Author Archive | Jared Newman

Indies Band Together For More Pay-What-You-Want

Posted by Jared Newman on May 5, 2010 at 6:11 pm

For a short time, you can get five computer games for a dollar, or $10, or $100 if you wish.

A group of independent game developers are selling the “Humble Indie Bundle” until Tuesday, May 11, allowing buyers to set their own price on the five-game package. The bundle includes World of Goo, Gish, Lugaru HD, Aquaria and Penumbra Overture. All games are available for Windows, Mac or Linux, and are DRM-free.

There’s also a charitable angle: Buyers can allocate all, part or none of their purchase to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play.

Radiohead popularized the pay-as-you-wish model with their 2007 album “In Rainbows,” released as downloadable MP3s before the CD launched. It was a successful experiment, as the band made more money before “In Rainbows” went to hard copy than they made in total for their previous album, “Hail to the Thief.”

Last October, World of Goo developer 2D Boy tried the idea themselves. The combination of media exposure and love for the game resulted in more than $100,000 earned. 2D Boy also surveyed buyers, and most said their contribution was all they could afford, or that they liked the pay-as-you-wish model and wanted to support it.

The folks behind “Humble Indie Bundle” are sharing statistics in real-time. So far, the developers have raised more than $300,000, with an average contribution of just under $8. One anonymous benefactor spent $500 for the bundle, whose actual value is $80. Another fun statistic: The number of Mac and Linux buyers are roughly equal, and about half the number of Windows buyers.

I don’t think you’ll find any consumers who don’t like pay as you wish, as long as it works for the seller. All these games are more than a year old, so the bundle seems like a great way for developers to build up cash and attention for their next indie undertakings.

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The Problem With PlayOn's Subscription Model

Posted by Jared Newman on May 4, 2010 at 5:26 pm

When someone I know buys a video game console, sooner or later I ask if they’ve tried PlayOn. The Windows software essentially tricks the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii into thinking that Web video content is stored on your local network, letting you watch Hulu, ABC.com and more on the big screen while your computer quietly handles the streaming.

One of the main reasons I’ve advocated PlayOn to fellow Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 owners is that you only pay $40 for the software once, and then you can use it forever. That’s about to change on May 20, when PlayOn moves to a subscription model: $40 for year one, and $20 per year after that.

PlayOn swears that the money will be put to good use by funding “continued development and support.” The subscription product will be dubbed “PlayOn Premium,” and will include a couple more sources for online video, a “Gold” version of Wii support and a promise that PlayOn will add more features over time. But do you feel comfortable paying for a promise?

The problem is that PlayOn subscribers aren’t paying for the delivery of content, or even the content itself.  They’re only paying for the continued right to use software, which would technically still function even if PlayOn’s owner, MediaMall, folded tomorrow. This would be like Microsoft demanding yearly payments from Windows users to fund updates and future versions. It just doesn’t work that way when software isn’t tied to a tangible, recurring service.

I’m glad PlayOn will let existing owners continue to get basic functionality for free, including Hulu. PlayOn’s even offering one year of premium service to existing users for $5 instead of $40. But it would make a lot more sense for PlayOn to build the new features first, then charge users a la carte to add each one — kind of like an app store. It beats paying PlayOn a yearly allowance and hoping it’s spent wisely.

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Black Wii With MotionPlus: Vital Steps for Nintendo

Posted by Jared Newman on May 3, 2010 at 5:50 pm

Do not be fooled by the slick black veneer of Nintendo’s latest Wii model. The most important part of this game console facelift is that it includes Wii MotionPlus for not a penny more than the existing white Wii.

Nintendo announced that the black Wii will be sold for $200 starting May 9. It still includes one Wii remote, one Nunchuk attachment and a copy of the iconic Wii Sports, but Nintendo will also throw in the MotionPlus, which attaches to the remote and greatly improves the accuracy of motion controls in games that support it. A copy of Wii Sports Resort, another mini-game collection that showcases the MotionPlus, is included as well.

The extra hardware is necessary as Microsoft and Sony prepare to show off their own motion controllers to the world. E3, gaming’s biggest trade show, falls in mid-June, and it’ll probably be packed with waving arms, flailing legs and jiggling bodies trying out the new technology. The Playstation Move is like a more sophisticated Wii remote, able to sense not only motion, but positioning in the real world. The Xbox 360’s contraption, codenamed Project Natal, does away with controllers and tracks the entire body in three-dimensional space. Both motion controllers should be available by the holidays.

Even with MotionPlus, the Wii is technologically inferior, but Nintendo has a huge base of customers that it could wow with one really solid app. For instance, the next Legend of Zelda game is confirmed to support MotionPlus, and is tentatively scheduled for this year. Bundling MotionPlus means Nintendo can develop games like Zelda while building the number of people who can play them.

And for potential customers, you can’t beat a $200 console with two games included. To compete, Microsoft and Sony will need motion-controlled games that blow the mind, because Nintendo’s got the “good enough” market cornered.

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InstantAction Streams PC Games, Right on Your Blog

Posted by Jared Newman on April 30, 2010 at 6:35 pm

Embedding audio and video across the Web is pretty simple thanks to sites like YouTube, Vimeo and others, but embedded computer games? It’s complicated, and yet InstantAction has found a way.

The service, which launched today, allows blogs and other Web sites to post full-length PC games right into the browser. I’m not talking about Flash games, either; InstantAction supports any programming language or engine that can run on a Windows PC.

The first game to work with InstantAction is The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Regretfully, I’m not able to get the game embedded in our setup here — how embarrassing! — but here’s the game running in Facebook, on Kotaku and on Joystiq.

When you start loading a game in InstantAction, it downloads data in chunks, giving you the most necessary bits first and filling in the rest as you play. Games run in a Web browser, and appear to be streaming, but they rely on the computer’s hardware to do the heavy lifting. In that sense, InstantAction is quite different than the upcoming OnLive, which processes all the graphics on its own servers and sends compressed audio and video to the player. If you’re worried about being shackled to a Web connection, InstantAction Community Manager Ian Tornay wrote in a comment on Joystiq that an offline client is in the works.

Monkey Island lets you play for 20 minutes before you’re asked to pay for the full version, and I expect other games to follow a similar model. The idea is to get players into the game without bothersome downloads and installations.

Things didn’t go so smoothly in my test of Monkey Island, as I had to first install the latest versions of DirectX and Java in order to play, and I’d like to see how the system handles beefier games, like the previously-demonstrated Tribes and Assassin’s Creed. Still, the concept is intriguing: If watching a video online is as simple as clicking a button, the same should be true for playing computer games.

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Bungie Aligns With Activision: R.I.P. Halo?

Posted by Jared Newman on April 29, 2010 at 7:01 pm

Two of the biggest names in video games, Activision and Bungie, announced an exclusive 10-year development deal today, stunning Halo fans and leaving Microsoft’s golden video game franchise at a crossroads.

The deal will maintain Bungie’s status as an independent game developer, but it will give Activision exclusive rights to publish a new gaming franchise on multiple platforms. Bungie manager Brian Jerrard told VG247 that almost the entire studio will concentrate on this new IP, and that Halo: Reach “is definitely Bungie’s final Halo game.”

That alone doesn’t mean the end of Halo, which transformed first-person shooters with innovations that are now industry standard — small things like regenerating health and big ideas like an automatic matchmaking system for online play. Microsoft owns the Halo IP, and that won’t change. Given the rabid enthusiasm Halo fans exude (we had over 1,000 responses to our Halo: Reach beta code giveaway), Microsoft will probably continue to create new Halo games in-house.

But in my eyes, Halo has always been about Bungie. They endlessly tinker with Halo’s multiplayer to keep things fresh and to refine the game based on how people are playing. The studio has cultivated a culture of fandom with an active forum and weekly updates on everything they do, and they keep a staff of community managers who are as obsessed with the series as its players.

Bungie is an independent studio, which means all of those resources and efforts will be going towards the new IP, except for a small group of employees who will support Halo: Reach after launch. If Microsoft intends to keep Halo alive with the same spirit it enjoys today, the company has some big shoes to fill.

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Get an Early Halo: Reach Beta Code

Posted by Jared Newman on April 28, 2010 at 12:40 am

[UPDATE: We’re closing the contest–thanks to everyone who entered! We’ll notify winners soon.]

Want early access to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta? Courtesy of Microsoft, we’ve got seven codes to give away. These will let you start playing on Thursday, April 29, so you won’t have to wait until May 3 and you won’t need a copy of last year’s Halo 3: ODST. As long as you can download the beta over Xbox Live, you’re good to go.

Here’s what you need to do for a chance at one of the codes:

  • Comment on this blog post with your thoughts about Halo: Reach. Use your valid e-mail address (it won’t be displayed, but we’ll need it to contact the winners).
  • You can alsot Tweet your answer to Harry (who’s @harrymccracken), if it fits in 140 characters including the @harrymccracken.
  • We’ll select people at random and deliver the code on April 29 by e-mail or direct message, so you must follow Harry on Twitter or use a valid e-mail address.

A brief primer on Halo: Reach’s multiplayer: The fundamentals of cat-and-mouse first-person shooting are the same as they’ve always been, but the developers at Bungie added new weapons and tweaked old ones, gave special armor powers that players can choose at the start of match, and created new modes (Ars Technica’s preview has a solid guide to what’s new). The beta allows people to get excited for the game while letting Bungie make adjustments based on how people play in the real world.

Good luck to those who enter. If you don’t win, you can still access the beta on May 3 with a copy of Halo 3: ODST. Either way, you’ll find me playing the beta on Xbox Live as ThePimpOfSound. I’ll destroy you all.

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Supreme Court to Rule on Violent Game Law, Finally

Posted by Jared Newman on April 26, 2010 at 6:27 pm

It’s about time the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in on the matter of violent video games.

The justices agreed on Monday to rule on whether the government should ban the sale of violent games to minors and fine stores $1,000 each time they fail to comply. At issue is a California law, passed in 2005 but struck down by lower courts, that defines violent games as works that depict “killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being,” in a way that’s offensive, appeals to morbid interests and otherwise lacks artistic merit.

So basically, the government would play tastemaker and decide what’s offensive and what’s artistic, what should be treated like porn and what should be treated like culture. If you can’t tell, and haven’t read our previous coverage, this idea unsettles me. I have no problem with video game retailers turning down minors who want to buy Grand Theft Auto, but government should not be at the helm. Video games have a system of self-regulation that’s among the best in the entertainment industry, not to mention parental controls on consoles.

Supporters of the California law argue that video games need the extra regulation because their interactivity makes them inherently worse for children than movies or other media. I’m not going to get into that debate here — check out this recent article by PC World’s Matt Peckham to get a sense of the back-and-forth — but the fact that six states have attempted violent game laws, and none have passed muster with their respective courts, shows that judges aren’t comfortable making video games an exception to the First Amendment.

I’m glad the Supreme Court is looking at this, if only as a way to put an end to all the madness. If the court sides with the games industry — and I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t — it’ll set a precedent for lower courts around the country, and stop the waste of more resources on these misguided laws.

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MLB.tv Rounds the Bases With PS3 Support

Posted by Jared Newman on April 22, 2010 at 4:47 pm

Starting today, Playstation 3 owners can watch live Major League Baseball in high-definition with an MLB.tv subscription, an offer to which I’ll probably succumb as the season heats up.

With Sony partnership in hand, MLB has basically pulled a Netflix. The service is on at least one device for every screen: There’s the iPhone for mobile phones, the iPad for tablets, the PS3, Roku and Boxee for your television and of course the computer, where it all got started. Clearly, MLB gets the idea that the more devices you’re on, the more enticing your service becomes.

Other sports are catching on. Earlier this week, Boxee got support for streaming National Hockey League games. The NBA is moving a bit slower, offering playoff highlights on Roku boxes, but it’s a start. I’m not sure what the NFL is doing to get live streaming on lots of platforms. I’m hoping the buzz over today’s MLB/PS3 deal will get the other major sports to wake up and realize this is what people want.

That’s not to say MLB’s plan is flawless. Blackout restrictions apply for all games, so you can’t watch your favorite team if you live in the same market. It’s all about the contracts between local broadcasters and the league, but I don’t know a single baseball fan who thinks this is a good idea. Fortunately, I’m a Yankee fan in Los Angeles.

Also, what’s the deal with charging $15 for the MLB iPhone and iPad apps, and then releasing a new app every year costs even more money? None of the other platforms cost a dime, and I’d think the $120 per year MLB.tv subscription would be enough to throw in the apps gratis.

Gripes aside, baseball’s been the blind spot in my quest to be sufficiently entertained without cable. I’ll probably jump on when the $25 monthly price drops below the annual subscription cost.

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Social Settings Are Halo: Reach's Coolest New Feature

Posted by Jared Newman on April 21, 2010 at 3:38 pm

My level of excitement for new Halo games has dropped off over the years, as the series’ refinements stopped adding up to anything radically different. But a new feature in the upcoming Halo: Reach sounds like a game-changer, and it has nothing to do with shooting.

I’ll just quote Ars Technica’s Ben Kuchera, who got to sample the game’s multiplayer ahead of next month’s public beta:

You also have social settings to choose from, to make sure you play with people who match your style. Do you talk? Are you quiet? Do you play competitively, or simply to enjoy yourself? Do you go Rambo, or enjoy teamwork? Do you like a polite game, or are you a trash talker? By adjusting all these options you’ll be able to filter out people whose play styles may be distasteful, allowing you a better play experience.

The idea is so simple, yet so smart, that I wonder why no one’s thought of it before. Essentially, you’ll be able to play with like-minded people without manually cultivating lists of online friends. Given how obnoxious some online gamers can be, this could breathe new life into Xbox Live.

I’m reminded of when Halo 2 introduced matchmaking more than five years ago. The game automatically found players, created teams and chose maps to play on. At the time, online console games made you manually select from a list of open matches, and if you weren’t quick to join one, they’d fill up and you’d have to refresh the list. This system became unpopular as other games mimicked what Halo 2 pioneered.

The same thing ought to happen with Halo: Reach’s social settings, provided the developer, Bungie, can properly execute the concept.

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No More Xbox 360, PS3 Manuals for Ubisoft

Posted by Jared Newman on April 19, 2010 at 4:39 pm

It’s an old joke in video game culture — or perhaps culture in general — that nobody reads the instruction manuals. Realizing this, Ubisoft announced that it will stop including printed manuals with its games for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

The move is ostensibly an attempt to go green while reducing production costs. Along with scrapping the manuals, Ubisoft says it’ll start shipping games in polypropylene cases made only of recycled materials, reports CNet.

I don’t care much about any of that. To me, the move is more of an acknowledgement that the way we learn to play video games has drastically changed since the advent of home gaming consoles.

As a kid, I relished reading those little staple-bound booklets. You never knew what you’d find in there. The Super Mario Bros. manual revealed “secret tricks” — basically, chain-stomping Goombas and using Koopa shells to take out surrounding foes — and the Double Dragon manual had stylized illustrations of all the characters, which somehow made the 8-bit game seem so much cooler. And because old-school games were never very good at exposition, the manuals provided otherwise non-existent plots to Atari classics such as Berzerk.

None of that is necessary anymore. Games are considered a failure if they don’t teach you how to play within the game. If you need help, you’re more likely to consult GameFAQs than the instruction booklet. Fancy illustrations and written plot summaries aren’t necessary when the games themselves are spectacles of light and sound, with professional voice acting.

So, knowing things will never be the same as in childhood, I welcome Ubisoft’s decision. And yeah, I suppose it’s nice that the environment’s getting some love, too.

(By the way, if you’re feeling nostalgic, Vimm.net has a growing archive of old video game instruction manuals, which is where I got the above image.)

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