Gamasutra has an interesting contest going about the future of gaming. I submitted my entry but I thought it’d be interesting to consider more than just a single tech or game trend. Take a look and feel free to comment on what YOU think would be the future of gaming in 11 years.
This is something we discovered when we found a server or two was hitting a ceiling on the number of available connections it could make outbound or in. Just thought I’d post it here for posterity and so I can remember it next time.
Here’s a summary of it but in case the page disappears:
Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters > TcpTimeWaitDelay (DWORD Value)
Range is 30-300 seconds. Default is 240.
kn
Gamasutra’s reporting that SquareEnix has decided to start supporting Steam with it’s new releases in North America and Europe. While I don’t recall ever buying a SquareEnix game (at least for PC), I’m taking this as yet another sign that digital distribution is maturing into a standard outlet for developers. I can’t speak to Valve’s selection criteria but given the lower cost of doing business, I can imagine it would be easier for a smaller developer to get their indie title up and out to the publich without being hampered by costly distribution deals with established players in the boxed retail channels. Not to say boxed retail is a dying breed (I do like getting my hands on software) but I think we’re nearing the hump where we could see some serious pain for retail outlets as they see game sales decline in favor of instant gratification (lazy) deliveries of games via network fiber. Plus, with networks getting faster and bandwidth availability high, there are few limitations for digital download (except for, maybe, power for those data centers).
In other news, it turns out InstantAction decided to throw the switch and take down the beta sign. Another outlet for indie game developers, Garage Games has been doing it’s Torque thing for a few years now. Better still, they’ve been improving that sucker for those years and barely increased the price (up from $100 to $295) for an indie license. I played around with it ages ago and it’s pretty solid for most single player and non-massively multiplayer games. I’m sure someone could take a look at the netcode and figure out a way to make it MMOG-capable, if they haven’t already. The only downside is the same downside of anyone selecting a platform they haven’t developed for in the past: ramp-up time.
InstantAction is built upon a new Web-based engine that relies on Flash but integrated well with the IA site. It definitely proves that you can offer a boxed retail experience via the Web but it turns out the Web’s “everything must be free” mentality is also a carry over. Hard to say, though, if a certain standard is set or if a method of peer-rating is implemented so that the gamers can self-police the games out there, that a game offered for a fee might still be successful. Still, you’ve gotta love all the options out there for game devs now…lots of room for creativity.
kn
Not sure if you’ve seen it but they started playing it a bit more (or rather, let’s say I’ve caught up to the ads in general rounds on my DVR).
I have to say, it’s pretty brilliant. I’ve always liked Alec Baldwin (though, he’s starting to follow the path of William Shatner with the weight and the caricature of himself) so him plus the slick style of Men in Black equals brilliant ad.
Here’s a great one from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week. Jon Hodgman has the answers for our economy…break out the big guns!
kn
Unfuckingbelievable…I knew there’s a reason I love The Onion’s work:
I don’t know what’s funnier, that they make it look so real or that it’s seems Sony’s so easy a target…
kn
It was inevitable. As the economy went down in flames and dragged down all sorts of industries, the layoffs started in the game industry. And, with the layoffs and closings comes the acquisitions. Bargain basement prices for game studios technology, IP, you name it.
Gamasutra’s reporting on Free Radicals’ acquisition by Crytek. Good news, as some commenters said, but only for those 40 people that remained (140 were laid off).
In addition, Ubisoft grabbed Action Pants to give itself a West Coast studio. Thing is, Action Pants (with their lovely site that doesn’t seem to work with Flash 10) hasn’t finished anything (they set up shop in 2006). You have to assume Ubisoft isn’t about to waste money on a dev studio they don’t believe in but there aren’t any more experienced studios? And, before anyone argues, “But, but, they were formed by game devs from other studios,” remember, it’s not just the experience but how the team works together. Without seeing a finished product, how do you know the team will be able to deliver?
Anyhoo, it’ll be interesting to see the lay of the land a year from now when the dust settles from the economic “meltdown” (I see it more as a correction for all the bullshit everyone’s been smoking for the last half decade). Stay tuned!
UPDATE: Warner Brothers has jumped into the fray, acquiring Snow Blind. Nothing crazy but it definitely looks like consolidation time in the industry. The plus side? As we bottom out in this economy, people will start spilling out and creating new studios, assuming the funding still exists, so we can start all over again.
kn
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Amazon’s opened the doors to its Casual Games store…well, the beta anyway. 600 titles at $10 or less!
It seems casual games have come to the fore pretty quickly and have reason to be successful: everyone wants to play games and the US is saturated with computers that can handle casual games with low footprints just fine. The question is, how saturated is the market at this point?
The Casual Games Association (when they’d get one of those?) reported in 2006 that by 2008 the market would reach $1.5 billion worldwide, $690 million of that in the US. By way of comparison, the not-so-casual game market reached almost $11 million in 2008 with $701 million of that being PC games.
If you assume the PC game market (non-casual) represents a portion of the potential market (i.e. maybe 2-3 of every 20 people out there are non-casual gamers), you’re talking about a huge potential market. I know I’m pulling numbers out of thin air here but if $701 million in sales represents an average of $30/game, you’re talking about over 20 million units moved. So, with equal saturation, the casual game market could see more like 200 million units moved in the US alone. Of course, you have to account for the fact that these suckers cost a hell of a lot less, probably averaging between $5 and $10 a pop. So, you could be looking at a potential market of $1.5 billion with today’s population.
Consider, though, that each generation brings more computer-savvy people and means the average computer per person will increase as everyone wants and gets a computer in addition to the one they’re likely driving at work.
So, back to Amazon. I love Amazon but while I’m sure they’re going to expand the market a bit I can’t imagine it’s going to be significant. They’re more likely to cannibalize the sales of other players out there. Yet, they represent a significant exposure potential (not everyone’s heard of PlayFirst and other casual game sites) but Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL have their own casual games markets/portals. I think we’re looking at a mixed bag. You’ve got die-hards like me who wander the crowded halls of Amazon.com who will possibly be interested in a purchase (though I also wander PlayFirst.com as well).
In the end, with Amazon’s hat-toss
Time will tell…
kn
