What Console Makers Can Learn from Apple [Game On}
With Nintendo recently posting some horrible losses, a lot of which can be attributed to the rise in iOS gaming popularity, it occurs to me that if Apple really does plan on making a foray into gaming, there are some things that Nitntendo, Sony, and Microsoft can do to prepare for this by learning from Apple’s past successes. Things like…
Have an Ecosystem (Or Join One)
Apple makes beautiful devices. Simple, elegant, and highly functional. However, pristine as the iPad might be, it wouldn’t be very drool worthy if not for the variety of content available on it.
I’m directing this point particularly toward Nintendo. For years they’ve hamstrung themselves with lackluster online experiences and clunky marketplace offerings. Making matters worse is that the bulk of their content consists of rehashed first party titles from years past that we’ve already purchased on another system
Microsoft and Sony had a little more foresight here. Both offer the ability to purchase movies, music, and games. The meteoric rise of indie games is at least partially thanks to Microsoft’s outstanding support of 3rd party developers on its system. The difference between Apple and Nintendo is that while they’re similar in their pursuit of end-to-end integration, Apple’s model is more adept at leveraging the creativity of self-starters with its lush support of iOS development.
Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication
While motion controls were novel at their debut, Sony and Nintendo’s offerings looked archaic next to Microsoft’s Kinect. It had largely the same capabilities, but the package was more enticing without multiple accessories, batteries, and add-ons being required to make the experience fun.
The same can be said of game design to a degree. Angry Birds is an astoundingly simple premise — slingshot birds to eliminate pigs. Five words. Done. In an age where developers scramble to cram as much content as possible into a title to entice gamers to open their wallets, less really is more.
Another example of this is when Capcom released the most excellent Mega Man 9 to the Xbox Live marketplace some years back. They could’ve gone crazy with hyper-realistic graphics, online multiplayer, and tons of downloadable content to customize Mega Man’s appearance. Instead, they got to the core of what the game was about when it first made its debut in the 80s- diabolical challenge. They kept the same graphics from nearly 30 years earlier, but more than relying on nostalgia for success they also copied the central idea of the popular series in its purest form.
Figure Out What We Want Before We Know We Want It
Granted, I can’t explain how this is done but Apple seems to be killing it on this front. Unfortunately, I can see how the big three game companies have scrambled to play catch up with each other year after year instead of innovating.
Sony tried to get motion control to market just to compete with Nintendo instead of taking Microsoft’s approach of learning from Nintendo’s mistakes. Microsoft’s first Xbox was powerful, but clunky it its design as they just took a PC and shoehorned it into a hideous box with an even more hideous controller. Nintendo tried to jump on the the 3D bandwagon with its headache-inducing Nintendo 3DS last year.
That’s not innovation. That’s a knee-jerk reaction to what’s trendy and trying to turn people’s heads. Innovation happens when you introduce an entirely new way of delivering content or announce a feature that answers a problem that has been there forever right in front of consumers’ faces but no one thought to address.
Simply put, it might behoove the big three to Think Different.
What innovations do you foresee in console gaming? While you do that I’m going to get back to playing my 99 cent, four-button copy of NBA Jam on my iPhone.
featured image credit: wicker_man
Joshua, this is a brilliant article and I am so sad you don’t live out here, because I would talk your ear off at the next FaN mixer:
1) I often get the feeling that game execs/developers are either at two extremes a) they either aren’t really playing a ton of games OR b) they’re playing too many games which puts them at expert status. I think execs should assume that they have the hardcore gamers. If they want to reach new audiences they themselves have to experience games on a casual, non-business level. Like invite the extended fam over and see what happens with a bunch of games. I think actually using the products on a social/non-expert level is the key to unlocking new ideas and coming up with the best updates.
2) As a former-Wii, happy-Kinect user, I love not having a control. However, I think the next level of gaming is to make everything more social and practical than it is right now.
Take for example their Fitness Evolution: There’s no 2-person setting. I know, right!
That’s insane.
Also, I think the men in charge of the game need to go even further with their development of it. For example, the market for this game is going to be mostly women who don’t want to pay for a gym membership. They want a replacement for it. So the developers should in my opinion 1) go to the gym and not just see, but experience what all is being offered, and then 2) recreate that experience for the game.
My main complaint with Fitness evolution is that they have things like African Dance and Bollywood, but he options aren’t an authentic experience. The beats aren’t fast enough, the music is anemic and electronic. Unlike a real African Dance class, there are no musicians present. So it feels exactly like what it is: a bunch of male execs looked at (didn’t experience) a gym schedule. Said, “Hey let’s put an African dance class on the next Fitness Evolution.” Then the male developers came up with an avatar, put her in front of a safari set, programmed her with a few anemic moves, and were like, “There that’s done.”
In general, it didn’t feel like anyone associated with the development of that game actually exercised.
3) As for the next level of gaming, I think execs should start thinking now how to get young children involved. Again, this is where being a really rich or really young white male doesn’t come in handy, because they’re not necessarily the main buying power in their families, so they can’t see the markets they’re missing. When iphone first came out, there were only a few toddler apps, now there are a ton, because developers soon discovered that parents will do anything to keep their children occupied. Why gaming hasn’t fully jumped on this, I don’t know. But Kinect barely has anything for children. And coming back to Fitness Evolution, they don’t have anything like a “Mommy and Me” option. One might say, oh that’s too hard, but um, if you can put out a game like Skyrim, more practical games shouldn’t be too hard.
My point being that the next level of gaming needs to be reaching out to new audiences. Hook the moms. Go after the children — quiet as this is kept, children are a huge part of iPhone and iPads success. Make the dance and casual player games even more social. I would love to get up on the West Coast and exercise with my bestie on the East Coast.
Most of all, bring more women into the process. We’re often the ones actually making the gaming decisions in our households. Maybe gaming companies should actually start taking us seriously.
Ernessa I think you just invented a “blog within a blog”! Love it!
Hahaha! I know, right? That’s why I instituted (but just broke) the policy that if I took over 300 words to comment on a post, then I needed to repurpose it into a post of my own. But in this case, I don’t think this is coherent enough for a full “Bloggin’ on the ETC” post.
Thanks, Ernessa! I wish I was out there too so I could hook up with all of you!
I definitely agree with your assertion that social is where it’s moving (or at least, should be). Microsoft gained a commanding lead early on in the console wars by understanding the importance of not only the bragging rights of achievements and gamerscores, but how important it was to make the experience of comparing with your friends and family online seamless.
Likewise, while I feel motion gaming is still in its infancy, there’s a ton of untapped potential here. Workout experiences in particular could be fine-tuned to propel home fitness to an amazing new level. It’s likely the next evolution of home fitness programs like P90X or insanity- not just instructor-led training for safety and form considerations, but also using the Kinect’s camera to join a whole group of people performing those exercises simultaneously. Anyone who’s tried to get in shape will likely tell you that the experience is all the sweeter when you’ve got friends or a buddy to work out with. Kinect could be the outlet that breaks down the barrier of having trouble finding people with similar goals.
I’m with you the importance of the child/infant market as well. Children seem to have tech integrated into their lives earlier and earlier and if a developer can convince a parent that their app/game/experience will keep their little one occupied on a long car trip that could be a very lucrative market.
There’s a bit in READY PLAYER ONE, where he talks about a weight loss system that not only tracks your calorie intake, but also doesn’t allow you to go online until you’ve done your allotted amount of exercise for the day. It’s set about 30 years in the future, but I’m all like, “Oh, we need that technology now! I’d be SO in shape!”
But yeah, I have high hopes for motion gaming. Off the top of my head, I think it would be wonderful to have a game that simulated getting on an airplane, so that kids that never flew before would know what to expect.
I’m also thinking about trying out this Sesame Street game with the toddler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlRu-1fXOWc&feature=fvwrel