Topic: The smartest person on the Internet

[Kairon]

The closest thing I can think of as "straight sequels" working as killer apps is...umm... Tetris on GameBoy? Or Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES? Also, sports games?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I don't think Tetris counts, cuz its application to a portable medium was pretty novel and significant.

I don't think Mario3 counts, cuz it was already catering to an already-exploding userbase.

Sports games, I don't have any dirt on.  Do they really turn heads and attract a significant number of new customers?

[UltimatePartyBear]

I don't think Tetris counts, cuz its application to a portable medium was pretty novel and significant.

If we follow the argument that a killer app is usually a new and different bit of software, then Tetris on the Game Boy really does stand out as unusual.  The killer-ness of the app was closely tied to the hardware it was on and the new things the hardware brought to the game.  In the Game Boy's case, that was portability.  It's really rather similar to the way Wii Sports serves as a killer app because of what the Wii Remote brings to the fairly simple games.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

EE-in-FF

Engaging Experience in a Functional Form

[KDR_11k]

If we follow the argument that a killer app is usually a new and different bit of software, then Tetris on the Game Boy really does stand out as unusual.  The killer-ness of the app was closely tied to the hardware it was on and the new things the hardware brought to the game.  In the Game Boy's case, that was portability.  It's really rather similar to the way Wii Sports serves as a killer app because of what the Wii Remote brings to the fairly simple games.

Obviously games aren't detached from the hardware they're on.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Indeed, true killer apps are tied to the hardware in some way.  It's easy to forget this in hindsight because this is usually a matter of computing power.  Take Visicalc, for example.  It was the first killer app for personal computers, and it could probably be run on some calculator watches today, but it fit into a unique niche when it was released.  Visicalc could have been done at the time on a different platform -- mainframes -- but it wasn't a good fit on that platform.  Computing time on mainframes was too expensive to waste on something so trivial.  At the same time, personal computers weren't powerful enough to perform the same tasks as mainframes.  Combine the right application with the right platform, though, and you solve both problems and make a mint.

These days, especially in video games, it's too often the case that a killer app is only really tied to its platform by legal matters.  There was nothing about Halo that tied it to Microsoft's platforms other than the fact that Microsoft owned all the rights, for example.  I think Nintendo has been aware of this for a while.  Super Mario 64, for example, was essentially designed in tandem with the N64 controller.  This made the app-platform relationship stronger than it would have been if it were merely a matter of pushing enough polygons.  It really wasn't until the GameCube that Nintendo tried to do it the other way, and the GameCube suffered something of an identity crisis because of it.

[BeautifulShy]

MegaMan 9

Wii music

Also he is off Sabattical. He has some new articles on his main site. Here

[Stogi]

*Looks at the title of the Wii Music article*

I've already love this guy.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"If you put fun into the horn, fun comes out of the horn."

Oh, my word.

[Stogi]

LOL

I saw that too. He's making a good point, but my perverted mind couldn't help but laugh!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

And it's confirmed:  Games are toys.

[EasyCure]

MegaMan 9

Wii music

Also he is off Sabattical. He has some new articles on his main site. Here

i liked the beginning of the MM9 article, but towards the end it made it sound like its not worth getting because the Robot Masters are nothing new.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

He's right.  But we're suckers for nostalgia anyway.

[EasyCure]

He's right.  But we're suckers for nostalgia anyway.

so true. I have my wii turned on, and already on the Shop Channel so i waste no time downloading it.

Besides anyone who doesnt realize that Robot Masters after 3 were similar to the others is a fool. I knew it as a kid and i still kept going back for more.

[BeautifulShy]

http://Seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/ds-three/

Malstrom talks about the new DS revision and the Phat and Lite and how it relates to Blue Ocean Strategy.

[KDR_11k]

Gah, Malstrom's anti-hardcore rants are hurting my brain lately. Look, the word does not mean the same as core, you said that yourself! Don't call the hardcores stupid for declaring a game hardcore because it doesn't match the core definition. Well duh, you said yourself that the terminology is wrong! If you read hardcore as "niche" it suddently starts to make a lot more sense.

[BeautifulShy]

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/what-does-the-wimpering-cry-of-a-disrupted-industry-sound-like/

[KDR_11k]

I bet some people here won't like his election articles either (he said linking to them on PoliGAF = ban apparently).

[BeautifulShy]

Yeah I was hesitant to post it here.I figured since there are lots of posts to his blog.Those that want to read it can.Besides I don't want to be banned from here.

[RABicle]

http://Seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/ds-three/

Malstrom talks about the new DS revision and the Phat and Lite and how it relates to Blue Ocean Strategy.

DS Hevy you mean.

[BeautifulShy]

Malstrom talks about third parties

[Flames_of_chaos]

Malstrom talks about third parties

"Why Third Parties Won’t Embrace Wii

I’m slowly easing my way back into the game news going around (I’ve been too distracted by the global slump, and not much is going on in gaming at this time anyway). I’ve finally got back to reading GoNintendo where Raw Meat Cowboy posts 346589347639 things a day (and does a good job with it too. With all the media lay-offs, I joke that GoNintendo probably has a better business model than the New York Times which gets interesting responses from people)

I never knew stealing content is a good business model, that one opening paragraph disqualifies him of having any intelligent posts EVER not like he had any before

Lastly, PS3 and Xbox 360 are not really game consoles. They are really game-centric computers. Their entire point of existence is to be an entertainment computer for the living room. All their games port easily to the PC platform. This is why we hear that PS3 and Xbox 360 are really nothing more than anti-piracy dongles for PC gaming. Since a Next Generation game can go across three platforms of Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, publishers consider that less of a risk than just putting it on one console: Wii.

By his definition a Wii is a game centric computer too! It has an internet browser, a mouse (Wii remote IR camera), USB ports, USB keyboard support!

[NWR_pap64]

Malstrom talks about third parties

"Why Third Parties Won’t Embrace Wii

I’m slowly easing my way back into the game news going around (I’ve been too distracted by the global slump, and not much is going on in gaming at this time anyway). I’ve finally got back to reading GoNintendo where Raw Meat Cowboy posts 346589347639 things a day (and does a good job with it too. With all the media lay-offs, I joke that GoNintendo probably has a better business model than the New York Times which gets interesting responses from people)

I never knew stealing content is a good business model, that one opening paragraph disqualifies him of having any intelligent posts EVER not like he had any before

Lastly, PS3 and Xbox 360 are not really game consoles. They are really game-centric computers. Their entire point of existence is to be an entertainment computer for the living room. All their games port easily to the PC platform. This is why we hear that PS3 and Xbox 360 are really nothing more than anti-piracy dongles for PC gaming. Since a Next Generation game can go across three platforms of Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, publishers consider that less of a risk than just putting it on one console: Wii.

By his definition a Wii is a game centric computer too! It has an internet browser, a mouse (Wii remote IR camera), USB ports, USB keyboard support!

Its one thing to disagree with the guy, the other questioning his intelligence simply because he said something you disagree with. I too was surprised when he mentioned Go Nintendo having a good business model. If I could I would ask him why since the common belief is that Go Nintendo  steals content from other sites. Keep in mind that this guy is a professional analyst so maybe he is seeing something we are completely missing.

Second, he is RIGHT about third parties. Many of them, even on the 360 and PS3 are only seeing demographics rather than games. That's why we get so many family mini games on the Wii and so many shooters on the 360 and PS3, because instead of being creative they stick to what they think it sells.

He has said that there's nothing wrong with "macho" games on the Wii and developer should make more of them because it provides the nice balance that the Wii needs and end the generalization.

He has drawn comparisons to the NES and SNES that make a lot of sense. Finally, I think he might be right when he says the reason Nintendo is holding its games back is because he is polishing them to use motion plus right out of the gate, especially since it promises to be the next big step in Wii gaming.

Its understandable if you disagree with the guy, but at the very least he's more sane than 100% of the analysts that populate the interwebs.

[KDR_11k]

Business model doesn't necessarily mean quality. Stealing content is a fairly effective business model (as in, it makes money and gets page views) as ebaumsworld has shown. Hell, news aggregators can be very useful if you don't want to check 10+ different sites to see the stories in the original.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Well in Sean's latest blog post, he's mostly wrong about Mario Power Tennis (and Wii Tennis, accordingly).  It sounds like he didn't spend much time with MPT, nor the N64 predecessor.  He was on Nintendo console hiatus for a couple generations, afterall.

Such is what happens when he focuses outside of BUSINESS STRATEGERY.