Divergent Design Decisoins: The HUD

This week's Microsoft Gamer's Day event saw new details emerge about some of Microsoft Game Studio's biggest impending releases. Something struck me as interesting as I was perusing the screen shots and reading previews.

Firstly, Peter Molyneux has his own interpretation of how a game should appear on screen from a preview with CVG:

It's a beautiful, striking-looking game, but what first catches our eye is how clean everything looks. There's no HUD to speak of, no health indicators, no item counts, not even a mini-map.

"If we're going to make a game that's really going to be dramatic, making people feel like they're not just looking through a portal at this world is really important. One of the problems with that is the mini-map," says Molyneux.

"We had one of those ghastly, distasteful things in the top corner of the screen, and our levels were getting so detailed that we realised that our mini-map was getting bigger. So we said, 'let's just get rid of it'."

And it does look amazing as indicated in the following screen shot.
On the other hand, Silicon Knights have taken the completely opposite approach when it comes to the "head's up display."
Wow! There's a lot going on in that image.

I love the simplicity of Fable2's design and will definitely be purchasing the game. However, I'm quite interested in Too Human as well but this screen shot is a bit overwhelming. I'm not sure if there's going to be a demo or not but I'm leaning towards trying before I buy this one.

My Guilty Pleasure Resurfaces, Twice!

Viva Pinata is easily my guiltiest obsession of this current video game generation. I'm not sure if it was the cuteness of it all or the achievements or what, but I couldn't get enough of the original game. Now, with great excitement, we hear not one, but two bits of Viva Pinata news. It's enough brightly colored awesomeness to cause my head to burst forth with chocolate candy exuberance.

Firstly, there's the leaked info and screenshots for Viva Pinata 2 for the Xbox360. I expect to hear more at Microsoft's announcement later this week, but the screen shots imply some darker undertones and possible co-op(?). Plus, there's snow! Ooh, I can't wait to hear more.

Then there's the confirmation that Viva Pinata DS: Pocket Paradise (yes, that is the subtitle) is coming soon. It's not really news to me, I've been working on it for the last few months (THQ is publishing), but it's nice to finally hear about it in the press and everyone can get as excited as we are about this game. The game is a near identical recreation of the full 360 version minus a few things here and there and it works brilliantly with the DS Touch Screen. The game came in test nearly perfect, it was a dream to work with Rare. Don't tell them, but I spent a lot of time early on just playing the game. ;)

R.I.P. - My Xbox360

3/21/2006-3/17/2008

I was in denial, but this day finally came. Your life must have flashed before eyes much like the three red rings flashed before mine. You are survived by an unused DS and a dusty PSP. You will be missed...

but never forgotten. :'(

Testing in the Open World: Crackdown

"Everyone knows that testing a game thoroughly is essential to its quality," is the debatable first sentence in a Gamasutra post from Microsoft's Gamefest concerning a forum on how they overcame testing the massive size of Crackdown. While the article is sparse in detail, it provides an overview of what steps were taken to ensure that the game was thoroughly hammered. Essentially, due to the overwhelming scope of the game world that was compounded by the fact that much of the game rose in the y-axis as well, much of the testing was automated. Environmental bugs, including the placement of items and graphical seam issues, numbered well above the 10,000 mark. I have not seen many multi-platform games get that high in total, let alone one bug type.

Owning Up to Your Shortcomings

It looks like the big boys had some things to get off of their chest and clear their conscious before making us forget by flashing pretty images at us from the new and improved E3.

Microsoft made the first move early last week with an open letter to the consumers concerning the ring of death phenomenon. Effectively admitting to a problem and then attempting to make amends by upping the current warranty from one to three years and reimbursing any who have been charged for repairs. I have been fortunate to have a perfectly working 360 from March of '06 but I appear to more of an exception than the rule if we are to believe the outcry that has come from the Internet. Either way, I applaud their efforts.

Then, later in the week, after some rumor rumblings, Sony came out and announced a $100 price cut for the PS3. The price of Sony's console has been a hotly debated controversy since its announcement at last year's E3. Despite their being extremely adamant about its value, it has always seemed way to high for me. I must not be the only one. Sales of the console have been lackluster at best and this may be the injection they need. I, however, will still need some games before I jump on board.

Where has been Nintendo been while the dust was settling on these two bombs? They've mostly been quiet on the damage control front except for the minor hiccup in the Nintendo machine and announced that Metroid would ship a week late.

A Rigid Pricing Strcture

Since Pac-Man CE came out a week ago, there has been a bit of back lash based on the price. At 800 Microsoft Points, it's a little steep, in my opinion, but Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, doesn't believe so.

Namco came to us with what they thought the content price should be and I do not disagree with it costing 800 points. There's actually a lot of work from a lot of people to bring it all together.

Totally understandable. However, while the demo was a lot of fun, I just couldn't bring myself to fork over the points to purchase the full version. In fact, the only 800 point games I've purchased were Street Fighter II and Worms. Many games, such as Cloning Clyde, Eets, Castlevania, Catan and, possibly, Prince of Persia, have suffered a similar fate. I enjoy the demo but it's tough to justify the $10 price tag. On the other hand, the 400 point price point seem to be easier swallow as I have purchased the full version of several of those games.

Are there many people who are following the same logic? Maybe, but Microsoft has been stubborn to change their stance on pricing. This implies that the plan is working for them but maybe there needs to be a third tier. What if there was a 600 point price point in addition to the 400 and 800 for Live Arcade titles. This translates into $7.50 in real money. That doesn't seem that unreasonable for games that don't fit nicely within the current pricing model. It seems to work for Nintendo who has three tiers on the Virtual Console. Additionally, as some comments pointed out, where are the price cuts on the older titles? Where are the Platinum Hits? Microsoft has been mum but to the average consumer, it would make sense. It works for disc based games. Speculation would say that it might work even better for digitally distributed games. All we can do, in the mean time, is make our voices heard with our wallets. They'll get the message when we stop buying things on the Marketplace willy-nilly.

Who is more the fool?

I hate the term fanboy. It applies to a small fraction of very vocal people. I have never been so supportive of any one hardware manufacturer that I ignore the rest. I have been a proud owner of Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft consoles. I never picked them up because I was in love with the hardware or in an way felt loyal to it; it has always been about the software. Games, in my opinion, are always the root of my decisions. I bought a 360 to play Oblivion and eventually Halo3. I was fortunate to be able to buy Twilight Princess and play it without buying the console, for which I'm glad because there has yet to be anything worth playing for me. Metroid 3 and Mario Galaxy have me intrigued but until they're out, I will remain Wii-less. There are zero games out or coming in the foreseeable future (which aren't coming out on the 360 as well) that are enticing me to drop $600 on the PS3.

Kotaku points us to an posting on the Motley Fool, an investment website, which warns against Microsoft's potential to maintain a positive investor relationship due to perceived hardware issues.

As an investor, I can't help but worry that my experience with Microsoft consumer products is not out of the ordinary. Not only are repairs an expensive waste of shareholder capital, but they risk alienating potential customers and crimping future growth. In effect, it doesn't matter if the rate of Xbotch failure is as low as Microsoft reportedly contends, because the perceived rate of failure is what matters to consumers. People trust what they hear. And if they hear enough from irate Xbotch or Zune customers, they aren't going to open up the wallet.

While agree that this image is hurting Microsoft and the Xbox brand, I can't help but see a flaw in the statement that the author himself is neglecting. Yes, he has had a problem with his 360. Unfortunately everyone seems to know someone who has fell victim to the ring-of-death. On the other hand, I know a lot of people that have a 360 and only one person has had similar issues described here. I once received the Error 74 message, but it occurred after transporting the system across the state and the hard drive was jostled loose. I once scratched a disc, but again, it was my fault.

If people report their console dies and then the message boards jump all over it causing the major blogs and websites to report it, yes it seems like every one's console is dying. There are nearly 11 million 360 sold and they are not coming back in the numbers that warrant the perceived rate of failure. I think it takes a bit of common sense to take a step back and try to give some rational thought to the subject. Who is more foolish: those that regurgitate what they hear or those that blindly follow them when they speak. If investors start jumping ship because fanboys have shaped Microsoft's hardware reputation, we have a much larger problem than a few rings-of-death.

One week recap...

I dropped the ball this a bit last week, posting a whopping O times. Here's a run-down of some of the things that have happened that I wanted to talk about but didn't get the chance or make the time to post about:

Wii Price and release date: November 19th for $250. I can deal with that, I was really hoping for the $200 price point, but that was probably wishful thinking. I have really been looking forward to this system. There are so many possibilities available with the Wii Remote. I know that there are very talented and creative developers out there who will really blow us away with gameplay that is truly revolutionary. That being said, I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the Wii and its controller over the last week being a Nintendo First Party Specialist and all, and I have one gripe: My wrists hurt! Granted, I am probably experiencing the Wii to an extreme, 8+ hours a day and five days a week, but it does worry me a bit for the future. I can only hope that the right people realize that there are times when just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should.

Tokyo Game Show: If my memory serves me correctly, didn't this show seem to be more exciting in the past? I guess the big three already showed their hands and it was just up to everyone else to show off software. Nintendo and Microsoft continue to impress me with their upcoming lineups, although some new footage of Twilight Princess would have been nice. Sony continues to disappoint. Nothing really catches my eye, except maybe MGS4, but I believe we have yet to see what actual "in-game" footage is like. On the business side, those in charge at Sony seem to be surrounded by people who only tell them what they want to hear because they are clearly not on the same page as their potential consumers. Yes, the system will sell, but to claim the price point was "very well accepted" is laughable. Personally, I have no need for blu-ray or HDMI, so at this point they have nothing to offer me. Maybe down the road, but not now.

"Xbox Killers": I, for the most part, hate what I will call "traditional news". This is the news that runs promos like, "There's a product in your house that will kill your child, tune in at 11 and we'll tell you what it is." Or anything reported on Fox (sorry, a bit of bias there). This is news that still relies on making money instead of just reporting for reporting sake because news is important. So when I read headlines like, 2 Sentenced to Death in Florida Xbox Killings, I am especially disturbed. I really bothers me when a news organization will latch onto even the most remote detail that links a story to video games and the perceived damage they do to society. There is clearly more to the story here and, more importantly, more to the reasons behind the senseless acts of violence besides reacquiring an Xbox. I would just really like it if news went back to reporting and stopped trying to please some puritanical politician or make a buck.

The Mythical 40-Hour Gamer: This article on Wired News today by Clive Thompson was very interesting. He proposes that games are too long for the "soft-core" gamer, meaning someone who really likes to play hard-core games but for whatever reason, can not afford to put in the time needed to complete these games. Now if he had been talking about World of Warcraft or Oblivion (he does mention Kingdom Hearts but not as his main example), I could understand. I know people who have put almost two solid years into WOW and looking forward to Burning Crusade. I personally put in nearly 200 hours for Oblivion but that was over six months. However, his example is Tomb Raider: Legend. Tomb Raider: Legend??? I don't want to assume anything about your skills as a gamer Clive, but come on. I personally put a good twelve hours in to the game and received all of the achievements, 100% complete. If one attempts to get all of the achievements in this game, he or she must do the time trials. When completed, that brings gameplay for the entire game in under an hour and a half. This is a far cry shorter than 40+ hours. I'm not exactly sure what's taking so long over there, but I do see your point. Do developers need to take this into consideration when developing a game? Well of course they do. And that's why, in my opinion Xbox Live will continue to thrive. Developers can give achievements for completing a game fast or getting 100% percent of everything, or both. It also gives an outlet for episodic content which will definitely make up a sizable chunk of the industry in the not too distant future. As well as independent, niche, and pick-up and play games in Arcade, especially now that Microsoft is basically opening that up to the public. Similar structures will probably be achieved on the PS3, and the Wii to some extent, but I can only see it flourishing on Live.