The Wii isn't relying only on the remote, but also on the new direction that Nintendo is taking with it compared to past video game consoles.
Which is centered around the remote control. Without the Wiimote, the Wii would just be a rehash of the last two generations, and all of the commercials and party games wouldn't make a difference.
Game developers care about overall sales and that is what they will look at.
Game developers care about the overall sales of their games, yes. Sure there will be third parties that see the marketshare of the Wii and decide to make games for it; that's already happening. But what will happen afterwards is that these third parties will see that their games aren't selling very well despite the marketshare, so they'll either withdraw from the Wii market or put out shovelware for it.
Umm, you do know Apple was selling Fairplay encoded AAC files that for a long time only played on iPods, right?
I don't see what that has to do with what I said. iPods were always capable of playing vanilla MP3s, right? People can buy AACs if they want to, but they don't have to.
When the total number of people buying consoles is way up, then the market for consoles has grown.
I don't care about the market for consoles. Consoles are just hunks of silicon and plastic. I care about the market for games. Someone who buys a Wii because of the hype isn't necessarily interested in all of the games that are out for it, and considering the number of people that seem content with Wii Sports, it's not a good assumption to make.
I don't think the business model for casual PC games is workable on consoles. PopCap and other companies can spam games because they don't have to pay for specialized development kits, licensing, and distribution agreements on the consoles' online networks*, which are big hurdles for developers that make their money based on volume instead of per-unit profit margins. Consoles allow for big hits like Geometry Wars, but you're not going to see the vast number of games that you do on the PC.
*Though PopCap does choose to distribute on Steam, which seems to be working out for them pretty well.
3) Charge monthly. This would reduce the amount of transactions that are below a certain amount, especially since a lot of people who are interested in buying things are already paying for XBox Live access anyway.
Well yeah, there are a few weird people who don't like music, but they're not a significant portion of the population.
more specifically, not everyone wants to invest money to have a large selection of music on a portable device
Considering how well the Walkman did, though, there sure are a lot of people who do.
we do know that a significant portion of the population likes to play games
Games, yes. Video games are substantially different from other types of games, however, and waggle isn't going to change that.
The "attachment rate" of games is always likely to be low
The attachment rates for the other two systems in this generation are quite a bit higher, for the record, especially in terms of third-party games.
When you open the market to more casual users, they devote fewer resources to the use of the device, be it an MP3 player or a gaming console. This could be troubling for the viability of the console in the market if Nintendo relied upon game sales to make a proit, but they don't; they actually make money on each console sold so it is not like selling lots of onsoles and few games will hurt them financially as it would Sony or MS.
No, but it will hurt their reputation with game developers, which is a huge long-term problem. The reason why it's not a problem for the iPod to have a low attachment rate is because an MP3 will work on any MP3 player; music sales won't be affected because hardcore consumers are buying the same commodity as casual ones. A Wii game, on the other hand, will only work on the Wii, so if people don't buy games for it, developers will make games for other systems instead.
The only really troubling statistic for Nintendo would be if a large percentage of users bought Wii intending to use it for their own purposes, then resold it without the intention to repurchase a new one in the future.
That does appear to be happening, if you look on eBay.
Even if sales slow down drastically, it has already succeeded in opening up the market and changing the way the "game" is played.
You can't use sales of video game consoles and say that the market is opening up. Consoles are meaningless; it's the games themselves that are important. Not to mention the fact that the Wii has only sold 15 million units anyway, which is hardly a massive number.
My point is that the iPod wasn't relying on an unproven concept to do well like the Wii is. The iPod didn't rely on its clickwheel to sell, but the Wii is relying on its remote control.
The problem with the analogy is that we already know that everyone likes to listen to music, so it's hardly surprising that an MP3 player that was more accessible to the general consumer did well. We don't know that everyone likes to play video games, though. And considering the low attachment rate that the Wii has, it's still an open question.
4) Don't have a point system. Where did people get the idea that you have to have a point system for online transactions? Just charge people whatever the item is worth and you won't have "people buying 1 point."
I wouldn't say MP3 players were a proven concept when the iPod came out. They existed, but they weren't at all popular.
Depends on what you mean by "popular." In terms of pure numbers, the iPod itself wasn't all that popular for nearly three years after the first one was released. In terms of sales expectations, however, MP3 players have been commercially successful since the first one was released in 1998. In fact, the second MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300, was considered a smash hit and even spurred the RIAA into suing the company over piracy concerns.
The PlayStation Store has a number of items for sale at $1, and it doesn't use a stupid points system. This might be because Sony actually cares about customer satisfaction more than a tiny profit, or at least wants to appear to.
The Wii has only been out for a year. Considering the constant supply shortages, that's not been enough time for most of the people trying to get one to figure out if they really like it or if they were just hyped into getting it. Also, the MP3 player was already a proven concept by the time the iPod came out, while waggle wasn't.
But 'easier' doesn't have anything to with it being 'dumber,'
That may or may not be the case, but it's irrelevant since when people talk about the game being dumber, it's not just a case of it being easier. I don't know if this is true with Bioshock (but according to a lot of people who've played it, it is), but I know that other "consolified" games, like Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3, weren't just made easier, but had many of the things that made them interesting removed or simplified into pointlessness. Gillen's argument is nothing but a strawman.
I think it really matters whether the game developers are going to be replaced by Activision or not, as a decrease in quality might spark some anger.
Are you kidding? I'm more worried about Blizzard decreasing the quality of Activision's games. Blizzard is probably the most overrated video-game company at present. Outside of Starcraft, it hasn't made a good game since The Lost Vikings II.
I think that Sony only started making good games after the PS2 had been out for a while.
Aside from Gran Turismo and maybe a couple of other games I'm forgetting, this is true. But it's a moot point since the PS2 has been out for seven years now.
Second party is different, as it's not that obvious who their second party developers are.
That's a problem with second-party developers in general. Nintendo's Mario Party games, for example, are done by Hudson Soft, a subsidiary of Konami and therefore not really a second party. Most people would say that Mario Party is a second-party game, however, due to the license.
Microsoft and Sony are not known for having great 1st party titles and Nintendo is.
"are not known for having" != "don't have"
Sony certainly has a wide variety of well-respected first- and second-party franchises; the fact that many people don't realize that Sony is responsible for them is irrelevant in terms of whether or not Sony is a good game-maker. As for Microsoft, it doesn't have many first-party games worth noting, but it does have XBox Live, which is just as important to modern console gaming in its own way.
But where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars. I don't see any flying cars. Why? Why? Why. Because billions of people all over the world can work together on the Web 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You don't need flying cars, but you will need a different kind of software.
After the judge sides with the plaintiff, he'll take a printout of the sentence "any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of the pictures and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is prohibited" and shove it up Bud Selig's ass.
Nice how you conveniently forget to mention that Nintendo has never before had lower than 90% marketshare in the entire history of portable video-gaming. In that light, the PSP is not "just a me-too player."
Factor 5 itself basically admits this in their "Mastering the Beast" video. To quote one of the developers:
"We got the controller, it's great, new hardware! Everyone huddles around the desk and looks at it... So the first thing we did is just take the controller and use the tilt as a replacement for the joystick--we tilt left, we tilt right--and everyone tried it and it's like, 'This is crap. I don't want to play this.'"
But instead of just doing the logical thing of scrapping the idea of making Lair controllable only by motion sensors, they "try a little bit" and convince themselves that it doesn't really suck that bad. Watch it yourself if you don't believe me.
Slashdot Mirror
The Wii isn't relying only on the remote, but also on the new direction that Nintendo is taking with it compared to past video game consoles.
Which is centered around the remote control. Without the Wiimote, the Wii would just be a rehash of the last two generations, and all of the commercials and party games wouldn't make a difference.
Rob
Game developers care about overall sales and that is what they will look at.
Game developers care about the overall sales of their games, yes. Sure there will be third parties that see the marketshare of the Wii and decide to make games for it; that's already happening. But what will happen afterwards is that these third parties will see that their games aren't selling very well despite the marketshare, so they'll either withdraw from the Wii market or put out shovelware for it.
Umm, you do know Apple was selling Fairplay encoded AAC files that for a long time only played on iPods, right?
I don't see what that has to do with what I said. iPods were always capable of playing vanilla MP3s, right? People can buy AACs if they want to, but they don't have to.
When the total number of people buying consoles is way up, then the market for consoles has grown.
I don't care about the market for consoles. Consoles are just hunks of silicon and plastic. I care about the market for games. Someone who buys a Wii because of the hype isn't necessarily interested in all of the games that are out for it, and considering the number of people that seem content with Wii Sports, it's not a good assumption to make.
Rob
I don't think the business model for casual PC games is workable on consoles. PopCap and other companies can spam games because they don't have to pay for specialized development kits, licensing, and distribution agreements on the consoles' online networks*, which are big hurdles for developers that make their money based on volume instead of per-unit profit margins. Consoles allow for big hits like Geometry Wars, but you're not going to see the vast number of games that you do on the PC.
*Though PopCap does choose to distribute on Steam, which seems to be working out for them pretty well.
Rob
This is what people are getting worked up over, up to the point where the summary blatantly lies about what they said? Seriously?
Rob
3) Charge monthly. This would reduce the amount of transactions that are below a certain amount, especially since a lot of people who are interested in buying things are already paying for XBox Live access anyway.
Rob
Ahh but everyone doesn't like to listen to music
Well yeah, there are a few weird people who don't like music, but they're not a significant portion of the population.
more specifically, not everyone wants to invest money to have a large selection of music on a portable device
Considering how well the Walkman did, though, there sure are a lot of people who do.
we do know that a significant portion of the population likes to play games
Games, yes. Video games are substantially different from other types of games, however, and waggle isn't going to change that.
The "attachment rate" of games is always likely to be low
The attachment rates for the other two systems in this generation are quite a bit higher, for the record, especially in terms of third-party games.
When you open the market to more casual users, they devote fewer resources to the use of the device, be it an MP3 player or a gaming console. This could be troubling for the viability of the console in the market if Nintendo relied upon game sales to make a proit, but they don't; they actually make money on each console sold so it is not like selling lots of onsoles and few games will hurt them financially as it would Sony or MS.
No, but it will hurt their reputation with game developers, which is a huge long-term problem. The reason why it's not a problem for the iPod to have a low attachment rate is because an MP3 will work on any MP3 player; music sales won't be affected because hardcore consumers are buying the same commodity as casual ones. A Wii game, on the other hand, will only work on the Wii, so if people don't buy games for it, developers will make games for other systems instead.
The only really troubling statistic for Nintendo would be if a large percentage of users bought Wii intending to use it for their own purposes, then resold it without the intention to repurchase a new one in the future.
That does appear to be happening, if you look on eBay.
Even if sales slow down drastically, it has already succeeded in opening up the market and changing the way the "game" is played.
You can't use sales of video game consoles and say that the market is opening up. Consoles are meaningless; it's the games themselves that are important. Not to mention the fact that the Wii has only sold 15 million units anyway, which is hardly a massive number.
Rob
What is Gamecock? What did they say? What sucked, the game or the award show? Who cares about anything that happens at the VGAs anyway?
Rob
My point is that the iPod wasn't relying on an unproven concept to do well like the Wii is. The iPod didn't rely on its clickwheel to sell, but the Wii is relying on its remote control.
Rob
The problem with the analogy is that we already know that everyone likes to listen to music, so it's hardly surprising that an MP3 player that was more accessible to the general consumer did well. We don't know that everyone likes to play video games, though. And considering the low attachment rate that the Wii has, it's still an open question.
Rob
4) Don't have a point system. Where did people get the idea that you have to have a point system for online transactions? Just charge people whatever the item is worth and you won't have "people buying 1 point."
Rob
I wouldn't say MP3 players were a proven concept when the iPod came out. They existed, but they weren't at all popular.
Depends on what you mean by "popular." In terms of pure numbers, the iPod itself wasn't all that popular for nearly three years after the first one was released. In terms of sales expectations, however, MP3 players have been commercially successful since the first one was released in 1998. In fact, the second MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300, was considered a smash hit and even spurred the RIAA into suing the company over piracy concerns.
Rob
The PlayStation Store has a number of items for sale at $1, and it doesn't use a stupid points system. This might be because Sony actually cares about customer satisfaction more than a tiny profit, or at least wants to appear to.
Rob
The Wii has only been out for a year. Considering the constant supply shortages, that's not been enough time for most of the people trying to get one to figure out if they really like it or if they were just hyped into getting it. Also, the MP3 player was already a proven concept by the time the iPod came out, while waggle wasn't.
Rob
But 'easier' doesn't have anything to with it being 'dumber,'
That may or may not be the case, but it's irrelevant since when people talk about the game being dumber, it's not just a case of it being easier. I don't know if this is true with Bioshock (but according to a lot of people who've played it, it is), but I know that other "consolified" games, like Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3, weren't just made easier, but had many of the things that made them interesting removed or simplified into pointlessness. Gillen's argument is nothing but a strawman.
Rob
The Steam version also has these updates, along with the retail PC version, I imagine.
Rob
Hello, Blizzard fanboys!
Rob
I think it really matters whether the game developers are going to be replaced by Activision or not, as a decrease in quality might spark some anger.
Are you kidding? I'm more worried about Blizzard decreasing the quality of Activision's games. Blizzard is probably the most overrated video-game company at present. Outside of Starcraft, it hasn't made a good game since The Lost Vikings II.
Rob
I think that Sony only started making good games after the PS2 had been out for a while.
Aside from Gran Turismo and maybe a couple of other games I'm forgetting, this is true. But it's a moot point since the PS2 has been out for seven years now.
Second party is different, as it's not that obvious who their second party developers are.
That's a problem with second-party developers in general. Nintendo's Mario Party games, for example, are done by Hudson Soft, a subsidiary of Konami and therefore not really a second party. Most people would say that Mario Party is a second-party game, however, due to the license.
Rob
Deus Ex - Warren Spector = don't really care. Especially not enough to read another pretentious article by that anal wart Kieron Gillen.
Rob
Microsoft and Sony are not known for having great 1st party titles and Nintendo is.
"are not known for having" != "don't have"
Sony certainly has a wide variety of well-respected first- and second-party franchises; the fact that many people don't realize that Sony is responsible for them is irrelevant in terms of whether or not Sony is a good game-maker. As for Microsoft, it doesn't have many first-party games worth noting, but it does have XBox Live, which is just as important to modern console gaming in its own way.
Rob
But where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars. I don't see any flying cars. Why? Why? Why. Because billions of people all over the world can work together on the Web 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You don't need flying cars, but you will need a different kind of software.
It's a different kind of world; you need a different kind of software.
Rob
After the judge sides with the plaintiff, he'll take a printout of the sentence "any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of the pictures and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is prohibited" and shove it up Bud Selig's ass.
At least, that's what'll happen in my dreams.
Rob
Nice how you conveniently forget to mention that Nintendo has never before had lower than 90% marketshare in the entire history of portable video-gaming. In that light, the PSP is not "just a me-too player."
Rob
This post would've made sense if it had been made fifteen years ago.
For the record, I agree with your reasoning, but obviously a lot of people don't.
Rob
Factor 5 itself basically admits this in their "Mastering the Beast" video. To quote one of the developers:
"We got the controller, it's great, new hardware! Everyone huddles around the desk and looks at it... So the first thing we did is just take the controller and use the tilt as a replacement for the joystick--we tilt left, we tilt right--and everyone tried it and it's like, 'This is crap. I don't want to play this.'"
But instead of just doing the logical thing of scrapping the idea of making Lair controllable only by motion sensors, they "try a little bit" and convince themselves that it doesn't really suck that bad. Watch it yourself if you don't believe me.
Rob