"What you'll see more of is a less purist game business model and more of an overall broadcast model. Like our ad-supported games service."

1. Subscription (the current GameTap model, and likened to "video-on-demand"


2. Digital Retail Business (new on Thursday, and likened to "box office premiere")


3. Free service (new on Thursday, and analogous to "free broadcast television")

1. Additional distribution pipe (and revenue stream) for GameTap.


2. Additional content partner (and, therefore, content) for Microsoft -- for Xbox Live Marketplace (via GameTap TV) and Xbox Live Arcade (via GameTap games)


3. Additional revenue for Microsoft (depending on how they structure their "consignment" take on XBL Marketplace content).


4. Additional way for me to play the games I want, on the platform I want.

I envision something like a "My Subscriptions" Xbox Dashboard blade, where I can get to my value-added subscriptions (which would also be embedded in appropriate existing blades). These would be services (GameTap, DirecTV, Zune Marketplace (detest that site), etc.) that I pay for on top of the Xbox Live subscription cost, or I'm already paying for outside of Xbox Live.

If I'm subscribed, GameTap could also show up under Xbox Live Arcade. It and DirecTV could also show up under XBL Marketplace blade, "Media and Entertainment" category.

I can't figure out why this isn't happening already. I mean, Turner's parent company is Warner Bros., who's already a strategic XBL Marketplace content provider (and see here for more, and here for music). And Adult Swim is already dumping a ton of content onto XBL Marketplace, so this seems like a logical extension.

Either that, or I'm missing something big. And probably obvious.

I think I'll get a hold of the GameTap and Microsoft folks and find out.

Thoughts?

Labels: announcements, media intersection, PC, Xbox 360

"What happened with 'Ninja Gold' was very different and, to my mind, much cooler. I know that my thought from the start was to develop something that would work just as well in games as in movies, and I know John was thinking along the same lines. This was an attempt to create a concept that would work in, and be developed for, a variety of media simultaneously. That's something new for games -- and for movies."

Labels: announcements, media intersection

• Text games -- Now that the Xbox 360 is getting the Chatpad peripheral, I'd like to see games like the Zork franchise on XBLA. I cut my teeth on all of the text adventures, and a lot o them are great, fascinating, creatively written, and creatively inspiring interactive works of art.


• RPGs -- Role-Playing Games (Real-time; I'm just not into the turn-based stuff); I would so do Ultima over Live.


• Dungeon Crawlers -- a la Dungeon Master, Diablo, etc.


• The Psygnosis catalog -- Or at least a chunk of it (Baal, Barbarian/(s) 2, Blood Money, G-Police, etc.); This one'll likely be tough, because I believe Sony bought the Psygnosis IP.


• Bundles/themes -- I'm thinking releases / or release weeks with a unifying them; things like like "comic book", which could include "Captain America and the Avengers", X-Men: Children of the Atom, etc..


• Coin-up classics -- Capcom's Strider/2, SEGA's Golden Axe (though I suspect this latter one would be bundled with the new release in the franchise from Secret Level; and maybe it's just that I liked the artwork for the Mega Drive port).


• Wolfenstein -- The original 1981 Castle Wolfenstein, bundled with the 1992 Wolfenstein 3D.

Labels: text, XBLA, Xbox 360

Labels: Halo

• Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) --The good folks over at Gamerscore Blog are asking for feedback. Check out the brief post and parameters, and see some already great suggestions -- then post your own.
  
• Halo 3 -- If you're playing the demo, tell the Bungie folks what you like and don't. They've got the Halo 3 beta feedback forums just for that. But, please, keep feedback related to the beta. I was talking to a guy who wanted to give them feedback on what the Halo 3 story should be, weapons they should add, etc. Um, that's "pretty much" locked.

Labels: Halo, shooters, XBLA, Xbox 360

"Unlike other consumer events which focus primarily on consoles, PC
Game On gives PC gaming the full spotlight with cross-publisher, hardware, and
software company support."

CMP Game Group's Katherine Schoback said, "Considering media attention of late has focused solely on console wars, PC deserves its place in the sun."

PC Game On will take place in ballrooms A-C of the Austin Convention Center, Saturday and Sunday, September 8-9, from 12:00pm – 5:00pm. Admission is $30 at the door, and $25 in advance of the event. Exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, please visit www.PCGameOn.com.

Labels: events, PC

Labels: announcements, shooters

"Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.

"Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company's world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game."

Labels: announcements, RTS

Labels: action, announcements

"GameTap have announced Re\Visioned, a new and quite frankly fantastic-sounding animated series for GameTap TV. The deal is that a whole bunch of quality and/or popular writers and artists are going to get together and make short cartoon series based on video game characters and their settings."

Labels: media intersection

Labels: DLC, Halo

Labels: Halo

Labels: Halo

Labels: Halo

Labels: DLC, driving, sandbox

Labels: shooters

Labels: console updates

Labels: development process, rants

First Person Shooter takes us inside 'JetPack Games', a start-up video game
company, where the hottest, most violent game on the market has brought instant
success to its twenty-something tech geniuses. Their celebration fizzles when
their game is blamed for a schoolyard shooting. As the young CEO of Jet Pack
deals with an impending lawsuit and the father of one of the victims, he must
confront whether he has any responsibilities in the world beyond his computer
screen.

"[Loeb] wanted to write a play about the people caught in the echo chamber of the
debate. What must it be like for the people actually accused of making a game
that turns kids into killers? What about the parents of the victims? Their
children are dead and the news is jam packed with talk of something so trivial
as videogames!"

Labels: events, media intersection, video game violence

• Bullet Marsh -- "Kryll-infested swamp"
• Garden -- "overgrown and crumbling conservatory"
• Process -- "subterranean Imulsion processing plant"
• Subway -- "Timgad’s Central Subway Station"

Full details here.

Labels: DLC, Epic Games, Gears of War, shooters, Unreal Engine 3

Labels: contests, shooters, Unreal Engine 3

1. Robust
2. Database-driven
3. Permissions-based (i.e., a single post will show sub-sets of data depending on the permissions for the site -- "premiere" (la tee da) members get more "making of" and "cutting room floor" content.
4. Seamless, safe, content-owner-protecting hosting and display of audio and video, integrated into the platform.

Labels: blogger.com, rants