Sunday 14 October 2012

The New Cycle Begins

As I've said on numerous occasions, the PS4 and Xbox 720 will at least be announced by this time next year. In fact, developers have had a long time to work on them. I've been told that dev kits for the 720 have been in developers hands for 2 years.

With the rise of Kickstarter and the news surrounding big name developers leaving, things are changing, and just at an interesting time.

Cliffy B left Epic games last month


We've seen big name developers releasing below par games which can be attributed to publisher pressures. 
Take Rare for example. This console generation has seen them develop AAA titles to releasing Kinect party games. All that talent that made Rare so successful have gone and are working for other developers or going it alone.

What about Peter Molyneux? Did Microsoft force Lionhead into a certain direction which forced Peter to leave? I think developers are starting to realise that this is time for a fresh start, just as the new console generation starts.

I believe that in the next few years, you will see new companies sprouting up ready to unleash innovative titles and possibly be bought up by the bigger publishers. The new cycle begins.

Thursday 20 September 2012

Why the Wii U price is spot on, for now.

The price I'm taking is from the US confirmed price for the black Wii U: $350.

I am not counting the cheaper 8gb white model because Nintendo as with other companies, release a lesser SKU to try and highlight the more expensive SKU's value. For example, why buy the white Wii U for $300, when, for $50 dollars extra, you can have the better model. It's a simple marketing trick that has been used for a while now.

Lets breakdown the cost. Bare in mind these figures are not 100% accurate. 

  • $100 dollars for the controller 
  • $250 for the actual console










The black $350 Wii U




As of today, the 250gb Xbox 360 will set you back $250 and the 160gb Ps3, another $250.



Now considering the Wii U is slightly more powerful, you can see that the actual price isn't that dear. The console itself is would cost the same as the 360 and Ps3, if it not for their tablet. Nintendo have timed it perfectly. They can benefit from having the most powerful console for at least a year. 

The problem arises when Sony and Microsoft release their new consoles. These consoles will have been announced by this time next year and will be considerably more powerful than the Wii U. Obviously, the price point for these will be higher than $250, try $400-500 for both. The Wii U will be out-dated by then, but as seen with the original Wii, the technology doesn't have to be the best, as long as it captures the users imagination, in the Wii's case, the motion controller.. Nintendo have tried to do this with the new tablet but in my opinion this is not enough.

The price point for me, is perfect. The Wii U will sell well for at least a year. It may start to struggle as the other next-gen consoles come out, but they will be positioned as the cheaper less sophisticated console.

This worked for the Wii and it may just work for the Wii U.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Why Sony left Vita at E3

A lot of the industry folk, especially Vita owners, where a bit miffed that Vita had such a large absence at E3. In my opinion there is a clear reason for this.

1. Sony followed MS lead by delaying the announcement of their new console. Therefore, their focus was to push that last bit of PS3 sales. This meant that they had to be seen to promote the PS3 as a console that still had life in it.

2. Gamescom proved this as much. The Vita was prominent in Sony's Gamescom presser. Gamescom creates much less public awareness compared to E3, so this was a perfect place to show it.

So to conclude, Sony did not react to the bad press about the Vita no show at E3. They had to go all out and promote the PS3 then. Gamescom was always going to be the place where Vita shone.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

How to solve a problem like piracy?

An article I wrote in August 2010 looking at Video Game piracy. I hope to review this topic soon and thought it would be interesting to see my views back then.


Video game piracy is a beast that the industry just cannot tame. Many different techniques have been implemented to try and tackle this problem yet none seem to work. With pirated video games becoming more easily accessible by the day, it poses a massive hurdle for the industry and one that the industry is determined to crack. This article aims to examine the ways in which the video game industry tries to combat piracy and if those methods are effective.

Don't Punish Us!
The main thing that Video game publishers and developers must realise is that in their attempts to combat piracy they must punish the pirate without punishing the consumer. Many companies incorporated anti-piracy software onto the install disks. Consumers were getting the sense that they were being punished for what the pirates do. EA games tried to do this with the game 'Spore', they added DRM software onto the disk. It backfired and the game went on to be one of the most pirated games ever. It turned out that pirates could bypass this software protection while consumers were forced to live with it. Publishers therefore must reward the consumer for purchasing the game this can be done in many ways. They could offer money off the sequel of that game when it comes out, offer free downloadable content or offer free merchandise with every order. One of the main reasons for piracy is that people demand more for their money. More and more games are being released per year and the consumer only has a certain amount of money available to spend on video games. By offering a better value proposition the consumer is more likely to purchase the game rather than pirate the software. Punishing the pirates can be done through numerous ways but the traditional way of fining the odd pirate just does not work. Video games must play to their strengths; just recently EA games unveiled 'Online pass' which allows the consumer to enter a code to access the online play, a code is given to anybody who buys a new copy of the game. The importance of this is that people who pirate games will not be able to use one of the most important features in today's games, online play. Of course people could still pirate these games and use the online feature by only paying $10 to acquire a code; this will allow publishers to get extra income from pirates who would not consider paying for any part of the game. As another bonus Ea games will receive extra income from the used games market. Other publishers such as Activision must take note, Call of duty is famous for its online experience. If they can utilise this same method you will see people purchasing the game rather than pirating it so that they can play online.

Quality is key!
Another way to combat piracy is to simply make a good quality game with increased longevity. As stated earlier consumers will not see the value of paying full price for a game that might be great but only lasts 10-12 hours. By making a game of good quality and longevity the consumer is going to see better value and will be more likely to buy the game. If the individual were to evaluate a video game and realise it was not worth their money they are more likely to pirate the game instead of before when they would not buy it and consequently never play it, this is due to the convenience and easiness of pirating in modern times.

Platforms
Another point to consider for developers is which bit of hardware they should develop for. The Sony Playsation 3 is notoriously hard to crack and therefore pirated games can't be used on that system. On the other hand, the Xbox 360 and the Wii can be cracked by any individual who has access to the internet and a decent guide on how to crack the system. The PC needs no cracking at all and has become the pirate's choice when choosing to pirate a game. Developers should work with these hardware companies to make sure that they are hard to crack or they could look at just developing solely on the playstation 3 as long as this trade off is a viable one.

Use brand communities.
The final point that could help combat piracy is to become a publisher or developer that listens to the community. By having a community that respects the organisation the chances are they are more likely to buy the game and discourage piracy. Ways companies can do this is by regularly communicating with people on forums, listen to their key consumers and by offering incentives. These incentives can be access to Beta's or money off codes for being a member of the organisations forums or websites. More people will pirate a game if they feel the developer or publisher disregard the consumer's desires or neglect them altogether. The ability to keep connected with their key audience is a very powerful tool and should be considered by publishers who have a poor relationship with their consumers. The knock on effect could lead to greater sales and thus profit margins. If all else fails and piracy is still too high you could ask consumers what they want to pay for that game. 'World of goo' developer's 2D boy allowed consumers to name their price when purchasing 'World of goo. Although a lot of people chose to pay one penny for the game it was still a huge success. It could be said that would be pirates who had a chance to pay what they liked for the game would do so instead of pirating it.
In conclusion, there really is no sure fire way of stopping piracy. The old method of fining people randomly for downloading Illegal software is outdated and does not work. Publishers have to be creative and think outside the box, with people having less disposable income more and more will turn to piracy as a way of fulfilling their gaming desires. By using some of the methods stated in this article developers and publishers could start to see piracy for their game falling and their profits rising.

Friday 13 July 2012

Bridging the gap between Video Games and Movies Part 2


This article aims to revisit how the gap is narrowing between video games and movies. A lot has happened since the last article on this subject. Recent releases and announcements further confirms the fact that video games can create the same emotional attachment and storytelling that movies have.

Storytelling

Storytelling in video games has a long way to go. As I said in the previous article, Video Games often don’t have a story that compels as say a Scorcese film does. There still is a focus on graphics and gameplay over storytelling. However, in recent months you can start to see how smaller games are starting to take the baton and run with it. To the moon is more an interactive story than a video game. In fact, I believe that the best stories in video games have occurred when gameplay is stripped down to the bare minimum. To the moon depicts two scientists who re-visit  an old mans memories in order to fulfil his dream, going to the moon. It has been critically praised for its emotional storytelling and how it  engages the user in the story. For a personal point of view, it was by far the most immersive story in a video game I have ever witnessed.













Think video games couldn't make your cry? To the moon might just change that.




The Walking Dead

Telltale have recently released the first two episodes of the walking dead video game. The game is a point and click adventure but with quick time events. Again, most traditional gamers would not classify this a typical video game and more of an interactive story. Telltale's execution of this series has so far been superb. As a fan of the TV series and also the games, the game tells a superior story simply because the gameplay supplements the story. For example, you may be in dialogue with a fellow survivor and a zombie might quickly disturb your dialogue and start attacking your friend. By acting quickly and using quicktime events, you can kill the zombie and save your friend. This is where I feel that video game storytelling can find its niche. I don’t think you will ever see a first person shooter that can have a fully immersive story in the same way a more slow paced adventure can. Don’t get me wrong, the traditional puzzle game and shooter might have a good story, but the adventure genre really takes storytelling to another level.













The walking dead combines storytelling and quicktime events to great effect.

Further celebrity involvement.

As a said in the previous article, expect to see more celebrities star in video games, especially as graphics and motion recording improves. At this years E3, Ellen Page was announced as the lead character in the video game ‘Beyond: Two Souls’. Having high calibre celebrities will again, help story telling and immersion as their likeness is put in the game. Furthermore, it will help bring video games in to a more mass market. Expect to see more A-list actors take part in video games when the next generation of consoles are released.













A-list actor Ellen Page will star in the new video game 'Beyond: two souls' 

So there you have it. Since my last article we have seen storytelling in video games improving to a significant extent. There still needs to be one breakthrough game to appeal for the general public to see that video games has the potential to tell stories to the same extent that movies do. That future in my opinion is not that far off. 

Thursday 7 June 2012

Coming Soon:

Why the gap between video games and movies is closing (part 2)

Why Nintendo may want to worry about the sales of the Wii U.

Stay tuned!

Monday 26 March 2012

Why GAME has only got its self to blame

After a long absence I felt it necessary to share my views on the recent administration of GAME. Quite simply, they had it coming for a long while now. 5-10 years ago consumers were happy to shop in-store and pay a premium price. However, with internet stores such as Play.com and ShopTo.net offering fast delivery and cheaper games, it makes you wonder why GAME failed to properly catch up with their competitors.



Failure to Innovate

If companies do not innovate they will simply fail. Look at Blockbuster for example. They were the leading video game rental service until companies such as Netflix came and made the industry better for consumers. GAME were always playing catch-up. Whilst the high street was floundering, online stores flourished. Whilst GAME did have an online store, their prices were just not competitive enough. Consumers were not willing to pay for £10 extra for a game when they can simply purchase it online. This leads me on to the next point.

Digital Download

Another change in the industry GAME did not address was that consumers were more willing to digitally download their games. Previously, consumers wanted that hard copy in their hand due to trust issues and slow internet speeds. With companies such as as Steam offering a global service, consumers have quickly turning to digital downloads for their next game. Steam and other such providers offer significantly cheaper prices than GAME and more often than not, a wider selection. Consumers are starting to become more aware of the space video games take up on their shelfs so digital download seemed a perfect option.

Emergent Themes

GAME certainly stuck with their strategy but failed to realise the emergent themes in the video game market. Simply conducting market research would have made them aware that the more economically aware consumer was not willing to pay top dollar for video games when there are cheaper alternatives. GAME should have altered their strategy to scale down the number of high street stores and focus on an online store that offers digital downloads and physical copies. Many people saw GAME’s demise coming, unfortunately they did not.