Money Isn’t The Root Of All Evil, It Pays My Mortgage

I don’t know exactly how this all started, but the very thought of paying for any service online is almost unthinkable for most people. Microsoft made a bold, but I think smart, choice when it decided to make the Xbox Live Community Games a marketplace of buyers and sellers; a place where creators can be rewarded for their work and aren’t pressured to work for free. After all what is really so bad about paying someone for something they do?

With the Xbox 360 (or any other console) you have people paying $300-$400 for a console, buying multiple $60 games, extra $40 controllers, and then they are going to balk at paying $45 for 13 months of service? That is only $3.46 per month. Pretty reasonable considering most MMOs cost about three times as much. Do people think that it just goes straight into Steve Balmer’s personal bank account or something?

The money really goes to pay people (regular ones, just like you and I) that work to create the hands-down easiest, most seamless, integrated, and arguably best online gaming experience available. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the only online gaming service you pay for was found to be the best, even amongst PS3 and Wii users, in a recent poll. Obviously this would be a different discussion if the Playstation Network was overwhelming seen as the top platform, but it isn’t.

You Don’t Get What You Don’t Pay For

There is an old adage that says “You get what you pay for.” I use the converse of that statement mostly though, “You don’t get what you don’t pay for.” I’m sorry if this sounds like Econ 101, but in a market driven economy paying is a crucial method of voting (signaling) for what you want so that people will build it. There is essential information inherent in a paying transaction that you approve of what someone did, and that they created value beyond what you are paying them.

If you have a situation like is common on the Internet today, the people who pay are actually the advertisers. So many sites and services are slaves to their advertisers because their users won’t pay a dime. I have asked many people I know who live and die by Facebook how much they would pay for it, and they all said zero. They all spend at least an hour a day on it, but it is apparently worthless to them, and much of what they want is never conveyed in any meaningful transaction.

So Facebook becomes a slave to advertising and pimping out their users’ information for every cent they can get. It isn’t unrealistic to think that if people paid for more services that their personal information wouldn’t be shared quite so freely. The sites don’t work for you though, they work for the advertisers. I’m not saying all online services or sites should shun advertising, but it is ridiculous how much the solution to every Web 2.0 business model is advertising.

In many ways the Internet has been one of the greatest economic tools of all time. Viable marketplaces will have to be developed as more and more things are done online though. Almost everyone shops online for tangible products, but something really needs to be done to make intangibles not a solely advertiser sponsored economy.

The State Of Updates

Right now almost every program on my computer has its own update mechanism of some sort. They primarily fall into three categories.

• Notify me of an available update
  • Pidgin
  • WinSCP
  • VMware Server
• Udate themselves from within the program
  • Firefox
  • Thunderbird
  • Quicken
  • Opera
  • Photoshop
• Special updating program that runs at startup and constantly uses memory
  • Java
  • Quicktime/iTunes
  • Google Pack (Picasa, Desktop Search, etc)
  • Thinkpad utilities

With every program doing its own thing, keeping your software up-to-date is a bit of a hassle and certainly not something the “average” user does.

Windows/Microsoft Update

Microsoft has their own updating software of course: Windows Update. It can already be extended to update other Microsoft products through Microsoft Update. They also serve up drivers for various WHQL’d hardware through it.

Why not open this up for any program on your system? This could be another feature to help differentiate Windows Vista or Windows 7 from the competition (OS X or Windows XP). This would also address one of the pain-points to “boxed” software that web applications don’t have.

Updates ala YUM, APT, or Xbox Live

I’m not saying that Microsoft should host files and provide bandwidth for every Windows application on the planet. They could create a secure way for third-party applications to be updated from the developer’s site through Windows Update.

YUM or APT on Linux is similar to this concept but it only works reliably if you only install software from repositories. Xbox Live also manages updates for every piece of software that runs on an Xbox 360 and it rectifies one of the main reasons for why I don’t PC game: it is such a pain to keep games up-to-date.

Ultimately Microsoft is a platform company, and this would make the Windows platform more attractive to users and developers. Having a unified method and interface would greatly simplify keeping software up-to-date, particularly for less savvy users. It could also have the effect of improving system security by making it easier for people to have the latest version of programs (Quicktime, Reader, Flash) that have been recently targeted through web browsers by hackers as well.

I would think that developers would appreciate not having to maintain software just to help…maintain software too. It really is kind of silly that everyone has to reinvent-the-wheel each time for updating their applications. Certainly there are some details for Microsoft to work out on how to implement this, but that is their problem. I’m just the idea man. :)

*Before anyone sends me an e-mail about this, yes I do know that there are programs such as RadarSync that claim to keep all of your applications up-to-date. I have yet to try one that is easy to use and actually works however.

The Benefits

There are three major potential benefits to installing games onto the hard drive. As it stands now the Xbox will realize two of them: speed and noise reduction. Microsoft has said that their own internal testing showed approximately a 30% improvement in loading times. This does come at the cost of having to install the game at some point. Although Microsoft told reporters than it only takes ten minutes to install Devil May Cry 4, which is half as long as the PS3 version’s install takes. In my book, a 30% improvement in loading times is easily worth a ten minute install.

The noise will be greatly reduced because of the DVD drive. Most users don’t realize this, but most of the noise of the Xbox 360 is caused by the very fast DVD drive, not the fans. With the game on the hard drive, the DVD won’t need to spin. No spinning, no noise.

The Third Benefit

There is a hitch to all this though, and this is where Microsoft misses perfection. The third potential benefit is not needing the disc to switch games, and the Xbox 360 will still require your game to be in the drive. This is of course an anti-piracy measure, and would be understandable for all games that have already been produced.

I’m suggesting that Microsoft should change how their games are sold. Every game should come with a code that, when entered during an install, would allow gamers to play without inserting the disc. These would be one-time use codes similar to the codes you can already buy at brick-and-mortar stores for Xbox Live subscriptions and Xbox Live Arcade games.

To make this user friendly the game would have to still be playable in the drive without ever using the code. Of course that would open up the opportunity to buy the game, install it, and give it to a friend or sell it used.  To combat that they could make it ask for the disc on some regular interval, say somewhere between one to three months, to verify ownership.

This would really make for a seamless experience of getting an invite to join another session in a game you aren’t playing and/or don’t have in the drive. It may be a small thing, but I hate it when I get an invite to Halo 3 only to realize that Guitar Hero 3 is in the drive. :)

Digital Distribution

All of this is of course baby steps toward digital distribution. There really shouldn’t be anything stopping Microsoft from selling me my games via Xbox Live especially with the new 60GB Xbox 360 on the horizon. They already do it for classic Xbox games, and a lot of free demos are well over one gigabyte. Microsoft will also let you re-download anything you have already purchased if you are worried that you may need to delete the game for space too.

What do you think Microsoft? You still have time to include this in the “new Xbox experience”. Using discs was so Xbox 360 1.0.

Microsoft

Microsoft really came out of the gate with some big news that surprised me. The major announcement was that the Xbox 360 is going to receive a completely new dashboard and guide. Honestly, I was surprised that the Xbox guys realized and accepted the fact that the dashboard needed some kind of complete overhaul/replacement like this.
Part of the new dashboard is that there will be avatars (read: Xbox version of Miis) tied to your gamertag as well. Sure, Microsoft totally copied the concept from Nintendo, but it could still be pretty cool. Overall, I thought the concept of the original dashboard blades was good, but the new dash looks like it will be a lot better. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until fall to see if it actually is.

The next major announcement was that Microsoft and Netflix have partnered up to deliver Netflix’s Instant Viewing to the Xbox 360. Apparently I should have waited a week before I decided to harp on Microsoft and Netflix for not being more aggressive on this. The one thing that kind of surprised me was that the Netflix streaming will require an Xbox Live Gold Membership.

In some ways this is good for Gold members because it actually makes it seem like you get more than just online gaming and the occasional early-release demo for your paid membership. Generally I think it is probably a bad idea however. It definitely adds to an already complicated Xbox offering. I doubt it will make sense to “average” consumers why they need a paid Xbox Live membership and a Netflix membership.

The only other notable announcement for Microsoft was that they landed one Final Fantasy XIII for Xbox 360 in the U.S. and Europe. This is a huge blow for Sony to loose a long time exclusive franchise like this. Oddly enough, I really think that this would have helped Microsoft the most in Japan; the only place where FFXIII will be a PS3 exclusive.

The rest is semi-typical E3 fodder: upcoming games, Lips karaoke, the Pro model will get a 60GB hard drive, and some other stuff that may or may not be worth your time.

Nintendo

I don’t know why I was so surprised, this is after all par for Nintendo’s course lately, but I was dumbfounded when they announced another Wii accessory! The new is this really the best name they could come up with? Wii MotionPlus. (Personally I’m more of a fan of the Wii Motion++)

FYI, I am not the first to feel like this is something the Wii really should have done correctly from the start. I don’t know if I have ever made this clear on here, but my issue with the Wii isn’t the concept, I think the concept is great. My issue is with the implementation, I have always thought the motion sensing was terrible; only good enough to fool my 8-year-old niece.

Instead of creating an add-on, Nintendo should have really looked at what Microsoft did after they released the original Xbox controller. Realize you screwed it up, and release a new one. Seriously, all new Wiimotes should have this tech built-in with the add-on only for existing units. Without it as default technology in the Wii platform the WMP just looks like it will fragment the user base.

Unfortunately, from what I have read only WMP specific games will use the new add-on. It will not improve motion detection in current titles. Too bad Nintendo didn’t tell developers about it any earlier than they told you and I. So it may be some time before anyone but Nintendo uses the WMP.

As it is powered by the Wiimote, it will probably shorten battery life as well. It will also be another thing to remove from the Wiimote when you pop it into a plastic guitar to play some Guitar Hero.

For those of you keeping score at home that pushes the current controller add-on list for the Wii up to half-a-dozen: the nunchuck, Wii MotionPlus, WiiFit, the zapper, the steering wheel, and the classic controller. A basic setup of just a Wiimote ($40), nunchuck ($20), and Wii MotionPlus (probably at least $20) will cost you at least $80.

The cheapest “next-gen” system: $250, bowling at home: complementary, making a mint selling accessories: priceless.

Sony

Last on the list is the big dog from the last-generation: Sony. They have really had some good momentum lately and they needed to have a big E3 to keep it going. Unfortunately for them, I don’t think they did.

They didn’t have any information on when their will it come out before Duke Nukem Forever virtual world software, Playstation Home. They basically showed off some games, and announced that they have gone down to one PS3 SKU (for now) but really nothing worth writing home about.

While I’m on Sony and their SKUs I just have to say it really blows my mind how often Sony changes their product mix.

• First there were two SKUs, 60GB and 20GB (both with hardware backward compatibility
• Then the 20GB got dropped so it was back to one
• They went back to two SKUs when they added an 80GB model (with software backward compatibility) and reduced the price of the 60GB one
• It was really just a firesale on the 60GB model though so it went back to one SKU
• Then the 40GB came out (lacking any backwards compatibility at all)
• It is back to one again though because the 40GB model is apparently history.

This is only the North American SKUs too! Don’t forget that they also switched over to a Dualshock 3 from a SIXAXIS controller somewhere in there and their prices bounced around between $400 and $600 during that time too. It is bad enough that there is an entire Wikipedia article just on the “Timeline of PlayStation 3 SKUs”. We’ll see if they go back to two (I’m betting on it).

World of Warcraft

An article I caught yesterday about three statistics that lie got me thinking about the PC gaming business. It seems pretty popular these days to argue over whether PC gaming is dead/dying or not, and invariably someone on the pro-PC side makes some comment to the effect of “PC gaming is still doing great, look at World of Warcraft!”

I won’t say that PC gaming is dead (it isn’t doing very well relative to the rest of the video game industry IMO though), but using WoW as an example is a joke. It is the very definition of a statistical outlier. How many PC games make even 5% as much money as WoW? Very, very, few. It is just as foolish as saying that high gas prices aren’t hurting car companies because Honda had a good quarter, even though Ford, GM, Chrysler, and even Toyota are doing bad.

Netflix and Microsoft

Next up is Netflix streaming to Media Center and/or the Xbox 360. I just don’t get why Netflix and Microsoft aren’t being very aggressive in this arena. It is a win-win for both companies, and not that difficult technically. After all, homebrew hackers have made software that can do it.

Think about it, on the technical side Netflix is already using Microsoft’s DRM and codecs which VMC (Vista Media Center) and the 360 already support. On the marketing side of things it would allow Netflix to really push their way onto peoples’ TVs over the Internet, and would give them something that their main rival Blockbuster could not match.

From Microsoft’s side, they would have the only console that can do Netflix. I’m sure some Microsofties would worry that the Xbox Live Video Store would be hurt by this, but I’d bet that wouldn’t generally be the case. First of all, most of the fair on Netflix’s Watch Now is older less popular films/shows, and Xbox Live has mostly new releases and current shows. Second, it could actually increase people’s use of their 360 as a TV/movie device. As people start using their Xbox for TV/movies (via Netflix) more often, I’m sure they’ll think about renting/buying that new movie in HD from Xbox Live.

Even without Microsoft’s approval I’m pretty sure Netflix could do it via some proxy software that would serve up UPnP streams. Videos from Vongo, CinemaNow, and Amazon Unbox all play over UPnP on an Xbox 360 because they use Microsoft’s DRM/codecs. There is no reason it shouldn’t work.

The Fastest Mac Evar!

I don’t know, maybe it is just me getting AMF (Apple Marketing Fatigue), but they need to stop with the “Fastest/Best/Super-est Mac/iPhone/OS X/Single-Button-Mouse Ever” crap. Who really cares? Isn’t it a given that the new model of Apple’s fastest computer would be faster than the old one? What would people say if Dell said “The fastest Inspiron ever”?

It just seems so juvenile (along with their ads). Honestly I hear more imaginative declarations of superiority from the dregs of the Xbox Live community.