How long shall games be?

How long should a game be? 6 hours? 10 hours? 20 hours? 100 hours?

That question can't be answered simply, but nonetheless it is one of the most important things a customer wants to know about before purchasing a game. But why is the focus so strongly on length nowadays?

The Order for example has many problems, but it's mostly the length the people talk about. And I don't think that this is fair. By solely focusing on the length we limit ourselves to a small amount of games. Not every game can be hundreds of hours long like Xenoblade Chronicles or Skyrim.

So are the customers at fault here? Of course not. We have every right to demand a specific value for the money we spend. Critics often try to compare an evening at the cinema with a game like The Order and argue that the Order offers a better value than the movies. I don't agree with that. Firstly cinema is not an every day activity, while video games pretty much are. Also this calculations always include the prices for food and drinks with the tickets, well then we also should include the prices for the countless chips, drinks and other things you consume while playing a game. Looking at it that way makes the Order probably more expensive than three visits to the cinema. (I'm talking about solo visits of course.)

But that all doesn't matter. The time should be a non factor when talking about the quality of a game. It is however a factor when talking about if a game is worthwhile. The game can offer the best 2 hours of my life, but if it costs 70 bucks I probably won't think it has a good value. And this is the core of the problem. Not the length, but the prices.

I've talked about it when I wrote about mediocre games and Horror. The problem is the industries unwillingness to crack open the triple AAA price model. You either have indie games, which can't cost more than 20 bucks or AAA productions, which sell at 70. And this is a huge problem.

One publisher, who does things right in that regard, is Nintendo. They offer a healthy variety of different games and price models. You have smaller titles like Dr. Luigi or NES Remix and big full price releases like Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. or Mario 3D World. But you also have the third variant. More moderately priced games, which fit between AAA productions and the indie stuff. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Wonderful 101, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. All these games are priced at 40 bucks. And all of these games are more than worth it.

And that price changes the perception of these games a lot. With a 60 buck price tag I would find it hard to recommend Captain Toad to others, but with it's current price I don't have a second thought about it.

The problem is not the customer, like the industry tries to make you believe. The customer may be stupid from time to time, but he's never at fault. If people don't think that a five hour game with a 70 bucks price tag is worth it, then it's not worth it. The industry has grown to immense proportions. If I'm unhappy with the offered product today, I can choose from hundreds of other possibilities, be it AAA or Indies.

Then how can such five games sell? With a smaller price tag. Your game is a short, cinematic experience with only single player? No problem, but I won't pay 70 bucks for it. Sell it for 50, 40 or hell even 30 bucks and people will be easier to satisfy. I only have money for one full price game each month, so why should I buy the order, when I can also buy Majoras Mask 3D and a good indie, which will probably entertain me for 50+ hours.

By creating this price system the industry has moved itself into a swim or sink situation. A game needs to be profitable in the first weeks, because after a month the first price cuts happen. With a more modest price at the beginning the profits in the first weeks wouldn't be so high, but in the long run they would probably increase, because you could easier justify keeping the game at this price.

The customer needs to feel that the game holds a certain value for him to purchase it. If you can't achieve this value with the game you're offering, then it's time to lower the price. Maybe your game isn't worth 70 bucks. That's not a bad thing. You just need to adjust your product to the expectations of the customer.

TL;DR: A games length isn't a factor of quality. It only comes into play with high price tags. By breaking up the stiff price system and allowing even AAA games to be sold in the 30-70 range this problem can be solved.

A five hour game for 70 bucks is hard to justify, but the same for 40 bucks isn't.

and as always

thanks for reading

Nintendo Investor Meeting 17.02.2015

Yesterday Satoru Iwata finally held the investors meeting, after it had to be rescheduled because of a fever on his part. While there weren't any big news (that's probably held back for the yearly report at the end of march) we still got some interesting tidbits. So let's talk about them.

Amiibo:


There where some interesting Amiibo news. Firstly the Amiibo cards will be available later this year. For anyone not knowing what I'm talking about. Nintendo plans to produce several cards which have the same effect as their figurine counterparts. So if you don't have the money or room for a figurine you can buy this cheaper alternative and receive the same benefits when playing a game.
I'm a big fan of this idea, because I really enjoy (good) Amiibo integration in my games, but I'm not loaded with money. So I'll most likely get around 4-5 Amiibos and for the rest I'll settle with cards.


Also the figures will soon unlock demos of NES and SNES games, much like in Super Smash Bros. If you, for example, place the Link figurine on the Gamepad you may be able to play a demo of the first Legend of Zelda. This demos will change every time you scan the character. They also come with a time limit, so you can't play the entire game that way. The application which enables this feature will be downloadable from the e-shop for free later this year.
I think it's a nice little feature and I'm looking forward to it. It's not a killer app for the Amiibo figurines, but it's one more thing to do with these figures and it all builds up the general appeal of them.




3DS:


3DS sales where pretty lackluster in the christmas period. At least in Europe and Amerika. This should surprise no one, as most interested customers probable held back for the New 3DS release. Iwata even mentioned this as a mistake on their part, because the wait during the Christmas period may have pushed some interested buyers towards other devices.


On the software side however they are more than happy. Super Smahs Bros. for 3DS and Pokemon ORAS have sold very well and Tomadachi Life surprised with strong sales across the whole year. Iwata also said that there are still a ton of third party games in development.
Overall this is pretty good news, now these third party games only have to be released in the West because around here it's also mostly Nintendo alone that keeps the 3DS afloat.


Iwata also announced that Tomadachi Life and Animal Crossing are especially well received by the female demographic and that the pink 2DS bundle was nearly 50% of the total 3DS sales in the later half of 2014. The game also sold more copies in France then in the whole US.
In this light I think it's safe to assume that Nintendo will strengthen their focus on such games in Europe. It may not be my cup of tea, but more variety is always welcome.




Wii-U:


The current problem child is still struggling, but it's fighting a brave uphill battle. Software and Hardware sales are up YoY and with a positive outlook towards 2015 they will probably increase further. Of course such an increase is not that impressive if you put it in the perspective that Wii-U sales (software and hardware) where pretty much non existent in 2013, but it's nonetheless a positive sign. Also digital sales have increased quite a bit and are a strong stream of revenue for Nintendo. 


So lets all hope that they'll release their next system with more than 32 gigs of memory.




Local Multiplayer:


Iwata also announced his intention to strengthen the local multiplayer in western countries. He set the 3DS as focus, but I also hope that they won't forget about the Wii-U. Nintendo is one of the last bastions of local multiplayer. Other Multiplayer games may be great, but for me they only represent ''Together alone''


There is nothing better than to see the humiliated face of your best friend after you beat him in Mario Kart, or experience the rage of a loved one, from which you just stole a star in Mario Party, or getting smashed while playing Smash. So for me this is a really positive quote and I'm looking forward to see actions follow those words.




Future Outlook:


The general outlook of this meeting was pretty positive. Nintendo reported growths and with the New Nintendo 3DS just released and many great Wii-U games on the horizon they hope to continue this momentum. And I don't see why this shouldn't be the case. They may not pull awesome Numbers and are pretty much set for third place in the console race, but they are on an upwards trend and at least profitable again.
Iwata also announced that at the next meeting he hopes to go in deepth with the Quality of Life Programm. He also plans to tell us the plans of the company regarding smart devices an the usage of their IP outside their traditional field. 
Do I hear Super Mario Movie by Sony and a major Metriod Motion Picture (one can dream), and Zelda Tv-Series on Netflix? No? Well I better hear something in around two months.

and as always

Thanks for reading

The Legend of Zelda Netflix Series

So everyone is talking about the leak of the planned Zelda Netflix TV Series. So far we only have very sparse information and the chances are pretty high, that it will never happen anyway. It's described as a family friendly game of thrones, which would fit pretty well to the franchise. However they haven't even hired writers, nor even signed any contracts, so everything up till now is just speculation. But hey speculation is fun.

I will ignore things like casting and so on and only focus on the scenario the series will be placed in.

Firstly I don't think it would be a good idea to try to retell on of the games in the series. Not Ocarina of Time, not Majoras Mask and not even Skyward Sword, which was the story heaviest game of them all. Zelda games, like all Nintendo games, live mainly from their excellent gameplay. So retelling the Story of Link traveling through the Land and conquering different dungeons wouldn't be such an exciting watch. I think it would contain lots of fillers to stretch the story over several seasons.

Instead I would prefer another approach to the series and this is expanding the Lore. Zelda has the potential for a great and deep lore and I would love them to really tap into that. For example make the war that happened before Ocarina of Time, in which Links parents died, the focus of the series. Show the development between the races of Hyrule during this time. Maybe it was an all out civil war or maybe it was an invasion from outside. Maybe Ganondorf came to Hyrules aid in this times, which would explain why he enjoys the kings trust in Ocarina.

Or show the period after Skyward Sword, when Link and Zelda founded the first kingdom of Hyrule on the ground. The founding of Kingdom with all the hardships that come with it could be really interesting.

But if you truly have to retell the story of a game then choose either Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword which had the most enthralling stories in my book. Majoras Mask is to different and strange for this. Or make a badass pirate series with Tetra on the Ocean of Wind Waker.

The possibilities are pretty big and if done right this series could be really kickass and the first step of Nintendo into other media.

But it's important that it's done right or we have a Mario Bros. Movie 2.0 on our hands. So the series needs a big budget from the start. I want Moblins, Zoras and Gorons. And I want them to look great. They need to capture the magic and grandness of Hyrule from the get go, or it won't work.

Zelda is franchise that many hold dear and it has a pretty picky fanbase, so I'm happy that Nintendo takes a cautious approach to all of this, but I hope the go through with their plans. I, for one, am pretty open about them and will give my first verdict when I saw a trailer or at least a concept for the story. Before this it's all baseless speculation, but hey that is fun too.

And just think of the possibilities if this becomes a success. Big Budget Metroid Movie here I come!

and as always

thanks for reading

Nintendo Affiliate Program

In the last few days I've been pretty busy with university stuff, so please excuse me for not talking about this sooner.

So many of you probably have heard about this Nintendo affiliate program, but allow me to give a brief recap.

A short time ago Nintendo launched the Nintendo Affiliate Program, which allows Youtuber to become licensed Nintendo partners. With this the Youtuber don't have to worry about contend strikes anymore, as their contend is now officially licensed by Nintendo. Nintendo also gets the right to claim some percentage of the revenue generated by your Nintendo centric videos for themselves. These are 40% if your channel also hosts non Nintendo content and 30% if you host only Nintendo content.

So let me state this directly. I don't have anything against Nintendo trying to claim some money from Lets Plays. You earn money with their content after all. 40 and even 30% seem a bit high though. I thin 10-15% revenue share would be fair.
But only on lets plays. Reviews and other content should and are protected under the fair use clause and Nintendo has no right to claim anything on such videos.

And here start the problems of this service. Not only do you agree to share revenue with Nintendo, but you also hand them the rights to use your videos in any of their promotions and, more important, you agree to follow their strict rules.

These rules encompass the standard stuff, like not producing any adult themed content, but the important part is the vagueness of the rules. What goes and goes not isn't clearly stated in the contract, but is up for Nintendo to decide. These vagueness is a big problem. For example Nintendo reserves itself the right to change the rules anytime and to decide every month how much of the revenue generated by your videos is actually given to you.

The next huge problem is that Nintendo forbids its partners to talk about the program or even hint that they are affiliated with Nintendo. In the light of other recent (and still ongoing) discussion about ethics and corruption in video game coverage, this is just plain stupid.

And the last point is that Nintend reserves the right to review all videos before they're uploaded and change them if they deem it necessary.

To put it simply the Nintendo Affiliate Program is a huge blow to the freedom of speech. Like so many times before Nintendo shows that they're not really getting on with the times. To put it bluntly. This is a truly stupid move from my favorite video game company. Trying to control the flow of information has never worked before and I hope it doesn't start to work now. That's why I hope that many people stand up against this program and tell Nintendo their view on it. Because as fans we should be first to point out mistakes. A true fan is also the harshest critique of his product of choice.

Sadly I haven't seen much backlash so far. Yes some notable Youtubers like Totalbiscuit, PweDiePie or Jim Sterling have spoken against it and many media outlets have at least ran one story about it, but from the general public, from the customer there has been nothing so far. Many remain silent on the topic.

Following GamerGate discussions one can often read that they will deal with Nintendo at a later time because they need to keep concentrating their efforts on their SJW enemies and sites like Kotaku and so on.
And while I support the stated goal of GamerGate and the idea behind it, I don't think that we should overlook Nintendo. The program is still in its Beta-stage, so we still have time to force some fundamental changes, because as it stands now it is an attack on freedom of speech. Nintendo will decide which content is shown and which is shunned. And if they're successful with this then other companies will surely follow suit.

In the end a content creator should be able to make money with his chosen profession. A review of Super Smash Bros. should be able to create revenue under fair use.
With its program Nintendo tries to bind creators to itself and make them financially dependent. And that is just bullshit.

+ Nintendo doesn't even need to pull such shit. They're games are nearly always top notch.

TL;DR

Nintendos Affiliate Program is bullshit. In its current iteration it's a blatant try to censor and control opinions. I think it's ok for Nintendo to receive a small share or revenue (10-15%) for lets plays, but reviews and other content falls under fair use.
As fans we can't let such a blatant try of censoring free speech stand and should demand a change in the policies because better games coverage benefits us all.

and as always

Thanks for reading