WiiWare launches today in the USA. We are told that the Nintendo Wii addition, "showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history (by) connecting the people who make games more directly with the people who play them". Europe is due to get WiiWare on May 20th. Japan has been waring (sic) Wii since March 25th.
Democracy, eh? Dangerous yet loveable. It's a system of voting in which everybody (who is allowed to vote) votes and therefore makes their individual voice heard, sort of! Huzza!
In June 2007, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said of WiiWare "Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit".
Back in February this year Nintendo of America's project development senior officer, Tom Prata, said, “There are about 100 projects that are under development which are coming to the North American market, and we're going to spend time with them [the developers] to find out what their schedule is because once again we're not requiring a particular type of product.”
Today we are told, "WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood", and that's from Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.
So, are the words 'independent' and 'small budget' being used as more than a convenient tag to excite the 35+ age group of casual gamers who equate 'independence'' with 'freedom' and small budget with 'creative'? Let's have a look at the first few game developers on the roll-call...
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King comes from, erm, Square Enix for 1,500 Wii points. Final Fantasy and Square Enix? How confused are we by Reggie's idea of "Independent developers armed with small budgets"? Very confused indeed, which is why Reggie is multi-rich and successful and we live in the underwater castle sharing one tin of sardines.
But no one ever said that democracy was solely for the small people - why the hell shouldn't royalty like Square Enix get a crack at WiiWare (if it bloody well wants to put its toe in the ware-ter?)
LostWinds from David Braben's Frontier Development for 1,000 Wii Points. Right, David Braben... okay, Braben's been a maverick and a legend. Here's what Frontier says about itself, "Frontier's founder David Braben's work started way back in 1982 when David wrote the seminal game Elite together with Ian Bell.
"Since then Frontier has built a track record comprising games that have defined genres, been critically acclaimed and sold many millions of copies.
"We strive to make games that will put both Frontier and the games industry itself at the forefront of the world entertainment industry.
"We work with top publishers and are currently developing for all major platforms including Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Windows PC."
Okay, moving on...
Defend your Castle from XGen Studios for 500 Wii Points. Xgen is, according to itself "an award-winning developer, publisher, and technology provider for games on the Internet, WiiWare, and PC CD/DVD. Since its inception in 2001, XGen Studios has grown into a thriving online community with over 3 Million monthly players."
Next... let's have this independent film comparison... go on!
Pop - Nnooo for 700 Wii Points. Okay, getting closer, here's what Sydney, Australia-based Nnooo has to say about itself, "We have, collectively, been in the industry for over 10 years and have decided it was time to try making the sort of games we have always dreamed of making. We have worked at or with: Electronic Arts, Atari, Lego, Sci, Vivendi and Sierra."
Next!
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack from High Voltage Software for 700 Wii Points. So, what about High Voltage? Here's what it says, "Serious enough to employ 130 of the game industry's top talents in a turnkey 28,000 square foot independent game studio... Entering their 14th year in business, High Voltage is one of the most established and reliable names in the game game development (sic). With clients like Microsoft, Disney, Cartoon Network and Ubisoft, HVS is the industry's one-stop shop for video game development. High Voltage software has shipped games for almost every console in existence since 1994 and almost every genre. There's really not a game we can't do."
Erm...
Finally, TV Show King from Gameloft for 1,000 Wii Points. You remember Ubisoft buying Gameloft's Mumbai studio? Well, here's what it says about itself, "Gameloft is a leading international publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones. Established in 1999, it has emerged as one of the top innovators in its field...
"Partnership agreements with leading licensors and sports personalities such as Ubisoft Entertainment, Universal Pictures, ABC, Touchstone Television, DreamWorks Animations SKG, Endemol, 20th Century Fox, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paris Hilton Ent., FifPro, Lamborghini, Lleyton Hewitt, Gus Hansen, Kobe Bryant, Robinho, Patrick Vierra, Christophe Dominici, and Jonny Wilkinson allow Gameloft to form strong relationships with international brands. In addition to the partnerships, Gameloft owns and operates titles such as Block Breaker Deluxe, Asphalt: Urban GT and New York Nights.
"Gameloft has worldwide offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Cologne, Copenhagen, Milan, Madrid, Warsaw, New Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Sydney."
We're still confused by 'small budget' and 'independent developer' - so, we assume that what is meant is, 'not owned by a platform holder' and 'small budget in comparison to Ocarina of Time'.
Let's go back to the democracy thing again...remember WiiWare "showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history (by) connecting the people who make games more directly with the people who play them." So, how does that more direct connection work because basically, you're still downloading a game to be played on your Wii? Do you get to speak to the developers?
Basically, you get to pay for the games using Wii points and then, after an hour, you can vote on the game. Votes are then collated, updated and displayed. So, it's the 'vote' word that provides the 'democracy' tag. This then enables developers effectively to create 'pilots' of games that might otherwise not have made it off the drawing Thinkpad. They can then receive some form of feedback more rapidly than having to wait for Nintendo to provide download figures. At least that's how we figure it works...
Let's hope it takes off and can provide what we consider small budget, independent developers to take off. Imagine, Nintendo inventing punk for video games?
We wait for the European launch.
Democracy, eh? Dangerous yet loveable. It's a system of voting in which everybody (who is allowed to vote) votes and therefore makes their individual voice heard, sort of! Huzza!
In June 2007, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said of WiiWare "Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit".
Back in February this year Nintendo of America's project development senior officer, Tom Prata, said, “There are about 100 projects that are under development which are coming to the North American market, and we're going to spend time with them [the developers] to find out what their schedule is because once again we're not requiring a particular type of product.”
Today we are told, "WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood", and that's from Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.
So, are the words 'independent' and 'small budget' being used as more than a convenient tag to excite the 35+ age group of casual gamers who equate 'independence'' with 'freedom' and small budget with 'creative'? Let's have a look at the first few game developers on the roll-call...
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King comes from, erm, Square Enix for 1,500 Wii points. Final Fantasy and Square Enix? How confused are we by Reggie's idea of "Independent developers armed with small budgets"? Very confused indeed, which is why Reggie is multi-rich and successful and we live in the underwater castle sharing one tin of sardines.
But no one ever said that democracy was solely for the small people - why the hell shouldn't royalty like Square Enix get a crack at WiiWare (if it bloody well wants to put its toe in the ware-ter?)
LostWinds from David Braben's Frontier Development for 1,000 Wii Points. Right, David Braben... okay, Braben's been a maverick and a legend. Here's what Frontier says about itself, "Frontier's founder David Braben's work started way back in 1982 when David wrote the seminal game Elite together with Ian Bell.
"Since then Frontier has built a track record comprising games that have defined genres, been critically acclaimed and sold many millions of copies.
"We strive to make games that will put both Frontier and the games industry itself at the forefront of the world entertainment industry.
"We work with top publishers and are currently developing for all major platforms including Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Windows PC."
Okay, moving on...
Defend your Castle from XGen Studios for 500 Wii Points. Xgen is, according to itself "an award-winning developer, publisher, and technology provider for games on the Internet, WiiWare, and PC CD/DVD. Since its inception in 2001, XGen Studios has grown into a thriving online community with over 3 Million monthly players."
Next... let's have this independent film comparison... go on!
Pop - Nnooo for 700 Wii Points. Okay, getting closer, here's what Sydney, Australia-based Nnooo has to say about itself, "We have, collectively, been in the industry for over 10 years and have decided it was time to try making the sort of games we have always dreamed of making. We have worked at or with: Electronic Arts, Atari, Lego, Sci, Vivendi and Sierra."
Next!
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack from High Voltage Software for 700 Wii Points. So, what about High Voltage? Here's what it says, "Serious enough to employ 130 of the game industry's top talents in a turnkey 28,000 square foot independent game studio... Entering their 14th year in business, High Voltage is one of the most established and reliable names in the game game development (sic). With clients like Microsoft, Disney, Cartoon Network and Ubisoft, HVS is the industry's one-stop shop for video game development. High Voltage software has shipped games for almost every console in existence since 1994 and almost every genre. There's really not a game we can't do."
Erm...
Finally, TV Show King from Gameloft for 1,000 Wii Points. You remember Ubisoft buying Gameloft's Mumbai studio? Well, here's what it says about itself, "Gameloft is a leading international publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones. Established in 1999, it has emerged as one of the top innovators in its field...
"Partnership agreements with leading licensors and sports personalities such as Ubisoft Entertainment, Universal Pictures, ABC, Touchstone Television, DreamWorks Animations SKG, Endemol, 20th Century Fox, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paris Hilton Ent., FifPro, Lamborghini, Lleyton Hewitt, Gus Hansen, Kobe Bryant, Robinho, Patrick Vierra, Christophe Dominici, and Jonny Wilkinson allow Gameloft to form strong relationships with international brands. In addition to the partnerships, Gameloft owns and operates titles such as Block Breaker Deluxe, Asphalt: Urban GT and New York Nights.
"Gameloft has worldwide offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Cologne, Copenhagen, Milan, Madrid, Warsaw, New Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Sydney."
We're still confused by 'small budget' and 'independent developer' - so, we assume that what is meant is, 'not owned by a platform holder' and 'small budget in comparison to Ocarina of Time'.
Let's go back to the democracy thing again...remember WiiWare "showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history (by) connecting the people who make games more directly with the people who play them." So, how does that more direct connection work because basically, you're still downloading a game to be played on your Wii? Do you get to speak to the developers?
Basically, you get to pay for the games using Wii points and then, after an hour, you can vote on the game. Votes are then collated, updated and displayed. So, it's the 'vote' word that provides the 'democracy' tag. This then enables developers effectively to create 'pilots' of games that might otherwise not have made it off the drawing Thinkpad. They can then receive some form of feedback more rapidly than having to wait for Nintendo to provide download figures. At least that's how we figure it works...
Let's hope it takes off and can provide what we consider small budget, independent developers to take off. Imagine, Nintendo inventing punk for video games?
We wait for the European launch.
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Comments
irritant 12 May 2008 17:29
1/7
All games appearing on WiiWare are going to be from established developers since you can only access the development tools if you are an existing developer.
WiiWare is different to regular software in that developers have more chance of being able to publish their own games (to publish a boxed copy costs hundreds of thousands of squids just to buy the stock, and most developers aren't sitting on pots of gold) whereas if a developer can write off the cost of the wages of a few employees, they can develop and publish a WiiWare game.
This has the potential to allow the developers a bit more creative freedom and therefore should produce more unique/boundary pushing content, but obviously the big boys will want to be in on the action too.
WiiWare is different to regular software in that developers have more chance of being able to publish their own games (to publish a boxed copy costs hundreds of thousands of squids just to buy the stock, and most developers aren't sitting on pots of gold) whereas if a developer can write off the cost of the wages of a few employees, they can develop and publish a WiiWare game.
This has the potential to allow the developers a bit more creative freedom and therefore should produce more unique/boundary pushing content, but obviously the big boys will want to be in on the action too.
way 12 May 2008 22:42
2/7
OK, but what about a complete spread from visual development environment, API's, utilities to top line point and click content creation engines (authorware) so anybody can have a go.
For instance (and specifically big time) a 3D game creation systems, definitely featuring FPS. Allow complete API access and modification, with visual development tools, and authorware tool. Mod makers could get in on the act and use the authorware to make a new game. Professional programmers could also tweak it or sell addons to other developers. There are already some open source Linux FPS and 3D systems out there that could serve as a basis (but probably lack the authorware finale touches) which could allow games that work in both environments, which is better for developers. There are commercial ones, like from torque. Maybe Nintendo could open it up to these tool makers as well.
Still, might be complete rubbish and Nintendo is already doing this, never got through the waiting stage to find how Wiiware development actually works.
Hey guys, any rumours on the Wii2, DS2/Gameboy3D, come on, anything?
For instance (and specifically big time) a 3D game creation systems, definitely featuring FPS. Allow complete API access and modification, with visual development tools, and authorware tool. Mod makers could get in on the act and use the authorware to make a new game. Professional programmers could also tweak it or sell addons to other developers. There are already some open source Linux FPS and 3D systems out there that could serve as a basis (but probably lack the authorware finale touches) which could allow games that work in both environments, which is better for developers. There are commercial ones, like from torque. Maybe Nintendo could open it up to these tool makers as well.
Still, might be complete rubbish and Nintendo is already doing this, never got through the waiting stage to find how Wiiware development actually works.
Hey guys, any rumours on the Wii2, DS2/Gameboy3D, come on, anything?
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Joji 13 May 2008 10:37
3/7
This is a very mixed message, where it seems Nintendo can't differentiate between small indepedent developers and rookie homebrew developers, trying to enter the industry and get noticed. Perhaps, Spong should have been more specific with the question, noting the differences between the two.
WiiWare has the oppurtunity to break Nintendo''s long held lack, of not supporting the real small indie homebrew developers, those who have no huge studio and backing, but work on pure passion and drive, to produce something out of nothing, in bedrooms and living rooms worldwide.
Unfortunately, I don't think Nintendo will be as gracious as MS or Sony, to allow Wii to be open in an XNA way, to the real single digit number development teams. They'd have to release some kind of cut down development tools like XNA, but we are hearing nothing about this, or how much it will cost, say a three man indie team, to develop a small WW game, and what their projected return will be.
If Nintendo produce the goods like this, so we can all have a go at making a game, then power to them. That list above seem very established, so where's the real bright young things, to expand the development side of the industry, Nintendo? It was you guys that wanted to grow the industry after all, so you can't expect to do it with new gamers, but not new developers.
WiiWare has the oppurtunity to break Nintendo''s long held lack, of not supporting the real small indie homebrew developers, those who have no huge studio and backing, but work on pure passion and drive, to produce something out of nothing, in bedrooms and living rooms worldwide.
Unfortunately, I don't think Nintendo will be as gracious as MS or Sony, to allow Wii to be open in an XNA way, to the real single digit number development teams. They'd have to release some kind of cut down development tools like XNA, but we are hearing nothing about this, or how much it will cost, say a three man indie team, to develop a small WW game, and what their projected return will be.
If Nintendo produce the goods like this, so we can all have a go at making a game, then power to them. That list above seem very established, so where's the real bright young things, to expand the development side of the industry, Nintendo? It was you guys that wanted to grow the industry after all, so you can't expect to do it with new gamers, but not new developers.
irritant 13 May 2008 20:08
4/7
The problem with opening up access to homebrew developers, Joji, is that you also open your system up to the pirates.
To develop for Wii, you need access to tools that could aid piracy if they fell into the wrong hands. They could go to the effort of creating a setup that gives limited access to the hardware and doesn't open too much up (like I believe Microsoft have with their XNA) but to Nintendo, there just aren't the benefits there to do that. As popular as homebrew can be, most of it is low quality and wouldn't generate an income if it was paid for.
Nintendo don't like the homebrew scene because hardware that is sold as being "homebrew" hardware is used in 99% of cases for piracy only. The Japanese also don't really have a history of the bedroom programmers that are the bedrock of the UK games industry. Having said that, there is a shortage of video games programmers in the UK at the moment, so anyone who can display some talent should be able to get a job in the industry fairly easily, it mostly depends on geography.
To develop for Wii, you need access to tools that could aid piracy if they fell into the wrong hands. They could go to the effort of creating a setup that gives limited access to the hardware and doesn't open too much up (like I believe Microsoft have with their XNA) but to Nintendo, there just aren't the benefits there to do that. As popular as homebrew can be, most of it is low quality and wouldn't generate an income if it was paid for.
Nintendo don't like the homebrew scene because hardware that is sold as being "homebrew" hardware is used in 99% of cases for piracy only. The Japanese also don't really have a history of the bedroom programmers that are the bedrock of the UK games industry. Having said that, there is a shortage of video games programmers in the UK at the moment, so anyone who can display some talent should be able to get a job in the industry fairly easily, it mostly depends on geography.
way 13 May 2008 21:07
5/7
I'm going to say something that most "real" games programmers might find repugnant "Java". An interpreted system, or VOS compile language can be made to have enough abstraction to keep pirates away (if done right without hackable mistakes of course). It doesn't need to be Java, Taos Elate/Intent suite was one of the best and built for games specifically. Just looking at Java:
Java plus open API's (Open GL etc) with wii extension API's and compilation, would provide substantial abstraction of Pirates from the hardware. Even interpreted Java offers a level of performance for retro 8-bit games, JIT compilation may reach 16 bit games and precompilation would allow for a standard closer to 32 bit games (being conservative here on 8-16bit thing). This is most older types of games out there. Using a Taos Elate/Intent like Java system you can reach up into wii territory of performance with abstraction. You develop off system (or on) a program pre-compiles or compiles on load.
This also brings a lot of Java games to the system and through it's online game service, and also might bring a lot of Java games programmers in, and I think they might have some substantial ideas to offer compared to the mobile platforms many have been stuck in.
Even without a VOS system they should be able to nail down the development and abstraction to keep pirates out.
I'm going to suggest, Java and Flash (have announced a change and are plugging as an alternative to Java) + store capabilities for home-brewers (maybe with some isolated machine code and hardware access for inner routines).
Java plus open API's (Open GL etc) with wii extension API's and compilation, would provide substantial abstraction of Pirates from the hardware. Even interpreted Java offers a level of performance for retro 8-bit games, JIT compilation may reach 16 bit games and precompilation would allow for a standard closer to 32 bit games (being conservative here on 8-16bit thing). This is most older types of games out there. Using a Taos Elate/Intent like Java system you can reach up into wii territory of performance with abstraction. You develop off system (or on) a program pre-compiles or compiles on load.
This also brings a lot of Java games to the system and through it's online game service, and also might bring a lot of Java games programmers in, and I think they might have some substantial ideas to offer compared to the mobile platforms many have been stuck in.
Even without a VOS system they should be able to nail down the development and abstraction to keep pirates out.
I'm going to suggest, Java and Flash (have announced a change and are plugging as an alternative to Java) + store capabilities for home-brewers (maybe with some isolated machine code and hardware access for inner routines).
irritant 13 May 2008 22:15
6/7
way wrote:
I'm going to say something that most "real" games programmers might find repugnant "Java".
Ugh! Java! I need to go and wash my eyes.
Java is too slow and doesn't easily give access to the hardware. Even though the Wii isn't cutting edge in terms of performance, there is still some level of expectation of quality that Java cannot deliver.
Having said that, there are plenty of web based Java (I think! could be some other browser based interpreted language) games made specially for the Wii (a quick Google search turned up this page http://www.eiksoft.com/wii/ ). The problem is, you have a hard time charging for them.
Way 17 May 2008 15:23
7/7
irritant wrote:
way wrote:
I'm going to say something that most "real" games programmers might find repugnant "Java".
Ugh! Java! I need to go and wash my eyes.
Java is too slow and doesn't easily give access to the hardware. Even though the Wii isn't cutting edge in terms of performance, there is still some level of expectation of quality that Java cannot deliver.
Exactly, but the compiling, Taos type, and Open GL etc makes for much better performance and even 3D games. They may not be the most cutting edge, but good enough for second and third tier games. Flash is another flash in the pan, for third tier games. But we might as well face it, most of these games are going to be in the $1-5 range for the third tier games. Very low threat levels to major developers.