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| 01.05.2007Re: Why Bother With Episodic Games?
First off, I must say I absolutely love the idea of episodic gaming. As I get older and take on more responsibility, even without children or a wife, I find that I spend far less time playing games. I have a Wii, for example, about which I was terrifically excited, but I spend far less time playing the 50 dollar games I purchased, and far more with the easy to pick up and play, relatively cheap Virtual Console and flash games on the Opera browser. There is just something so very satisfying about turning my Wii on, heading to orisinal.com or wiicade.com and playing a couple of quick games and then going about my day. So it only makes sense that playing a game that maybe takes me a week of playing a half hour or so a day to beat would be a very enticing option. I grow weary of games that run into the 30 hour mark and above, regardless of how good they are, and having actual end points within a series of short games would be very gratifying, and would likely keep me interested in said series for some time.
That said, it seems to me that there are certain hurdles that would need to be overcome with this format before it could revitalize the gaming market on PCs. If these episodes are to reach any sort of mass market appeal, they would certainly need to strike a middle ground in terms of processing power required. Sure, the American home is very fat with computers, but, gamers aside, how many people are there that have PCs that would perform well enough to play what the so-called hardcore gamer would accept?
That, in my estimate, is a far greater barrier to greater penetration in the home PC market than length of play time. The constant need for upgrading, while seemingly necessary, really hinders the sales potential of these games, especially when it comes to your average consumer, who is easily frustrated by such requirements.
And then there is the issue of digital distribution itself. While people are certainly becoming more computer-savvy, there are still loads of them that can barely install a program from a self-starting CD, much less downloading and installing games, seeking and installing patches, and even being able to figure out where they've saved their setup files to. I do tech support right now for a certain popular mp3 and computer manufacturer, and I'm amazed at the number of people who can't handle what I consider to be a very simple installation process, even when given detailed instructions on how to do so. It's extremely difficult, in some cases, for me to walk them through the steps, and god forbid there be an error message upon installation that requires deeper probing to correct the issue that caused it.
In the case of consoles, however, setup is extraordinarily easy. You've need only to get the console hooked up to the TV, and the rest is pie. Every game created for the platform works, and there is no lengthy time investment involved when it comes to playing the game for the first time. Nintendo, while having what some consumers will consider a high entry price, really seems to be on to something where the mass market is concerned. When looking at it from a regular gamer's point of view, sure, the controller can seem gimmicky and limited, but when you consider the things some people have been able to do with merely a mouse in flash, the point of the controller really begins to sink in.
Now that all the major new consoles have digital distribution ready, with the added convenience of no confusing setup, we could start seeing such episodic content being provided there, and if it happens, it will likely be more popular and take off much faster there than it ever could on the PC. When it comes down to it, convenience is key, and here the consoles shine.-Wes Davis
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