I saw a foolish comment in a mainstream article in USA Today about how surprising the success of Xbox Live Arcade is, since it's appealing to "hardcore gamers" as well as the expected "casual gamers". The very idea that just because a game is old means that it won't even be looked at by a modern gamer infatuated with FPS games, for instance, is absurd. A gamer is a gamer. While there are certainly limits to what some people will play (the more juvenile for instance, the less likely someone might be to give it a chance, or the more overtly sexist; whatever), the idea that games at their heart designed around gameplay would somehow not be appealing is a bizarre conclusion. Obviously a HUGE factor in all this is convenience. As much as having a boxed product is nice, there's something tantalizing about being able to try a demo of a game then purchasing if you're so moved, all in the space of a few minutes from the comforts of your chair, wirelessly. The easier you make things, the more stuff like this will be a GENERAL success, not just a niche success. Simple business. It's why Nintendo is doing what they're doing with the Wii and the virtual console and the PS3 will have a service like Xbox Live too. As much as people like to think these companies do things for altruistic reasons or "for the gamer" (*cough* Nintendo), they ALL do what they do to make money. If they didn't think it had a chance to make lots of money, they wouldn't do it. Don't think for a second Microsoft thought that Xbox Live Arcade would be limited to "casual gamers"...
I saw a foolish comment in a mainstream article in USA Today about how surprising the success of Xbox Live Arcade is, since it's appealing to "hardcore gamers" as well as the expected "casual gamers". The very idea that just because a game is old means that it won't even be looked at by a modern gamer infatuated with FPS games, for instance, is absurd. A gamer is a gamer. While there are certainly limits to what some people will play (the more juvenile for instance, the less likely someone might be to give it a chance, or the more overtly sexist; whatever), the idea that games at their heart designed around gameplay would somehow not be appealing is a bizarre conclusion. Obviously a HUGE factor in all this is convenience. As much as having a boxed product is nice, there's something tantalizing about being able to try a demo of a game then purchasing if you're so moved, all in the space of a few minutes from the comforts of your chair, wirelessly. The easier you make things, the more stuff like this will be a GENERAL success, not just a niche success. Simple business. It's why Nintendo is doing what they're doing with the Wii and the virtual console and the PS3 will have a service like Xbox Live too. As much as people like to think these companies do things for altruistic reasons or "for the gamer" (*cough* Nintendo), they ALL do what they do to make money. If they didn't think it had a chance to make lots of money, they wouldn't do it. Don't think for a second Microsoft thought that Xbox Live Arcade would be limited to "casual gamers"...
=================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[ My collection ]
[ http://www.MythCore.com ]
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.