Carmen Dukes

Thoughts on E3 # 2 - The Apple Influence

The industry’s biggest players are pulling out all stops to combat the growth of mobile gaming led primarily by Apple device adoption and the App Store. Between Nintendo’s new console, Wii U and Sony’s new handheld, the PlayStation Vita it is clear (explicit and implied) that these companies are working to combat Apple’s market disruption.

Nintendo and Sony are taking notes on Apple’s success and their newest products highlight that. However, I’m wondering if the features and functionality included  are just there as bullet points on a feature list. Take the PlayStation Vita, this handheld boasts many of the sensors and features that makes the iPad and iPhone so great - rear/front facing cameras, accelerometer, gyroscope, multi-touch screen, and WiFi/3G connectivity - and expands upon them by adding dual analog sticks, a d-pad, action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square) and a rear touch pad. That’s a lot in one device! So now that PlayStation has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this console, what about the gaming?

I played quite a few demos on the PS Vita and I love the promise of having all these interaction opportunities in one device, however I did get frustrated with some of the game play executions. I played Little Big Planet and depending on what obstacle Sackboy  was tasked with overcoming my response required a different input method. Switching back between using the touchscreen and the analog stick became a little cumbersome and what bothered me most was that it didn’t seem apparent to me that the touchscreen interactions really added to the gameplay.

Another game that stood out to me during my PS Vita demo was Little Deviants. The game features an arcade format with a bunch of mini games - each using a different sensor. I played two - one was an AR game that tasked you with shooting bad guys as you waved the Vita around the room and the other, a virtual whac-a-mole that utilized the touch screen and the touch pad on the back of the device. The game is fairly simple. If the “little deviant” faced the front you hit him with the touchscreen and if he faced the back you hit him with the touch pad. I wasn’t overwhelmed with either of these games, but I could see it selling consumers on the device because it shows what the PS Vita is capable of, however I disliked the fact that the games seemed disconnected from each other (well at least in the demo).

I guess my concern here is that while I think the PS Vita will be highly successful and go off to sell millions, I’m not sure if it will really reclaim market share from those who now do their portable gaming on mobile devices. The appeal of gaming on an iOS device is its simplicity, (there’s only one button!) and on top of that the low cost of apps. Those who primarily favor mobile gaming are not interested in multi-input gaming and memorizing what buttons and input sensor to use as some of the upcoming games Sony is releasing seem to indicate.

Unfortunately I couldn’t stomach the four hour wait time to play the Wii U, but I did get my hands on the device. It’s about as heavy as an iPad and just as awkward to hold. The one thing I like about Nintendo’s direction here is the idea of dual screen gaming. I think the iPad’s influx as THE living room device suggests that two screen entertainment is upon us whether that is through gaming, entertainment or social networking. I can’t wait to actually play one, so hopefully a demo shows up at the Nintendo Store in NYC soon.

Thoughts From E3 # 1 - Preschool Gaming

Underneath the shadows of big gaming announcements like Sony’s PlayStation Vita and Nintendo’s Wii U and mega AAA titles like  Street Fighter vs. Tekken and  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, game developers are quietly catering to a much a younger audience, preschoolers and pre-readers. From Warner Brothers Interactive to Activision to Disney Interactive Media Group, these companies are designing real immersive games for the young children. And what’s great about them is that they don’t fall into the “edutainment” category. They are clearly games for the sake of gaming and entertainment.

I believe Microsoft’s Kinect will help propel the Xbox 360 into households across the country as the next family console (sorry Nintendo). The simplicity of use and lack of controllers mimics the gaming experience on the iOS devices and I think digital natives are drawn towards those type of interactions. 

At E3, I played Warner Brothers Interactive’s Once Upon a Monster, an upcoming game exclusively for the Kinect. The game, featuring well-known characters from Sesame Street, is comprised of eight mini games played within the context of the story book. Each page features different monsters and a presents a different challenge to the gamer. Some of the games are like most traditional preschool games  (dress-up, music and puzzles) while others really take advantage of the Kinect functionality and incorporate lots of movement (dance and obstacle-avoidance). On top of that, all of the games have a suttle emotional theme that can be linked back to the curriculum and research of Sesame Workshop.

What also makes this game a winner for preschool gamers is the drop-in/drop-out cooperative play feature. Despite the notion that games are simply babysitters, Once Upon a Monster encourages cooperative play so that parents and other family members can join in.

Cooperative play to me is where console games will continue to lead over mobile gaming despite the higher price point. Based on the success of the Wii among households and an increasing demand for games that families can play together, I see plenty of potential for family games (behind board game ports) and look forward to seeing more explorations in this opportunity space.

(photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Interactive)