy in some circumstances encourages overall profit, is this a concrete example of said theory?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Why do PS2 games cost up to $100 there? Zeebo doesn't need to have this kind of margin to operate in if PS2s cost $125 and the games were $30-60.
If you look at the console market, you can see a distinct connection between console sales and the appearance of modchips (or softmods, where possible). It may sound odd, but the ability to copy a game actually increases your chances to sell a game.
How do you decide which console to get? Well, ok, not you. Take Jonny Averageplayer. He is in school and he wants a console. Which one will he want? Most likely the one his friends have. Why? Well, first of all of course to be part of the crowd and not the odd guy out with the "wrong" hardware, but also to be able to swap games with them. So being able to trade games around and to copy them is a key feature for this demographic. Now, which console will his friends have? More often than not, the one where copying is possible or at least easy.
Then there's the hardcore gamer crowd that want that latest sequel for their favorite game series. But usually, they come out in Japan and you're not, and with vendor lock in and distribution protection, you have to wait for months or sometimes even years. Will you wait? Nope. You will want a console where you can crowbar that location protection lock out.
This all leads to one ultimate problem of selling game copies: To make someone buy a copy of your game, he first of all has to have the matching console. You can have the best console in the world and the games can look a hundred times better on your hardware, and you can have the best copy protection (which is, as detailed above, actually keeping people from buying the console in the first place), if nobody has the hardware you should've made games for the inferior console instead if you wanted to sell.
So, in conclusion, the project won't take off. Nobody will want the console. 200 bucks can easily buy a used PS2 with mod chip and a load of other crap. And the ability to play copies.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The real question should be -- is it hackable in some way or form. Given that they are using off the shelf stuff, should mean that it *might* be more open to modifications. I would be interested in seeing a "take-apart" page to see the internals.
My Doctor prescribed daily nasal saline irrigation, hehe
Let's see - an XBox Arcade costs $200
Plus $300 sales tax. Seriously, Brazil has a roughly 150 percent tax on imported consumer electronics from the combined effect of the import duty, the value added tax, and the interstate commerce tax.
I might consider getting one of these things if someone can get a linux distribution running on it. It would be kinda neat. Hook up an external hardrive through one of the usb ports and use it as a dvr or something. You'd need to hook up some sort of video in for dvr use though.
their potential customers may think otherwise, as soon as they know they can get a hacked 360 for the same price or a PS2 with swap magic for a lot less.
Please read my reply to another post to see why imported products are more expensive than made-in-Brazil products.
Why do PS2 games cost up to $100 there?
Because PS2 consoles aren't manufactured in Brazil, and PS2 games aren't developed and replicated in Brazil.
The real question should be -- is it hackable in some way or form.
It's based on Qualcomm BREW, the platform where you have to pay $4 every time you recompile your program. From the article: "Since March 2006, the least expensive digital signature for testing costs 400 USD and is limited to 100 application submissions [according to VeriSign]. This steep cost of entry excludes hobbyists from developing for phones that use BREW." So it's more closed than the iPod Touch.
Somehow, I can't help not associating it with bankruptcy.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
That sounds like a challenge to me, I give it 3 days from release before it's hacked wide open.
Blazing Spiders
Because a PS2 retails for about 90 euro over here, so I was wondering where they got 250 from. And I thought dutch sales tax of 19% was high.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The name Zeeboo means "his penis" in arabic.
It's easy to see an emerging new business model, but I see also something that is a "Good Thing". Mexico is not a BRIC nation, its revenues are the result of the NAFTA Treaty. As a parent of a child going off to college some 2000 miles away, I see parallels in parenting, and international trade by a Donor Sovereign State. There is a pervasive belief that if a person has something to lose, they will not be so willing to make an ultimate sacrifice. Maybe when BRIC, and NAFTA reciepients can claim second, or possibly first world status; then these countries can embrace their humanity. But before we all start singing Kumbaya, lets see some reviews on the games this company is going to vend.
You can buy a $200 console with the power of a mobile phone and the opportunity to buy games shonky games at $10 each.
Or for a 50% greater initial investment you can have a console that is more powerful and has armfuls of triple-A titles available on it for the price of a blank DVD.
Does anybody actually believe this is going to work in any way at all?
Surely the 'correct' way to address the problem would be to just bring out a PSTwo console for $99 and release region specific titles out of the back catalogue at $10 a shot.
If you REALLY wanted to put some effort in, you could for example just add in an HD and flog the games over broadband with a bit of DRM chucked on top as $5 downloads.
I'm quite convinced this new console will not suffer from any form of piracy as quite frankly nobody in their right mind would bother trying.
I don't see how this could compete with the OneStation, which is basically a NES with 100+ pirated games built in for under $40. The onestation is a handheld, there are also other pirated NES clones which are not handhelds, and would thus be cheaper.
Pirated NESs are what will bring gaming to the next billion players, and they've already been doing so in China.
welcome to slashdot where defectivebydesign now means secure against piracy.
Call Nintendo and ask them if you can get a discount if you order a billion Wii or Game Boys DSi
That would be using "off-the-shelf components" :)
Considering the retail price of a PS2 is $129 her and I modded it for $10 more, nobody would buy the Zeebo.
I wouldn't buy the PS2 either, until it's price drops to $80.
Here in Brazil we don't have official PlayStations (PS2, PS3 or PSP), or official XBox 306 or Wii. And this is why the black market is so strong, since is the only market.
The taxes to import an original PS, or any video game, are too high, some times more than 100% of taxes. And this is why Sony, Nintendo or MS won't create an official distribution of video games here, unless they assemble the consoles here, what will reduce taxes, but won't be cheap as it is in China.
So, the numbers for Zeebo actually are:
- A PS2 in black market is R$ 400,00 (US$ 180,00), and it will play any illegal copy of any PS2 game.
- A PS2 game is much more rich, even PSP has more quality than Zeebo.
- You can download a PS2 game from internet and burn a CD and play it on a cracked PS2.
- A illegal copy of a game in the black market is R$ 10,00 (US$ 4,54).
Note that the black market here is called "camelo", and is not something hidden in the "undeground" of the city. The "camelo" market is a normal place, sometimes looks like a shopping mall, and any one buys there, from a poor kid to a rich man, since is where we find this stuffs, and is not illegal to buy there, what is illegal is to sell imported stuffs without pay the taxes, what some stores at "camelo" does.
On the white market a basic PS2 is R$ 449,00 (US$ 204,00), and PS2 is a product better than Zeebo. But it won't play illegal copies, and a legal copy of a PS2 game is from R$ 100,00 to R$300,00 (US$ 45,00 to US$ 136,00).
You can buy a PSP in US starting from US$ 120,00, and it will be much better than Zeebo, and is portable.
The question is, a kid in Brazil will want to buy a Zeebo or a PS2? Well, starting at US$ 199,00 no one will want a Zeebo, and a PS2 will be less expensive in any point (console or games).
And just to do a checkmate, we can't forget the PS1, since Zeebo is almost a PS1 in quality, and the price is half of a PS2, a price that Zeebo will never have.
Did my post above offend someone's highly developed sense of legality so it got modded down?
Aaaaw... how cute. Like a little baby.
With one of those pink little cocktail parasols in its little dead hand.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Plus a computer will always offer a better, broader "social element" than any console.
How? If you want to play PC games when you have friends over, you have to have as many computers as people because most PC games' multiplayer modes are designed exclusively for network play. There are a few games designed for multiple USB gamepads and a large monitor, such as Serious Sam, the Lego $movie games, and EA Sports, but not much else.
I wait until at least two conditions are met:
1. I must be able to play pirated games as easy or easier than the "originals".
2. Console must cost less than 200 Euros.
Have you bought your Nintendo Entertainment System and PowerPak yet?
Less than 75 Euros for portable consoles which also must play videos and music from SD cards.
The PowerPak can play NSF music from CF cards. There are several programs for composing NSF music, including MCK, NerdTracker II, and FamiTracker.
ONCE, and only ONCE these two conditions are met - there has to be a particular game that would make me want to buy the console.
For PS2 that was Berserk - which is still not out in US or Europe.
A spiritual sequel to Berzerk, called Smash TV, was ported to the NES.
This Berserk.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Anyone look at the specs of this thing? They mention its not ment to compete with the PS3 and 360 but in reality it can barely compete with the original playstation. Its basically a vastly overpriced cell phone game player for your tv...I sense an epic failure in the making.
I've downloaded plenty of music over the years, but if I find that its good, I actually buy the cd, yes, often I buy someone elses secondhand copy from Trademe (like eBay) to save money, but I do buy a legit copy.
Once or twice I've downloaded movies that are unavailable elsewhere, such as the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, it was not being made in my region at the time.
I dont think people have the right to steal music etc. The fact is, the people you're taking it from want you to pay for it, I dont care if they are a huge company or not. Its just not right.
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Are these guys completely clueless? The reality is that the PS1 is *still* an enormously popular console and has hundreds (if not thousands) of available titles.
These titles are also available on the black market in most developing countries, so the cost proposition for a kid in an emerging market country is really just the price of the console. But even if you want to go the legit route and buy the games, there are hundreds of titles available for under $10.
Furthermore, a brand new PSone goes for $140, but there are zillions of used ones available all over the planet (and Ebay) for $20-$40
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
Im sorry you didnt like my analogy. I've had a few female friends who have had that happen to them, I know how upsetting it is.
I didnt mention anything about money making it right or wrong, dont twist what I said. Some things are just morally not right, like stealing, no matter who its from. You dont need to download 20GB of music, without paying,each day to live. I used that example, because its fairly common to do with piracy, its like, I'm vegan, and its common for Vegans to use "the holocaust on your plate" argument. I can see thats tiresome, I dont use silly things like that. Tell you what, from now on I wont bring up that other topic again.
However, theres no glamour in ripping off people. I dont see a difference between ripping off one person selling hot dogs on the street, or a major corporation. It also breeds contempt for "The Man" etc, wouldnt you agree? To think that you can just get away with things, if you are caught, you can claim "it was a performance art piece" or something like The Pirate Bay.
Perhaps we wont agree about that either.
I'd appreciate not being called "you people" and being told to stay away from half the population too.
Peace. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1212291&cid=27727059#
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Seriously, I don't see anyone here in Russia buying this device. Here you invest 200 bucks for xbox360 or closer to a thousand for a decent gaming rig and then pirate the games. But maybe Junis down in Afghanistan could use one.
US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
I covered a lot of the Zeebo issues on my own site a while ago. From my site:
"They further claim that hundreds of millions of games have been downloaded wirelessly without one ever being pirated. At first I thought they were joking, as a search on any warez site will turn up hundreds of mobile phone downloads cracked and ready to play, but then I read between the lines: Out of all the wireless games out there, one of them still hasn't been pirated! I wonder which one it is... "
"But hey, at least it has VGA graphics, right? 640x480 video, and since it's VGA we know it'll be non-interlaced (ie: progressive). Too bad it only has composite-video outputs, which can't actually support VGA resolutions."
""Additional enhancements may include [...] new services." Phew, I was worried about the future. But no, the future's awesome: "By 2012, the worldwide video game market is projected to become a $68 billion industry." Yup, from $9.5b in 2007 to $70b in 2012. Only Zeebo allows you to capture a market that will increase in value seven-fold in five years. "
There are so many things wrong with their plan that I can't believe it's anything but a scam run by liars or idiots.
u gib monies i report u
HUAHUAHUAHUAHUA