Messages

126

General Gaming / Re: Bioshock Infinite

« on: May 11, 2012, 12:10:11 AM »

That is a great point about the shoe-horned multiplayer but wow 4 extra months for it.
The hope would be then that Irrational games can be trusted to implement a quality multi mode after learning from the previous development.

127

General Gaming / Re: Microsoft's New Pricing Model

« on: May 10, 2012, 03:57:19 AM »

Well MSRP pricing on an arcade/kinect xbox 360 is $299 and Xbox live for two years is $120 so $420 total.
Vs $99 plus an monthly fee of $15 for 24 months (making the total $460)  which means you'll save yourself mearly $40 for paying in full up front?  Of course there's discounts and whatnot to consider but still for people short on cash this might be the deal breaker.

Have to wait and see how consumers take to this. 

Hey maybe its opportunity cost...that money saved upfront can be used to buy Facebook stock or something...
Microsoft is actually targeting a very savvy customer segment! :p

128

General Gaming / Re: Bioshock Infinite

« on: May 10, 2012, 03:53:45 AM »

and I'm speculating that it's for Wii U support.....

When delays are incurred it also means more cash pouring out of the publisher's wallet to finance the extended development. Not a happy thing at all for a publisher standpoint and therefore I imagine securing that additional funding is like pulling teeth. Coupled with the added cost of producing a WiiU SKU (common assets but still considerable labour demands on top of getting to grips and optimizing for new hardware) I have to think its not a great business move at this time, though it would be a popular news clip for Nintendo!
With Nintendo projecting only modest fiscal year WiiU sales (combined 10.5 million worldwide  for Wii and WiiU) by the time of infinite's revised release date, if a version of Bioshock does come I think it would be later rather than sooner...

129

General Gaming / Re: Microsoft's New Pricing Model

« on: May 08, 2012, 05:37:54 AM »

After reflecting on this surprising announcement, though I doubt it will make any large splash in the market at this point in the product's life cycle,  I have to say it is a good play on MS' part. This kind of subsidization model is worth trying in the case there is a sizable segment of the potential userbase for whom would like to use the Live service but couldn't justify the upfront cost of the hardware: it lowers the barrier of entry.


As others here have already mentioned, this could make for a good study of the market specifically allowing MS to gauge if their is a subsidization play they could make with the next "Durango" XBox. The ramifications could be as wide spread as convincing MS to improve the hardware beyond what they may be willing under the current console development model, if they felt a large enough base of customers would be willing to sign two-year high margin Live service contracts.
That is a far-fetched statement tho, I admit!


On a somewhat related note, following the link in the OP, I see that the deal is redeemable in local Microsoft Stores only? I did not know they still had those...I imagine there cannot be many?

130

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 289: S.O.P.H.I.A. on the Sauce

« on: May 08, 2012, 04:58:01 AM »

I figure that Nintendo, like other game publishers, are more than willing to serialize a money-maker. Mario Party is a very interesting test case: glancing over the series rough performance over its iterations (via vgchartz, not perfect, I know) Nintendo was pushing out product annually on the GameCube, despite waning critical reception. The reason is as any would guess, the games sold very well and the development budget was likely relatively spartan compared to most of Nintendo's 'Cube efforts. With ROI like that, and remembering Nintendo's platform struggles during those times, who could blame 'em for capitalizing on what the public apparently wanted anyway?
If anything, I am now very surprised that they have only thrown 2 Mario Parties on the Wii...number 8 (released 2007) leveraged that wide "casual" Wii userbase for some spectacular sales! This would indeed support an argument that Nintendo is "better" than many of their 3rd parties when it comes to milking a series. "Better" sure is subjective tho; If it were me running Nintendo, I would have wanted at least one other New Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. (30 million presumably happy customers would likely be quite receptive...but Nintendo's unfortunate failures to adequately support their successful platform is another topic.)

Game companies that leverage a popular property with multiple sustaining releases is the logical tact, I don't think there is anything "wrong" with it perse. In fact, I wouldn't mind if they could "milk" a couple OG-style Metroid adventures outta themselves (listening to RFN's Super Metroid spectacular as I type)...a second NSMB for Wii would likely have paid for it and then some.

131

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 289: S.O.P.H.I.A. on the Sauce

« on: May 07, 2012, 10:28:44 AM »

That said, I've yet to have a problem with Nintendo.  I officially think that the release of NSMB2 and NSMBWii U so close together might start calling awesomeness into jeopardy.  However, based on Nintendo's history, they have definitely earned the right to be pronounced innocent until proven guilty!!  To think the opposite would be to neglect history.

Itsa me, Mario Party!

132

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 290: BOMZALDROPPEN

« on: May 07, 2012, 10:23:07 AM »

Yeah, I have not heard enough from the New Guy (gonna have to learn how to pronounce his name) to get a feel for his way of thinking and discussion. With Greg I really appreciated his business-side and strategy minded comments and it really helped to make RFN live up to its "discussion for grown-ups" moniker. He really mixed well with the styles of the other hosts.
New G-man, you got ol' G-man's big shoes to fill! (but big thanks for taking on the responsibility)

133

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 290: BOMZALDROPPEN

« on: May 07, 2012, 06:14:35 AM »

Recently discovering RFN is what brought me to this website and it is this episode that finally gets me posting.
The reason of course is to thank Mr Leahy for this long stream of episodes that have been graced with his dedicated work and voice. I have really appreciated the high quality of the show not just in its worthy banter but in all the production flourishes that have made it a joy to listen to each week.
For any regular listener it's apparent this show is a labour of love for all those involved, so cheers again to this classy Nintendo fan. We are sure going to miss his ever insightful points, tortured love of the beleagured Bills and smooth Britishness but perhaps we can at least cling to the hope that Greg will still be able to visit every so often (let us at least have that, dammit!)

134

TalkBack / Re: Hard Questions for Nintendo

« on: May 07, 2012, 12:17:12 AM »

I wonder if they won't announce individual accounts once they lay out their plans for Nintendo Network. Tying the games to one system would be tolerable IF the games were also downloadable again in the case of a broken system.


You would figure the company has to eventually acknowledge and match what competing platforms are doing for their customers, 2012 sure would be a nice time to start seeing that.

135

Nintendo Gaming / Re: La Mulana cancelled - final nail in the WiiWare coffin?

« on: May 06, 2012, 03:45:19 PM »

There is still one high profile WiiWare game coming one, not exclusive but still high profile. Retro City Rampage.

It could end up cancelled for Wiiware.

Except that the developer has said he will release the WiiWare version no matter what, even knowing that there is a high chance he will take a loss on it. So that is good news.

Good news is relative :\
One of the ideas that make me frown after learning of Nintendo's WiiWare policies was the thought that they may be sitting on some hundreds of thousands of revenue that developers will never see because their game could not cross the threshold. That money is peanuts to an organization the size of Ninty but may be life or death for small developer teams.
I understand that this is the agreement the developer entered into willingly, but it makes me frown nontheless.

136

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Wii U Patents (Universal Remote Functions)

« on: May 06, 2012, 03:39:46 PM »

I'm so glad Nintendo didn't overlook that obvious function of the uMote. Now if you can stream the TV/Cable to the pad that would also be great. Would be useful when you want to watch something with headphones or carry the Sports game to the bathroom/kitchen with you so you don't miss a moment.

As long as there is a Wii U app that provides that content, you can stream it to your U-tab. This means Netflix and Hulu and whatever version of Nintendo Video are near sure-things (and hopefully will be available Day 1) but sports may need a new ESPN or MLB/NFL/NBA app.

On a another note, I remember seeing your post on NeoGAF about Nintendo's past collaborative OS research with Google. Some fork of Android (or Chrome!) on Wii U has been a favorite rumor of mine to ruminate on, thx for all the legwork.

137

General Gaming / Re: Skylanders and the Birdmen.

« on: May 06, 2012, 03:30:55 PM »

Cheers for the sales links, Uncle Bob.
I think it goes without saying that the leaked Rayman trailer gave us a glimpse into Nintendo's strategy to keep (in particular) kids gamin' on their console.
Snarkicism aside however, this would lend a cool extra layer of immersion playing Pokemans and Yugiohs.

138

General Gaming / Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2012

« on: May 06, 2012, 03:25:34 PM »

An in depth look into the death of Free Radical.

I am surprised any games get made, let alone good ones considering how dysfunctional the developer/publisher relationship is.

Thanks for the link.
Indeed, it is likely no coincidence that we see so many recent stories about developers swearing off publisher relationships now that they have self-publishing platforms to release on.

139

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Anyone else just feel like the e-shop is too damn expensive?

« on: May 06, 2012, 03:06:14 PM »

Uncle Bob, you describe an interesting circumstance and in my mind it is illustrative of the current iOS platform in several interesting ways (warning: fun with bullet points imminent)

• First is that the race-to-the-bottom has forced many developers without some well known property to adopt one of a range of free-to-play models. This has served games like Draw Something, Hero Academy and Temple Run very well...but these are certainly few and far between! Achieving that kind of critical mass seems to almost require some form of marketing serendipity on top of a tightly executed and well presented game.

• Second is that the low barrier of entry has caused waves of product to roll in and this has certainly made discover-ability an ongoing problem. iTunes lists are not good enough yet and honest-to-Bob good games are just buried. (Hopefully the developers of a good game earned their money in the first week or two). Sites like Touch Arcade have let me cut through some of the bullcrap...I downloaded personal favorites like Dungeon Raid, Battle for Wesnoth and Bar Oasis thanks to their coverage. But Touch Arcade can't do it all and a lot of what they cover is way out of my range of interest.

• Third is that the iTunes market does indeed cater largely to a casual gaming audience and this has the effect of repelling many customers in the higher-end "core" segment. One of the main reasons here is definitely lack of game sophistication... which may be another way of saying "lack of buttons" :p

• Fourth the attitude of large game publishers wrt mobile platforms is evolving but the current evolution is certainly rather low-end. Your experience with the Skylander's app seems indicative of this...another example would be many of Capcom's offerings (lookin atchu Mega Man), i.e. ports with shoe-horned control schemes. As platforms like iTunes mature I am curious to see if we see a reverse pricing effect or at least a steady segment of viable game productions priced at more consistent levels. Square-Enix would be my prime example here, with original efforts like Chaos Rings. Even their shoe-horn ports seem to reside in relatively more expensive realms (looking at 'Trigger and Tactics).

I would like to reiterate on point number two however...I think many established gamers could find worthy products for their money on mobile, as long as their gaming tastes intersected with genres that play especially friendly with touch screens (i.e. Adventure games, puzzle games, board games, RPG, strategy and action games that need only simple inputs). Discover-ability is not a problem on 3DS as of yet, mainly perhaps because of the size of the library - as of now, any release feels like news!


The main promise of the 3DS to me is its wealth of control options tho, but I am still worried it won't see significant developer interest. I actually hope Nintendo actively courts more of those proven small teams in the mobile space and it does NOT have to be for 3DS versions of their mobile games!


edit: Ninja bullet the Android market puts the iOS' Wild West to shame...it looks chaotic over there and recent news stories suggest an even higher magnitude of piracy...I wonder if Google can (or if it ever wants to) rein it in somehow:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/169124/Sports_Interactive_reveals_Football_Managers_high_piracy_rate_on_Android_.php

140

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Cave Story being remade AGAIN as an eShop game

« on: May 06, 2012, 02:25:53 PM »

One of my favorite gaming experiences, Post SNES (beating Hell guns-a-blazin' with the witches narrative echoing in my head still stands out to me). Nicalis has done a wonderful thing in working with Pixel to bring his charming game to multiple platforms. Their initial go-to-market strategy was a win-win winner...but following this most recent announcement I am also starting to get that milkin' feeling. Maybe this is just residual ill-feelings due to Cave Story 3D, a game that I feel did NOT offer fair value.
I hope this can serve as the ultimate version of Cave Story (all the bonus modes + 3D visuals) and admittedly, if I had a 3DS, it would be a sure purchase.

141

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Anyone else just feel like the e-shop is too damn expensive?

« on: May 06, 2012, 02:08:45 PM »

In this day and age, considering what you can get for the same price on iOS, PSN or Steam, the e-shop is just too damn much.

Greetings all, first post here.
iOS gaming seems to be rapidly redefining our concepts of "value" for software. Your post in some ways describe my own experience: a customer who as recently as 3 years ago didn't much bat an eye at shelling out $30 for a DS game...and if the game was $10-15 hoooo boy whatta deal!
About a year-and-a-half ago however, I got an iPod Touch and then stumbled upon Touch Arcade. Man, did that lead to a lot of games.
The key takeaway for me was that I realized my value-meter shifted...I was doing what you just outlined, lamenting a $30 pricetag. Coincidence or no, my purchases of DS software have plummeted in the last couple years.
There are other factors, of course...my age and ability to settle down with a game, a system at the end of its product life and correspondingly less relevant software being released, less disposable income for games, etc. Nevertheless, that I consciously thought "dang, I don't really feel like shelling out $30....$20...$15(!?) for this game" has been a shocker for me.
I am seeing more and more online opinions from people who have experienced a similar transformation.

My own peculiarities aside, on the topic of 3DS download games in particular, my feeling is that $7-10 dollars for a quality original digital production with good ol' "d-pad n button" controls is still decent value. If the game is largely a port, and the original is cheaper on another platform, I do think "whaaaaaaat" tho! And yeah, I am NOT down with a lot of Nintendo's VC pricing scheme (not to mention catalog choice) but I understand why they set it that way.

Who knows, perhaps increasing iOS traction will force them to reevaluate their pricing on digital storefront policies (like others here, I really hope they give developers more tools to sell and promote their wares)...or maybe their increasingly "core" 3DS customer base will prove resilient with the current value proposition?