Hello everyone, and welcome to the regular post E3 Future of Gaming – where news is scarce and I get to rant. This is different from my other rants in that this one is new, while the others are only accessible through the Iron Warrior pdf archives. So for this rant: How the big video game companies are approaching hardware and software development, and gouging the general consumer along the way.
The biggest contributor to this problem from the hardware side is Sony, and the numerous controller based peripherals they have released in the last few years. The Playstation Eye camera was initially released with basic games which used very basic video recognition to play simple party style games (Microsoft had their own camera with very similar tech at the same time), and it never really went anywhere. Then comes the motion control craze of the last few years, and Sony’s approach was the best approach to get as much money from consumers as possible. While Microsoft went the Kinect “You are the controller” approach, Sony instead decided to release Move, using a dual controller system similar to the Wii remote and Nunchuk – only with higher prices. The Move system also requires the Eye camera to function, so you have to buy one of those if you don’t have it already. The biggest cost comparison I can make between Sony’s Playstation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect is in the integration of multiplayer. When you play a co-op boxing game on Kinect you need the game of course, and a Kinect sensor. When you play a similar game with Move you need the game, an Eye camera, and four Move controllers. The difference between these two scenarios? A couple hundred dollars. Now Sony is going down the same route again with their new Wonderbook augmented reality peripheral. The new ‘controller’ uses augmented reality type tech to track the controller in 3D and display the game on the standard TV screen – but once again it requires an Eye camera to function. So the price of the gaming experience is not just the Wonderbook controller, it also includes an Eye camera.
Personally my preference for buying any type of technology is looking for multiple purposes, to optimize my purchases and money output. If I buy a new camera and it uses the same type of memory card and battery as my old one then that is a great plus for deciding one that model. If I can buy one peripheral (like a Kinect for instance) and play any game released for it without having to purchase anything else, and automatically have multiplayer built in, then that is the system I’m going to purchase.
Of course the other classic software example people give is downloadable content, with map packs taking the crown. There are a number of games, where the multiplayer mode is continually expanded with additional game maps to challenge your friends/enemies. The problem comes in when those maps are priced at astronomically high rates, or require every player to own the map in order to play. Then there is the ultimate gouging method: charging for content that is already stored on the game disc and calling it DLC. All of these methods of marketing take advantage of the gamer and continually try to sell just one more thing to empty your wallet. So next time you are looking at a new game/system/ peripheral, just consider how much it is really going to cost – we are students, after all. Keep on Gaming!
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