Post by: Mario on September 27, 2006, 07:03:01 AM
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The Play History is another new feature offered by the Wii, and refers to the console's ability to keep track of, obviously, what games have been played and for how long. Originally, Iwata himself pitched the "Outlandish suggestion" of offering parents the option of setting the console to automatically turn off after a set amount of time, but technically, the idea was not feasible.
Instead, the Play History was birthed, and the data collected is unable to be deleted and can be viewed by parents. More excitingly, "It's just really fun for users to be able to see the record of how long they played," said Iwata. "In the future, we could make it possible to plot on a graph how much you've played. Also, with users' cooperation, we could compile data on which game was the most played that year."
This is a neat feature I was hoping they'd include for ages! And GRAPHS! YES PLEASE! Wii is gonna have so much neat stuff to play around with.
Nothing will impress your friends more than evidence that Excite Truck is your most played game!
Post by: Kairon on September 27, 2006, 07:09:22 AM
... except that I'll lose my hardcore gamer cred when they see how much I play Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: couchmonkey on September 27, 2006, 07:11:07 AM
Post by: Spak-Spang on September 27, 2006, 07:23:15 AM
Post by: Kairon on September 27, 2006, 07:46:29 AM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Caliban on September 27, 2006, 08:52:41 AM
Post by: JonLeung on September 27, 2006, 09:14:29 AM
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Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
I do like this feature. Now when a teenage killer goes and shoots up people, the police can see what games caused him to go on that Rampage.
Let's hope that doesn't happen, but I suppose that would be one way to track his interests and possible influences. Also, it'd cover Nintendo's butt, especially if it's true that they're courting the possibility of more so-called "mature" games for the Wii.
Yup, this Play History does everybody some good.
(So long as it's not so blatant. I'm not going to want to take my Wii to some so-called "hardcore" gamers' house and have my Wii shout back at me, as it powers on, "WELCOME, JON. WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY SOME MORE "POKéMON: FTW" TODAY? YOU SURE DID WELL YESTERDAY WHEN YOU PLAYED IT FOR TEN HOURS STRAIGHT, BRINGING YOUR TOTAL TIME FOR THAT GAME UP TO A WHOPPING THREE HUNDRED HOURS - VERY CLOSE TO THE WORLD RECORD, I MIGHT ADD. OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY SOME MORE "HARVEST MOON: RAISING CUTE SHEEP (FOR GIRLS)" OR "ANIMAL CROSSING: UBER UNIVERSE"? ...PLEASE INSERT DISC NOW.")
Post by: King of Twitch on September 27, 2006, 09:19:26 AM
Post by: MaryJane on September 27, 2006, 09:20:30 AM
this is a great idea, now i'll be able to see just how much of my life is spent playing video games!
I wish my tivo had the same feature.
OOO
what if they use this feature for pairing up opponents like on the DS?
someone who has played Madden for 500hrs+ should be better than someone who has only played for 20hrs, and so on. maybe not though...
Post by: couchmonkey on September 27, 2006, 09:24:38 AM
I wonder if this is another channel? I wonder how long that 512 MB memory is going to last if they keep adding them?
Post by: JonLeung on September 27, 2006, 09:33:40 AM
Though it would exclude offline Wiis, it might be a good idea to store this kind of info online. Good for Nintendo's sake, if they can access it, Big Brother-esque as that may be. They could see what games people are spending time on. If they release a game that's estimated at 50 hours and people spend 1000 hours on it, they can assume it's incredibly replayable. If they find that, no matter how long a game actually is, if no one in the world ever spends more than twenty minutes on it and then never plays it again, then it must be a crappy game.
Post by: KnowsNothing on September 27, 2006, 09:39:00 AM
Post by: BigJim on September 27, 2006, 10:01:44 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on September 27, 2006, 10:11:33 AM
"Though it would exclude offline Wiis, it might be a good idea to store this kind of info online. Good for Nintendo's sake, if they can access it, Big Brother-esque as that may be. They could see what games people are spending time on. If they release a game that's estimated at 50 hours and people spend 1000 hours on it, they can assume it's incredibly replayable. If they find that, no matter how long a game actually is, if no one in the world ever spends more than twenty minutes on it and then never plays it again, then it must be a crappy game."
That's a pretty good idea. Sales don't really paint the full picture. A game sells well because people are interested in it, not because they actually like it. Luigi's Mansion sold really well since it was the flagship title of the Cube launch. A common complaint was that the game was too short. But how would Nintendo know that? The game sold well so in their mind it was a hit. It also gives Nintendo a better idea of what the userbase really is. Some people buy a console for one or two games and never buy anything else. Some people get bored of a console and stop playing it. But since a userbase is measured by the amount of units sold there's no indication of who is really a potential customer. I haven't played my Cube much in the last two years because not much I'm interested in has been released. Nintendo could see that I haven't played it much lately, look at the types of a game I have played in the past and then learn from that that the types of games I'm interested in have not been released lately. If that's a trend among a large group of people then Nintendo can determine who is getting left out. They can also figure out who is satisfied if certain groups are constantly playing the same games for long hours. Perhaps they don't need as much support for the time being.
Post by: TrueNerd on September 27, 2006, 11:19:45 AM
No really, this is cool. I look forward to seeing what games my fellow Wii-ers are playing the most.
Post by: ShyGuy on September 27, 2006, 11:28:34 AM
Post by: Hostile Creation on September 27, 2006, 11:54:09 AM
Still, it is a good feature, and should be cool. I'm just more about playing the games, and I have relatively little interest in how long I play one game compared to another. I can figure that out in my head, if I want to.
(I'm going to leave a game on whenever I'm not playing just so it looks like I do it constantly)
Post by: stevey on September 27, 2006, 12:20:34 PM
It would be cool if nintendo took the star system form nsmb and mkds and used iton the wii. Give out star for doing stuff in game like and star for beating any game and more stars for getting 100% scan, beating all the side quest, kill a thousand cucco, and/or losing to reggie in ssbb along with game times. Maybe use the star as wii poinr for free game to hard core gamers...
Post by: WuTangTurtle on September 27, 2006, 12:33:44 PM
Post by: willie1234 on September 27, 2006, 12:41:07 PM
according to joystiq -
"Will be used by Nintendo (with user consent) to pool data into useful statistical categories; i.e. "most played game of the year""
why do companies feel it's ok to compile a database on everything I do? phone call logs, internet traffic etc. now we have BigNintendo logging every minute of which game I play? WTF?
this is a big deal for me...possibly a showstopper.
Post by: KnowsNothing on September 27, 2006, 12:44:56 PM
Post by: IceCold on September 27, 2006, 12:52:12 PM
QuoteI'm glad you took the time to read a 21 word sentence properly. There are three key words there.. With. User. Consent..
Originally posted by: willie1234
this idea is TERRIBLE!
according to joystiq -
"Will be used by Nintendo (with user consent) to pool data into useful statistical categories; i.e. "most played game of the year""
why do companies feel it's ok to compile a database on everything I do? phone call logs, internet traffic etc. now we have BigNintendo logging every minute of which game I play? WTF?
this is a big deal for me...possibly a showstopper.
KN's response is good enough, though
EDIT: About the feature, I really like the concept - I'm a stats whore so I'll be looking at it a lot. I wonder if they show the amount of time you spend on this channel as well
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on September 27, 2006, 12:59:44 PM
Post by: wandering on September 27, 2006, 01:24:11 PM
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It would be cool if nintendo took the star system form nsmb and mkds and used iton the wii.
This is actually a cool idea. I hope there's some kind of achievement system on the Wii, it would be really easy to implement and hardcore gamers would love Nintendo for it.
Quote
according to joystiq -
"Will be used by Nintendo (with user consent) to pool data into useful statistical categories; i.e. "most played game of the year""
I won't be giving my consent. I hope Nintendo understands the concept of 'no means no' better than a certain boxer they used to promote one of their games.
Post by: TMW on September 27, 2006, 02:27:01 PM
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Originally posted by: ShyGuy
Why don't they just call it "Measure the length of your Wii" and get it over with. Freudian MUCH.
Hey now. Its not the length of your playtime...it's how you spend it.
Post by: antman100 on September 27, 2006, 02:38:30 PM
On the other hand, I really don't care. It seems like of a lazy way of getting marketing data. I would have preferred Nin. to dedicate their time to other things like adding another remote to the package
Maybe they should rename it "Wi" .
Post by: Kairon on September 27, 2006, 02:51:03 PM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: antman100 on September 27, 2006, 03:16:19 PM
Post by: blackfootsteps on September 27, 2006, 03:20:19 PM
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 27, 2006, 03:49:51 PM
I wonder if the data will be personally-identifiable. What I mean is will Nintendo have the ability to look at the data and say "Hmm...user 16362 really likes to play both Metroid and Final Fantasy"?
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 27, 2006, 03:52:48 PM
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 27, 2006, 04:06:46 PM
Edit: I was under the impression that it would contain specific times about every gaming session you have (30 minutes of Zelda starting at 5:40), but I guess this isn't the case.
Post by: KnowsNothing on September 27, 2006, 04:15:20 PM
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 27, 2006, 04:29:32 PM
Post by: WuTangTurtle on September 27, 2006, 05:42:54 PM
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 27, 2006, 06:05:20 PM
Post by: Mario on September 27, 2006, 06:15:58 PM
Post by: wandering on September 27, 2006, 07:18:52 PM
Post by: Edfishy on September 27, 2006, 07:59:21 PM
It would make more sense if you had to create an on-line account I suppose.
Post by: wandering on September 27, 2006, 08:13:39 PM
Post by: couchmonkey on September 28, 2006, 05:36:54 AM
Post by: Dirk Temporo on September 28, 2006, 08:16:43 AM
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"Let's say someone buys a new game. When they switch on their console, a question could appear on the screen: "Do you want to let your friends know you have bought this game?" If you select "Yes", the message "X has bought the game Y!" will pop up on your friends' Message Boards."
Does this mean a single universal friend code? It just might.
Post by: couchmonkey on September 28, 2006, 10:20:29 AM
Post by: JonLeung on September 28, 2006, 12:41:12 PM
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Originally posted by: Mario
I wonder if it'll be able to monitor GC and VC games?
If it reads some kind of game header of the disc (and I don't see why not, as the GCN games could recognize games in its menu before playing) then they could track that. It shouldn't be too hard to do the same for VC games...very likely they'd be tracking purchases anyway to see what genres and franchises people want to see again.
Post by: Kairon on September 28, 2006, 12:52:20 PM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 28, 2006, 02:00:54 PM
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Users can exchange game data or screenshots. E-mail messages can also be exchanged between mobile phones and Wii.
Does this mean that you could you just message your friend saying, "Hey, I want your save of Smash Bros. with everything unlocked" and then have him send it over? This could open up some interesting possibilities. On one hand, it might lead to more people just finding game saves instead of playing it themselves. On the other, you could use it to send a game save to your friend so it is there when you visit him/her later that night--no memory card required. Unless you can only send whatever game data the developers allow you to (like specific items in Animal Crossing.
As for the e-mail messages, I wonder how that will be done. Will everyone get a user@wii.com address? Can the Wii function as a general, though limited, e-mail client where you can choose your own servers?
Post by: Ian Sane on September 28, 2006, 02:07:26 PM
Couldn't you pretty much do that before by just copying from the memory card? Well except for F-Zero GX of course.
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 28, 2006, 02:24:41 PM
Post by: JonLeung on September 29, 2006, 06:15:21 AM
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Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"Does this mean that you could you just message your friend saying, 'Hey, I want your save of Smash Bros. with everything unlocked' and then have him send it over?"
Couldn't you pretty much do that before by just copying from the memory card? Well except for F-Zero GX of course.
Man, I hated that. I could see how in certain games why they might prevent cheating by copying of files (Pokémon Box especially) but I didn't understand why some couldn't be moved. (At least I seem to recall some, and F-Zero GX probably was one of those. You'd think you'd really want to at least copy it in case you forgot or lost a Memory Card at the arcade after playing some F-Zero AX with it or something.)
If the SD card is for saving games on for the Wii (I imagine it wouldn't be just for the Photo Channel) then you should be able to use a card reader for the PC to back them up, move them, copy them, heck, even hack them, probably.
Post by: MarioAllStar on September 29, 2006, 01:13:59 PM
Post by: Ceric on September 29, 2006, 01:20:44 PM
Post by: Kairon on October 02, 2006, 12:40:27 PM
Also, it'd be great to have an alternate reality type game, a simple VC game or a full blown adventure/mystery game include characters, possibly ghosts, possibly people from another time who leave messages on your messageboard.
...you know, like that "Lakehouse" movie with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves?
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Ceric on October 02, 2006, 07:49:35 PM
Post by: JonLeung on October 03, 2006, 04:48:17 AM
I guess it depends on how the whole Message Board works. Instead of a forum or a strictly controlled and organized space, I keep on imagining it like a refrigerator with messages helter-skelter with magnets or like a board with thumbtacks or like a wall for publicly posting ads. I guess I'd better re-read what it's all about.
Post by: Kairon on October 03, 2006, 07:30:20 AM
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Originally posted by: JonLeung
I guess it would depend on the messages and if the types of messages are limited to the age of all users. You don't want to be playing a horror game, and then have your little sister be the next one to turn on the Wii and go to the Message Board only to find a bloody handprint and a creepy message.
Well... it would be a FRIENDLY ghost.
More like a spirit that knows it's dead, and wants to solve the mystery of those past mysterious events as much as you do. The spirit would basically be your partner in the game, and would often converse with you, letting you know what he or she found while you were away. The spirit would also make chit chat with you, just talk about life, as spirits are apt to do.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Ceric on October 03, 2006, 07:35:36 AM
Post by: Stimutacs Addict on October 03, 2006, 07:37:19 AM
rofl jk i liek u kairon
Post by: Kairon on October 03, 2006, 07:48:24 AM
/cry
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
P.S. Ghostwriter Wii! You heard it here first!
