When a new sports video game is slated for release nearly the entire staff, all three development teams, would work together to lay the ground work for the project. Cooperation will help the project in the initial phases and bring together the unique expertise from different areas of development together. The three team structure will remain intact while members from both the support team and content team would join the main dev team in an effort to bring fresh new ideas, support, and help to the development of the new title. The support and content team’s separate projects will not be abandoned. Essential staff will remain to work on those projects until after the new title has reached a more complete stage. This would all but guarantee that each team will have working knowledge of the methods and inner workings of the other dev teams, and a deeper understanding of the mechanics of the new title.
This policy of flexible team structure, sharing of information and resources, and a spirit of unified effort towards making the franchise the best it can be is a boon for the workers and management. Each team will have their own respective lead project coordinators and their ability to communicate and work together is key to the success or failure of this model. In this respect each lead will have to have a clear picture of their own team’s projects, their team’s abilities, and how their efforts mesh with the overall goal of making a great videogame.
After the release of the latest entry in the sports franchise series the content dev team should begin work on the DLC. Chances are the season has already begun for the sport has already begun or will begin shortly after the release. Within months the content on the disk will not be an accurate picture of the real life state of the sport. The content team will need to work in overdrive to provide constant updates and new content to players of the new title. Thanks to the three team model they don’t have to work alone. While the main dev team takes a break before starting on the next game, the support dev team will help the content dev team test new content and provide player feedback. This feedback will help guide the direction of the DLC. Requested content could be rapidly produced, meeting the demand of the player’s quickly and to their satisfaction.
Each team lead will be responsible for their respective team and also participate in the design and construction of new titles and features for future iterations of the franchise. Here we come to a point where my own ideas come to an impasse. I’ve little experience when it comes to the workings of higher levels of software development management. What I do know comes from books on game design, which stick to more traditional models. Should there be a group of producers and higher management that over see the whole of the franchise or should the team leads be solely responsible for the content they produce? Tradition would suggest the former but I have misgivings about taking creative power and authority away from the lead designers.
There’s still a lot to cover, including the benefit this structure would have for fans, but I’m going to stop here. When I first had the idea for this article I didn’t realize the scope and complexity that needs to be addressed. I’ll probably come back to the topic in the future, especially if I’m reviewing a new sports title, but for right now I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
11.15.2009
Slow As Sunday: Reinventing sports franchises
Every year it is the same story again and again. The next installment of a big sports franchise is coming to stores. The new game features only slight improvements over past installments but still feels like the same old same old. Production values suffer from the lack of time spent on development. Time is not a luxury sports games can afford. Athletes are injured or traded, old teams fade into oblivion or new teams spring up in less time than it takes to create a well crafted AAA title. There are also problems with expanding the size of the development team. Changes take place in the real world far more quickly than even yearly installments can adapt to. Only the best and most energetic team leads can keep track of all the personnel and resources that would be needed to create a masterful videogame.
While playing SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 I thought of a solution to these problems. After discussing the ideas with Editor in Chief of Gaming Nexus Charles Husemann I was able to take my own ideas and his suggestions and come up with a rough model; a new way to offer content to gamers and fans of sports franchises while offering a polished gameplay experience. Instead of the normal one year development cycle, development teams should shift to a two year cycle. I can hear the arguments already “Wouldn’t that mean less content?” Well the answer is yes and no.
Yes, there will be less features and “innovations” to gameplay coming out every year. Most would admit that despite the new features that come out every year it takes two or three years for them to reach refinement. Team management, player created characters, and online multiplayer are all features that have just recently hit the sweet spot for many franchises. No, there would be even more content made available to players via downloadable content. DLC has already extended the life of videogames, and unlike mods, are proven source of revenue for publishers and developers. Regular roster updates are already in NBA ‘09 and ‘10 and the FIFA series but updates don’t have to stop there. New players, coaches, announcers, content for created athletes, sound tracks, and many other forms of content can be updated, changed, or added to.
Let us explore the development team structure needed for a two year, continuously updated, development cycle. Three separate teams working together on every game title would be ideal. The teams will be the main dev team which focuses on the creation of a new title, the support dev team that works to fix bugs in the new title and DLC, and a content dev team that focuses on creating new content for the new title and the DLC to follow the initial release. Splitting into three teams has many advantages. The main dev team will have two years to create new features and a polished gameplay experience without having to worry about staying up to date with every change in the sport. The content dev team will be constantly working with the tools provided by the main and support team to continuously update the experience for the user and the new content featured in the current and future title. The support dev team will be responsible for communication between all three teams, testing content, and communicating and sharing the ideas of the fans with the other dev teams in order improve upon the franchise. Over the course of two years, these three teams will be constantly working, creating, and inventing with enough time to polish, test, and innovate.
The costs and profits of creating videogames, distributing them, and advertising them is not a responsibility I envy. A publisher might think that by offering a new title every other year may hurt the bottom line and keep the franchise from being able to compete. This is not so. A two year cycle would produce a more polished video game without having to swell the development team to an unmanageable size. Any disadvantage that might come from not having the latest and greatest features of the rival company will only be relevant for a year. When the new entry in the series is released, has the new features, and implements them better than the competition it will be clear that their brand has the better game. PR could be shifted away from advertising the new slight improvements that come each year to supporting and growing user created content and the DLC offered by the developer. There is even potential to make more money using the two year cycle. For a small monthly price, say $5, publishers could make just as much money as they did before and potentially more with intelligent use of in-game advertisements. I’m not a particular fan of the practice, but I do like the idea that with constant updates there will be more changes in advertisements and more free content made available by sponsors.
I’m afraid this entry is already running long and I’ve barely scratched the surface of the how and whys of a two year development cycle. I’ll be continuing to discuss the different elements of the production cycle and how publishers, developers, and, most of all, players will benefit from the two year cycle. If there are any particular aspects or ideas you’d like to offer leave them in the comments section. I’ll try to address all concerns and suggestions later this week.
While playing SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 I thought of a solution to these problems. After discussing the ideas with Editor in Chief of Gaming Nexus Charles Husemann I was able to take my own ideas and his suggestions and come up with a rough model; a new way to offer content to gamers and fans of sports franchises while offering a polished gameplay experience. Instead of the normal one year development cycle, development teams should shift to a two year cycle. I can hear the arguments already “Wouldn’t that mean less content?” Well the answer is yes and no.
Yes, there will be less features and “innovations” to gameplay coming out every year. Most would admit that despite the new features that come out every year it takes two or three years for them to reach refinement. Team management, player created characters, and online multiplayer are all features that have just recently hit the sweet spot for many franchises. No, there would be even more content made available to players via downloadable content. DLC has already extended the life of videogames, and unlike mods, are proven source of revenue for publishers and developers. Regular roster updates are already in NBA ‘09 and ‘10 and the FIFA series but updates don’t have to stop there. New players, coaches, announcers, content for created athletes, sound tracks, and many other forms of content can be updated, changed, or added to.
Let us explore the development team structure needed for a two year, continuously updated, development cycle. Three separate teams working together on every game title would be ideal. The teams will be the main dev team which focuses on the creation of a new title, the support dev team that works to fix bugs in the new title and DLC, and a content dev team that focuses on creating new content for the new title and the DLC to follow the initial release. Splitting into three teams has many advantages. The main dev team will have two years to create new features and a polished gameplay experience without having to worry about staying up to date with every change in the sport. The content dev team will be constantly working with the tools provided by the main and support team to continuously update the experience for the user and the new content featured in the current and future title. The support dev team will be responsible for communication between all three teams, testing content, and communicating and sharing the ideas of the fans with the other dev teams in order improve upon the franchise. Over the course of two years, these three teams will be constantly working, creating, and inventing with enough time to polish, test, and innovate.
The costs and profits of creating videogames, distributing them, and advertising them is not a responsibility I envy. A publisher might think that by offering a new title every other year may hurt the bottom line and keep the franchise from being able to compete. This is not so. A two year cycle would produce a more polished video game without having to swell the development team to an unmanageable size. Any disadvantage that might come from not having the latest and greatest features of the rival company will only be relevant for a year. When the new entry in the series is released, has the new features, and implements them better than the competition it will be clear that their brand has the better game. PR could be shifted away from advertising the new slight improvements that come each year to supporting and growing user created content and the DLC offered by the developer. There is even potential to make more money using the two year cycle. For a small monthly price, say $5, publishers could make just as much money as they did before and potentially more with intelligent use of in-game advertisements. I’m not a particular fan of the practice, but I do like the idea that with constant updates there will be more changes in advertisements and more free content made available by sponsors.
I’m afraid this entry is already running long and I’ve barely scratched the surface of the how and whys of a two year development cycle. I’ll be continuing to discuss the different elements of the production cycle and how publishers, developers, and, most of all, players will benefit from the two year cycle. If there are any particular aspects or ideas you’d like to offer leave them in the comments section. I’ll try to address all concerns and suggestions later this week.
11.01.2009
Slow As Sunday: Videogame Burnout
Tis the season of videogame release dates. From now until the beginning of next year reviewers and players alike will be bombarded by a large number of AAA titles that many of us have been waiting for since their announcement a year or more ago. Already I’m feeling overwhelmed by the number of great games that are coming out and have stopped caring about the hype associated with big name titles. How does one deal with videogame burnout? Let us explore some possibilities.
Take your time
You get that one title you’ve been waiting for all year and then realize that just one week from now you’ll also be picking up your pre-order for another title you’ve been wanting to play. Soon you’ll be sitting down for your nightly video game fun faced with the choice of which two game you will spend time with. This may sound like a problem that a hardcore gamer would want to have, more choices between great games, but it can be difficult to make a decision. The best way to solve this problem is realize a simple truth; you do not have to play a game because you own it. Take your time getting to the next game on your list. Your brain will be much better off focusing on one epic game at a time rather than bouncing back and forth between two story lines.
Moderation
You’ve finally got that 100 hour epic RPG and can’t wait to get started creating a customizing your character. Before you put the finishing touches on the nose of your new mage/fighter half elf an hour has already flown by and you don’t even know what the premise of the story is yet. There are those games that hold our attention for a very long time and we escape into a well crafted virtual world for the better part of our free time. Beware burnout! If you know that a game will take you the better part of a month to complete then plan some days where you don’t touch the game at all. I’m sure there are those who can afford to submerge themselves completely in a game, but my rule is that when I start dreaming about the video game it’s time to cut back on how often I play it.
Socialize
You just beat that game you’ve been playing for two weeks and you can’t wait to tell your friends. Then you realize that you haven’t called your friends and have hardly left your home for two weeks. Staying connected to the outside world is essential in avoiding videogame burn out. I’m not talking about chatting on forums or posting your recent achievement on face book. Step out of the virtual world and connect with real people. The familiar virtual worlds of video games have rules and mechanics that will become familiar to the point of seeming second nature. Refresh your mind by interacting with one of the most unpredictable and entertaining of nature’s creatures; humans.
These are only three different methods for three different problems and videogame burnout can take on many different forms. Fortunately most can be solved simply by prioritizing and managing your time with videogames in order to keep things fresh.
Take your time
You get that one title you’ve been waiting for all year and then realize that just one week from now you’ll also be picking up your pre-order for another title you’ve been wanting to play. Soon you’ll be sitting down for your nightly video game fun faced with the choice of which two game you will spend time with. This may sound like a problem that a hardcore gamer would want to have, more choices between great games, but it can be difficult to make a decision. The best way to solve this problem is realize a simple truth; you do not have to play a game because you own it. Take your time getting to the next game on your list. Your brain will be much better off focusing on one epic game at a time rather than bouncing back and forth between two story lines.
Moderation
You’ve finally got that 100 hour epic RPG and can’t wait to get started creating a customizing your character. Before you put the finishing touches on the nose of your new mage/fighter half elf an hour has already flown by and you don’t even know what the premise of the story is yet. There are those games that hold our attention for a very long time and we escape into a well crafted virtual world for the better part of our free time. Beware burnout! If you know that a game will take you the better part of a month to complete then plan some days where you don’t touch the game at all. I’m sure there are those who can afford to submerge themselves completely in a game, but my rule is that when I start dreaming about the video game it’s time to cut back on how often I play it.
Socialize
You just beat that game you’ve been playing for two weeks and you can’t wait to tell your friends. Then you realize that you haven’t called your friends and have hardly left your home for two weeks. Staying connected to the outside world is essential in avoiding videogame burn out. I’m not talking about chatting on forums or posting your recent achievement on face book. Step out of the virtual world and connect with real people. The familiar virtual worlds of video games have rules and mechanics that will become familiar to the point of seeming second nature. Refresh your mind by interacting with one of the most unpredictable and entertaining of nature’s creatures; humans.
These are only three different methods for three different problems and videogame burnout can take on many different forms. Fortunately most can be solved simply by prioritizing and managing your time with videogames in order to keep things fresh.
10.25.2009
Slow As Sunday: Ultimate Mario
Nintendo's official mascot is a multi-talented mustachioed Italian gentleman with a thirst for adventure and a penchant for sports. So I ask the question: Why hasn't there been a Mario game that showcases all of Mario's talents? Imagine, if you will, a video game that is the ultimate tribute to Mario's past and present, mixing game elements that include puzzle solving, platform navigation, cart racing, golf, tennis, baseball, soccer and everything that the little plumber that could can take on. The game would take place in an open world where the player chooses what objectives to tackle, without any strict story progression to hinder exploration. Sure the Mario Party games showcased many of Mario's unique talents but players were stuck traversing a wacky "life sized" board game. Let's take a romp through this imaginary land and see where we end up.
Starting at Princess Peach's castle, Mario heads to the garage attached at the west end to borrow a motorcycle. Proceeding down a path he comes to a broken bridge on a cliff with platforms in the sky in sight. Revving the engine, Mario leaps off the bike and equips his flying cap in mid air, taking to the skies and the nearest platform. From the floating disk he can see the mighty expanse of the kingdom below and notices he is not alone on his perch. Two flying Koopas are arguing who can fly the fastest, Mario stumbles into the conversation and instead of pouncing on the Koopas right there and then, accepts their challenge to a race. The next thing he knows Mario is waiting for the timer to count down while he and the koopas line up to jump off the platform and race around an obstical course of flying rings. Finishing the race in first, and collecting his winnings in gold coins, Mario looks for his next challenge, and notices far below a tennis court...
This Ultimate Mario game should be made, as it has been a good long deal since I've tramped about the Mushroom Kingdom with a sense of freedom and a lust for exploration. More importantly I think a game like this needs to be made for all the other Mario games to make sense. Mario's list of skills and abilities have increased dramatically since his days as a plumber and I don't think it is necessary for a princess to be kidnapped in order to enjoy deploying them. Call me looney or a mad genius, I just think it would be a good time.
Starting at Princess Peach's castle, Mario heads to the garage attached at the west end to borrow a motorcycle. Proceeding down a path he comes to a broken bridge on a cliff with platforms in the sky in sight. Revving the engine, Mario leaps off the bike and equips his flying cap in mid air, taking to the skies and the nearest platform. From the floating disk he can see the mighty expanse of the kingdom below and notices he is not alone on his perch. Two flying Koopas are arguing who can fly the fastest, Mario stumbles into the conversation and instead of pouncing on the Koopas right there and then, accepts their challenge to a race. The next thing he knows Mario is waiting for the timer to count down while he and the koopas line up to jump off the platform and race around an obstical course of flying rings. Finishing the race in first, and collecting his winnings in gold coins, Mario looks for his next challenge, and notices far below a tennis court...
This Ultimate Mario game should be made, as it has been a good long deal since I've tramped about the Mushroom Kingdom with a sense of freedom and a lust for exploration. More importantly I think a game like this needs to be made for all the other Mario games to make sense. Mario's list of skills and abilities have increased dramatically since his days as a plumber and I don't think it is necessary for a princess to be kidnapped in order to enjoy deploying them. Call me looney or a mad genius, I just think it would be a good time.
10.23.2009
Side Note update
An interesting turn of events did occur. When I took that step, as described in my side note, of offering something meaningful to say in response to a "u suck" comment, I opened up a line of communication. When I treated that player with respect I received respect in turn and now we have a meaningful, yet stunted conversation going on Xbox Live. The negative image giving to Live by its overzealous and immature users has twisted other users' expectations. Instead of treating everyone we meet online as a prepubescent slavering X-bot, we should treat each other with respect. Matching any hostile, vulgar, and crude comment with a response that is respectful, or offering up no response at all. I'm not saying take out all the trash talk and competition. We can still taunt, one-up, and goad each other to distraction with respect.
Case in point. A day after my exchange with this individual we played another match, afterwards I received this message
"teams grew uneven towards the end,but pretty fair at 1st.well played."
If that isn't a major improvement over "u suck" I don't know what is.
Case in point. A day after my exchange with this individual we played another match, afterwards I received this message
"teams grew uneven towards the end,but pretty fair at 1st.well played."
If that isn't a major improvement over "u suck" I don't know what is.
10.21.2009
Side note
I just got done playing a rather unbalanced match of Battlefield 1943 on Xbox Live. I played my best, as I always do, but my team struggled in the first 3-4 minutes as the teams were at a 5/7 split with mine being the former. Perseverance prevailed and as is want from competitive online games with open teams, the balance of the match quickly swung in our favor as more players joined. In the end I was the top scorer for my team on account of staying in the match for the duration and my humble (read:top notch) sniping skills.
I just got done with the match and was about to shut off for the night and get some sleep when a the top scorer from the other team sent me a message. I expected a congratulations or a like minded gripe about the unevenness of the teams but that was foolish of me.
The message was simply "u suck".
I understood the player's frustration all too well and I know why he might have thought it was I who somehow managed to snag the win out of nothing. While I confess to being good at the game, I'm not that good. So I sent a message back which read "it was a good match. the tides of war change swiftly. i look forward to playing you in a match where the teams are even for the duration."
I suspect the response will not be as kind.
I just got done with the match and was about to shut off for the night and get some sleep when a the top scorer from the other team sent me a message. I expected a congratulations or a like minded gripe about the unevenness of the teams but that was foolish of me.
The message was simply "u suck".
I understood the player's frustration all too well and I know why he might have thought it was I who somehow managed to snag the win out of nothing. While I confess to being good at the game, I'm not that good. So I sent a message back which read "it was a good match. the tides of war change swiftly. i look forward to playing you in a match where the teams are even for the duration."
I suspect the response will not be as kind.
10.20.2009
Getting hammered and waxing philosophical
My weekend was full of surprises, dissapontments, and some startling realizations. On Saturday I went with my younger sister to the Haunted Trail of Horror in Kenton, OH as part of her senior project for high school. The experience was, different. I was used to her clinging on to my arm for dear life and jumping at shadows while I laughed all the while. This time her friend Elizabeth had joined us, who I suspect is secretly a world renowned track star, and she dragged my sister from haunted horror to frightful obstacle with my large frame following close behind the man chasing them with a chain saw. The video that was recorded is dark, with mostly screams and curses in the audio, none of which were mine.
Later that evening after a long car ride home, my buddy Sean and I took to the road once again in search of an elusive party which I had been invited. It ended up being a dud. I got a call from Bobby, the guy who invited me, explaining that the party had died down and there was no reason to come out anymore. So I wandered the streets of downtown trying to get back to the freeway to go home, meanwhile Sean was proclaiming our inevitable death around every street corner saying "Man, were going to get shot!"
Sunday was stress and more stress as I dealt with issues at home while trying to get some play time in with a preview copy of SmackDown vs Raw 2010, which was buggy as hell. Thankfully a form of salvation came when a recent acquaintance, waxing on friend, named Collin invited me out for a smoke at the Shi Sha lounge downtown. After a hookah of melon and mango we sauntered on down to Hound dogs to grab a pie and some beer. I thought we were done after that but Collin had other plans. He took me to one of his favorite haunts. A place that I had passed up once in search of a Guinness because of the loud Eminem song playing on the juke box. I have nothing personal against Eminem, but that is not the type of music I expect when I enter a pub.
Ah, so to make a long story short and to get to the culmination of the weekend, I had some fun. I met Collin's pub friends and then he took me home but beer brings out the philosopher in all of us, it should be said. We had a smoke and I prompted a discussion of the possibilities of human memories being mapped and stored. A honest and deep conversation began that I had no intention of starting, but which seems to be fueled by alcohol like gasoline to a fire. Many revelations and reflections took place and I walked away feeling quite refreshed and hopeful. It may sound strange, but discussions of death help me to find hope in life.
Later that evening after a long car ride home, my buddy Sean and I took to the road once again in search of an elusive party which I had been invited. It ended up being a dud. I got a call from Bobby, the guy who invited me, explaining that the party had died down and there was no reason to come out anymore. So I wandered the streets of downtown trying to get back to the freeway to go home, meanwhile Sean was proclaiming our inevitable death around every street corner saying "Man, were going to get shot!"
Sunday was stress and more stress as I dealt with issues at home while trying to get some play time in with a preview copy of SmackDown vs Raw 2010, which was buggy as hell. Thankfully a form of salvation came when a recent acquaintance, waxing on friend, named Collin invited me out for a smoke at the Shi Sha lounge downtown. After a hookah of melon and mango we sauntered on down to Hound dogs to grab a pie and some beer. I thought we were done after that but Collin had other plans. He took me to one of his favorite haunts. A place that I had passed up once in search of a Guinness because of the loud Eminem song playing on the juke box. I have nothing personal against Eminem, but that is not the type of music I expect when I enter a pub.
Ah, so to make a long story short and to get to the culmination of the weekend, I had some fun. I met Collin's pub friends and then he took me home but beer brings out the philosopher in all of us, it should be said. We had a smoke and I prompted a discussion of the possibilities of human memories being mapped and stored. A honest and deep conversation began that I had no intention of starting, but which seems to be fueled by alcohol like gasoline to a fire. Many revelations and reflections took place and I walked away feeling quite refreshed and hopeful. It may sound strange, but discussions of death help me to find hope in life.
10.18.2009
Slow As Sunday: World of Warcraft, Evony, Bruce and lawsuits
World of Warcraft has set the industry standards for MMOs, not for being the first, rather they are the biggest, and arguably the best, at running/maintaining/building/rebuilding an online virtual world and even spying on their customers. A stink was raised by a hacker years ago on how the WoW servers run a program while WoW is running known as the “warden client”. Essentially the warden watches what programs are running at the same time as WoW in order to detect any programs with names that match a program that is considered in line with end user license agreement’s definition of an “unauthorized third party program”. Not such a big deal really. Keeping track of what programs are running at the same time as WoW is an effective way of keeping track of cheaters or hackers. Millions of players trust Blizzard with their personal data and I haven’t been given any reason to mistrust Blizzard to a point where I refuse to allow them access to my computer.
This practice of “spying” is not limited to WoW. As I said, they have become the standard to which all MMOs are judged and that includes how they go about detecting “unauthorized third party programs”. The free-to-play game Evony, yes the one that has lingerie models seemingly ripped from catalogs advertising all over other websites, has a cloud of controversy surrounding it. To make a long story short, a blogger by the name Bruce Everriss is being sued by Evony, LLC for posting defamatory and false statements online. So how are the two connected? In the Evony's terms of use agreement they include two agreements as follows:
You hereby acknowledge and agree that:
WHEN RUNNING, THE GAME MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER'S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH EVONY. AN "UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM" AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE THAT, WHEN USED SIMULTANEOUSLY OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE GAME, WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF SECTIONS 1, 2 OR 9.
…
WHEN THE GAME IS RUNNING, REGAN MERCANTILE US, LLC MAY OBTAIN CERTAIN IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR COMPUTER AND ITS OPERATING SYSTEM, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR HARD DRIVES, CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT, IP ADDRESS(ES) AND OPERATING SYSTEM(S), FOR PURPOSES OF IMPROVING THE GAME AND/OR THE SERVICE, AND TO POLICE AND ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND THE EULA.
Before we go any further I would like to point out that the suit against Mr. Everiss is still pending and the “truthiness” (to borrow Stephen Colbert’s word) of his claims about the alleged goings on in real life and the game world of Evony have not being revealed by the courts, yet. Mr. Everiss, as far as I know, does not site the monitoring of third party software as a reason not to play Evony. I refuse to play Evony, and have Evony played on my computer, because their might be some truth in Mr. Everiss’ claims and I do not want any software, browser based or no, running on my computer while the integrity of the company who runs it, and has such access to information on my computer, is in question. The language of Evony's terms of use agreement are similar to World of Warcraft's in regards to monitoring what programs are running while the game is, leading me to believe that Evony has the same or similar access to my computer as the WoW warden.
Make sure you skim through the end user license agreement and any other legal documentation pertaining to a piece of software before you commit to an installation. Strange and dark secrets can be found hidden behind legal jargon and in the 1s and 0s of your favorite game. Take comfort in the knowledge that most companies don’t wish or have the good sense not to invade your privacy more than they have too and that there are individuals like Bruce Everiss who are plugged into the video game industry and are willing to call companies out and make the public aware of any risky practices, rumored or true. Awareness and alertness is one of the best tools in fighting against fraud and other criminal activity and we should all be a little more aware of what goes down in our digital neighborhood.
This practice of “spying” is not limited to WoW. As I said, they have become the standard to which all MMOs are judged and that includes how they go about detecting “unauthorized third party programs”. The free-to-play game Evony, yes the one that has lingerie models seemingly ripped from catalogs advertising all over other websites, has a cloud of controversy surrounding it. To make a long story short, a blogger by the name Bruce Everriss is being sued by Evony, LLC for posting defamatory and false statements online. So how are the two connected? In the Evony's terms of use agreement they include two agreements as follows:
You hereby acknowledge and agree that:
WHEN RUNNING, THE GAME MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER'S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH EVONY. AN "UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM" AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE THAT, WHEN USED SIMULTANEOUSLY OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE GAME, WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF SECTIONS 1, 2 OR 9.
…
WHEN THE GAME IS RUNNING, REGAN MERCANTILE US, LLC MAY OBTAIN CERTAIN IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR COMPUTER AND ITS OPERATING SYSTEM, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR HARD DRIVES, CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT, IP ADDRESS(ES) AND OPERATING SYSTEM(S), FOR PURPOSES OF IMPROVING THE GAME AND/OR THE SERVICE, AND TO POLICE AND ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND THE EULA.
Before we go any further I would like to point out that the suit against Mr. Everiss is still pending and the “truthiness” (to borrow Stephen Colbert’s word) of his claims about the alleged goings on in real life and the game world of Evony have not being revealed by the courts, yet. Mr. Everiss, as far as I know, does not site the monitoring of third party software as a reason not to play Evony. I refuse to play Evony, and have Evony played on my computer, because their might be some truth in Mr. Everiss’ claims and I do not want any software, browser based or no, running on my computer while the integrity of the company who runs it, and has such access to information on my computer, is in question. The language of Evony's terms of use agreement are similar to World of Warcraft's in regards to monitoring what programs are running while the game is, leading me to believe that Evony has the same or similar access to my computer as the WoW warden.
Make sure you skim through the end user license agreement and any other legal documentation pertaining to a piece of software before you commit to an installation. Strange and dark secrets can be found hidden behind legal jargon and in the 1s and 0s of your favorite game. Take comfort in the knowledge that most companies don’t wish or have the good sense not to invade your privacy more than they have too and that there are individuals like Bruce Everiss who are plugged into the video game industry and are willing to call companies out and make the public aware of any risky practices, rumored or true. Awareness and alertness is one of the best tools in fighting against fraud and other criminal activity and we should all be a little more aware of what goes down in our digital neighborhood.
10.12.2009
Slow as Sunday: Fable Axe
In episode 47 of Epic Battle Cry, my personal guilty listening pleasure, Tony Grice, Daniel Kaiser, and Brent Adams discussed the recently released Fable II episode 1. During their discussion they decided that they like the idea of consumers being able to try a game before investing all of their money into the final product, claiming that most gamers don’t finish games and therefore don’t get their full money’s worth. I think that thriftiness is not the only thing at stake when a full game is broken down and sold like a stripped out car.
Episodic games have had a recent reemergence with games like Sam and Max and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People by Telltale Games. These titles are meant to be small, easy to digest, and played in one or two sittings while offering a near full game experience in less time than a huge AAA title. The tactic that Lionhead Studios is taking is different from other episodic games. Essentially Fable II has different chapters, stages in the main character’s life where there is a transition from one phase to another. Chapters allow the important events to be experienced in game without having to explain all the details of the characters life or having to come up with some wacky reason why they’ve grown up (Link in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time). This structure of chapters works well with an episodic format however there are some things about the character that never change. The inventory for instance, or stat points a player has earned and invested would need to be consistent from chapter to chapter and episode to episode. Transferring the data is easy to do when one is breaking down and playing bits of a complete game. Consistency is not something episodic games embrace readily.
The problem with releasing a full game in smaller chunks is in the implementation and timing. If a development team is under pressure from the publisher, or in Blizzard’s case with Star Craft II and its fans, then releasing an episode of a full game could satiate them long enough for the team to continue work. Releasing a game that wasn’t meant to be episodic can break up an otherwise coherent and epic story, bring unfair criticism from reviewers (wasn’t long enough, should have more features etc.), and worst of all cement features/characters/plot that could have been changed or adapted as the game’s development progressed. Sure it may be convenient for gamers to purchase a game in small doses, adding revenue to complete a project. If the first two episodes don’t have players hooked and sales for the third or fourth episode aren’t very successful then a publisher might drop the title leaving both a development team, and players who were deeply interested, an unfinished game.
My advice for anyone looking to take a full game and break it into episodes is know your game and know yourself. If you have made sequels and know how to continue a story and improve upon the ideas of the original then you already have a good sense of how an episodic game is made. Some genres are better for playing in smaller chunks and are more easily adapted to the episodic format. If you want to tell a grand epic story that’s non-stop action and suspense then episodes should not be your first choice.
Episodic games have had a recent reemergence with games like Sam and Max and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People by Telltale Games. These titles are meant to be small, easy to digest, and played in one or two sittings while offering a near full game experience in less time than a huge AAA title. The tactic that Lionhead Studios is taking is different from other episodic games. Essentially Fable II has different chapters, stages in the main character’s life where there is a transition from one phase to another. Chapters allow the important events to be experienced in game without having to explain all the details of the characters life or having to come up with some wacky reason why they’ve grown up (Link in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time). This structure of chapters works well with an episodic format however there are some things about the character that never change. The inventory for instance, or stat points a player has earned and invested would need to be consistent from chapter to chapter and episode to episode. Transferring the data is easy to do when one is breaking down and playing bits of a complete game. Consistency is not something episodic games embrace readily.
The problem with releasing a full game in smaller chunks is in the implementation and timing. If a development team is under pressure from the publisher, or in Blizzard’s case with Star Craft II and its fans, then releasing an episode of a full game could satiate them long enough for the team to continue work. Releasing a game that wasn’t meant to be episodic can break up an otherwise coherent and epic story, bring unfair criticism from reviewers (wasn’t long enough, should have more features etc.), and worst of all cement features/characters/plot that could have been changed or adapted as the game’s development progressed. Sure it may be convenient for gamers to purchase a game in small doses, adding revenue to complete a project. If the first two episodes don’t have players hooked and sales for the third or fourth episode aren’t very successful then a publisher might drop the title leaving both a development team, and players who were deeply interested, an unfinished game.
My advice for anyone looking to take a full game and break it into episodes is know your game and know yourself. If you have made sequels and know how to continue a story and improve upon the ideas of the original then you already have a good sense of how an episodic game is made. Some genres are better for playing in smaller chunks and are more easily adapted to the episodic format. If you want to tell a grand epic story that’s non-stop action and suspense then episodes should not be your first choice.
10.04.2009
Slow As Sunday: I Did Not Get the Freebie
I have been interested in Halo 3: ODST not because of the single player, but the separate Halo 3 multi-player disc. My plan was to install the game disc for the multiplayer from a borrowed copy of ODST in order to obtain the extra map packs that I have yet to download myself. After minutes of installing the disc and swapping out my own copy of Halo 3 with the ODST multiplayer disc, I was disappointed that I couldn't play Halo 3 "from the hard drive" in the game library on the 360's dashboard. When I fired up the game I was equally bummed to find that my scheme didn't work at all. The conclusion of my little experiment was that installing a disc does not allow that data to be read by a "different disc".
Since the Halo 3 ODST and the Halo 3 we're the same game, but not the same kind of game disc, thier data cannot be read by each other. This is why Bungie put all the downloadable content onto the multiplayer disc for ODST; because existing content for Halo 3 could not be read by the ODST disc. There is an exception, but not in this case, of discs able to be read by different copies of the same game. My copy of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which is a game of the year edition, has a separate disc that, when installed following the prompts given when the disc inserted the content, is available for any copy of Oblivion that is placed in that 360. Notice that I said 'follow the prompts'. The process of installing the Oblivion disc is different than what I tried to do with the borrowed copy of ODST.
Now we run into a situation that few videogame publishers have developed a solution for. How do you give players without internet access to downloadable content the ability to play the DLC for their single player games? Earlier solutions we're to resell the same game with the added content i.e. Super Street Fighter II. Another attempt was to sell the DLC as a separate disc, either by itself or with original copy of the game, and is installed and played with an original copy. Rock Star's solution for the Grand Theft Auto IV DLC was to sell it on a separate disc that could be played by itself, but it only has the extra content and not the original game content. Fortunately not every gamer has to worry about where there extra content is coming from. Most home video game consoles are hooked up to the internet and receive constant updates and purchased content just fine.
Since the Halo 3 ODST and the Halo 3 we're the same game, but not the same kind of game disc, thier data cannot be read by each other. This is why Bungie put all the downloadable content onto the multiplayer disc for ODST; because existing content for Halo 3 could not be read by the ODST disc. There is an exception, but not in this case, of discs able to be read by different copies of the same game. My copy of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which is a game of the year edition, has a separate disc that, when installed following the prompts given when the disc inserted the content, is available for any copy of Oblivion that is placed in that 360. Notice that I said 'follow the prompts'. The process of installing the Oblivion disc is different than what I tried to do with the borrowed copy of ODST.
Now we run into a situation that few videogame publishers have developed a solution for. How do you give players without internet access to downloadable content the ability to play the DLC for their single player games? Earlier solutions we're to resell the same game with the added content i.e. Super Street Fighter II. Another attempt was to sell the DLC as a separate disc, either by itself or with original copy of the game, and is installed and played with an original copy. Rock Star's solution for the Grand Theft Auto IV DLC was to sell it on a separate disc that could be played by itself, but it only has the extra content and not the original game content. Fortunately not every gamer has to worry about where there extra content is coming from. Most home video game consoles are hooked up to the internet and receive constant updates and purchased content just fine.
9.27.2009
Slow As Sunday: Catching up with Apple
Where the iPod took existing technology and improved upon the form factor and the marketing of portable digital music players, the Touch and iPhone have changed the landscape of the portable casual gaming market. Not all applications available for download in the Apple Application Store are videogames, By my calculation there are just under 8000 video game or video game related apps on iTunes. This level of competition for these “casual” games means that prices are driven not by the quality of the product, after all any game made by a large company can be made at a lower development cost at a small developer, but by the prices set by competitors for similar games.
This level of competition is limited in console and high end PC “hardcore” because of the high cost of development for those games, meaning that those games that have the highest budget (on average) bring in a higher return in investment. In the Apple App Store the opposite is true. The games with a smaller development team can sell their product for a lower price and still get more return from their investment than what a larger company with a larger budget could manage. The big advantages for larger companies are brand recognition and revenue for advertising. Despite these advantages there are some concerns with the business model the folks at Apple have already established as evident in this article by the New York times:
“The next breakthrough in gaming is not going to be in hardware,” Yoichi Wada, president of a top Japanese game maker, Square Enix, told Game Show participants. “It’s going to be in how to create a successful business model.”
“As a platform, the cellphone has the biggest potential, because everybody owns one,” said Kazumi Kitaue, chief executive at another game maker, Konami Digital Entertainment.
“We are going to move away from a market where it’s the hardware that fights against each other,” Mr. Hanamura [president of the Tokyo market research company, Enterbrain
] said at a recent presentation. “We are going to be moving to an era when different software stores fight against each other.”
“The quality of cellphone games is varied, and you couldn’t play many of them for hours,” said Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony’s games development arm.
“Will a company be able to operate completely on these games? No,” Mr. Yoshida said. “After all, we’re talking about the kind of games people make sitting in a cafe with a laptop.”
The first concern expressed by these Japanese giants of gaming is quite simple but still rather “frightening” because it means that companies will have to completely change their business models in order to compete in the video game industry. The transition of hardware being the main selling point of video games, to software driving the market. We’ve already seen evidence of this shift by various companies; download services like Steam and Impulse, even companies that are tackling the biggest issues of performance versus software such as OnLive, GaiKai, and now Full Circle. All of these services are geared toward the digital distribution and how people pay for and play games, all on the PC.
Personal computers are the future of video game consoles. Let me explain; it is evident that multifunctional is becoming more important to consumers as evident by the success of smart phones such as the iPhone, it is also evident it is possible to take a low end PC or laptop and using software optimization or a broadband connection to stream from a different PC to achieve the same high end gaming that consoles deliver. So it will become possible, through software, to develop a unique hardware/software combination that delivers the function of PCs, the portability of smart phones, and the ability to play high end “hardcore” games all on the same system. Sony already has a decent candidate to fill that role in the Vaio P series. Something small enough to be carried around but large enough to act as a small laptop if necessary, and best of all it already has all the necessary software and hardware to run a service like OnLive, GaiKai, or Full Circle. Now all that’s missing is cell phone service and a docking station for an easy transition of using it as a multifunction device to playing video games on your high resolution monitor or HD TV. So in the end the solution will be, in my opinion, not purely software as the gaming industry is leaning towards.
There soon will be working software that can span the bridge of portable and high end gaming and with it will come this piece of hardware that is able to bridge all functions of a PC, netbook, smart phone, and video game console because of this software. One problem would still remain with software/hardware setup. The cost of making high end games, and the competition of making low end games. I cannot imagine the business model that would solve this. I imagine that Microsoft and Sony already have their own solutions to the cost vs. function problem but I’m also afraid that those solutions will be focused heavily on the old infrastructure of video game consoles and not all purpose devices. After all, why would they sell you a all purpose device when they can sell you a zune/walkman, high end PC, video game console, and cell phones that perform the same functionality that you want with the profits that they want? In the mean time Apple will continue to lightly hold the reins of their application producing giant while counting the money they’re making from the “casual” audience in the other.
This level of competition is limited in console and high end PC “hardcore” because of the high cost of development for those games, meaning that those games that have the highest budget (on average) bring in a higher return in investment. In the Apple App Store the opposite is true. The games with a smaller development team can sell their product for a lower price and still get more return from their investment than what a larger company with a larger budget could manage. The big advantages for larger companies are brand recognition and revenue for advertising. Despite these advantages there are some concerns with the business model the folks at Apple have already established as evident in this article by the New York times:
“The next breakthrough in gaming is not going to be in hardware,” Yoichi Wada, president of a top Japanese game maker, Square Enix, told Game Show participants. “It’s going to be in how to create a successful business model.”
“As a platform, the cellphone has the biggest potential, because everybody owns one,” said Kazumi Kitaue, chief executive at another game maker, Konami Digital Entertainment.
“We are going to move away from a market where it’s the hardware that fights against each other,” Mr. Hanamura [president of the Tokyo market research company, Enterbrain
] said at a recent presentation. “We are going to be moving to an era when different software stores fight against each other.”
“The quality of cellphone games is varied, and you couldn’t play many of them for hours,” said Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony’s games development arm.
“Will a company be able to operate completely on these games? No,” Mr. Yoshida said. “After all, we’re talking about the kind of games people make sitting in a cafe with a laptop.”
The first concern expressed by these Japanese giants of gaming is quite simple but still rather “frightening” because it means that companies will have to completely change their business models in order to compete in the video game industry. The transition of hardware being the main selling point of video games, to software driving the market. We’ve already seen evidence of this shift by various companies; download services like Steam and Impulse, even companies that are tackling the biggest issues of performance versus software such as OnLive, GaiKai, and now Full Circle. All of these services are geared toward the digital distribution and how people pay for and play games, all on the PC.
Personal computers are the future of video game consoles. Let me explain; it is evident that multifunctional is becoming more important to consumers as evident by the success of smart phones such as the iPhone, it is also evident it is possible to take a low end PC or laptop and using software optimization or a broadband connection to stream from a different PC to achieve the same high end gaming that consoles deliver. So it will become possible, through software, to develop a unique hardware/software combination that delivers the function of PCs, the portability of smart phones, and the ability to play high end “hardcore” games all on the same system. Sony already has a decent candidate to fill that role in the Vaio P series. Something small enough to be carried around but large enough to act as a small laptop if necessary, and best of all it already has all the necessary software and hardware to run a service like OnLive, GaiKai, or Full Circle. Now all that’s missing is cell phone service and a docking station for an easy transition of using it as a multifunction device to playing video games on your high resolution monitor or HD TV. So in the end the solution will be, in my opinion, not purely software as the gaming industry is leaning towards.
There soon will be working software that can span the bridge of portable and high end gaming and with it will come this piece of hardware that is able to bridge all functions of a PC, netbook, smart phone, and video game console because of this software. One problem would still remain with software/hardware setup. The cost of making high end games, and the competition of making low end games. I cannot imagine the business model that would solve this. I imagine that Microsoft and Sony already have their own solutions to the cost vs. function problem but I’m also afraid that those solutions will be focused heavily on the old infrastructure of video game consoles and not all purpose devices. After all, why would they sell you a all purpose device when they can sell you a zune/walkman, high end PC, video game console, and cell phones that perform the same functionality that you want with the profits that they want? In the mean time Apple will continue to lightly hold the reins of their application producing giant while counting the money they’re making from the “casual” audience in the other.
9.23.2009
The wise men
Listeners of the podcast I produce called of Dice and Men may notice in a couple weeks that I haven't posted a new recording of the guys and I flimflamming about pen and paper games. I've had a falling out with my gaming group making it impossible, at this time, to determine whether or not the recordings will continue in the future. So for this month at least, there will be no post and in the future those on the broadcast or the format itself may be changed. These things happen and unfortunately even when the evidence was staring me in the face I refused to prepare a contingency for the inevitable, which amounts to bad planning on my part. I wish I could promise that Of Dice and Men will come back and be better than ever, but in my heart I feel that I could never find such a great bunch of guys to work with again. C'est la vie.
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