The Melancholy of Visual Novels

Here's a feature I wrote on Siliconera a few months ago. I've been trying to give this as much exposure as I can. Much to my surprise, it got a great response, and if you're into a visual novels (or are planning on developing or publishing one), you might want to check it out.

Here's a snippet:

How do you convince the existing game market that visual novels and visual novel adventures are worth looking into?


For the answer to that question, consider this: what if you don’t target the current generation of “gamers” with these products?

[Siliconera: The Melancholy of Visual Novels]

[ADVANCE]

From Fantasy and Magic to Boobies, Giant Axes and Milk Bukkakes: The Story of Queen's Blade

Today, I came across a series of games known as Queen's Blade. We'll get to why it caught my attention in just a bit. I'd never heard of Queen's Blade before, but apparently, it's part of the "visual combat book" genre. Even being a fan of visual novels, I'll admit I'd never heard of this particular genre that Japan has apparently been enjoying for a few years now. A quick look at this site, however, gave me some info on Queen's Blade:

Queen's Blade is called "Visual Book for Duel." It is based on the Lost Worlds Combat Picture Books, the classic game book for duel.


In this game, each player uses one beautiful fighter (for one book) to duel with another player. The combination of each player's choice of offenses and defenses then leads to the character being in a state of, for example, falling down, being wounded, having armor broken, etc (each state has an artistic page in the character book), and the repetition of these decides a winner, by accumulated wounds.

Books? Status effects? Rules? This was all very vague. It sounded a little like Dungeons & Dragons...some sort of table-top RPG. Surely, it couldn't be Japanese by origin?


Unsatisfied, I decided to do some further research. What I came across was Lost Worlds, a series of "game books" created by a person named Alfred Leonardi.


Here's what I found out: a gamebook is somewhat like an RPG rule book which features a "character" meant for combat. Play using these gamebooks requires at least two players and a gamebook for each, ie; a character for each.


Play requires two players and at least two "visual combat books", with each player choosing a character (i.e., a book) from those available. Both players pull their "character sheet" out of their gamebook and hand their respective book to their opponent. Each book lists the moves and abilities for that character in tabular form, so what you're seeing during play is your opponent's character, not yourself.



Quoting Wikipedia, "During each turn or combat phase, players secretly select an action from those shown on their card, possibly influenced by the results of previous turns. Players then simultaneously reveal their intended action, by number, to each other. Using the character sheet to cross-reference their action with that of their opponent, players then turn to a specific entry in the book they are holding in order to determine the results. These effects may include hit point loss (i.e., a wound), as well as any restrictions on the opponent's next move (which is read aloud to them). The first character to reduce their opponent to zero hit points wins."


Funny story: I thought up the exact same game back in Grade 6. My friends and I would play it every free class we had until we finally tired of it in Grade 8.


Coming back to the origins of Queen's Blade, though, the "game book" concept was capitalized on in 2005 by Hobby Japan, the same publisher that translated the third and fourth editions of Dungeons & Dragons for Japan. HJ may as well have stuck with the abbreviated title thing from D&D and named their new series based on the gamebook concept "T&A" for reasons that will become obvious soon enough.



T&A...er, I mean, Queen's Blade...was for the most part a re-skinning of pre-existing character matrices from Lost Worlds. And what a re-skinning it was! Gone were the days of mages and skeletons and trolls and gnomes. Who needed that when you could have the usual harem of scantily clad beauties with torn clothes? Hobby Japan also went and added a variety of pre-existing characters from Japanese media, including Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters and eventually, even added entirely new characters to the mix.

The series grew into a successful franchise, spawning anime spin-offs, dozens of gamebooks and action figures. The only thing it seemed to be missing was a series of videogames.

Of course, that particular issue didn't last very long.


Enter Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos published by Namco Bandai for the PSP...a crossover of sorts featuring Queen's Blade characters. It is described as a "simulation RPG about the battle of beautiful warriors." With the RPG equivalent of moneyshots in the form of tearing clothes and ecchi pictures...very ecchi pictures...Spiral Chaos features super-deformed female fighters controlled as units in realtime like a strategy RPG. By maneouvering these characters, you can get into one-on-one battles with opponents.

Each character's damage stats are linked to five parts: head, chest, waist, arms and legs. By focusing on a particular part, you can damage it faster and cause the armour or weapon associated with that part to break. Doing this will result in the aforementioned ecchi pictures/cutscenes. For example:













And now you know why Queen's Blade caught my attention. Here are some nice shots of the gameplay to make it look like I wasn't just interested in the pantsu:









Images courtesy of Namco Bandai. Thanks to Laura Hou for translation help. Also, this post is filed under "Hentai" because I didn't know where else to put it.

[ADVANCE]

The Balancing Act: An Art Perfected by Nintendo

Looking at the recent first-party releases on both the Wii and the DS, it’s hard to imagine that the company creating these games is the same one that was churning out 8-bit games like Metroid and The Legend of Zelda way back in the 1980s. Where, once upon a time, the games created by Nintendo back in the NES and SNES eras encouraged players to develop skills and reflexes to beat them, most games now focus on being easy to “pick up and play”, and are targeted at a far broader audience than SNES titles were.

This line of thinking is obviously nothing new to any Nintendo faithful. The company’s direction has clearly changed from what it used to be earlier, and considering how well the Wii and DS are currently doing, it would be silly to assume that Nintendo will change their strategy any time soon. While the core Nintendo feel of “family-oriented games” has always been present, it is far more apparent now than in the past. However, while they cater to these “casual gamers”, Nintendo has also vowed to not forget their longtime fans, who made them what they are today.

While it sounds impossible, it probably isn’t. The one thing Nintendo has always been good at is balance. Despite Nintendo being a company of massive proportions, it has always been able to successfully micro-manage several projects at once, and this is the reason that Nintendo’s strategies are so unpredictable.


When Wii Fit was announced, no one was prepared for what Nintendo showed off. The “hardware reveal” that was rumoured to be at the company’s press conference at the E3 Business & Media Summit was thought to be a new DS design or a new Wii SKU with a built-in hard disk. Instead, Nintendo introduced their “Balance Board”, yet another crazy input device targeted at the casual gamer, but not one without a huge amount of potential for hardcore game control as well. Within days of the revelation, both Square Enix and Electronic Arts publicly expressed an interest in developing games for the board.

The Balance Board is fully expected to give a significant boost to the Wii, which is already enjoying a ton of positive press and ridiculously high sales numbers. And amidst the Brain Ages and Wii Fits and numerous casual games on the DS, we’re still seeing a fairly generous stream of “hardcore” first-party titles making their way to retail this year. In less than a year into the Wii’s lifespan, we’ve seen Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Strikers and Mario Party. And with the AAA offerings Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. right around the corner, one can hardly complain that Nintendo is ignoring their “hardcore” fans.

Perhaps the immense popularity of the Wii is what has sparked the enormously high expectations that result in these complaints. Or perhaps it is due to the company’s new direction and reputation, which it has been wearing proudly for the past year and a half. Whatever the case, it is fairly apparent that several of these complaints are without merit. Come this holiday season, and even the most hardcore Nintendo faithful will probably be able to look back and agree that it wasn’t a bad year for first-party titles at all.


Sometimes, I truly am intrigued by how Nintendo seem inhumanly capable of micro-managing so many projects … so many different assets all at once. Part of the reason, of course, has to be Shigeru Miyamoto, who seems to have his fingers in far too many different pies at once. Indeed, the designer who was not so long ago working on perfecting Twilight Princess is now hard at work on both Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit – two games of entirely different genres, ideology and gameplay.

In the mean time, you have Eiji Aonuma’s team, which started work on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass as far back as 2004, while Aonuma was still working on Twilight Princess. As we speak, the same team is also working on a new Zelda game built ground-up for the Wii. Indeed, even the Wii itself was well in development shortly after the GameCube’s release.

I don’t even want to try and imagine who worked on Mario Party, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, Brain Age 2 and the upcoming Mario Kart for Wii.

Also, keep in mind that, not too long ago, Gunpei Yokoi’s R&D1 team merged with Miyamoto’s EAD division. Metroid: Dread (if it really exists) is probably being developed by them as well. And then, there’s that matter of Nintendo having acquired Monolith Soft, the studio behind the excellent XenoSaga games. I suspect this was done to 1) Get Monolith cracking on a role-playing game to cater to Nintendo’s hardcore fans, and 2) To get the studio more involved with Nintendo’s own senior (or more experienced) development staff, who are undoubtedly giving Monolith guidance wherever they need it.

Equal credit goes to Nintendo of America, which not only develops games itself, but also localizes all of Nintendo’s first-party titles. Considering the seamless transition Nintendo games make from Japanese to English, this can’t be an easy task.

In addition to this, the company is tasked with the huge job of showing third-party developers the ropes with regard to Wii development. Make no mistake; Nintendo probably receives a fair number of calls from developers who require some help with various aspects of the Wiimote.


Over the past 20 years, Nintendo has managed to perfect the ability to balance … the ability to create content across so many different genres, targeted at so many different kinds of people, that one can only imagine the senior developers at the company are one-man teams by themselves. Whether they’re headed up by Shigeru Miyamoto or Eiji Aonuma or Mark Pacini, Nintendo’s various development teams have never failed to deliver the incredibly unique and enjoyable content that no other game studio could hope to match.

Perhaps someday, they’ll clue us all into how they manage to do it. But until then, all we can do is stand back, crane our necks and gaze in admiration upon the awe-inspiring game development giant.

[ADVANCE]

The Wii: What Works and What Doesn't?

Using the Wiimote effectively is something the most experienced game developers have been having trouble with. However, it seems kind of hard to believe that so many creative minds would have trouble coming up with ideas for how to use the system's unique controller. While there have been a fair number of good games released for the system so far, there is still a ton of crap that needs to be filtered out.

But, what if the problems these games faced weren't in the ideas, but in the presentation? Let's explore how one could potentially fix that little issue.

[Solving the Wii's Control Problems]

[ADVANCE]

Why Do Wii Games Look Like Crap?

Really now ... almost a year into the system's lifespan, and a port of Resident Evil 4 is the best-looking game on it? Clearly the industry is doing something wrong. But what exactly? And how can we fix it?

[Why Do Wii Games Look Like Crap?]

[ADVANCE]

Mature Games: The Nintendo Dilemma

Do we really want M-rated games on the Wii? Are what Wii fans want and what studios are willing to deliver really so different that Wii owners can never hope to be satisfied?

That's precisely the question I decided to explore in a post on Games.net. I don't believe Wii owners are clamouring for M-rated games at all. It just seems that way. What we really want is just less fluff.

[Mature Games: The Nintendo Dilemma]

[ADVANCE]

The calamity of casual games

In case you guys didn't know, I freelance for Games.net, which is GamePro's official videogame blog. While I've only contributed a few articles to them so far, I hope to do several more in the future. Now, I usually don't link back to my own stuff on other sites, but in this case I'll make an exception, seeing as how I support the topic I covered very strongly.

The article focuses on why I feel we need to stop classifying ourselves as "hardcore" or "casual" gamers, and I've tried giving legitimate reasons to back up my beliefs. Hope you guys enjoy the read!

[The Calamity of Casual Games]

[ADVANCE]

FWA Feature: A talk with the lead designer of Capucine

As revealed last week, there is a new Wii adventure game by an unknown French team of game design students in the works. Titled Capucine, the game is an eerie adventure title that focuses on exploration. While the game isn't exactly for the Wii, it does use the Wii remote and Nunchuck.

Capucine takes place in a world where everything is dead. The main character is an eight-year old girl who in possession of two items: a flower, the Capucine; and a beam of light that she can cast from her own hands. The purpose of the game is to prevent the world from dying.

I recently managed to get in touch with Yohan Cazauk, the lead designer for Capucine in order to gain a better understanding of the game. Hit the big, bold "ADVANCE" to read on.

Ishaan: OK, first off; Would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your team?

Yohan: My name is Yohan Cazaux and I'm 24. I'm a French student at Supinfogame ( a Game Design school). This is my last year of studies, and with 5 other classmates I've worked all the year on Capucine, our final study project.

Ishaan: Does your team have a name or do you plan to give it one?

Yohan: Yes, we've called it "NoCulture Team" because of someone who told us last year that we had a lack of culture when we presented the concept of Capucine for the first time.

Ishaan: Hahaha. Well, Capucine certainly does look like it doesn't cater to any one culture in particular. That, in my opinion, is a good thing.

Yohan: Yes, we would like to make the game as widely appealing as possible.

Ishaan: From a gamer's perspective, Capucine looks very intriguing. It seems to be an adventure game, and the official site says that it emphasizes exploration and a tale "based on shadow and light". Could you elaborate a little on this?

Yohan: Yes, Capucine is an adventure game, but a quiet adventure We had favoured exploration side rather than pure action. "Shadow and light" sum up the gameplay mechanics. Your only way to interact with the game is the lightbeam, and with it you've got to push back the shadow, but you also can create it : both notions are opposite but interdependent.

Yohan: For the tale aspect, as I said, we would like to make a universal game, and for us tales are universal. Everyone, adult or child can find sense in their stories.

Ishaan: The site says "Young adults and Adults interested in tales". So, does this mean that the game will be understandable by people 13-14 years of age?

Yohan: Absolutely. 13-14 is a good age for players to understand the gameplay and the subtlety of Capucine. Of course, younger people can play the game as well, but they might miss some things.

Ishaan: But at the same time, the game will also appeal to older gamers? I'm guessing that's where the "Quiet and disturbing" aspect of the game comes into play?

Yohan: Well, I hope older games will enjoy the game. It was mainly designed for them. Our target is those people who like video games but are looking for a different gameplay experience. The disturbing aspect of the game comes from the dynamic enemy creation, which propels the player to be careful in his actions.

Ishaan: So, the prototype platform is the PC and the final platform will be the Wii?

Yohan: As students, we don't have access to the Wii devkits. Moreover, we're not programmers or graphic artists, so we've decided to make a mod for an existing game. It allows us to use powerful tools and simplify our work. But in order to carry out Wii gameplay, you can play on the PC with a Wiimote and Nunchuk.

Ishaan: So, what existing game does this one modify?

Yohan: We've chosen Farcry. The Cryengine can display lots of vegetation and large areas. And the editor "Sandbox" is pretty well designed, especially for team work.

Ishaan: Will the final game eventually be playable on the Wii or do you plan to make it a PC game with Wiimote/Nunchuck controls?

Yohan: Well, we don't know if a "final game" will exist one day. Capucine is just a prototype, and so it will stay on the PC with Wiimote/Nunchuk controls available.

Ishaan: Will it be playable with the keyboard and mouse as well?

Yohan: Yes, both controls are possible because synchronising the Wiimote on PCs isn't so easy for novices. You need a Wiimote, Bluetooth etc...

Ishaan: Coming back to the actual look and feel of the game itself, what did you look to for inspiration while coming up with the concept for Capucine?

Yohan: I was very inspired by the lyrics of a french song, "La fleur" for the original concept. It’s from this song that we came up with the flower concept; the "Capucine". The team was also inspired by various movies, especially Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro and all traditional tales. And as far as video games are concerned, we were inspired by Ico - by its poetry and its amazing graphics.

Ishaan: Judging by what you said, it sounds like you plan to focus on the music in Capucine to a great extent.

Yohan: Yes, music is very important. It gives a real identity to the game. Our composer, Soheil Forouhi has put together some very impressive work, and voluntarily.

Ishaan: Could you tell us a little about the gameplay mechanics? How does the flower come into play?

Yohan: First, the flower is a part of the character - it's her life. Without the flower, the child's life starts to decrease. That's why the shadows are trying to steal the flower. They can't hurt directly the character.

Secondly, in order to preserve life in the game, the player has to make water circulate in the world. Without water, nature will die. The flower can serve as a substitute for water. If the player puts it down near to a tree for example, the tree won't die. But by putting down the flower, the child's life starts to decrease... it's a dilemma for the player, and it's very interesting.

Ishaan: So, basically, your purpose is to use the flower to keep the world alive? What about the "beam of light"?

Yohan: Well, the flower helps you to keep the world alive, until you "unblock" water to it. The light beam is the way for the girl to transmit her life to the environment. I say "transmit" because when she's using it, her life decreases. But she can retrieve life soaking by the flower in water. The beam is the only way to interact with the world. Everything in the universe of Capucine revolves around light. There are 3 ways to use the beam : continuous lighting, rhythm lighting and movement lighting.

But if the player uses too much time of the light beam on an element, the shadow of this element will come alive and attack them.

Ishaan: So, it's about timing and using your lightbeam and flower in careful amounts?

Yohan: Exactly.

Ishaan: That sounds rather interesting. Also, this is an adventure title ... does story play a big role in the game?

Yohan: Not really. The player doesn't know who the child is and how she got there. Giving away too many details about her background would ruin the mystery and the atmosphere. We prefer that players dream up their own story, as in a tale.

Ishaan: Sounds good. How far into development is the game?

Yohan: The prototype is practically finished. We're going to present it in front of professionals on Friday at school, in order to confirm our degree. So we're just polishing it right now.

Ishaan: And how do you plan to release the game to consumers? Digital distribution or DVDs?

Yohan: A few days after the presentation, the game will be downloadable for free as a Farcry mod on our website. For the moment, we don't plan to make money with Capucine.

Ishaan: Excellent! So, any plans after you graduate?

Yohan: Yes, all the students have to undergo a training period and I'll start mine in July. After that, we're going to find a job.

Ishaan: In gaming?

Yohan: Yes, in video game design.

Ishaan: That sounds great. Do you have anything you'd like to add before we wrap up?

Yohan: We want to thank you and all the people on the web for their interest and support! Young and unknown game designers never get to express themselves often enough.

Yohan is set to intern at Ubisoft Paris after he graduates, where he hopes to land a permanent job. The very best of luck to him and the rest of NoCulture!

[ADVANCE]

Wii Manga Channel: Considering the possibilities

Madden NFL ’08. Mario Kart Wii. Zelda Wii. RPGs from Monolith. Titles from Ubisoft. Tons of games from all the developers who hopped on to the Wii train a tad late. Contrary to popular opinion, there isn’t going to be any shortage of quality titles for the Wii over the next few years. The DS was in the experimental stage up until as late as last year, and it is only now that we’re starting to see what the system is really capable of.

The Wii is probably going to mimic this pattern with a few dry spells along the way, which cannot be avoided due to the nuances of developing for the system’s unique motion-based interface. Overall, I expect Wii owners are probably going to be very happy with the system’s library of titles by 2009. The platform is just a bit more powerful than the original Xbox, cheap to develop for, seems to be the hot topic of gaming nowadays, and has opened up several opportunities for innovation in both the hardcore and casual gaming markets – more so in the latter due to the casual market’s recent growth.

However, despite the surmounting evidence that the Wii is all set for a successful tenure, people still doubt that the system’s lifespan will last beyond two or three years at the most. The 360 and PS3 are far more powerful in terms of hardware, and motion-sensing to the extent that the Wii uses it could easily be integrated into either – or both – systems. The PS3 already uses it to an extent.

However, it is these very same people who fail to comprehend the Wii strategy that Nintendo seems to be following. It isn’t about the games, it isn’t about the motion-sensing ... it isn’t even about the DS/Wii interactivity or the Virtual Console or any of that. What it is about is making the system an integral part of one’s interests and hobbies.

The idea for this article came to me earlier today after a lengthy conversation with a friend, which started off as a discussion on what to expect from Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (amazing how the conversation’s direction slowly inched away from Id Software to this) and QuakeCon. Well, actually the idea first originated from this old post on FWA.

Just in case you’re too lazy to click the link and give it a read, here’s a quick overview: Back in April, a Nintendo employee – specifically a Mr. Imamoto who managed the server design for the Wii Shop Channel – stated that it would be interesting to consider the possibility of making downloadable manga available on the Wii. The exact quote is as follows:

Lately, it's becoming popular to read manga with cellphones, but it may be fun if you're able to download manga using Wii, and able to read it on your TV.

Now, if you would allow me to divert your attention to this article here for a moment.

According to the Anime News Network, a cell-phone-based survey of 5,400 people conducted by an Internet research firm named Infoplant indicated that 40% of manga readers in Japan currently use (or plan to use) manga download services. That’s not all, though. An enormous 61.7% of these readers were women 19 years of age or below. Think about that.

The News Channel. The Weather Channel. The Voting Channel. These aren’t random offerings on Nintendo’s part. They are part of an extremely well thought out strategy – a strategy meant to cater to the interests and hobbies of the average person. The Virtual Console, the upcoming channel for original games and the Demo Channel – likewise, these are part of a strategy to cater to gamers. The one thing these channels all have in common is that they are specifically targeted at a certain type of consumer, be it older gamers who are now parents, gamers looking to pass the time, fans of retro gaming or hardcore gamers.

Similarly, a Manga Channel for the Wii could be the biggest thing since the News Channel. Digital distribution is clearly on the rise. Licensing companies like Viz or TOKYOPOP or Drama Queen that are making headway in the international manga market would jump at the opportunity to use such a popular system to promote their products. The same goes for manga magazines in Japan.

Acquiring the ever-growing manga fanbase would be absolutely fabulous for Nintendo's market expansion strategy. It would even make licensed games based on manga more appropriate for the Wii. Eyeshield 21, Naruto: Shippuuden, One Piece ... the system already seems to have a fair share of manga-based games heading its way. Surely, a downloadable manga service would only benefit the publishers of these games as far as penetration is concerned.

And then there’s the overwhelming majority of female manga readers to consider. If these readers could be convinced to pick up a Wii remote to read manga, who’s to say they wouldn’t care to explore the system’s capabilities further? The DS has already broadened the female gaming market – it’s only fitting for its spiritual successor to do the same.

But, let’s take it a step further. Why stop with manga? As I said before, each channel caters to a very specific audience. In the hardcore gaming department, there is a very large demographic of gamers that actually listen to music from games outside of the actual games themselves. Why not offer a “Game Music Channel” to these gamers? Once again, the rise of digital distribution makes this seem like a perfectly appropriate strategy to employ in order to extend the Wii’s lifespan and ensure its place in the living room right alongside your TV.

And then, there’s that matter of the upcoming DVD-enabled Wii as well. If you really think about it, the Wii is using the same strategy Sony employed for the first PlayStation, only to a far greater extent. The PS One’s success could be, in large, attributed to how it was marketed as a device that was an essential part of your entertainment unit, alongside your television and VCR. Instead of offering an integrated device that allows you to play games, watch high-definition movies, play music and stream videos from various other devices, the Wii could be a device that caters very specifically to gaming as well as non-gaming hobbies.

Neither the PlayStation 3 nor the Xbox 360 would be able to keep up in this regard, no matter how visually stunning content looks on the two systems or how their control schemes evolve. Wii is now an extremely popular brand name; one that is growing in popularity every single day. It targets specific audiences, and at the same time it targets everyone. A well thought out strategy for the Wii Channels, a good library of games, support for larger storage, a drop in price a couple of years from now, and the Wii could be a far more appealing product than anything Sony or Microsoft have to offer.

[ADVANCE]

What is a killer app?

This is a topic I've been pondering over for a while, and even now, I'm not sure I've reached a concrete answer. There are several different reasons for this. The first being that games are no longer just "games". They're "hardcore games" and "casual games". That alone has complicated matters to the extent that I just cannot stop second-guessing any theory I come up with.

Couple that with the fact that gaming platforms are not just gaming consoles any more -- they're media devices -- and you have a hell of a debate on your hands. However, for the sake of getting this off my chest, I'm going to try and put my thoughts down on digital paper, just to see if I can't come up with some sort of a solution to the question.

Take Brain Age, for example. Is it the DS’s killer app? Sales records would certainly indicate that it is. It increased the DS’s market share and opened up sections of the market that had been unavailable to game developers prior to its release, too.


Now, saying, “increased the DS’s market share” is, of course, an understatement. Brain Age sales are nothing short of mind-boggling. Even to this day, the game continues to perform admirably and show up in top ten sales charts – especially in Japan.

So, Brain Age is the DS’s killer app because it sells systems and opens up new opportunities for developers. It increases the platform’s mind-share as well as market-share. It is a game that would be impossible to bring over to any other system (save for the Wii, I suppose) in the gaming market. It undeniably proves the value of the DS, especially in the minds of casual gamers, and that is clearly the next big market in gaming.

This brings me to the question: Is a killer app a game that sells systems? Or is it a game that pushes the hardware of a platform to its limits? Usually, a game that does the latter tends to sell well anyway, but that is beside the point. What I’m questioning is the philosophy, not the end result.

In the case of the DS, couldn’t Nintendogs be considered a killer app as well? While Nintendogs hasn’t sold as well as Brain Age has, it was responsible for showing developers and gamers alike what the DS was capable of. Without Nintendogs, I doubt the DS would have remained as competitive as it has. It demonstrates the system’s capabilities remarkably, both graphically and in the way of controls.


But then again, there are several games that do this. Metroid Prime: Hunters is an excellent example. Not only did the game feature excellent single player and multiplayer modes along with tight controls and good graphics, it also inspired a ton of developers to start developing first-person shooters for the DS; something that anyone would have thought impossible a while ago. Also, early on in the DS Phat’s days, Nintendo used to give away a demo of Metroid Prime: Hunters with the system. Clearly, that contributed to the system’s reputation as well.

Metroid uses every single feature of the DS to great extents. The touchscreen, the microphone, the dual screens, the wi-fi … all of it. Pokémon Diamond & Pearl aren’t nearly as grand, and yet; they sold a lot more units than Metroid did. However, in this case, I suppose it is the nature of the games that was responsible for that. Metroid isn’t half as well known as Pokémon is. But again, which one is the killer app?

The same goes for a system like the Wii. Which is the killer app? Wii Sports or Twilight Princess? One could argue that Wii Sports is the casual gamer’s killer app while Twilight Princess is the core gamer’s killer app. But it isn’t as if the core gamer wouldn’t have bought Wii Sports even if it didn’t come out of the box. While Wii Sports showed people what the remote was capable of, Twilight Princess showed us that the Wii is definitely capable of being home to much more than just casual games.

But, wait! Maybe it isn’t Zelda or Wii Sports at all. What if it’s the Virtual Console? What if downloadable retro games (and new, original games in the not-too-distant future) are the Wii’s killer app? Gives you something to think about, eh?


In the case of the Xbox 360, it isn’t nearly as complicated. Gears of War was the system’s first killer app. Halo 3 will be the next. Xbox Live Arcade is popular, sure. But it isn’t anywhere near as popular as the Virtual Console is (or will be, for that matter). However, the 360 isn’t exactly a very affordable system in the eyes of a casual gamer or non-gamer, so that limits its “broader” appeal to a fair extent.

Going by that theory, the PS3 will never appeal to the casual market. All of the system’s killer apps will be in the form of games meant strictly for the core gamer, simply because they are the ones who are going to buy the system. However … the PS3 could very well introduce a new factor in the killer app debate. Could Blu-ray be the PS3’s killer app in the future? Why shouldn’t it be?

Space needs are going to rise, costs are going to come down ... Blu-ray is going to take over from HD-DVD sometime soon; there’s no doubt about it. And no, the porn industry can only influence the battle for a limited period of time. Who even pays for porn any more?

After all that, I think we can define a killer app (in the gaming industry) as something that makes a particular platform desirable and assures people of its value. There are multiple killer apps for a system. Each one appeals to a different kind of gamer. But then again, as the 360 and PS2 have proven, there can even be multiple killer apps within the same genre.


Which brings me back to the same point again. Are those games really killer apps? Is Final Fantasy XII a killer app? It’s an awesome game; it pushes the PS2’s hardware magnificently. It features a storyline that is nothing short of epic. However, the PS2 was doing just fine without it. There aren’t many people who bought the PS2 just for Final Fantasy XII, are there? The same goes for God of War. It isn’t like Halo 3¸ where Halo fans who owned an Xbox are going to be buying the 360 for the sequel.

So, once again, "killer app" goes undefined and we're back where we started. You could continue to support the argument that there are multiple killer apps, but that makes the term lose its meaning, doesn’t it?

So, what are your thoughts? Can a single game ever hope to stand out above all the rest and be the only contender in its league or is beauty always in the eyes of the beholder?

[Metroid Prime: Hunters image borrowed from IGN.]

[ADVANCE]

PC Gaming. Future or Failing?

Faced with simplified, single level, hardware platforms the PC has most certainly lost a lot of headway against the consoles. The PS2 and Xbox have eaten into the developer market and taken pretty much all but a handful of developers, the current generation is likewise seeing a similar turn with PS3, X360 and PC becoming a common lineup for gaming titles.

Recently Microsoft has taken several firm steps towards shoring up gaming on the Windows PC platform. Vista's exclusive DX10 technology, Live support and a new "Games for Windows" branding aim to add a uniform functionality to what many perceive as a complicated and expensive platform. In many respects that perception is valid but there are also some inaccuracies that never seem to be addressed. So really, is the PC a viable future gaming platform and what does it need to do to get there? Clickity click to find out.

Lets start with what I consider the PC platform has over the competition.

Licensing
The PC platform is open and free to develop and publish to. Vista and its Live integration may change this at some level, but for smaller developers or those happy to implement their own online front end there is no cost involved. Lower costs and a close relationship with modern console architecture also assure the PC will see ports of popular console titles.

Functionality
I'm writing this on a PC, and you're most likely reading this on a PC. You chose to do so because frankly consoles are crumby at handling the wide variety of jobs you've come to expect a PC to do. On some levels they've improved, giving media playback, web browsing, social networking etc however you'd also have to consider that many of these changes are tied into the underlying hardware and software, neither of which is updated as often as a PC's.

Scalability
Plenty is said for a top end PC being over priced, thousands of dollars worth of CPU, GPU, Ram and Drives. Hell, I agree, but the truth of the matter is that many PC games are playable on a much lower spec system, a much more reasonably priced system. However the beauty is that you have the ability to enjoy the game at the level your system can cope with, not meet a lowest common denominator or be bound by a fixed hardware specification.

MODs
Thanks to the developers mainly open structure and the ease to which PCs can exchange and update files. Mod communities spring up everywhere in PC gaming and really add value onto a product. Additional content, tweaks, improvements and totally new games can spring back to life a game you bought months ago.

Now of course, the PC platform is far from perfect so I wouldn't mind seeing some of the following.

Certification
Despite the huge improvements in hardware and software installation the PC is still plagued with incompatibilities and bugs. I'd love to see an entire hardware and software certification process be introduced so that developers would need to only adhere and test to such a certification level and the end customer could be ensured a better quality experience right out of the box. Imagine this as a virtual xbox OS running on but isolated from Windows.

TV Centric Solutions
People love their couches and gaming in the living room around a big TV. While living room friendly PCs do exist you end up relegating its functionality to a games and media player. What is required is dumb terminal for the TV which feeds from a remote PC, add into the mix multiple users on multiple TVs and you may have a clear advantage over that single console, single TV solution.

Software Distribution and Marketing
Develop the likes of Steam into a viable marketplace for PC games. Address the existing issues like invasive copy protection, ownership and cost. The future is a cheaper, more easily accessible and faster way to get entertainment software.

Professionalise
I can't believe the PC market totally dropped this ball when Counter Strike was on such a high. We need to popularise and support efforts to make gaming main stream. I level this burden firmly on the PCs shoulders, as with many sporting fields the equipment will also be key to the player's performace. Where console gaming will be Go-Karting PC gaming will be the Formula 1. Before we can get there though we need to make gaming a sport and a spectator sport at that, developers have at it!

I'll leave the parting words to John Romero:

Next-gen console is big but its future isn't too bright with the emergence of cheap PC multi-core processors and the big change the PC industry will go through during the next 5 years to accommodate the new multi-core-centric hardware designs. My prediction is that the game console in the vein of the PS3 and XBOX 360 is going to either undergo a massive rethink or go away altogether. The Wii has the perfect design for a console that doesn't pretend to be a PC and is geared more toward casual gamers than hardcore gamers. The hardcore gamers are going to either be playing on their PCs or a new PC-like platform that sits in the living room but still serves the whole house over wifi, even the video signal.

Read the full article and his response to the criticism he received for the quote above here [avault]

[ADVANCE]

Sony Moany But Is The Price Cut Phoney?

Will they, won't they, can they, won't say! Yup line up for the one thing consumers the world over agree upon, and then listen to the official denials. Here we go on the Sony PS3 price cut bonanza!

So rumours and speculation are rife that Sony is preparing a price cut on the PS3. Frankly the dropping of the costly (to Sony) 20gig SKU, the Emotion Chip and resulting manufacturing savings of a single SKU have only been underlining what everyone has said since E3, it's just too expensive for the casual gamers. And lets face it, casual gamers are the majority of the market here and they've hardly bitten Microsoft's hand off at the $500 mark either.

What should they do? What will they do? I have my speculator spectacles on, lets find out.

Denials aside, because most of the time they're as reliable as the rumours, what should we expect from such a cut? Well more than anything, I hope it's a sign Sony are going to aggressively attempt to win customers and drop this whole Godly "They don't deserve us" attitude. If they have some balls I think the cost cutting might enable them to discount $100 to $125 off the console while still meeting projected loses, I say $125 to firmly smash the $500 barrier rather than some miserly wish list. Anything less than this is probably going to see a weak response at retail anyway, this is a psychological barrier they need to break not a financial one.

Helping that along is my favorite, low cost, value added items. Putting a rumoured larger drive in the system instead of 60gig would be a nice bonus and probably not cost them much, if any more, to purchase. Why not push people online and give them a Playstation store credit of $25, in fact I guess with some advertising you could make a $500 console look to be worth $475 with just such an offer. Other extras like movies, games, cables would also be fairly cheap to include. All of a sudden, that $500 console is getting you $25 off online purchases, a $40 BDR and a $50 game! Oh don't forget you won't need to root out a cable when you leave the store, we've got you covered there too. Just go home and enjoy your PS3 then come back and grab some more games and movies when you've seen how powerful the system really is.

Phew, I must stop licking toads!

Still, reality bites, and it leaves marks! I doubt even in an attempt to kick start retail enthusiasm they would be that bold. Perhaps $50 off and a bundled game although if they push the 60gig down to $550 and introduce a 80gig+ at $600. Then I'll know they've lost the plot totally.

Launch will most likely come soon after the 360 Elite is on the market so that they can price and strategise knowing Microsoft won't be in a position to respond. If however they leave that window open too long, I wouldn't be surprised by a trumped offer by Microsoft, they have built up a nice war chest since the PS3's unexpected slow launch and I bet they are itching for this fight to kick off proper.

Nintendo, LOL, they're going to stay at $250 for a long while yet. Deny all you want but $200-250 is most definitely the casual gamer and casual consumer's sweet spot.

[ADVANCE]

Debating the importance and prevalence of exclusives

The debate is an old one, which has been lighting up sparks of controversy from time to time ever since E3 of last year, when GTAIV was announced to be a multiplatform title, and not exclusive to the PS3 as initially stated by Rockstar. Microsoft seemed extremely pleased with themselves back then, and well; who can blame them? They stole one of their major competitors’s games. Much to their glee, since then, we’ve seen numerous other titles follow suit.

Assassin’s Creed from Ubisoft is among the bigger titles in development for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. While the announcement was a little bit of a shocker, it didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone. I mean, it’s Ubisoft, right? They do this all the time. Resident Evil 5 was always supposed to be multiplatform, so that didn’t cause any tidal waves either.

No, the big blow came when Capcom announced that Devil May Cry 4 was going to be hitting the 360. Coronaries popped, hate mails flew, Kaz Hirai rolled over in bed. Microsoft probably threw themselves a slumber party. This is the announcement that got wheels turning in peoples’ heads. The shocker. The one that made gamers take everything they thought was true about exclusivity, roll it up into a little ball and fling it out their windows.

Three major questions have arisen as a result of the DMC4 announcement.

1. Are exclusives important?

2. Are multiplatform games bad?

3. Are exclusives a dying trend?

Let’s begin with that first one. Are exclusives important? Do they really matter in this day and age where, with the rising costs in game development, selling as many units as possible has become crucial to a company’s success?

Personally, I think they do.


To me, an exclusive is a title that justifies my purchase of any particular system. If I buy a PS3, I’m going to be buying it for its exclusive titles, not multiplatform games that I could play on a 360 as well. Sure, I’d have a blast with Assassin’s Creed on either system, but all said and done, that isn’t the game I would be buying the system for. I’d be buying it for Final Fantasy or for White Knight Story or Heavenly Sword.

The same goes for a system like the DS. I’m not buying it for Super Mario 64 DS (I find 64 DS damned near unplayable anyway) or Spore DS. Or hell, even Ninja Gaiden DS. I own the system because of games like Hotel Dusk or Elite Beat Agents that just wouldn’t be as good on any other system.

This brings us to question number two. Are multiplatform games bad quality-wise? More often than not, a multiplatform game is built ground up for a specific console and just ported over to other systems to make a few extra bucks on the side.

But again, in this day and age, is it really going to be all that noticeable? The 360 and PS3 are nearly identical in terms of graphical output at the moment. The only difference is that one features rumble while the other features motion-sensing. If you try hard enough, you could probably port games back and forth without much trouble or loss in quality. Certain games are already evidence of this fact. But do consumers understand that?


Take Assassin’s Creed, for instance. Problem is, the 360 version is the one that Ubisoft has been demoing all this while, and this has led people to believe that the game is being developed for the 360 and that the PS3 “port” will be inferior in some way. No concrete evidence of whether or not this is true, but I highly doubt the PS3 version is going to be inferior. If anything, it might even be better with more fun controls, seeing as how the game is going to incorporate SIXAXIS functionality.

So, to answer the question, yes; while there are a ton of bad ports out there, companies are definitely making an effort to minimize loss of quality while making multiplatform games. Occasionally, you even come across a company that’s willing to make the effort to build each version of a game ground up to play to a particular system’s strengths. Spider-Man 3 from Activision is a perfect example of this.

And now, the final question people have on their minds. Are exclusives dying? Are they decreasing in number?

To that, I would say, “No.”

It depends on what you mean by “dying trend”. If you’re talking about the number of exclusive games to the PS3 and Xbox 360, then yes ... maybe there are going to be fewer exclusives this time around. However, there will be more than enough to justify the purchase of any system you buy. Developers realize the importance of exclusives just as well as we do. Probably better.


But again, that’s just the 360 and PS3. What about the Wii? In less than a year from now, studios are finally going to figure out that shitty Wii ports of old games and PS3 games don’t work. We’re already seeing a ton of studios play catch up after missing the boat on the Wii. All these studios are developing platform-exclusive titles for use with the Wiimote specifically.

The port announcements for the Wii and DS have definitely decreased in number. Hell, the DS is getting games from PS3 and 360 franchises being built ground up for it. The same goes for the PSP, which is slowly (but surely) seeing more titles being developed for it.

I think exclusives are far from dead. While developers are slowly coming to realize that the terms "winner" and "loser" mean very little in the "console wars", they also realize the importance of balancing out their support, not only so each system has a decent library of games to fall back on, but also because it encourages progress and preparing for the future.

[ADVANCE]

Nintendo DS: Is there room for improvement?

Well, this is certainly some coincidence. Just yesterday, I was talking of typing up an article about where I thought the DS was headed in terms of upgrades. Luckily, I can be fairly enterprising when I need to be, so this PSP2 rumour flying around gives me more to work with than I initially had.

OK, quick recap of the Sony thing. Here’s what’s expected from PSP2: Better screen, better buttons, faster loads, 8GB internal flash, and possibly a built-in camera and – wait for it – a touchscreen. I imagine the scene down at Nintendo looks something like this:

Satoru Iwata: A touchscreen? They want a touchscreen now, too?

Reggie: We need to one-up them, damn it! Bring me the latest spec sheet on Nintendo DS v2. Let’s throw that bigger screen and tilt-functionality on there! Oh, and that crazy program that walks your dog, does your dishes and tells you if you have bad breath!

Iwata: Now, now Reggie-san. Let’s not get carried away. You know we can’t make DS Advance too complex.

Miyamoto: Yes, yes. Games should be simple and fun. No point in adding things my wife will never use.

Iwata: Indeed. We don’t want to overwhelm our consumers now, do we? I suggest we add only a bigger screen so that we don’t scare them away. We can roll out the tilt in DS Advance SP.

Perrin Kaplan: DS SP?! I’ll inform the press that we’re halting production of the Lite immediately!

Reggie: ...

Iwata: ...

Miyamoto: Iwata-san ... my wife says that we’d be better off adding the tilt and not the bigger screen…

OK, I’m done. Press A+B to continue to the actual post, after the jump.

All right, so; DS v2. What can we expect?

Let’s start with hardware. Off the top off my head, I can list five things I’d really like to see and that Nintendo should implement in a DS revision.

1. USB support: This speaks for itself. The DS homebrew scene is becoming increasingly popular and I have no idea why Nintendo doesn’t try to cash in on it. I know USB support would totally go against their principles regarding the piracy scene, but hey; think of all the other possibilities it would open up. Quite frankly, I think this feature is the least likely to be included.

2. Bigger screen: This rumour has already popped up in the past, courtesy of Jeux-France and a couple of other sites. According to the rumour, Nintendo plans on increasing the DS’s screen size from 3 inches to 3.5-3.8 inches. Of course, this would require for them to up the resolution on the console so the newer games don’t look like crap. Quite frankly, I think this is totally possible and would love to see it.

3. Tilt functionality and Built-in rumble: Built-in rumble is self-explanatory. Not only would it make the DS stand out even more than it currently does, it would also serve as yet another method of outputting information. Tilt functionality would help greatly with both, stand-alone games as well as with DS-Wii connectivity.

4. Button on the stylus: Again, self-explanatory. Although, placement might be a bit tricky, certain PDAs already include this feature and maybe ... just maybe including this on the DS would prevent instances where games like Metroid Prime: Hunters make your hand ache like the devil after an hour of play.

5. Pressure-sensitive L/R buttons: You know, like the ones on the GameCube. These would be an awesome feature for games that don’t use the stylus.

Moving on to the software part of things, I can only think of two features that would actually make sense:

1. MP3 support: The PSP can do it. The iPods can do it. The Zune can do it. All those can also play games. Yeah, the DS can play games better than all of the above, but honestly; the DS is already a phenomenon. It doesn't need MP3 support. To this I say, "Why the hell not?"

The device is marketed as a gaming system for just about anyone. MP3 support would further strengthen this fact and ensure that future DS sales go through the roof.

2. Voice-over IP: You can do it in Metroid Prime: Hunters, so why not when you’re not playing a game? I’m sure a firmware upgrade to the DS would make this a possibility. It's no Skype, but then again, it doesn't have to be.

That’s about all I have for the moment. We already know downloadable game demos are on their way, but you don’t really need a new DS revision to use those … at least, I hope not. More importantly, I’m really interested in hearing what ideas everyone else can come up with in this regard. Granted, the DS is awesome, but there is always room for improvement.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Fire away!

[ADVANCE]

Console Wars: A shift in the industry?

GDC ’07 has finally come and gone. While the conference wasn’t as eventful as some might have hoped, it certainly has had a huge effect on the video game industry and on the current status of each of the three console developers.

While Nintendo didn’t have much to announce in the way of new features or games on either the Wii or DS, Microsoft seemed to have the support of a significant number of big-name developers at the conference; two of them being Peter Molyneux and Hironobu Sakaguchi. Both Fable 2 and Blue Dragon looked very impressive and considering neither Super Mario Galaxy nor Phantom Hourglass got much of a showing, the two 360 games along with Lost Odyssey really got a chance to shine. Personally, I wet myself upon reading about Molyneux’s Fable 2 presentation and the focus on love, emotions and of course – the dog.

However, both Microsoft and Nintendo combined couldn’t possibly have topped Sony’s presentation at GDC this year. Phil Harrison’s keynote was a real blast and PlayStation Home looks and sounds mind-blowing. The sheer concept is innovation at its very best and neither Microsoft’s “The games are the stars” nor Nintendo’s “We chose not to take this direction” responses sounded very impressive or smart in the face of Sony’s ambitious online plans.

Home is one of those announcements that come along once in a blue moon. Something that makes you think … that makes you wonder. Something that makes you look back at everything that’s happened in the gaming biz for the past half year and say, “Hey, does all of this really matter?”

I’m referring to the horrible publicity Sony’s been getting of late, of course. Sure, they made some stupid moves and I’m not going to deny the fact that they deserved the spanking they got from the media. Let’s also not forget the fact that the Wii has been perceived incredibly well by gamers and also by the media and the public in general. Developers are starting to warm up to the console and we hear news of some obscure new Wii project every other day.

In the mean time, Microsoft seems to have been having an incredibly easy time all throughout. Developers love it, tons of Western gamers love it, and I can point out at least two big-name websites whose opinions are skewed in Microsoft’s favour. The 360 has a huge head start and just as of a month ago, it looked like Microsoft was all set to win the race this time around.

Again ... does any of this really matter? Home's announcement and Nintendo's endeavours of late have made me look back at everything we've seen these past few months and made me view the gaming industry from a perspective I hadn't considered before. This could get a little lengthy, so make the jump to read on.

All this began last night after I spoke at length with Jelster and then Chris Taran (huge thanks to both of you!) regarding the announcements made at GDC and how they could potentially – no, make that how they will change the current state of the gaming industry and how everything we’ve seen and heard so far may not really be as big as everyone initially thought.

Is 10 million really that big a deal?

Let’s begin with Microsoft’s constant reminders of “10 million 360s sold in one year”. Well, here’s news for you: 10 million in more than one year is pretty damn shitty if you think about what Microsoft needed to make the jump from 6 to 10 million. Consider this. The 360 had an entire year’s head start. The console’s only real competition was the PS2, a “last-gen” system. Of course, there was the GameCube, but is that even worth mentioning at this point?


The 360 also had a buttload of awesome games on it that sold well after their respective releases – Oblivion, Dead Rising, Saints Row, Xbox Live Arcade titles, backward compatible games … I could go on and on. Of course, even this wasn’t enough to get them past the 6 or 7 million mark. They needed Gears of War to make it past 10 million. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that the 360 has been released in far more territories than the PS3 and Wii have. Like I said; shitty.

The distinguished competition

PlayStation Home made a huge impact at GDC this year. Sony deserves a huge round of applause for timing the debut of Home so perfectly. The concept of Home is mind-blowing and judging by Sony’s commitment to provide to provide a “truly next-gen” online experience, I’d say Xbox Live isn’t going to pose much of a threat once Sony gets their online infrastructure in place.


This is where Microsoft’s head start becomes a double-edged sword. On the one hand, their decision to release the 360 an entire year before the PS3 meant they could advantage of the fact that it was the only “next-gen” console on the market for a whole year. But on the other hand, what do they have to show for it? 10 million units sold in one year? Gears of War – a game that had trouble standing up to Final Fantasy XII and Twilight Princess (both “last-gen” games, mind you) – as their killer app?

The wild card

You know what’s impressive? 5 million units sold in 4 months. This generation’s console war is seeing something it has never seen before. A wild card.

A system that takes everything that you thought about the gaming industry was true, crumples it up into a little ball and tosses it out the window. The Wii is catching up. Fast. Almost every week, the gaming community hears of some obscure top-secret Wii project being developed by some big name developer, scheduled for release either in late ’07 or ’08. 5 systems million sold in 4 months and tons more that will fly off shelves as soon as Nintendo can speed up production.


The console has the advantage of being different. That’s something neither Microsoft nor Sony can take away from it. It’s cheap to buy, it’s cheap to develop for, it’s easy to develop for and it’s very different. It gives studios a chance to stand out in a big way. It also has the potential to expand the gaming market itself, which means the console doesn’t need to steal Sony or Microsoft’s market share. It can create its own. You've heard it a million times. Not many will own a PS3 and a 360. They'll own either of those two and they'll own a Wii.

Bringing it all to a close…

Let’s take a minute to think about all this. The 360 released a year in advance. As a result, the system is less powerful as the PS3 and isn’t different or as appealing to the masses as the Wii. Xbox Live Arcade was a one-of-a-kind service up until now, but Sony’s online infrastructure (which is going to be free, mind you) looks all set to blow it out of the water.

Microsoft is also releasing the “Zephyr” Xbox 360 shortly, which is going to have a bigger hard-drive and the built-in HDMI hardware support. This means they can’t release another console for the next couple of years because that wouldn’t do much other than piss people off.

Here’s how I see it. The majority of 2007 will belong to Microsoft. The ’07 holiday season will belong to Nintendo; there is absolutely no doubt about that. PlayStation Home will debut in fall ’07 as well. 2008 is when the PS3 will take off and when developers will really start to tap into the Wii’s potential.


What will the 360 be? A jack of all trades? I’m thinking Microsoft isn’t going to be able to hold on to their lead for much longer. The console will never be accepted by Japan no matter how gargantuan their efforts might be. The Japanese gaming market will always belong to Sony and Nintendo and there isn’t much Microsoft can do about it. For instance, I don’t see Square Enix developing any huge, epic "Eastern" role-playing games for the 360. Why should they? By the time the title is ready, the PS3's install base will be fairly large and millions of Japanese gamers will own PS3s, not Xbox 360s.

As for the West, Nintendo still hasn’t taken advantage of the fact that the Wii helps people lose weight. But that doesn’t mean they’re not going to do it. All that is coming, and mark my words … when their weight-loss promotions hit North America, Wii sales are going to skyrocket. That’s going to hurt Microsoft’s standing in the West considerably and the PS3’s killer apps hitting in ’08 isn’t going to make things any easier.

All is not as it seems in the world of gaming. The gaming industry is undoubtedly the most fast-moving, dynamic industry in existence today. What’s cool today is lame tomorrow. While it might look like Microsoft is all set to win the war, I’m seeing more of a PS3 > Wii > Microsoft or a Wii > PS3 > Microsoft kind of situation a year or two down the line.

[ADVANCE]