April 2008 Archives

A few days ago, a somewhat controversial statement hit the interwebs from Mike Capps, president of Epic Games (the folks who make games like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War).  His statement, in a discussion of the Nintendo Wii, went a little something like this:

"It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, 'Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it.  So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on."

Bold words about the system that is currently leading the worldwide sales race.  But controversial statements hitting the blogosphere are nothing new - we are, after all, in the middle of a Presidential race.  So why did I bother to bring this quote up?

Because for me, it has been completely and totally true.



Sorry, I love that image too much not to use it ;-)

Among my friends, I was one of the last to get a Wii.  You might take that to mean that I was casual about it.  I'll let you think that, and hide the fact that Best Buy's number is programmed into my cell phone.  I justified the purchase to my fiancee using just about every rationale imaginable:  it was a more casual friendly system, it was a healthier form of gaming, it was imperative to my professional development, etc etc etc.  At one point or another I believed all of it, but above all else I just had an obsession with Wii Boxing. 

That was then.  Now, I am the embodiment of Capps' quote.  I havent turned my Wii on in probably about 3 months, instead deferring to Xbox to satiate all of my console gaming needs. 

I don't regret buying my Wii, though up until today, I had assumed that it had just been one of those purchases that never quite "took".  Or perhaps maybe  I'm still waiting for the "killer app" to take over where Wii Sports left off.  But after reading the words of Mike Capps, perhaps there is something to my apathy.  Maybe its not a problem with Mii, but a problem with Wii.

For me, there are two big reasons why the Wii just hasnt cut it.

• Achievements - I would argue that Microsoft's implementation of the achievement system has been one of the top 3 or so best innovations in gaming ever.  Why?  Because it gives you a compelling reason to want to play games with the X.  If given the opportunity to play a game on the Wii or a game on the Xbox 360, I will pick the 360 version every single time solely for the achievements.  It is an enormously powerful competitive advantage that adds a permanence to playing games.  Its also something I see as being an awesome model for education.  You'll probably think I'm insane (if you don't already), but achievements have the effect of making you feel like playing Xbox games accomplishes something, while playing any other consoles games just wastes time. 
  

• Downloadable Content - Guitar Hero is one of the few games I own that was distributed cross platform.  Achievements aside, there is another major difference between the Xbox  (or Playstation) version and the Wii version.  On my Xbox, I can download new songs for the game.  On the Wii, I can't.  Rock Band will be coming out later this year for the Wii, and it is destined to suffer the same fate.   As game companies continue to extend the life of their investments through patches, and mini expansions via downloadable content, this problem will only grow.  Purchasing certain games for the Wii has been, up until this point, like buying a computer that can't be upgraded.  To be fair, the Wii does allow the purchase of classic games online as well as online coop play for certain games, but the system is far less feature rich than Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. 
  

There are also some other tangential concerns of lesser importance (things like graphics, game selection, voice chat, and the fact that little tiny discs make me nervous) but those two points are the biggest. 

So Stub and Mike Capps have a problem with the Wii.  Big deal.  Regardless of how infrequently I use my system, It has filled a hole in the gaming market by creating an easy way for families and non traditional gamers to enjoy video games, and released an input device that could change the entire industry.  Its not a system about ultra realism, its a system about casual, accessible fun.  And in doing so it has made barrels upon barrels of money.  In short, I'm not exactly the target demographic for the Wii, so who really cares what I think.

But what is it that does make the Wii so special?  Is it the Wiimote?  If so, Nintendo might be in for some trouble ahead as third party vendors push to bring the Wii's motion sensing technology to other consoles and even the PC (see the "Darwin" controller).  Does the Wii still outsell its compeition if its not the only kid on the block that lets you point and click?

 
Personally, I think the Wii would continue to thrive regardless.  Though the Wiimote is the tangible advantage of the Wii, the far more significant distinguishing factor of the little white console is the mentality behind it.  Its cute.  Its approachable.  Its affordable (relatively speaking).  Its a system designed in every way for the gaming novice.  And that mentality sells systems like hotcakes. 

Now that Captain Obvious has rambled on for far too long, I should probably get to the point.  I think this whole situation serves as a very interesting case study for the difference in what games consoles (and games themselves) are expected to be, moving forward in our society.  For the Wii, its not about flash, just about simple fun.  For the Xbox and the PS3, its about creating a media experience for which "the game" is only a piece.   Who has it right?  Should a console be the center of your living room, or just another component?  Should a game be anything more than a game? 

Part of this is pure societal curiosity.  Given the success of every console in the race, its most certainly not a business question - there is plenty of room (and money) for everyone to get their piece of the pie. 

But the differences between the Wii and their more complex brethren also become relevant in the context of education.  When you use games as a tool to, who are you using them to reach?  What is the profile of a person who gravitates more toward learning from a game than from a textbook?  What do they want out of their games?  What must games do to make an impact on them, not only on an entertainment level, but such that they can transmit whatever concept or idea ties it back to a lesson plan?  Do they require the low barrier to entry of a system like the Wii?  Do they crave the more intense Xbox/ PS3 experience?  And could making the wrong choose render an EduGame at best ineffective and at worst detrimental to the learning experience?  Or is any moderately well designed Edugame (or game based activity) better than nothing? 

No doubt I'm over thinking this to an incredible degree.  And I would imagine that reality will answer quite a few of the questions for me (we don't exactly have a commercially staffed game development team here at PSU).   But it does make for an interesting thought exercise.  Have we just begun the EduGaming pedagogy <shudder> discussion?  

Sorry for the randomness overload.  Too much for one post.  Time to scold myself for using the p-word ;-)



Images from dandel.net and Gizmodo.com

In case you suffer from some strange movie phobia, basically BlogIt lets you post to a slew of external blogging or microblogging platforms all from within Facebook.  And by that I don't mean crappy applications you've never heard of - real deal stuff that people actually use, like (cough) MovableType, WordPress, Twitter, Blogger, etc.  BlogIt also makes it easy to cross post to multiple blogs or services with a single click.

So why is this awesome?  In three words, consolidation, centralization, and exposure.  And while other tools have attempted to bring together Web 2.0 in a nice neat package, this is by far the most impressive and complete that I've seen to date.

Obviously its not perfect.  The lack of a WYSIWYG editor makes the experience uncomfortable, and BlogIt doesnt allow you to take advantage of certain blog features like tagging.  And I'm sure there are probably some privacy concerns somewhere in all of this too.

But I like the opportunities that this app creates - not only for social networking in general, but also for Universities like ours where half the battle is making it easy for people to find their voice (nevermind ways to get them excited about doing it). 

A lot to think about on this one.





Video taken from typepad.com/features/blogit

Oh I see what you did there...what with the X and... oh nevermind =)

One of the cooler sessions from last weekend's Playing to Win conference was delivered by Wayne Rasanen of IN10DID, Inc. about a style of keyboard that his company is working on.  What kind of keyboard, you might ask?  The kind that gets Stub all jacked up of course - the game kind!

But before the big reveal, I should probably give those of you not familiar with the Xbox, a bit of background.  For starters,what do you want to be typing on an Xbox for? 

• You need to register (which involves a lot of typing) to take advantage of most of the Xbox's online features
• The Xbox allows you to send messages to other Xbox playing friends.  This too, obviously, requires a way to type out messages. 
  
• There are nuances within certain games that requires data entry, like typing out your character name
  
• An entire genre of games (MMOGs) are rendered useless on consoles because they require lots of text based communication that is difficult for consoles to accommodate
  

Out of the (X)box, the standard method of typing looks a little something like this:

The virtual keyboard might not look so bad.  But I'll be honest with you -  using it is about as much fun as getting punched in the head.  The notion of the keyboard just doesnt quite work if you can't actually use your hands to interface with it.

And so because Microsoft is listening to my thoughts, they rolled out the next logical step.  A keyboard for the Xbox that actually lets you press the keys.  Crazy, I know.  This mini-qwerty keyboard sells for about $30, plugs right into the existing Xbox controller, and looks a little something like this:



Though it is better, there is most certainly still room for improvement.  For starters, this keyboard suffers from the same problem that most mini-qwertys have - its pretty obnoxious to use if you don't have little tiny hands.  On a more fundamental level however, it just doenst feel natural.  For what it is, it works well, but it is very obviously a separate piece of the controller.  If you are playing a game, your hands are in one position.  If you want to send a message, your move your hands to the keyboard.  There is a fluidity that is missing in the design - often an inevitability from bolting an extra piece on.

Which returns us to the presentation from Mr. Rasanen, and his vision for how one should type on a controller:

(if the video doesnt load, you can check it out here)

Now we're getting somewhere!

So why is this awesome?  Well for starters, because its always cool when people just totally rethink convention (especially when convention is cumbersome and clunky).  But it also raises an interesting possibility: what if you could send messages from your Xbox to external services (and vice versa).  Interoperability you want to break out the SAT words.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  For the moment, the In10Did controller is a potential opportunity to add a new dimension to console games.  Will gamers gravitate towards the new style of control?  That will have to be seen...perhaps the EGC can help find out =)

Images from www.dummies.com, gamepro.com, and in10did.com (video)

The past week or so has been an incredibly busy one for me.  Penn State's first video game based conference, Barack Obama in Happy Vally, and of course Lawrence Lessig and an exceptional 2008 TLT Symposium all rocked my normally quiet world in the space of 7 days.  Any of those events is more than deserving of its own post, and hopefully I'll have a chance to reflect on each one soon.

But tonight, I won't talk about any of them.  Instead, I feel compelled to blog about how I bit the bullet, and bought a guitar.  Yes, a real (not fisher price) electric guitar. 

So what, right?  People buy things all the time and rarely is it worth discussing or announcing in a public forum.  Indeed, the purchase itself is not the relevant point.  What is relevant is why I bought the guitar.  And the reason I bought the guitar is because of video games.

It is probably pretty important to explain that I did not decide to go out and buy a guitar because I can rip up Free Bird on expert mode in Guitar Hero.  The difference between a real guitar and the plastic mockups that come with todays popular games is astronomical, and I am under no illusions that a skill in one translates to a skill in another (at least not not completely). 

But what Guitar Hero and Rock Band did do is to spur an interest in music that I've never really had before.  Other than the ability to spontaneously bang on any surface, I'm not particularly musically inclined and it was an interest I had never seen fit to explore.  I took guitar lessons as a little kid.  I stole my roomate's guitar for a few months in College.  And up until a few months ago, I had assumed that those experiences were likely to be the end of my musical career.  Then came the games, and with them an understanding of the peace and relaxation that can come from sitting down and just playing music - even if it was dumbed down to 5 "frets" and 1 "string".  And a nagging feeling that "hey, maybe this is something worth taking the time to try".  Now there is a Fender sitting in my living room that I have no business playing, but am thrilled [to try and] play it anyway. 

I don't expect that most of you who read this blog will ever be as obsessive about games as I am.  But if you've ever wondered why I harp on them so much, here is part of your answer.  

Now if you'll excuse me, I have continue trying to figure out why I chose to start my shreducation with Metallica's "One" =)

 

I'm not going to lie to you.  Discussing the finer points of web design, page indexing, html tags and accessibility is not likely to make you the life of the party.  Don't get me wrong - I've been a part of those conversations and they are extremely important to have.  But they tend to be... well... dry.

Which is why this video might be the single best thing that has ever been put on the internet.  Or... at least since the awesome dramatic villainous hamster. 



Awesome.  Just awesome.  I am, without question, going to spend the rest of the day coming up with some sort of ridiculous ETS rap song.  Holla!