HealyHQ

Solatorobo Goes Gold!

You remember Solatorobo, that game I posted about before? Well, it just went gold. Look forward to its arrival on September 27th, 2011. :)

I Cannot Believe This Flew Under My Radar

Coming from one of my top favorite game companies, XSEED Games, is this incredible Nintendo DS game, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. Now, Nintendo World Report can explain what the game is about and how it plays way better than I can, so I’ll just leave you with this deluge of Solatorobo artwork and screenshots:

And a video:

This game looks right up my alley. Solatorobo is planned to release in North America in September of this year. Looking forward to it! :D

Nintendo Trying to Win Back Core Gamers, or Another One of Robert’s Infamous Rants

Excuse me while I play Devil’s Advocate here for a moment (everyone knows I am a huge Nintendo fan, so what I am about to write may surprise you).

*Ahem!* The argument Wii fans seem to trot out most often is this: “The Wii sold the most units, therefore, it is the best games console.” That simply isn’t the case. The Wii is a gadget that lots of people wanted. That’s wonderful, but that doesn’t make it a good GAMES console (doesn’t preclude it from being a good one, just doesn’t mean it IS one).

Nintendo may well realize that a lot of what drove Wii sales was novelty and gimmick factor. That is wonderful — money in the bank. However, that kind of thing doesn’t sustain, as ‘novelty’ implies. They may well be watching sales figures, particularly software sales which is where the big money is, and saying, “Hmmm, we need something that attracts more ‘traditional gamers,’ as the Wii’s charm is wearing off…”

If you have a successful novelty item, the worst thing you can do is to rest on that and say, “This is what we’ll sell forever.” As the term ‘novelty’ implies, it wears off.

What was the Wii’s biggest problem in succeeding in the “core” market? Some might say it was the motion controller. That was boss Satoru Iwata’s response when asked by a shareholder whether the hardcore will accept Nintendo’s next home console, the Wii U.

“Wii was not accepted by core gamers because they did not want to abandon their preferred control approach,” he said, as reported by Andriasang.

I will tell you that the Wii’s big problem wasn’t the motion controller in and of itself. It was all those gimmicky games that came along with it! I’ve seen very few solid titles for the Wii. Most of them are silly gimmicks that are designed around messing with the motion controller as much as possible, and in every possible way they could get you to screw around with it. It also got in the way of some of, what should have been, good titles. They focus on doing silly things with the controller (or other peripheral) that makes it harder to play the game than it needs to be, like mapping ‘Jump’ to a shaking motion instead of a simple button press for example.

A good example of gimmicks ruining the Wii in the eyes of the core consumer is, looking at the top selling Wii games, exclude the sports game that came with the Wii (since people didn’t really buy those, they got them as an included deal) and what are your top games? “Mario Kart” and “Wii Fit.” Mario Kart is a legit good game, though it is a rehash of stuff already done, but the Wii Fit? Pure gimmick. And it sold over 23 million copies.

Now before you try to argue, consider this: The Wii Fit is an exercise machine. That is its only function. Also please realize that video games don’t magically change someone’s personality or actions. Now go look up exercise machine stats. You discover they are very, VERY under-used. People buy them, thinking it’ll motivate them to become thin, and then set them aside since the machines do not bring motivation. Same deal with the Wii fit. A girl I know has a Wii Fit, a treadmill, an elliptical, and a stair master, NONE of which get used, despite her wish to lose weight. Motivation is the problem, not access to technology.

Continuing on the Wii’s list, you see the next top games are ALL “Mario” titles.

There’s no arguing it — the Wii badly suffered from having crappy, gimmicky, games (i.e. “Shovelware”). That caused people who are actually into games (the “core gamer” audience) to not be so interested in the Wii anymore. It wasn’t because they said, “Man, I hate this motion controller,” it was because they couldn’t find many titles that they actually wanted to play!

In my observation, Wiis are mostly like board games: People get them, mess around with them a little, get bored, set them aside only to occasionally pull them out at parties.

I know a lot of people who own Nintendo Wii’s (heck, I own one myself). I know exceedingly few that actually game on them regularly. Those that game regularly almost always own another console (an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3) or a computer, and game on them most of the time.

I suppose that’s what Nintendo is trying to rectify with the Wii U. It’s said to be even more powerful (even if it’s just slightly) than the current generation’s consoles (which it better, as if it wasn’t more powerful than what is now over six year old technology, that would be a good cause for alarm, don’t you think?)

But then they came forward with, “Oh, we don’t care about the internet too much,” or whatever it was they said (you can look up the interviews on your own time), and it sounds like they’re being half assed on that too.

And that statement right there shows just how serious Nintendo is about getting the “Core Gamers” back, which is to say, not at all. (I think Operation Rainfall has shown all too well what Nintendo thinks of its core fanbase).

A couple generations back with the PS2 and Xbox1 was the time when not caring about the internet was actually moderately acceptable. Things didn’t really work too well, and the PS2 required special additional hardware. Add that to the fact there was only a handful of games actually worth playing online on either console, it wasn’t a platform killer to not focus on it. In fact, I think the Gamecube actually did have some kind of network adapter, but for the one or two games that used it… yeah, not a big deal.

Now look at Xbox 360 and PS3, where network play has been a much larger focus — in fact, probably the biggest focus. I’d say that overall, Microsoft actually has the best online offering at this point, despite the premium fee to actually use it for anything. Although I have used PSN quite a bit and it seems functional enough (recent hacking trouble aside anyway). In fact, Sony probably should have at least provided some kind of low quality headset right with the system like Microsoft does, although there is the benefit of using pretty much any BlueTooth headset on their system.

Anyway, without Nintendo providing some kind of significant core networking services which 3rd party developers can easily jump on, they are effectively shooting themselves in the foot yet again. Even if the Wii U can stand toe-to-toe with the other consoles on graphics or on control, it will still be the least desirable port of the title to core gamers if the multi-player doesn’t hold its own. No matter how much Nintendo tries to be unique or innovative in other areas, failing to provide some basic services like fully featured, account-based multi-player with voice communication and a messaging system, puts it firmly back in place as the 3rd developer’s most shunned platform.

Only time will tell, of course. It all comes down to the gamers on whether the Wii U will succeed in the core market. Personally, how I see it is, unless they offer some online features that Microsoft and Sony currently don’t offer, I don’t see the hardcore crowd abandoning their current platform of choice for the Wii U.

Among gamers, the reaction to the Wii was intense hype, followed by severe disappointment. Right now, gamers are skeptical of Wii U (as am I). They were already burned this generation, and they don’t want it to happen again. You know, the “Fool me once; fool me twice” kind of deal. We could still be surprised by the Wii U, who knows? But we’d have to see better games than we saw on the Wii, or than we’re currently seeing on the Nintendo 3DS (we’re still waiting for their good collection of games to start filling up on that one).

The ball is in your court now, Nintendo. Don’t drop it. Surprise us.

[Edit: One Hour After Original Post] — The Following article was just published on IGN. Instead of making another post here on HealyHQ.com shortly after this one, I figured I’d just append it to my rant. This just reinforces everything I’ve been feeling lately about Nintendo: http://wii.ign.com/articles/118/1180293p1.html

iDream

So I have this dream, right, that I’ll one day make a video game. I’ve wanted to be a video game developer for as long as I can remember. I went and learned all kinds of programming languages and about the industry as a whole for several years. And it wasn’t that long ago that I decided that I wanted to specifically make arcade-esque games for handheld consoles.

Unfortunately, my choices were limited. Like, severely limited. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to work with Nintendo of America, inc. Or, in the very least, work for a third party developer making games for Nintendo consoles. So of course, my first thought was to get a Nintendo DSiWare development kit. DSiWare seemed like the perfect platform to start my development career! But alas, Nintendo is VERY strict on who gets to develop for them. From Nintendo’s development site:

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1. Developer Qualifications: An Authorized Developer will have demonstrated the ability to develop and program excellent software for Nintendo video game systems or for other game platforms. In addition, an Authorized Developer will have a stable business organization with secure office facilities separate from a personal residence ( Home offices do not meet this requirement ), sufficient resources to insure the security of Nintendo confidential information and in order to ensure an effective environment for working with Nintendo and/or its Publishers. Nintendo provides Authorized Developers with highly confidential information and many of Nintendo’s Publishers also rely on recommendations and referrals to Authorized Developers. For these reasons, Nintendo exercises a very high level of care in evaluating Authorized Developers.

2. Confidentiality Agreement; Release of Confidential Information: If approved as an Authorized Developer, your company will receive written software programming specifications for Nintendo platforms, and the ability to purchase software development tools solely for use at that company’s business location. Authorized Developers will have access to Nintendo’s Software Development Support Group’s website to discuss all development issues and receive technical updates. Each employee of an Authorized Developer who has access to the Nintendo proprietary information will be required to sign a suitable confidentiality agreement with the Authorized Developer, with terms at least as strict as those in the NDA. If your company did not intend to enter into the NDA, then DO NOT access our proprietary website or any of our confidential information, and immediately notify us that you are declining to proceed as an Authorized Developer.

3. Game Development: Rights granted to an Authorized Developer for Wii, Nintendo DS, or Nintendo 3DS extend only to the use of Nintendo’s proprietary information for the development of games on Wii, Nintendo DS, or Nintendo 3DS. No rights are being granted as a result of being approved as an Authorized Developer to manufacture, market, promote or otherwise exploit developed games or the Nintendo proprietary information, whether incorporated in hardware, software or accessory formats. Any such rights will, if granted, be pursuant to a separate License Agreement with Nintendo.

4. Development Kits: Approximate development costs range from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the size of your team. Financial stability is expected by Authorized Developers in order to purchase the necessary development equipment for your project.

5. Game Publishing: Becoming an Authorized Developer does not mean that any game you develop will be published. If your company is developing a game on Nintendo platforms for retail distribution, it is your responsibility to secure your own business agreement with a Publisher having a License Agreement with Nintendo for the specific platform.

If your company is developing a WiiWare, DSiWare, or Nintendo 3DS eShop game, it is in Nintendo’s sole discretion both whether to offer you a Content Development and Distribution Agreement and whether to release your game.

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Now, I have no problem with NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). I would take them dead seriously and would remain within the law at all times. None of Nintendo’s confidential material would get out to anyone through me, I would stake my life on it. The problems begin to arise at this line:

“In addition, an Authorized Developer will have a stable business organization with secure office facilities separate from a personal residence ( Home offices do not meet this requirement ).”

Yeahhh…I’m a homebrew developer. In other words, I work from home.

Another problem is with this line:

“Approximate development costs range from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the size of your team. Financial stability is expected by Authorized Developers in order to purchase the necessary development equipment for your project.”

Mmmhmm… I can’t afford that!!! Holy crap, Nintendo, that’s expensive as Hell! $10,000? Just for a development kit ALONE?! Jeez!

And then there’s this:

“Becoming an Authorized Developer does not mean that any game you develop will be published.”

Now, of course I know that they have a quality assurance team, and I’d never release anything with my own name on it unless it was a pretty decent product. You know, I wouldn’t want to make MYSELF look bad or anything, let alone Nintendo. But after spending $10,000 for a development kit, plus the thousands and thousands it would take just to secure an office in a commercial zone, all the physical and networking security, and all the monthly payments THAT all ensues, well…knowing that after allll that, there’s no guarantee I’ll even get to publish my game when it’s done is, well, a bit of a downer, to say the very least.

Needless to say, I won’t be making games for Nintendo anytime soon. >_>

So then, of course, I looked at SONY. The “PSP Minis” platform looked right up my alley. Now, SONY doesn’t charge nearly as much as Nintendo does for their development kits. That’s awesome. Unfortunately, they still require the minimum of having an office building in a commercial zone, and I simply can’t afford that. I have a home office. That’s where I do my work. Period. If they can’t accept that, well then, I can’t deal with them.

So, since Microsoft doesn’t have a portable device that ISN’T a phone, there was only one other place for me to turn to.

Apple.

Apple’s development requirements are soooo much more lenient, and I applaud them for it. It’s still going to require some start-up costs, but the good news is, if I develop iOS applications, I can work from home. In fact, I can work from anywhere! The only costs involved are the annual $99 per year for having Apple store the iOS application on their own servers and sell it in their own store, and the cost of a “development kit.” And how much is that? Well, however much I can score an iPod Touch for. Yep, they don’t require a “development kit” in the sense that it’s a special type of product that’s open only to the developer like with other companies. Nope, with Apple, ANY iOS device can be used as a development kit. And that, my friends, is awesome. Like, really awesome. Seriously lowers the bar on developing for their platform.

The only problem I have with Apple is that they require you to build the application on a Mac running the latest OS and updates. This is obviously a cash grab by Steve Jobs, forcing people to buy one of his computers in order to develop for iOS, while for anything else I could use any operating system (my personal favorites being Linux Mint and Ubuntu Linux, two distributions of GNU Linux, obviously). This is going to cost me however much I can get a computer (preferably a laptop so I can go anywhere with it) running the latest Mac OS with all the updates installed.

Unfortunately again, Macs seem to retain their sell value much better than “normal” PC’s, even though they’re made out of EXACTLY the same damn parts! This makes no sense to me…what people are paying all that money for is the OS itself, not the computer it runs on. I could BUILD a computer and buy Mac OS from Apple.com myself and install it (i.e. making a “Hackintosh”) for FAR cheaper than it would be to buy a Mac from Apple directly. Problem is, Apple does a damn good job of blocking many Hackintosh’s from receiving certain updates. No idea how, and I’m sure there’s plenty of people who get around this easily, but I’d much rather I just get something and it work out of the box for development. For everyday computing, a Hackintosh would work just fine, but for development, it’s a little more complicated than that.

So, here’s what I’m up to now: saving up for an iPod Touch 4th gen and a laptop running Mac OS X v 10.6.7 with decent specs so I can begin application development for iOS. I’m already a registered Apple developer, just not an “iOS” developer. I’d like to change that.

Wish me luck!


Robert B. Healy III,  HealyHQ™
Peace, Love, Harmony, and all that Jazz.