Sunday Supplement – 15th January

Comic courtesy of Fat Gamers.

Big Brother’s Little Brother

I know it’s all about the games, but, when sitting next to a dapper gentleman who whips out a spanking, post-modern PSP, the DS, normally so light-weight in your pocket becomes as heavy as a bowling ball. As a heavenly light shines on Sony’s portable piece of futuristic gadgetry, probably accompanied by choir singing, the DS curls up into a ball, and sheds a tear. It’s shaking.

Has the way the DS looks put you off? Compared to the swan-like beauty of the PSP, the DS is an ugly duckling. From its plastic, clunky feel to the depressing colour design, the DS perhaps has suffered an image crisis.

With this in mind, and fuelled by hardware shortages post-Christmas, (PSP sales have overtaken the DS in Japan for the first time in months this week) rumours are doing the rounds that Nintendo plans a redesign. Respected Hong Kong import retailer Lik-Sang has even suggested that an announcement from Nintendo is due tomorrow (Monday).

The Japanese legends have of course employed a redesign policy with all their portables down the years. Think Game Boy to Game Boy Pocket to Game Boy Colour, GBA to GBA SP to Game Boy Micro. But casual gamers, unaware of Nintendo’s tendencies, and blessed enough to unwrap a DS this Christmas, might be irked by a 2006 redesign. For those who have been put off by the DS so far, perhaps older gamers who are weary of the DS’s looks, it’s good news.

Where?

This column praised Microsoft in the months leading up to the 360. The efforts of the megacorp to court the Japanese publishing and developing community raised hopes for the Xbox 360 in Japan. By implication, we would see fantastic Japanese games exclusive to the 360.

After a somewhat muted launch, many have lost touch with the progress of the 360 in Japan. This week less than 7,500 units of the console were sold, down from 12,000 the week before. That week Dead or Alive 4 charted at number 13.

So where’s the fanfare? Where’s the promised improved fortune of the Xbox in Japan? The slow start of the console can certainly be attributed to DoA 4’s delayed release, but, if Microsoft is looking for an answer to their woes in Japan, they will find it in the simple fact that the promised exclusive home-grown releases have yet to materialise. Ninety-Nine Nights, from acclaimed designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi, is still a work in progress. We have seen the beta of Final Fantasy XI, but most Japanese gamers interested in the game are playing it already – on a PS2 or PC.

So, the 360 is struggling in Japan. But all is not lost. Microsoft has some high profile exclusives coming soon from legendary Japanese developers. All it takes is for one to explode and hardware sales will follow. Microsoft themselves are in this game for the long haul, and will have a half decade strategy for the region. We may well see the release of Ninety-Nine Nights as the moment Microsoft began to eek out a crack in a dogged Japanese resistance.

Too much real life for a Friday night

In-game advertising is currently a hot topic of debate within the games industry. As next-generation development costs spiral into the upper stratosphere, publishers are looking at alternative revenue streams to keep profits healthy. In-game advertising has presented itself as an easy option.

However, the money-men have met resistance from gamers who aren’t happy at the prospect of seeing a Coca-Cola banner on their travels through the latest uber-fantasy world. In some games it probably adds to the experience, however cynical a gamer you are. For example, a contemporary urban game in the GTA template, that presents the gamer with a realistic, gritty world to explore, might quite reasonably contain advertisements, as the real world does. However, the sticky point comes when in-game advertising is placed in fantasy worlds. Imagine seeing a Virgin blimp in the night sky as you travel the lands of Azeroth in World of Warcraft. It just doesn’t make sense.

This week, a high-profile developer joined this geek-led resistance. In-game advertising provider Engage had announced earlier in the week that they would get Subway posters into online shooter Counter-Strike. Then, as the week drew to a close, Valve vented their anger, amazingly unaware of the deal. Valve’s Doug Lombardi said “at no time did Valve grant permission nor discuss this advertisement with Engage. As such, this is now a legal matter.”

Certainly Valve is aware that misplaced in-game advertising might well cost the company more than they would make selling advertising space to Engage. It seems that the industry is at a cross-road. Publishers may well test the water at this early stage, just to see how much they can get away with. At the point they begin to turn off gamers, the publishers will pull back. Remember, in-game advertising is at its most lucrative when it is placed in the biggest selling games. Will you be happy to see a Macdonald’s poster in Halo 3?

The rise of the niche

While it struggles in Japan, the 360 continues to show superb results from downloadable niche games from Xbox Live. Greg Canessa, the group manager in charge of Live Arcade, said this week that the trial of Geometry Wars has been downloaded over 200K times and sold nearly 45K copies. “Geometry Wars has been our Halo” he said.

Canessa expects 35 Arcade titles by the summer. It’s a fantastic time for those interested in underground gaming, shedding the odd nostalgic tear for bedroom coding or are perhaps disillusioned or simply don’t have the time for today’s big-budget, twenty-hour plus next-generation epics.

It’s a wonderful platform for smaller developers to survive and, if Geometry Wars is any indication, make a decent profit. Xbox Marketplace looks like it will continue to grow. And of course, there’s always this.

This week on Pro-G

It’s been another week of catching up with releases from late last year, but we also featured a preview of Codemasters’ upcoming racer TOCA Racer Driver 3 and reviewed the charming point-and-click adventure Ankh.

Reviews

Frantix (PSP)

Ankh (PC)

WRC: Rally Evolved (PS2)

SoulCalibur III (PS2)

Preview

TOCA Race Driver 3 (PC, Xbox and PS2)

This week’s new releases

January really can’t end soon enough. Following last week’s abysmal zero new releases, this week looks good in comparison, but not by much. PSP owners can get their mitts on The Sims 2, while fighting fans can take home King of Fighters 2002, complete with Xbox Live support.

Next week we can look forward to Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360, which finally receives a UK release through EA.

• The Sims 2 (PSP)
• King of Fighters 2002 (Xbox)

Next week on Pro-G

Next week we’ll take a detailed look into what 2006 holds for each platform holder, and Tycoon City: New York and War World get the preview treatment.