For years now people have been discussing the downfall of retail thanks to the ever increasing use of digital distribution. Of course retail is still here as that inevitable downfall is a long way off because of the technical blockades in front of digital distribution at the moment (lack of save space, high speed internet isn't everywhere, etc.). However, Nintendo Europe's head, Laurent Fischer, actually sees downloadable services helping retail not leading it to its slow and painful death.
“There are two ways that WiiWare and DSiWare offer benefits to retail of physical goods. The first is having more people being able to play games. We know from all our experience that what people enjoy on the services makes their appetites for playing games far bigger. That’s the first benefit to retail," Fischer explained to Develop.
He then went on to explain the second reason, stating, "“The other way is that WiiWare is a laboratory. What we know is that some of the games that are – you could say ‘tested’ through this platform – they may one day get access to the normal retail channels. That’s because the developers have managed to polish their software through the WiiWare experience. That is going to provide sales.”
I'll agree with the first reason, but as far as games being "tested" on the platform I don't really see that happening too much on any of the consoles. What downloadable games have moved into the world of retail? I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. If he is referring to developers getting their bearings with downloadable games and then moving onto bigger, full retail games then that makes sense. Of course it also hints that DSiWare and WiiWare is full of crappy "practice projects" for early developers.
[Via TVGB]
Contest:
5:30 PM on 10.18.2009
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All I can think of is those "Xbox Live Arcade Game" compilation discs.
A sensible idea would be to test games in one location (eg the UK, France, USA, Japan...etc) on Wiiware and then for a major release if it is deemed good enough (and with more work done on it of course) everywhere. Don't hate the idea just because they haven't done it properly yet.
If people discover games via digital distribution they'll stick to it. Your other point I agree with.
I'm still against it very much though. Just sounds like it's just begging for corporeal abuse.
Unless they find it more expensive (Games on Demand) or takes too long (internet speed) or they don't have enough HDD space or the internet is down or that they can buy a second hand cheaper version for half the price. Or that they just don't like it.
OUT.
OF.
TOUCH.
Touché.
What I find the most intersting about wiiware is how badly it's being abused; no one is using wiiware to make and test new genres that would otherwise never be made. I think there are several reasons for this.
1. developers are trying to make a profit with mostly "safe" games on wiiware (a huge mistake in my opinion, as that is neither the function of wiiware, nor is the wiiware system a good system for seeking profit).
2. Most developers lack the creativity to make new genres and gameplay elements.
3. The developers sent out to make wiiware projects aren't very good, while the good developers are used on bigger, safer projects.
WiiWare sucks because it's being used for profit while it was designed for field testing games that would otherwise be too risky for full retail.
WiiWare doesn't suck.
Well, whether or not something sucks is relative, but as a point of reference Megaman 9 most likely had the same budget as Megaman 1. Therefore, Megaman 9 should be at least as good as Megaman 1, or else the guys at Capcom are doing it wrong.
Actually, I can't say I agree with your logic. I still miss those cartredges with their internal memory and lack of need for a disk box. In fact, I myself would still have and prefer cartredges even now had Nintendo not discontinued the format (I believe it had something to do with third party support); they were easier and faster than disks to swap and never had any load times. And I still feel HD isn't a significant upgrade in spite of own an HD TV. Heck, I don't even know what HDD stands for, but if it's uber-high-def, then there's no way I'll ever need that either. While I do agree on your point about online, it should be pointed out that I am also fairly socially awkward, which makes my opinion on the matter not a mainstream one.
Also, Rock band has DLC disks.
I wouldn't say that those downloadable services have anymore crap than XBLA has. Every gaming service will have some crap on it, but just look at all the good WiiWare games coming out for the rest of the year and beyond. LostWinds 2, And Yet It Moves, Max & the Magic Marker, Castlevania Rebirth, Cave Story, Night Sky, Bit.Trip Void, Tower of Shadows, and Super Meat Boy just to name a few.
So to say that WiiWare is just full of crappy "practice projects" for early developers, is a bit of a over-exaggeration, don't you think? Sure there's some bad games on there, but there's a lot of good games on WiiWare as well and there's many more on the way. Plus any service that has World of Goo on it, doesn't suck. A little known fact, but its true!
I hope you don't think the future of gaming is really digital distribution, even after the PSP Go fiasco, the market leader's (Nintendo's) incompatibility with such a system (they need retail channels to sell the peripherals and to explain games to the new gamers), AND the fact that so far digital distribution stands for less content at a higher price then retail (sometimes the DD release date is even after the retail release date). Not to mention retail sells something like ten times as many copies of a given title than the DD platform (I have no hard numbers because the numbers aren't released, but the approximates I've heard put the best sellers as almost universally less than a million copies. I only say almost because I heard that SMB3 hit a million).
Please at least wait until digital distribution has the semblance of being in your advantage before you tout it as a positive. And if that doesn't happen, then stop supportingg things that are disadvantageous to yourself.
@ PEICanada7
None of those games compare to Super Mario Bros. 3 of Donkey Kong Country 2. Now back then the triple A title budget is about the same as a current Wiiware budget. Not only that, but since those titles were released, video game developers have supposedly been improving their talents and skills, meaning that a 2D platformer today should be much more polished than one of those old platformers due to the lessons of history and availability of old code for reference.
WiiWare is bad because a bunch of no talent developers place their pet projects on the service, making the mediocre content look good by comparison. But a quick look at Virtual Console shows that these developers have actually decreased in quality throughout the last fifteen years, and really don't have much buisness in the industry because they lack the ability to compete with 15 year old titles. If a developer cannot make a Donkey Kong Country quality platformer with the budget of donkey kong country and the game immediately available to him for reference, then he is not a particularly good developer, as developers with far inferior technology and no point of reference from 15 years ago simply trounced anything the modern developer could do with his modern resources.
So yes, WiiWare and all the other DD platforms are bad because they aren't even close to as good as virtual console shows us they can be.
Digital Distribution doesn't benefit Retail, at all. Maybe developers can get their start on digital, but retail isn't going to last forever. At least Sony and Microsoft aren't oblivious to that fact. I mean, maybe it also acts as a gateway for gamers to experience small games, then get into bigger games, but c'mon. You only need to look at the music industry for proof that digital distribution is prepping itself to fully replace retail. I fail to see how something can benefit another thing that it's planning to replace.
I know what he's trying to say, but Nintendo, in my opinion, should be the last one talking about online.
As a developer, I also would be worried about putting a game, good or bad, on digital distribution alone. It's still somewhat uncharted grounds and those people are relying too much on it.
Besides, I'm quite sure Nintendo will do something very DD-related with their next handheld. As much as the DS is sitting atop the handheld world comfortably, the iPod Touch's been surprising me a lot(in a bad way) with its apps sales.
And about DD on itself, it does reduce costs, which could lead to bigger profit margins and more funds for development, which would, at a long term, result in better games. Or at least more expensive ones =D Problem is, they have to deal with the moaning of retailers, which makes them have to appease them, for they are responsible for the huge majority of their sales. And this is why PSPGo failed bad.
But I still do like my good old fashioned boxes.
I know generational evolution of technology doesn't equal talent. In fact, I'm bitter because I recognize that in spite of technology, wiiware is proof of a huge lack of talent in the industry. I figure that the lack of talent on wiiware is merely an extension of a lack of talent at full retail, a lack that is being masked by high production values. And as the testing ground for new ideas, I don't think that games will start showing more creativity for at least a year and a half after those creative ideas are tested at a smaller scale (through wiiware), due to the long production times of games.
I completely disagree with you on the issue of Nintendo and DD. Especially because I really can't believe customers want to go an all-digital route. In fact, I tend to view the people who actually believe DD is the future as being a bit brainwashed by the industry into thinking something that is bad is good. All digital has shown no evidence of success even close to retail, and the supposed god of DD, the ipod touch, is too flooded with shovelware to navigate and is stuffed with cheap, shoddy games the best of which can't compare to the DS's finest. Even if the ipod touch is what microsoft and sony claim to want, there is no way they want iphone-like prices of triple-A games, and no one buys a game for over $10 on the iphone. Digital Distribution is stubbornly refusing to prove itself as a viable platform for the industry, and it can't be the future unless DD actually works well enough to make money. For a game like GTA, making money in an all digital format is simply impossible.
Did anyone say that they had to compare to those games? Either way I would put World of Goo, and LostWinds up with those old Nintendo games any day.
"What downloadable games have moved into the world of retail?"
Well from WiiWare there was Groovin Blocks, which came out as a full retail disc for only $20 in August and TV Show King was a WiiWare games first, before they made it into a full retail game "TV Show King Party" as well. Plus World of Goo was originally going to come out at retail in Europe, but they didn't do it in the end, because people complained about it to much.
However, some other WiiWare developers have expressed interest in putting their games out on retail disc in the future as well, like the Lostwinds, and NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits guys. I don't know if it will ever happen, but when the Bit.Trip series is all wrapped up, couldn't you also see all 6 of those games on a retail disc for like $20 to $30? So its not a lot of games, but there are a few games that have made the leap from WiiWare to retail.
However, I entirely agree with your point about DD making money. Tossing 50 bucks on something you can't even touch and is prone to absolute loss in case your hardware fails is asking a little too much from the consumer. It works on iPod because you're buying crappy 10 bucks(at most) gameS, that may be fun, but lack polish and whose dissemination can turn out to be a shitty outcome for the industry.
Back to Nintendo, they are a conservative company in many aspects. But they have already shown that they can "upend the tea table", as Miyamoto would say, even if it means taking a somewhat predictable evolution and taking it on a VERY different route. Take motion and touch controls, for example. There's been works on both technologies for a long, long time, but Nintendo came around, made it economically viable, attention-grabbing and, shit, made it just WORK. A company that once stood as the pinnacle of graphical evolution now has the weakest consoles of the market. What I am saying is that Nintendo can change its ways as long as it can offer functional, viable solutions in this post-Yamauchi era. And I would not be surprised if they did the same with digital distribution.
By the way, it's becoming interesting to have those arguments with you. Good points, mate.
Thanks