I'm not hard core! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not!

• 10Sep 09

  Anti-Consumer Publisher Mentality

  An interesting discussion has sprung up recently regarding publishers attempting to limit used game sales. If people can't buy used games, so the reasoning goes, they'll buy the game new and the publishers will make more money.

  Game publishers, take a lesson from the music industry. Limiting consumer choice is going to burn you.

  I understand their reasoning, but it's shallow thinking. They're not seeing things in terms of long-term customer loyalty; they're seeing things in terms of making a buck on the latest release. If I couldn't buy used, I simply wouldn't buy as many games. Allowing used game sales to flourish can help them further down the line: I now preorder any Bioware game (so they get full $ - maybe more since I often preorder limited editions) because I trust them as developers, but I only gained that trust from buying earlier Bioware games used.

  Another aspect of this is that even new games depreciate. I never buy electronic versions of games b/c they sit at $30 all the time, whereas I might get the same game on sale at the store down the street for $20.

  Limiting used game sales also carries the risk of increasing piracy. If cash-strapped gamers can't get that awesome game used, where are they going to turn? I doubt buying new will be the first thing they think of. I'm strongly anti-piracy and have other interests to fill my time, so I could do with fewer games, but I doubt everyone shares my perspective.

  In short, I'm a bargain shopper, and tying my hands to try and wring a few more bucks out of me is going to alienate me and backfire on them.

  • Posted Sep 10, 2009 4:08 pm PT
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• 6Jun 07

  Human Interface Guidlines for Video Games

  In my opinion, games have been around long enough to have discovered some principles that just work for gamers, yet I continue to see games come out without some or all of these options. Below, I list the items I consider "necessities" that every game should have to make them user-friendly, in order of priority...
  
  *Invert Y-Axis
  We older gamers grew up in the era of space flight sims, and we're used to aviation controls. Most games, to their credit, include this option. However, there are a few exceptions. I will often stop playing a game if I can't invert the Y-axis, since my old habits die hard.

  *Never, NEVER put checkpoints before cutscenes
  Especially with boss battles, I have to watch the blasted cutscene with the pre-rendered boss acting all menacing about 48 times before I manage to kill him. Hullo! The boss battle is supposed to be hard - why are you making us watch the cut scene again and again instead of just letting us back into the action? Checkpoints should always occur AFTER the cutscene.

  *Min of 3 Difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard
  Not all of us are hard-core frag fiends. Zone of the Enders and F.E.A.R. got it right in describing their "easy" mode as a mode for "new or casual" gamers. Some people play on easy because they care more about the story than the gameplay. But for those of us who are hard-core, the normal difficulty may be too easy. Including at least three difficulties catches the majority of gamers.
  
  *Subtitles on/off
  You may be incredibly proud of your voice actors, but that doesn't mean everyone can appreciate them. What about people with Mono TVs? I happen to live near a very active railroad track, and it's not unusal for trains to pick that critical plot moment to rumble by.
  
  *Mid-mission checkpoints
  You don't have to be Halo, with checkpoints every other step, but mid-mission checkpoints for missions longer than 10 minutes are very important. Not all of have the freedom to sit for hours on end playing the game, and there are few things more irritating than having to play through 20 minutes of easy gameplay over and over because of that one enemy you can't defeat. Lack of this feature almost singlehandedly broke Ninety-Nine Nights.
  
  *Pause cut scenes
  As an older gamer, I have lots of demands on my time. It's incredibly irritating to have to choose between watching a cutscene or treating my child's ouchie. Xenosaga Episode One's 30-plus minute cutscenes were notorious for interfering with my family life. I was very thankful they added the pause option in subesequent chapters.
  
  *"Continue" from opening and "Game Over" screens
  Let's face it - nine times out of 10 gamers want to pick up the game where they last left it, regardless of how many profiles or saved games they have. A "Continue" option that automatically loads the most recent saved game seems like a small way to benefit your customers. One of the most irritating games I ever played required me to go all the way out to the opening screen to load a game upon death. That game is no longer in my collection.
  
  *Brightness/Contrast/Gamma adjustment
  This is particularly necessary for games with dark environments. I have played a handful of games in which I was unable to pass a certain point until I turned up the contrast on my TV/Monitor because I simply couldn't see the environment I was supposed to interact with.
  
  *Effects/Music/Voices sound options
  Similar to lack of subtitles, it's irritating when a game's wonderful sound effects drown out the voices that are advancing the plot or issuing your next mission. Many a shooter have I had to pause and check my objectives because my orders were issued during a fire fight, and I couldn't hear them over the gunfire.

  • Posted Jun 6, 2007 11:09 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 11Apr 06

  Government Lessons from MMOGs

  GameSpot recently reported that Blizzard
  Entertainment's World of Warcraft has exceeded 6 million subscribers -
  greater than the population of many European nations.
  
  

  Now, if so many people want to "live" in such a
  place, it makes me wonder what these European nations are doing wrong.
  Think about it: 6 million people WILLINGLY paying for the right to
  spend time there? If the governments of the world can make life more
  like MMOGs, then paying taxes shouldn't be a problem and people will be
  much happier in general. SO... let's examine the differences between
  MMOGs and life in the average country.

  
  
  

  First off, I think an obvious thing to do is
  eliminate death. In most MMOGs, death isn't permanent. Sure, there's a
  penalty for dying, but it's nowhere near as bad as once-for-all
  complete lack of participation in anything ever again.

  
  
  

  Second, hunger isn't really an issue. People just
  carry food around and it gets consumed automatically. They don't have
  to waste time eating it, and it doesn't matter what it tastes like.
  Also, the food is so cheap that anyone can afford it. Even if you're
  short of cash, you can just go out and kill one of the monsters
  meandering around and they'll probably drop enough cash for your next
  meal.

  
  
  

  Which brings us to another point: everybody and
  everything carries cash. You swat a fly, you get cash. Kill the wolf
  that's been threatening the villagers, you get whatever cash the wolf
  was carrying, the reward from the villagers, AND you can sell the wolf
  pelt to the local furrier. Three paydays for one good deed - now that
  makes good deeds much more attractive, I'd say. So, paying people for
  these day to day activities is a must.

  
  
  

  Sleep and disease also aren't major problems. Rest
  is something you do to heal your wounds from combat, and it usually
  takes a fraction of the time you normally spend actually doing your
  daily activities. So, rather than 1/3 of your day shot for sleeping,
  you spend maybe 1/25th of your day resting, and it's for a specific
  purpose. Any other ailments can be cured by a potion from the local
  alchemist: disease, poison, etc. Now where are the alchemists in
  today's societies? That's an area it seems governments have really
  dropped the ball.

  
  
  

  Finally, since you don't have to spend much time
  resting or eating, what are you going to do with all that time? It
  seems obvious that the governments of the world need to provide people
  with more compelling activities. Where are the inherenetly evil,
  semi-sentient species? Travel the average highway in the average nation
  and you won't see a single Troll, Orc, Trandoshan, or Hutt. The nations
  of the world need to provide us with creatures that it's politically
  correct to hate and beat on.

  
  
  

  So, to all you governments who want to raise the quality of life for your populace, now you know how.

  
  
  
  
  • Posted Apr 11, 2006 3:30 pm PT
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