A solid argument exists for having a real banking system in online games. Even Goliaths like WoW have a “Bank” which is essentially no more than a safety-deposit box.

You can read the whole entry at EyesLikeOurs (Sent to me by Jon), but I would like to make a further point. In addition to adding value directly to the players by establishing a true banking system, There are economical manipulations one could do to control the rampant inflation that plagues MMOGs due to the cursed face of Gold Farmers. Certainly it’s not a quick fix, but it could help in management. I believe the concept of providing loans would also be useful in resolving the issue (As many will prefer to go into debt to get cash now, rather than give their very real currency to Gold Farmers).

Nintendo on Wednesday announced that they have joined Microsoft in offering a solution for independent developers to create content for their system. Full details have yet to emerge, but it would seem that WiiWare is designed to allow developers to produce games which can then be sold through the WiiShop Channel, Similar to the mechanism Microsoft is using to deploy XNA games through XBLA.

Level Up has an exclusive interview with NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime, where some interesting details were disclosed. Firstly, the pricing for a given game is determined exclusively by Nintendo. I’m not sure how this compares to the Microsoft method, as the entire “Getting my game on XBLA” process is somewhat opaque at this point (and I might add, Microsoft would do well to make it more transparent).

Secondly, WiiWare seems to not encompass libraries or tools that make to development process easier (a la XNA), but rather the simplification of the delivery channel. The argument for this is that development kits for the Wii are extremely inexpensive. While this is a valid point (They cost between $2,500 to $10,000), it’s certainly not on par with the concept behind XNA. Additionally, actually becoming an authorized developer so that you can get your hands on the kits is more complex, and as a result it is unlikely to target the homebrew community emerging around the Xbox 360. That would also not appear to be the intent, rather it would seem Nintendo is trying to simplify the process for small (but professional) development shops.

Thirdly the developer must seek its own ESRB Rating. As I don’t have a development company, I don’t even have access to the information regarding getting a game rated. There seems to be similar restrictions to getting a game rated that exist to get your hands on Wii DevKits. I would not be suprised if there was also a fee associated with getting a rating, but again this seems to tune WiiWare towards small independent developers rather than just anyone.

Reggie also states in the interview that Nintendo will not be overseeing the games, suggesting that any game that gets through this process and passes some basic requirements from Nintendo will be made available for purchase on the WiiChannel. Note that this is strictly different than the attitude Microsoft has developed. XBox Live Arcade is a carefully crafted entity into which new games are eligible only with the good graces of the managers who maintain the portfolio. In other words, XBLA will never be filled with 800 solitaire games, because Microsoft gets the final say on whether they’ll sell your game or not. The fact that Nintendo is not doing this is both good and bad. On one hand, it could conceivably encourage games that might not make it to XBLA, however possibilities exist for the marketing of a lot of crap that nobody is interested in buying.

All in all, I’m excited to see Nintendo is getting in on the independent developer market, and digital delivery, but WiiWare isn’t strictly comparable to XBLA, the two seem to be marketed at different audiences.  While many are quick to herald WiiWare as “Nintendo’s XBLA”, WiiWare does not in any way make it easy for “Anyone to create a Wii Game”.  WiiWare simplifies delivery mechanisms, not development mechanisms, so all those hopeful hobbyists will still have to remain weeping in the corner.

Now we just need to see when Sony is going to get on board.

Peter Moore yesterday released an open letter to the Xbox 360 community announcing a new three year warranty extension that covers systems that fail due to the red ring of death.

Although Microsoft has not announced the official cause of the red ring of death issue, unofficial reports seem to indicate the problem is related to the proximity of the DVD drive to the board, and the lack of airflow through that region causes the board to warp, breaking contacts and additionally causing the solder to reflow.  Some have reported that Microsoft has begun to add additional heat piping on repaired systems to fix this problem.

I’ve spoken about my experiences with the Red Ring of Death.  I should like to comment that after calling for support, Microsoft shipped me the packaging box (”Dubbed ‘The Coffin’”) several days later, and after a couple of weeks, I received my system back.  I’ve had not a single issue with it since the joyful return of my system almost two months ago.  Overall I didn’t have to pay a dime, and Microsoft gave me a free month of Xbox Live Gold access for the inconvienence of losing my system for a couple of weeks.  All in all, a generally positive customer experience.

If this is indeed the problem, one would not expect Microsoft to own up to it specficially, because the onslaught of ‘Heating upgrade requests’ would be financially damaging, and in many cases unnecessary.  For those systems that require the upgrade, this should become obvious well before the three year deadline arrives.  This certainly bolsters my spirits and hopes that we’ll all be able to enjoy the 360 in years and decades to come.  I congratulate Peter Moore, Microsoft, and the Xbox 360 team for owning up to the fact that there is a problem, and stepping up to the plate to ensure the customers and community remain satisfied with the 360 Experience.

Kudos.

In the news post from yesterday’s Penny Arcade, Tycho talks about two things that I’m conflicted on:  Multi-player being preferable to single player, and the game Overlord.

I can see why a person might be more interested in playing with other people, the dynamics of the game change, the challenge is higher, but I’ve always personally preferred to play by myself.   Why you ask?  Because most people I meet are ass hats.  Some games are just made to be played in multi-player because it’s too difficult to make a reasonably good AI (e.g. Real-time Strategy games).  Joyfully one does not have to listen to their opponent whilst playing RTS, but the folks you find playing on-line are usually addicted like crack to that particular game, and have honed the art of micromanagement down to a laundry list of moves to make on a per-millisecond basis.  Needless to say, this removes much of the enjoyment from anyone who is forced to leave their house from time to time.

The only FPS game I’ve managed to tolerate any kind of online time in is Gears of War, and this is only because the game is that exceptional.  It does carry the rider of most shooters though:  Half the time you play, you hear the belligerent moaning of what can only be a frat-boy, pissed that you’ve blown his skull off yet again.

Tycho, having rather the opposite opinion, was surprised to note that he had blown 6 hours straight playing Overlord (an interesting game basically being a cross between Dungeon Keeper and Pikmin).

Now, don’t get me wrong, I liked Overlord, a lot in fact.  The game is funny, and there’s something about swarming a horde of 50 minions over an oncoming throng of halflings that just tickles you the right way.  I do however note there is a major problem with this game that causes me to be seethingly irritated with it.

Essentially the entire game is spent killing small fuzzy things which occasionally will drop lifeforce – small glowing orbs which increase the size of your pool of minions.  On my first play through the game, I accumulated somewhere between 1500 and 2000 units of lifeforce total.

Now, I’m one of those guys who really likes to get the achievement points.  And some of the achievement points in this game are insane.  One achievement is gained by at any point in the game having over 10,000 lifeforce in your pool.  Think about that, it’s possible to beat the game, accomplishing almost all of the possible accomplishments, and only accumulate 1/5 of the lifeforce needed for that achievement.  One gets achievements for full upgrading each of the three armor sets, a feat which cost you several thousand lifeforce per armor set.  A third achievement for completing the game at maximum corruption is only possible after killing over 1,000 peasants, only accomplished by continually going to a city, running around slaughtering everyone, and repeating over and over again.

A game which I initially quite enjoyed has been associated with a mindless grind in my inner psyche.  There is nothing more depressing than sitting in the same spot, killing the same guys (usually trivial to do so), over and over again just so that you can continue with your life.  It is, as a developer, an easy way out, but it lowers the value of your game,  please stop doing this.

World of Warcraft, another of my past addictions, eventually turned me away because of both of the above issues.  Once reaching the maximum level, the only possible tasks are to schedule several nights of your week, consistently week after week, to hang out with 40 people or so, and grind a raid dungeon.  Just put a gun in my mouth right now.

Can we just make a rule where nobody is ever allowed to put grinding into a game ever again?  Or at least make it such a taboo that only the most sadistic developers do so?  This is not a practice that we should be encouraging folks, and if anyone out there is a developer, I would encourage you to bring that message back home.

Microsoft announced earlier today that Peter Moore, Tattooed Vice-President of the Interactive Entertainment Division, which includes Xbox, has resigned for personal reasons. Peter will be moving with his family back to the SF Bay area in Northern California when he leaves the company at the end of August.

This is something of a down note for me, as my internship doesn’t begin until September, so any chance I have of running into the man himself has dropped from low to zero. Peter has certainly been a leader in the video games industry, and is certainly one of the most charismatic. He will be replaced by former EA president Don Mattrick.

The wait is over. The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual is now shipping and available for order on www.gamestyleguide.com.

The first volume to definitively catalogue the breathtaking multibillion-dollar game industry from A to Z, The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual brings a new gold standard for writers, reporters and others working in today’s most exciting entertainment biz. Critics from leading publications ranging from Playboy to Kotaku are already hailing the manuscript as “excellent,” “long overdue” and “an essential read for journalists of any level.”

For paperback copies, please click here: http://www.lulu.com/content/922500

For hardback copies, please click here: http://www.lulu.com/content/922573

To claim your free electronic copy of the volume or for more information, simply visit: http://www.gamestyleguide.com

You can also contribute to the next edition of the guide on the Wiki, available at www.igja.org/guide/