This post is in response to the wonderful post over on Engadget about the latest release of NPD numbers concerning portable gaming.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/timber-ios-and-android-take-60-percent-cut-of-mobile-gaming-dol/

Saw an interesting story fly across the wire on Google Plus. Apparently, nearly 60% of all portable game software sold is on Android or iOS. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, most of the world’s high-tech industries are seeing major changes as mobile platforms become the dominate form of computing, business, and entertainment. Gaming is just one of many industries being completely changed from the ground up.

In the classic system, becoming a game developer on a console or handheld system is extremely difficult and expensive. First, you must contact Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo to obtain a very expensive development kit for your particular system. This is a hard enough barrier to entry. If you have the creative ability and development skill to put a game together, but don’t have the funds for the development kit, too bad. You don’t get to create a game. Even worse than this though is the fact that game companies can deny you the sale of the developer kit for just about any reason, especially if you are just one guy who wants to make a game. Its happened before and it will happen again. The next thing you need to worry about is licensing fees. Can your game make enough money to pay the console manufacturers off so they will sign off on your game and allow people to play it on their console? Hopefully. This is why games today have publishers and game publishing has become an industry of its own. Just like artists used to need record labels before the internet music scene changed everything. Video game developers need someone to pay the bills for all the big fees and purchases. As an indie developer who wants to put out a boxed copy of your game, the barriers to entry make it almost an impossible reality.

Game companies have been attempting to help the small guys out with online stores such as Xbox Live Arcare and Xbox Live Indie Games, the PlayStation Store, and DSiWare and WiiWare. These stores have helped a great deal, but it doesn’t help capture the one thing that will make an indie game endlessly profitable: Market. Yes, all of these stores have huge numbers of users, but for the most part, people are tied to a device that are tied to a wall. In the case of the PSP or DS, indie developers run into many of the same licensing and dev kit cost issues that console developers do. The price of entry is too damn high.

Enter: The Smartphone. With the meteoric rise of smartphones and powerful always-connected mobile devices, it was only a matter of time before games on these devices took over the industry. Recent NPD numbers indicate that iOS and Android mobile game sales account for 58% of the total revenue of U.S. Portable Game Software. 58% of the industry’s revenue is because of iOS and Android games. Even the once-proud king Nintendo is down to 36%. Nintendo has always had a very cocky attitude towards competition in the mobile space after they launched the original Game Boy in 1989, always quashing the competition without so much as a second glance. Even the PSP, their biggest competition yet, stood no chance against the DS’ onslaught of sales. Nintendo has always battled against other gaming companies, but they’ve never battled against a different business model entirely, and they’re losing the game. For the first time since 1989, Nintendo isn’t winning the mobile games race.

One point to consider: These numbers signify revenue, not sales numbers or profits, but actual money brought in from sales. Some may claim that the statistics are unfair to Nintendo and Sony, its two companies versus the entire world of developers, but that’s exactly the point: Smartphone developers have no barriers to entry (aside from the $100 or $25 developer fees depending on platform) to get into the market and sell their game to the world of smartphone users. People who want to develop for the DS or PSP need to jump through rings of fire to do so. The old theory from the IBM and Microsoft days stands true, if you make it easy for developers, that’s where the programs will go, that’s where the people will go, and that’s where the money will go. And that’s exactly what’s happening in today’s smartphone-powered world. Great games can be created with small teams and put out for sale in the public market for the cost of a developer account and the time it took you to make your game, nothing more. No publishers, no additional licensing fees, no hoops. Just you, your game, and your potential customers. At this point, the developer doesn’t need to worry about making enough money to cover fees (if you make a game for $1 on either platform, 30% is taken from that, not up front like most manufacturers require), they don’t need to worry about playing politics with exclusivity, they don’t need to find a publisher for their game, they only need to worry about one thing: Reviewers. Just like its always been, the great games rise to the top. The thing developers need to concern themselves with making a great game and making sure bugs are fixed. If that happens, if the game is good enough, it can make an incredible amount of money, with almost no overhead costs, and end up fueling their bank account for the next several months.

One of the reasons that people are buying games on smartphones instead of handhelds is that the smartphone markets offer better choices for consumers, a better buying experience, and a better way of treating your customers. When I buy a Virtual Console game on the Wii, I can’t play it on my 3DS. It doesn’t work that way, Nintendo wants me to buy it twice. No thank you. If I buy Fruit Ninja, however, all I need to do is download it onto my tablet, and I’m gaming in no time. Its that easy. I buy it once and I have it forever. I upgraded my phone to the Nexus S and all of my games re-installed, it was so simple. When I bought my 3DS and the e-store opened, I couldn’t have been more disappointed. Even though I had bought games on the Wii, I thought a few would allow me to re-download them and play without being tethered to my Wii all the time, but no. They wanted me to re-buy them. The e-store on the 3DS is slow, buggy, crashes, sometimes downloads don’t complete successfully. All in all, its a bad buying experience. Because the e-store is so slow, I never open it, I check for new games every two months, if that. The e-store is simply awful to use. Now, with Android, I can read a game review of Angry Birds Rio, go to the Android Market website, and have it download without ever having to touch my phone. I get up from my computer and the app is right there on my phone. Seamless, easy, simple, helpful. These are the things I, as the consumer, should think of when I use an online store.

On Google Plus, Darnell Clayton shared this link with me and said, “Apple and Google are killing the gaming industry.” This got me thinking, are Apple and Google killing the gaming industry. Yes, but only this chapter of the industry. Here’s my response (which was a comment on the original post):

Actually Apple and Google are becoming the gaming industry. The gaming industry itself is just fine, alive and well, its just trading out cards, just like what happened with the fall of Atari. The big companies aren’t Atari and Commodore, and it isn’t going to be Microsoft and Nintendo anymore, with platforms that support open development without the need for hugely expensive SDKs and hardware, just about anyone can make a game in a few weeks that could become the hottest thing ever (see Angry Birds). Sony is in an interesting position because they aren’t only accepting this change, they are embracing it. With the release of the Xperia Play and their official PlayStation app, they wholly admit that the best gaming device is the one you have on you (like the best camera is the one you have on you), and they are making moves to thrive in that market.

If existing gaming companies don’t get a handle on the changing market, they’re dead. They will be killed by companies like Gamevil, Glu Mobile, and Halfbrick Studios. These tiny dev houses haven’t just survived the harsh gaming industry, they’ve thrived in it. Even EA Games, classically one of the more stubborn and un-inventive publishers, has made moves to exist in emerging markets like social network games (Facebook and Google+) and smartphone games. The games industry is like any other industry, when your industry is undergoing rapid change, you either evolve with it or die.

The next few years will be interesting. With Nintendo claiming that they’ll never embrace the future, clinging to their rotary phones and cassette tapes, and Sony jumping headfirst into the mobile phone space, things are going to get very interesting very quickly.

Disclaimer: I’m a total Nintendo fanboy.
Another, more embarrassing disclaimer: I own Nintendo stock.

Nintendo just doesn’t get it, and it may be too late. People don’t like static contact anymore. Having a mostly-static library of downloadable games, virtually no online presence, a convoluted friending system, and very poor social integration, Nintendo doesn’t just ‘not get’ online, they utterly fail at competing in the modern era.
Take a look at any competent online marketplace (Xbox Live, PSN, Steam, Android Market, App Store), what is the most common thing between all of these? Micropurchases. One dollar games, 5 dollar games, brand new games at $30 flat, instant download. Sure, there are more expensive games out there, but any gamer can tell you that Steam Sales and Xbox Live weekend deals are the wallet-destroyers of this day and age. Nintendo wants you to drive to a store, plunk down $40 on a new 3DS game, then appear satisfied. Aside from the fact that most 3DS games are complete shit (buyer’s remorse talking, here), its way too much to charge for a handheld game, even a damn good handheld game. I’m of the thinking that Ocarina of Time 3DS should have been $30. Its bad enough that Nintendo essentially admitted that the first hardware iteration of the 3DS was complete shit, but who didn’t see that coming after the release of 3 different Game Boy Advances and 4 different variations of the original DS.
Star Fox 64 3DS released without many of the promised (and most exciting) multiplayer features. The 3DS launched 7 months ago and has 5 good games.

I may be a little bit biased, just a little bit prejudiced… a little…

Here’s where Steam and Smartphones come in. Over the weekend, I informed my friends about a great Steam sale Rockstar was putting on for the GTA V announcement, they were selling the entire GTA collection for about $20. Incredible. Needless to say, I bought one and gifted it, then 4 more of my friends bought theirs. $20 bucks for what amounts to 7 games?!? Yes, please. But Nintendo me to pay $7-$8 for an emulated Game Boy Color game on my 3DS? Excuse me? No. I’ll tell you what, Nintendo, I’ll start paying for your virtual console games (which costs you nothing, by the way) when you can sell me the “Zelda Collection” of all NES, SNES, GB/C, GBA, and DS games for $50. That’s a good deal, that’s worth it in my opinion. And you know what would make me buy it outright without a second thought? The ability to play the virtual console games on my Wii too. Early on, I paid for the emulated Virtual Console games, but was later taken aback when I realized Nintendo wasn’t going to let those purchases transfer to any other system. With systems like OnLive and Steam in place, Nintendo needs to change their old-school thinking and fast, if they don’t, they’ll die. Simple as that.

I bought Minecraft yesterday on my Motorola Xoom tablet. It was $7 and still in development. I then wanted to play it on my Nexus S. Did I have to re-purchase it? Hell no. I just went to the market and re-downloaded it. Its really sad when I think about the fact that I just paid $7 for one of the most fun gameplay experiences I’ve ever had, but I also paid $40 for Pilotwings, for what amounted to little more than a tech demo.

Next topic: Online play with Nintendo consoles. Or, as I like to call it: Nintendo thinks you have no friends. Is the 3DS better at online? Sure. Was Brawl online? Yes, but it sucked. When you look at Steam, PSN, or Xbox Live, you realize how engrossing an online-rich social world can be. Oh look! My buddy is playing Team Fortress 2! Right click, Join Game. “Hey, dude! Yes, I just shot you in the dick. My bad.” That’s just cool. Its easy, everyone can do it. Everyone except Nintendo. I’m convinced that Nintendo is still forwarding paper memos written on typewriters. Nintendo is one of the most innovative, but least technologically advanced game companies in the world. Its really sad to see them do their best fish-out-of-water act every time someone brings up the idea of a Nintendo console playing games over this newfangled internet. Need more proof Nintendo doesn’t get it? Two words: Friend Codes. Who the fuck decided it was a good idea to go against convention and not have handles/usernames? Whoever that was should be publicly flogged. Hell, entire websites exist solely dedicated to the purpose of tying that long-ass number to a username and community.

Been on Nintendo’s website in a while? No. Don’t worry, the functionality is pretty much the same as it was in 2001. Nothing to see here. Move along. Real video game companies have websites where you are able to log into your account, pay for the downloadable game/theme/widget, and by the time you get home, the game has been auto-downloaded to your system, ready and waiting for you.
Nintendo doesn’t understand gaming anymore and it breaks my heart. I love Nintendo. Hell, even after all they’ve put me through, I’m going to buy the new Mario 3DS game, I’ll even be at the Skyward Sword launch, you know… I may even buy a Wii U. But I’m not gonna be happy about it. There will be a day when I tell everyone that I called it, Nintendo has become Sega. The once-upon-a-time king of the video game industry, dead now because they’ve refused for far-too-long to grow up and start living in this decade.
The bottom line is this: Nintendo doesn’t care. And that will ultimately be their undoing.

During the years 1998 – 2004, PC Gaming was at its peak. With Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, The Sims, and Half-Life 2, among others, PC gaming had never seen better glory days since Doom came out. It was a good ol’ time, as they say. In the years since then, PC gaming has taken a rather forced backseat to console gamers, endured shitty ports, and had even the most basic of PC gaming rights removed.

I’m happy to report that this is no longer the case. PC gaming isn’t dead, its only been sleeping. With recent releases like Deus Ex: Human Evolution (which fared much better on the PC), Infinity Ward changing their minds about dedicated servers, and Team Fortress 2 picking up more steam (get it?!?!?!?) since it became a free-to-play game, PC gaming has never looked better. Also, did I mention that I’m really excited about the new Borderlands? Oh, also: DotA 2.

To be honest, I was re-energized about PC gaming after playing through 20 hours of Deus Ex: Human Evolution. This game symbolizes a golden-age of PC gaming long forgotten, and I urge you to pick it up. Full review coming when I get around to completing the game.

Side note: Like Brett said, we aren’t dead. Really.

Man! Am I excited about the 3DS! First off, this is Nintendo’s ball park. They know the industry, they are one of the oldest players in the industry, renowned for their innovation, hated for going against the grain, and in some cases, completely ignoring industry trends (Online gaming, anyone?). In the past couple years, Nintendo has completely and utterly missed the ball when it came to online content and gameplay, targeting older gamers, and multiplayer. I really doubt that much (if any of that) is going to change, but for some reason… I’m really excited about the 3DS.

That’s exactly what Nintendo is good at. Sometimes I feel that Nintendo should be a PR firm instead of a gaming company… but lets get down to what we know: The 3DS is going to sell, and sell big. Just like the original DS, Nintendo is betting on people jumping on a new and unique bandwagon, then dragging all of their friends, relatives, and co-workers with them on a journey they will never forget. They will succeed at that, without a doubt, but some nagging part of me feels scared for Nintendo. The Wii, while hugely successful for its first two years as Nintendo’s main console, has seen better days. The Wii was old technology when it came out, the only thing that saved it was re-inventing the industry once again (again, something Nintendo is damn good at). Nintendo must be pretty damn proud of themselves now, being copied by Sony and (although to a lesser extent) Microsoft. Still, even to this day, no one does motion control better than Nintendo.

The 3DS has quite a few things in common with the 3DS from a system-launch perspective:

First off: Its main feature isn’t really the main focus. With the original Nintendo DS, the main feature was the fact that the system had two screens. While this was the most publicized and pronounced feature (it was the name of the system), it was hardly the most, dare I say, game-changing. What was amazing about the Nintendo DS was the ability to directly interact with what you were seeing on the screen: Touch Gaming. While this has been done before in the past, it wasn’t well done, it didn’t have the level of polish that Nintendo gave the DS. Touch gaming changed what people thought was possible on a handheld system, it paved the way for smartphone gaming as we see it today. Now, we have the 3DS, with the most touted feature obviously being the 3D capabilities of the handheld, this isn’t the feature most likely to change gaming as a whole. What is most likely to change the way we interact and perceive games as in the future is the way the 3DS implements Augmented Reality games (AR games). Again, like the DS, this isn’t the first time that AR games have popped up, the industry has seen these games in multiple forms, from multiple publishers, on multiple systems. AR games have been around for a while (like touchscreens and games on them), but none of them have ever been this beautifully conceived. Just like Apple takes an MP3 player and turns it into the sleek, sexy, must-have consumer electronics device of the holiday season; Nintendo takes gaming concepts and fully realizes them, then takes that a few steps beyond what people think is possible. I believe that Nintendo’s AR games hold the next ‘big thing’ for the industry. Just like the Wii was a massive hit with casual gamers and innovative gameplay, I believe that Nintendo has changed the industry once again, and things will never be the same. I can’t wait.

As arguably one of the best made games of all time, Super Mario Galaxy must have one of the best video game soundtracks I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear. This particular song is a remix of an old school Super Mario 64 track, Bowser Star Reactor just pumps you up for the battle ahead. Tune in, enjoy.

Nintendo – Super Mario Galaxy – Bowser Star Reactor

That’s right! We are officially back with our reunion episode! 72PC Podcast is officially back on the air. We’ll try the best we can to bring you the best video game reviews, opinions, news, and general banter on a semi-regular basis. Stay tuned to the website for all the great stuff. We’re working on a better way to bring you live podcasts, but for now, we’re going to focus on bringing you quality pre-recorded content. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or would like to see a certain topic, throw an email to fanmail@seventytwopinconnector.com.

Seventy Two Pin Connector Podcast – Episode 043 – Skibbity Fuck Poop Video Games

Go ahead and click for the show notes…

Feel The Magic Official Trailer:

Heavy Rain Trailer:

Wu Controller:

Poets of the Fall – Late Goodbye (Max Payne 2 Ending Song)

Big Daddy Daycare:

Welcome to Missing Information.

Less of a Point A to Point B mod, and more of a collection of unreleased tech demos, Missing Information is for the avid Half-Life fan only. Standard fare gamers and casual fans need not apply. If you’re just passing through the Half-Life universe and aren’t up to an arm’s deep romp into the bits that were cut from the final product: Move along, nothing to see here.

That said… even as an avid Half-Life Anonymous member, this mod was kind of a let down. It is cool to get to see enemies, weapons, and areas that didn’t make it into the final game, but at the end of the day, you realize that these things were taken out for a reason (Keep in mind, the build I was playing was a DEMO, not as the final release). Want to check out the scraps on the editing floor? This mod is for you.

ModDB – Half-Life 2: Missing Information

ModDB – Half-Life 2: Goldeneye Source