AdAge quote on WiiU from Nov 19, 2012

Since the WiiU launched in the US on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, lots of people are paying attention though it won't get the same attention as say a new iPhone or iPad launch.  Still, it's a big deal in the games industry and a very big deal for Nintendo.  To that end, AdAge spoke to a bunch of analysts on the subject, and I was one.

The Wii U launches with 23 games, and while Nintendo franchise and kid-friendly games such as "Mario" and "Nintendo Land" figure prominently, Nintendo is offering more M-rated games for the first time. Titles such as "Assassin's Creed III," "Call of Duty: Black Ops II," "Batman Arkham City" and even an original first-person shooter called "ZombiU" from Ubisoft lend plenty of violence and gore to the launch title lineup. "That tells you that they want those hardcore gamers too," said Jeremy Miller, analyst with DFC Intelligence. "They're saying we're not just a kids and family platform."

Later the reporter for AdAge asked me about software pricing, which is a big issue for the WiiU:

"Part of the problem is that while $60 may be worth the same or less than $50 in 1997, or even $50 in 2004, people don't care about that. They just know there are a lot of other options for gaming that are a lot cheaper," Mr. Miller said, referring to the influx of casual gaming on tablets and smartphones since the original Wii launch.

Black Ops 2 villain trailer

Yesterday Activision released a new trailer for Black Ops 2, revealing the villain.  Have a watch:

Some observations:

1) The narrator general guy you see in the beginning...I can't recall who that actor is but I recognize him so my first thought is "there is something familiar about this that I can't quite put my finger on."  So I guess I'm a little intrigued by that as an opener.

2) Villain is portrayed as the leader of the 99%...so that's topical and mainstream media/consumers have a general awareness of that. Also does not sell me on the game but again it's something familiar.

3) From the co-writer of The Dark Knight Rises?  Well...yeah I think many many "core" and "mainstream" and "casual" gamers have a good awareness of that movie and I think many of them can't wait to see it.  Ok...so now they are trying to hit up on that in the week the actual movie comes out.  That's a smart move from a marketing perspective even if vocal core online trolls will flame Activision for it.  They are already flaming Activision for everything even when a good % of them will buy the next Call of Duty anyway.  So, go for it Activision...tie your game to The Dark Knight Rises somehow.  You've got the cash and the balls, no one is going to stop you.  And if David S. Goyer actually improved the game's writing, it's hard to argue against that.

4) Music for the game by Trent Reznor?  Well...he's possibly my favorite musical mind in history and pretty much everything he's done I like.  In the trailer there is some piano music that very much reminds me of his musical work in NIN as well as other movie/game soundtracks he's composed for.  I can't argue with this either as I have huge respect for him and I suppose it may contribute to the tone of the game.   So that could be another good thing that could make the game better.

5) Notice the press quotes are from USA Today and Forbes.  These are major mainstream and business print/online outlets, not pure gamer press or big gaming sites like Gamespot or IGN.

6) And then at the end they've got the call to action with the pre-order offer...do it now and get Nuketown map free.

So, what does this all mean?  It means Activision is going for the big numbers again (obviously) and they recognize they have to keep pushing craftier, Batmany-tie-in-anyway-anyhowy-even-if-people-will-call-it-cheapier, Trent Reznorier, mainstreamier, pre-orderier -- you get the idea.  But notice this trailer is not incredibly controversial like the Hitman Trailer from E3.  Whether you like Call of Duty anymore or not, the trailer has a tight narrative, shows only in-game footage, has nothing really cringe-worthy in the voiceover (not all trailers can claim that) and has an actual tone of desperation and treachery.

Finally, it's still got the BWWWAAAAAHHH only as if someone imagined how Trent Reznor might make it sound.

Nimblebit vs. Zynga

First, the background, and let me quote Industrygamers:

Last week, Zynga launched Dream Heights on the Canadian version Apple App Store.  NimbleBit, developer of the iOS hit Tiny Tower, noticed that the game looked really familiar.  In response, NimbleBit’s Ian Marsh posted the following image via Twitter yesterday.

Second, some thoughts:
One way to think about Zynga's game, given the assumption it is the exact same gameplay just with different art direction, is what does it cost to play?  If I want to get a certain amount of enjoyment out of it in a certain amount of time, how much would I have to spend? Then ask the same for Tiny Tower. Then one game might be a better "value" to the group of consumers who are actually willing to spend. Or maybe they are exactly the same? Sure, many people don't spend any money on these games but a small % of users of these types of games do indeed pay, and some pay a lot.

If someone could show the "value curves" for each game are roughly the same, then the next question might be "Where do you want your money to go? Zynga or Nimblebit?


Third, a legal opinion, also posted on Industrygamers which I paraphrase:

What Zynga did was legal.  And the Nimblebit crew knows it.

Finally, closing thoughts:

Nimblebit's 3 man crew's best recourse is based on the following assumptions:

1) They appear to be more creative than Zynga's 2,789 (or however many) people are allowed to be, at least for this game.
2) They also appear to be much, much more, ahem, nimble  
3) They have vastly smaller overhead than Zynga
4) This (https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg) was brilliant at creating more awareness of Tiny Tower. Not everyone appreciates its sardonic nature, but it helps put Nimblebit on more people's radar and screams "David vs. Goliath"...and most people will root for the underdog, especially given Zynga's reputation.

So...Nimblebit: just keep doing what you do best as I'm sure you've already concluded.