The Difference Between Copying And Duplication

Apple stores work because they have a strong design element, strict control of the way their products are used, strong differentiation from their competition, good pricing power, and a decided attitude.  Sony has at least some of these things, plus an extremely broad consumer product range.  Microsoft stores have basically none of these things.  Why it thinks that the best way to sell their products is via retail is quite unclear to me. 

Why will this succeed?

Digital Disadvantage

A quick post before I head out for the evening: I’ve been anticipating A Vampyre Story for some time, since it’s the latest adventure game from a LucasArts adventure veteran.  That said, I went to Amazon to see the price and it was in the vicinity of $26.99.  That’s not bad, but the digital download version from Gamers Gate or Adventuregamers.com is $29.99.

The is the irritating flip side to digital distribution.  I have no (or at least, only a few) problem changing models from tangible to digital products, but I can’t help but feel taken advantage of here.  If I’m going to give up the right to own a real product, and have to deal with whatever absurd DRM gets tacked onto my downloads, then I had better not give the entire margin up to the distributor.  I’m happy splitting the savings, but if they’re saving money then I had better get something out of the equation.

A Semantic Sales Soliloquy

I’m all for cheaper games, but this move doesn’t make a lot of sense as presented: cutting game pricing from $60 as such would have terrible long-term repercussions for game developers and publishers - at least if you assume that costs in the industry have been rising and that quality comparable to previous generations therefore requires $60 pricing in the first place.  (I think that’s a reasonable assumption to allow, although we can quibble over the specific dollar figure.)

That said, this may be a semantic issue; if publishers are simply contemplating discounting their games - the same way car dealerships or regular retailers do - it’s not much different than a sales promotion.  It makes more sense to me to present things in this light, because it won’t panic your investors or incite your customers, who may become used to the new pricing regime.  A sale discount has the benefit of implying a limited time offer (thus encouraging people to accelerate their game purchase while keeping their longer-term expectations to a minimum).

The language may not seem all that important, but it definitely hits different nerves to hear that producers are “slashing $60 pricing” instead of “putting their games on sale.”

Wanted: Bullshotters

IGN pounced on a job posting from Activision that had the following description:

“The Art Services Screenshot Associate provides support services to all engaged departments: PR, Marketing, Production and development studios to produce high-quality screenshots, model renders and other art assets. Typical end use will include screenshots for editorial, packaging, advertising, manuals and more, as needed…

Perform advanced retouching of screenshots and teach skills to others as needed.”

I suppose I shouldn’t be making a bigger deal out of this than it is, since we all know this happens and I personally never really scrutinize screenshots now as I find it very hard to judge a game by them anyway (movies have spoiled me), but still… Hasn’t anyone heard of “truth in advertising”?

Attribution Error?

A common issue in business is to ascribe the success of a company directly to its executive team.  While I respect the arguments that Mitch Krpata is making with respect to Nintendo’s success, I think he may be making a mistake in attributing its Wii-related success purely to the brilliance of the company and its playbook.

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Making things harder is not a business strategy

Or at least, it’s not a very good one, as it makes absolutely no sense.

Sony claims that the PS3 is “intentionally hard” to program for so that, I guess, over the course of its life its full potential will be “unlocked”.  As an example, SCE Chairman Kazuo Hirai points to the God of War games and how great they look compared to earlier PS2 titles.  Perhaps there’s some truth to what he’s saying here, in that it’s good for a console to still have “unlockable” potential as it gets further into its life, thus allowing it to last longer.

But as far as creating a competitive console, this obviously makes no sense.

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Sticking It To Steam

Kotaku strongly implies that GameStop is refusing to stock Dawn of War II because THQ is offering a Steam-exclusive beta before the game launches.  My initial reaction was that this was an outrageous abuse of power by an industry monolith, but now I’m not that sure.

On the one hand, GameStop definitely has more power than I’m comfortable with for any individual retailer.  On the other, it’s not clear to me that offering Steam-exclusive content is the inalienable right of any publisher; if you’re going to play favorites with your distribution channel, it seems only fair that competing channels should be able to take it personally.  I think I’d feel the same way if it were Steam and Amazon, or Amazon and GameStop and we don’t mind if Sony or Microsoft try to score exclusives.

That said, I don’t think GameStop is doing itself any big favors by blacklisting Dawn of War II.  At best, they’re inconveniencing their customers, and at worst, they’re damaging their credibility as a gaming outlet.  I can’t imagine this protest is going to substantially impact most other companies’ decision-making either, nor will it really inhibit the development of online digital distribution.  But it probably will make people think twice about timed exclusives, and that likely helps all of us.

Weekly Column - 1/12/09

Weekly column is up at Joystiq - the topic is the fall of EGM and the future of magazines.

Good deal

In a recent interview, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach mentioned that the current generation of console hardware will probably last longer than the last generation.  This is actually something I myself predicted not too long ago because of the financial crisis, but I think it actually makes a good deal of sense for other reasons as well.

1) The current crop of consoles debuted at higher prices than the previous gen, and therefore are still pretty expensive.  Certainly, they’ll come down in the next 2-3 years, but the cheapest PS3 is still a ways away from getting into the “mass-market” range, and even the cheapest, somewhat incomplete $200 360 is still not quite at “mass-market” pricing (and, of course, the Wii is still selling out all the time at it’s original launch price).

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What’s Wrong With Laura?

This seems pretty absurd: Eidos seems to think that Tomb Raider needs a drastic overhaul to survive.  Although I appreciate the need to find a scapegoat for Underworld’s disappointing performance, it seems like the need to “do something” is overpowering common sense.

There’s a clear, obvious reason for underperformance - there are a ton of games being released, and TR is a familiar franchise that can easily get lost in the flurry of the new and buzzy.  The problem is that this doesn’t mean that changing Croft is going to be very effective: Tomb Raider is a strong franchise because a Raider game delivers a specific experience.  If the changes are superficial or based only in story, they will have a highly limited impact.  But changing that experience is going to alienate existing fans with an altogether uncertain - and potentially negative - impact on those who aren’t already in the fold.  Ultimately, I believe strongly that gamers don’t follow video game characters… they have no personalities.  People follow experiences. 

Does Tomb Raider need a do-over?  No, it just needs to calm down, relax, and try again.  Trying something new is a good idea, but be careful not to overdo it.  And this time, maybe with a spring release date?