By Hic on 07.12.06 2:49 pm

Yeah, I read that as well. He also downplays episodic content. I don’t really agree with him on either count. Honestly, both gripes (about Intel and about episodic content) are narrow-minded. Intel makes stuff for people that want stuff. They are (as I’ve said about many industries) “In the business of making money.” They’ll make whatever is the most profitable for the largest audiance. If making high-end graphics processors (or whatever Mark thinks is best) was the most profitable, then they’d move that direction. It has little to no bearing on the game industry. When the consumer wants something and can afford it, they’ll buy it. If it’s not sold by Intel then they’ll get it from AMD, Motorola, or IBM.

As far as the second issue he picks on, episodic content is here to stay, plain and simple. Consumers are ready for micropurchases, it’s just a matter of working out price and ease of use. Right now, there are kinks in the system (i.e. why do I pay MS to let me browse for items to purchase…that’s stupid). Things like episodic content and micro-purchases will fall into suit with the online music industry over the next two years as all console competitors release their products that have online purchase capabilities (Nintendo and Sony).

There. Was my comment bigger than the original post? XD

By Chris on 07.12.06 3:09 pm

I think his point is valid. People buy a retail computer to do some task and then find that this card doesn’t do hardware texture and lighting (like they need to know what that is) and now Unreal3 doesn’t run. Heck, games from 2000 don’t run. It lessens the PC market.

Yes, people buy what they want. But in doing so, they dillute the market. I don’t think I agree in so much as it can be avoided as much as, “consoles are a standard and PCs are a fucking mess”. It’s just the reality of the situation.

Episodic content makes me very poor. I agree in a set of maps, models, sounds, story … something that makes up a complete game (episode, expansion). Anything else, I smell the marketing. Young people (not me) are good at smelling the marketing.

By Hic on 07.12.06 3:28 pm

PC’s are a mess as a “standard” for all things related to computing. There’s too much for Joe Homeuser to figure out or worry about. I agree on that.

Episodic content can work if it is marketed and priced with the same sorts of schema that work for other industries. Cell phone micro-purchases and online music purchases are king right now. Why not have the same model in the games market?

By cameoex on 07.13.06 12:15 pm

Why is he worried about the Intel graphics found in bargain PCs? Haven’t low end graphics been around for a while. Not everyone needs a dual 7900GTX setup. I think the $500+ prices of the high end vid cards is hurting gaming more than Intel. So are the constant releases of new chips with new features. This is the advantage that consoles have, one set of hardware that developers work against for years, optimizing it over and over again.

Maybe I am in the minority, but I am willing to give up a little realism and high end eye candy, for a vid card that will be current for more than a couple years.

And as far as episodic content goes isn’t that what a MMORPG is? Paying $12+/month to play a game that never ends? I am more than willing to pay the monthly fee for a game that constantly has new content, it is still cheaper than buying a “full” game every month and beating/getting bored with it after 3 weeks. Plus its better than waiting years for HL3.

By Chris on 07.13.06 2:49 pm

Like PA said, $20 for a map pack for GRAW when it should have been $10. It’ll be $10 when it should have been $5. It’ll be $5 when it should have been free. And it’ll be free when people see they don’t have the time to play them because there’s other stuff out.

I think the difference between cell phones and games is a few things:
- $2 for an in-game item is less accessible than a Pop ringtone
- $2 for a map is more involving. Whereas a picture, icon, ringtone, theme is a fairly instant item. HL2:Episode Eight is probably going to require 20 hours to experience

What I think would work is episodic content on consoles to a point. But then at some point down the road, we’re going to get sick of paying per plate of food and rush to the All-You-Can-Eat joints.

Xbox Live is going the wrong way with these things. You can buy a Street Fighter 2 theme for the system console for $1.87 (150 points).

“It would take 41.22 GB of HD space to download the entire Xbox Live Marketplace. To buy every download, it would cost 90,300 Microsoft Points (U.S. $1,128.75)”
– achieve360points.com