Based off of the DS' implementation of friend codes, you can play with random people (and in the case of Clubhouse Games it removes the drawing/chat and instead just lets you pick standard questions/comments as well). The only thing friend codes are for is for playing with your friends, not making it so you cannot play with anyone else.
Of course, you can select to play with only those who you are friends with, but that does not prohibit you from being randomly matched up with an opponent who you have not exchanged codes with.
The only game that I know of that you had to have a friend code for was Animal Crossing, and that merely because the average person wouldn't want random visitors trashing their towns.
Games that allow random play:
Mario Kart
Tetris
Clubhouse Games
Metroid Prime Hunters
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more, but those are the ones I have.
Of course, the next big cross-platform game could always be a FPS or some sort of RTS-type game that would work better with the Revolution controller than an analog stick setup.
For that matter, if more developers start making these types of games for next-gen consoles, it's possible that the Revolution version could be the version created first and then the PS3 and 360 versions are just ports with higher res textures/higher poly models. I'd imagine that'd make it a bit easier to go cross-platform instead of then having to try and downgrade the visuals for the Revolution (if it does turn out to be graphically inferior), then just change the controls for looking around/selecting units to work with an analog stick and you'd have a prettier but (most likely) more difficult to use version of the game.
This of course is just speculation, but at least for me I'd probably pick up a cross-platform FPS on the Revolution over the PS3 or 360 if the controller works as well as is being claimed.
No, I don't have time for multiple MMOs, but I would probably go and try most of the current ones for a month each if I could just pay the monthly subscription. However, having to pay the initial $50 or so to try an MMO prevents me from doing so.
If I could try an MMO by just paying the monthly fee for a month I would be much more apt to try a few and find one that I really like.
I'll definitely agree with meeting the user partway, but while Blizzard may have done so in China, it would be nice if they would do something similar over here, especially for a game with a monthly fee.
While I understand they need some sort of monthly fee to pay for the new content and work that always goes on in an MMO, what I think is unjustified is the initial $50 for the game. Personally I'd be much more likely to try multiple MMOs if I could pay for a month, download the client and play, and then unsubscribe if I didn't like it.
Of course, if you paid $50 for the game you're probably more likely to stay onboard for a while so you feel like you got your money's worth even if you don't enjoy the game as much as you thought you would, but I suspect overall companies would make more money if there wasn't the initial $50 barrier to get into a game that has a monthly fee. And yes, I realize $50 isn't that much, but I'd much rather just legally download the game and pay monthly than have that startup cost.
And I would just like to point out that this applies to most any game with a monthly fee. I have no problem paying $50 for Guild Wars, since I am not paying them anything beyond that to play. But for games with a monthly fee, having to still pay the full $50 initially seems rather high.
"It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas. Perhaps there is no longer any need for them."
It is quite sad how little chance small independent developers really have in today's game industry, however I don't think many would agree with saying that there's no need for them. Actually, having seen Evil Genius in Wal-Mart, it makes me wonder what the definition of a small independent developer is these days.
Now what I'd consider small independent developers would be those responsible for games like Gish, Alien Hominid, or Darwinia.
And, from what I heard Evil Genius was a great idea that suffered from some serious issues later on, such as trying to keep track of what your minions were doing around the world. I guess when you start working out a publishing deal even small independent developers can easily get pushed into completing and selling something that isn't necessarily 'done' in their eyes.
Slashdot Mirror
Based off of the DS' implementation of friend codes, you can play with random people (and in the case of Clubhouse Games it removes the drawing/chat and instead just lets you pick standard questions/comments as well). The only thing friend codes are for is for playing with your friends, not making it so you cannot play with anyone else.
Of course, you can select to play with only those who you are friends with, but that does not prohibit you from being randomly matched up with an opponent who you have not exchanged codes with.
The only game that I know of that you had to have a friend code for was Animal Crossing, and that merely because the average person wouldn't want random visitors trashing their towns.
Games that allow random play:
Mario Kart
Tetris
Clubhouse Games
Metroid Prime Hunters
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more, but those are the ones I have.
Of course, the next big cross-platform game could always be a FPS or some sort of RTS-type game that would work better with the Revolution controller than an analog stick setup.
For that matter, if more developers start making these types of games for next-gen consoles, it's possible that the Revolution version could be the version created first and then the PS3 and 360 versions are just ports with higher res textures/higher poly models. I'd imagine that'd make it a bit easier to go cross-platform instead of then having to try and downgrade the visuals for the Revolution (if it does turn out to be graphically inferior), then just change the controls for looking around/selecting units to work with an analog stick and you'd have a prettier but (most likely) more difficult to use version of the game.
This of course is just speculation, but at least for me I'd probably pick up a cross-platform FPS on the Revolution over the PS3 or 360 if the controller works as well as is being claimed.
No, I don't have time for multiple MMOs, but I would probably go and try most of the current ones for a month each if I could just pay the monthly subscription. However, having to pay the initial $50 or so to try an MMO prevents me from doing so.
If I could try an MMO by just paying the monthly fee for a month I would be much more apt to try a few and find one that I really like.
I'll definitely agree with meeting the user partway, but while Blizzard may have done so in China, it would be nice if they would do something similar over here, especially for a game with a monthly fee.
While I understand they need some sort of monthly fee to pay for the new content and work that always goes on in an MMO, what I think is unjustified is the initial $50 for the game. Personally I'd be much more likely to try multiple MMOs if I could pay for a month, download the client and play, and then unsubscribe if I didn't like it.
Of course, if you paid $50 for the game you're probably more likely to stay onboard for a while so you feel like you got your money's worth even if you don't enjoy the game as much as you thought you would, but I suspect overall companies would make more money if there wasn't the initial $50 barrier to get into a game that has a monthly fee. And yes, I realize $50 isn't that much, but I'd much rather just legally download the game and pay monthly than have that startup cost.
And I would just like to point out that this applies to most any game with a monthly fee. I have no problem paying $50 for Guild Wars, since I am not paying them anything beyond that to play. But for games with a monthly fee, having to still pay the full $50 initially seems rather high.
Gah, forgot to put the html tags in...fear the run-on sentence I suppose.
"It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas. Perhaps there is no longer any need for them." It is quite sad how little chance small independent developers really have in today's game industry, however I don't think many would agree with saying that there's no need for them. Actually, having seen Evil Genius in Wal-Mart, it makes me wonder what the definition of a small independent developer is these days. Now what I'd consider small independent developers would be those responsible for games like Gish, Alien Hominid, or Darwinia. And, from what I heard Evil Genius was a great idea that suffered from some serious issues later on, such as trying to keep track of what your minions were doing around the world. I guess when you start working out a publishing deal even small independent developers can easily get pushed into completing and selling something that isn't necessarily 'done' in their eyes.