Mobitrends

I just watched a nice video about the fall and return of arcade games and this had me think a bit about what kind of experience gamers are really seeking now and will be seeking n the next couple of years.

First, what’s an arcade ? It’s:

• a venue: a place where people come to gather and watch other people’s perform - obviously the Internet killed the need of gathering to share a gaming experience
• hardware : a big machine that need coins to start and with a dedicated and specific input device
• a gamestyle: very energetic, intense and fast - ideally a game should last 3mins in order for the arcade store to be able to actually earn money - thus in order to get value for money you had to deliver an awesome burst of adrenaline and fun in those few minutes

Yet, while the first point will be tough to monetize outside of a dedicated world-size event (like world gaming championships), the second is still reasonable just as the third points which makes actually a lots of sense and is often what drive people to “casual” gaming : the ability to have a short burst of fun whenever they want.

For instance Ikaruga is imho the best shoot’em’up ever, and has recently been released on the XBOX Live Marketplace for 800 MS Points. The full game, just like the original DreamCast version can be finished in under 25 mins - but you got to be really highly skilled to do that, and such mastery can only come after hours of play.

While longer games can produce deep emotional involvement and draw the gamer into a complete new world, I think there is a huge market opportunity for smaller yet highly intense and challenging games (as opposed to casual games as we know them), and as such new online distribution models makes a lot of sense. Indeed the actual physical retail system including the huge royalties asked bu the console hardware makers have pushed most of game studios into a “1€ = 1hrs gameplay” scheme, and most of the people buying those games actually only play a third of it on average.
I think it’s time to get into some creative thinking to get out of this scheme and focus more into what customers expect.

It’s out, and got mine !
Welcome to “Zogzog” my Tauren Death Knight who just regained his soul and reverted from the influence of the Lich King!

I bought Wii Fit as it came out, and while I think the idea was smart, the software is crappy. I was expecting to be able to launch an 15min gym sessions and be driven through non-stop exercises, but the reality of the Nintendo software made this totally impossible : for a 2 minute training session you get about 1,5 min to scroll through the menus back and forth to go from an activity to another, there is no real coach deciding for you what your schedule and exercises set should be and at the end while the exercises themselves are OK the overall experience is boring…
EA’s approach, on the contrary make a lot more sense imho… can’t wait to try it out !

Seems like Sony just applied for a patent of a next generation controler for its PS# that features 3D motion sensing, just like a WiiMote.

Game interface tracks the position of one or more game controllers in 3-dimensional space using hybrid video capture and ultrasonic tracking system

Looks a lot like a WiiMote to me, and if you watch the patent pictures the setup is also pretty similar. Apparently the ps3motes look like double lightsabers that can be split to be used one-hand or 2-hands. I guess everybody want to replace those complicated remotes with natural motion input devices!

omg, at last we get real lightsaber fighting on Wii ! Gameplay looks awesome, can’t wait to try it out, Star Wars : Clone Wars : Lightsaber Duels is going to be released on Nov 11th.

Dunno what is really worse in WoW … getting beaten up by tough dragons or witnessing inworld flirting … somehow both can be really scary !

I totally forgot that in 2005, Metal Gear Acid 2 was expected to sell with an accessory for the PSP enabling 3D vision of some scenes of the game. Seeing the form factor of the accessory in 2008 just had me burst out into one of the heavier laughter of the month…

Tried this setup : Vuzix HMD + Xbox 360 + PGR4… looks cool but aftera few mins I had to give it up - those Head Mounted Devices really aren’t up to the expectation… low resolution, small and bad viewing angle and the ergonomics is a joke…

Nice show in Porte de Versailles today, really end-user focused but still a good opportunity to dive in the overall excitation and fun around x-mas upcoming titles. Can’t wait to try the new Raving Rabbits game! A lot of FPS and MMORPG - I was especially impressed with the latest Lords of the Ring online extension : “Mines of Moria” which looked awesome. GOA had a huuuge empty stand… weird and no Vivendi/Blizzard there, probably too small a show for them to show up.