How Nintendo Will Save the Videogame Industry

Man did I get a lot of flack when I openly suggested that the Wii was the only “true” next-gen console. Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks so…

How Nintendo Will Save the Videogame Industry
Will Wii single-handedly save the industry? As difficult as it may be to swallow, it very well could. The Nintendo Wii isn’t the only system you’ll want to own in this generation; we’ve gotten too used to our shooters and gore and adult-themed games to go without an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. But without the Wii in the next-gen picture, the industry could very well miss out on the next generation of gamers. The hardware manufacturers and software creators seemed so focused on the technical aspects of the term “next generation” that they’re missing out on the real next generation: the next generation of gamers.

And one more.

Should video games be more like TV shows?

Luke O’Brian over at Slate talks about episodic gaming:

Should video games be more like TV shows?
I’m old now, and I’ve got to work and pay bills. I’m not alone. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average gamer is now 33 years old, an age at which marathon gaming sessions are (usually) impossible. But today’s games are deeper and more complex than ever. Some can take 40So, how should game companies appeal to older players? And what should aging gamers do to get their fix without having to play 40 hours a week? One possible answer is episodic gaming.

The idea behind episodic games is to release content in small batches, like episodes of a TV show. This concept has been around for a decade, but every attempt so far has flopped.

I hear you Luke. We’re all getting old! It is my old-person opinion that most new games these days tend to narrow the market, focusing on more and more hard-core dynamics and game players. It’s a sort of tail-eating conundrum for game publishers and developers. They’ve created a customer who is forever seeking a more powerful drug – a continuation of game concepts that further distill, streamline, and improve on the original high. Eventually Namco will have to release “Ridge Racer” in an intravenous drip.

While this is a good thing for the core gamer, I feel this narrowing of focus works to limit the growth of the gamer demographic as a whole. Bill Gates was once quoted as saying, “If General Motors had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.” I’d say that if GM had “kept up” with technology like the gaming industry has, we would all be driving $60 cars that exploded the moment you got behind the wheel – unless of course you were “hard core”.

But you can’t really blame publishers. Budgets increase. Schedules grow longer. The stakes get higher. In a difficult market you can lose it all trying to invent “New Coke”, but sticking with “Classic” is a pretty safe bet. What’s an industry to do?

Enter episodic gaming. Smaller games, shorter productions, and lower budgets. Possibly the solution aging gamers have been looking for?

If developers want to win big with episodic gaming, they need to do more than merely dice up pre-existing genres. They need to think episodically from the start. In short, they need to become more like TV producers.

Indeedily.
Recent big-budget stabs at episodic games have met with so-so success. Both Valve’s “Half-Life Episode 1” and Ritual’s “Sin – Episodes” both tried to bridge the gap between a full-blown “feature” (to borrow a film term) game and a television-style episodic game. From what I understand, in both cases, the teams simply built “too much”. Ritual’s production lasted 12+ months, yielding 5+ hours of game play. Consumers will have to wait another 6+ months before a new episode is released.

To me, these early attempts look like they tried, but didn’t go far enough to embrace the true nature of episodic. I sense that for consumers to really connect with episodic game content the game size, price, and frequency of release will all have to come down to an equivalent of grabbing an episode of “South Park” from iTunes at 1.99 every week.

Such as…

October 17th release of Sam & Max: Season 1 on GameTap
The first episode of Sam & Max, the episodic adventure game, will debut on GameTap on October 17th, followed by the international release on November 1st. After the initial episode, Telltale will release one new episode per month for five months, starting in December and running through April. More details on the game’s release and price structure can be found in our recent news item.

Cool! Will be interesting to see where this one goes.

Back in the PRC

After a 10 day trip to the US I’m now back in Hong Kong. The primary focus of the trip was to meet with potential clients for Vykarian, the Chinese art outsourcing venture. Xin and I visited 5 cities in 10 days, taking an average of 6 meetings per day. I flew from Hong Kong, through Narita, into Los Angeles. From there we visited Austin, Dallas, Seattle, and San Francisco. Xin also visited San Diego.

From a sales perspective the trip was a huge success. The thing that amazed me the most was how much the industry has shifted towards outsourcing in the past two years. At almost every studio we visited we were introduced to someone holding a title such as “Outsourcing Manager” or “Outsourcing Director”. In the company’s previous incarnation Xin spent a lot of time explaining how outsourcing could increase game quality and help scheduling. Now days it seems everyone simply gets it. No longer is it a question of “why” but “how”.

I also spent time on this trip meeting with potential technology suppliers for the new game studio in Shanghai. We checked out various engine technologies, talked with studios that are working on or have shipped episodic games, and got a general feel for the industry’s tech usage. Man, there a lot of shops using Unreal 3!

Across the board we saw some really cool games being produced. I was impressed by the variety and originality of the titles in production. But I had to laugh at the number of times I heard the line “We’re working on combining 1st person dynamics shooter with RPG elements.” I think everyone’s reading the same market reports.

We saw a lot of familiar faces and visited some pretty awesome companies. My two favorites were probably Valve and Nintendo. The sheer cool-factor at Valve has to be experienced in order to be understood. There is a palpable sense of cutting edge culture in the place – from the organization of the development teams, to the technology, and the team members themselves, i.e., “That guy animated Golem.” !! Nintendo’s culture is a little less visible, but the same sense of dedication to innovation is clear. Walking through their massive on-site museum gave me pause… The time I’ve spent playing the products from this company, yikes.

Valve Office Nintendo Museum

There are a lot of interesting trends emerging across the industry, from episodic games, to in-game advertising, mini-MMOs, console mini-games, and a clear focus on trying to break out of the sequel-me-too rut. All in all, I think gamers have a lot to look forward to in the coming years. I certainly wrapped up the trip feeling inspired and hopeful.

At least I feel that way about the games industry. It seems that while I was away… the US turned into a frikken police state! I had my shaving cream confiscated in LA because my zip-lock bag was the “wrong size”. Was YELLED at about my laptop not being out of the bag in Austin. Had my cleaning liquids (shampoos, body soaps) removed from me in Dallas – more zip-lock malfunction. Never mind that the airport security line now looks like the entrance to a mass orgy – passengers must remove all extraneous items of clothing as well as shoes. The current system adopts the “guilty until proven innocent” mentality – we’re all terrorists now. I’ve never felt more un-American in my life. My tax dollars pay for this?!

id freedom

The irony of this all is that upon returning to Hong Kong (A “Special Administrative Region” of the communist People’s Republic of China) I was issued a customs waiver. This waiver allows me to enter and exit the country through an digital customs channel. Swipe your digital ID card, press your thumb to the scanner, and presto, you’re through customs. The people working the X-ray machines treat you with respect and actually act as if they work for you. Not as if you are their prisoner. Viva la difference.

But then, the Chinese are more interested in the smooth flow of business than they are in false threats used to control their populations. Like I’ve said before, this is probably due to the fact that they already exercise 100% “control” over their population. Let’s just hope that after King George gets all the power he’s after he’ll let us go back to feeling like we’re free… even if we’re not.

Thought: Someone should market bottled water branded “Freedom”. I’d like to see the TSA start confiscating everyone’s “Freedom”… but they’d probably make that sort of commentary illegal before it went too far.

Hong Kong to USA

Heading back to the US for the first time in over a year. I can tell because they confiscated my shaving cream at Narita before my connecting flight to Los Angeles. You know – because I might try to hi-jack the plane by … shaving everyone. WTF. I can’t help but think, if you take away everyone’s shaving cream, you won’t be able to distinguish the terrorists by their trademarked Jihad-a-Beards.

Alright, Pokemon just informed me that my connecting flight is ready to board. Land of Freedom, here I come!