This is a long email so I will reply in the middle of it. My text will be in red.
Hello Malstrom
Nintendo’s rise had nothing to do with INTEGRATED hardware and software. The NES, as well as the earlier arcade games like Donkey Kong, were not integrated and ported to many game consoles (well, not the NES games). The NES and SNES was just a box where you could plug in any controller to play any game. Remember the NES Advantage or NES Max? There was nothing ‘integrated’ unless you consider cartridges to be integrated hardware and software (but all games were on cartridges then). Even the Gameboy had nothing to do with integration of hardware and software.The idea of Nintendo gaming being integrated hardware and software truly began with the Virtual Boy and following consoles. The gamer was unable to play Nintendo games except with specific Nintendo controllers. Nintendo consoles ceased being boxes people bought to play Mario. Nintendo embrace of this integration has coincides with a decline. Interestingly, the Wii is the least integrated hardware/software console Nintendo has made recently due to the port on the Wii controller and the Gamecube ports on the console. You can play Mario Kart Wii with a Gamecube controller. But you never could play Mario Kart 64 or Double Dash with a SNES controller.Zelda games began to be designed differently. Modern Zelda games were designed more around the eccentricities of the hardware which was never done in earlier Zelda games. Zelda must have motion controls because the Wii has them. Zelda must have touch screen control because the DS has them. It has been a radical change in how Zelda was made, and it coincides with the decline of the franchise.The reason why Blizzard grew due to the Internet is based on betting on the right trend. Even Bill Gates didn’t see the Internet as that popular until he thought Microsoft was being threatened by Netscape (remember that?). The rise of the Internet ascended any company utilizing the Internet. World of Warcraft came out right when broadspeed Internet became widespread. Riding the wave of rising Internet popularity is largely responsible for making Blizzard from a small third party game company to the behemoth it is today.You say that every gaming company’s objective is to make a good game. This is not true. The objective is to hit revenue targets for financial quarters. This is why so many games are released before they are ‘done’.
Gamers are the beginning, middle, and end of all gaming. People do not play dominoes because they enjoy staring at the blocks or the ‘gameplay’. They do it for the company.Gaming isn’t about gameplay, graphics, or any of that. Gaming is about people. Even single player games is a simulation of the player versus people… such as a fantasy bad guy. Internet isn’t a part of computers. Computers are the vehicle, but the Internet is the destination. PEOPLE are the destination. Nothing else matters without people.The Internet may be the first time in recorded history of a concrete idea of the ‘social body’ concept.It is the nature of Man to war on space and time. We rode horses not because we thought it was cute but so we could get from point A to point B in faster time. We ride in automobiles for the same reason but replaced horses because they are faster.The interaction of people is not an ‘addition’ to a game, it is the game. It is why we play games.
I think people who expect features from games like Starcraft 1 to be in Starcraft 2 such as LAN may be experiencing Time Lag. As you get older, it becomes more and more critical that you fight Time Lag. Time Lag is your grandmother not using the computer because a pen and paper will do. She is retro. She is out of the loop. A vice president from IBM used to hang out with high school kids just to know where the next trends are coming and to think with younger eyes. Very successful companies constantly update themselves with new technology and adapt to the new ways of doing things. It is why, for example, you see so many companies using Facebook and Twitter because that is a new tool at their marketing disposal. You must keep updating yourself on the new. If not, you become a fuddy duddy as trends steamroll you.
The issue with LAN is not about LAN but about control. Why does Blizzard think it must take control of multiplayer? (Single player in Starcraft 2 was not online dependent.) The previous RTS game, Warcraft 3, and its situation in various countries is one concern. But the major one is that Blizzard controls all rights to E-Sports with its game by controlling the multiplayer. With Starcraft, people were creating industries around Blizzard’s game without Blizzard receiving any revenue. When you see how strong the law is concerning things like music (just playing music in your business requires you to pay), it is amazing how there are very few laws protecting the copyright owners of the video games. It is already very lax as countless youtubers make little shows using someone else’s content.
I am in the copyright business. It is the only thing that protects my business from being destroyed. I will advocate the right of a company to protect its copyright.
PC games have always had copyright protection. In the old days, they had code wheels and ‘look up an obscure page in the manual’. My favorite was in Ultima VII that failure to put in the copyright protection resulted in everyone speaking in Pig Latin.
If people don’t know why Blizzard games utilize the Internet so much, then the error of misinformation is on those people. Anyone looking at the company can see why these decisions are being made. And those who don’t like it are free to not purchase the product. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simple enough.
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. There is a reason why Blizzard is ignoring the calls for LAN. Usually, Blizzard follows the flow of behavior from customers. There must be a compelling reason for Blizzard to not do it. I’m tired of people complaining on the Internet instead of looking it up.
Get an authenticator, and you won’t have problems.What I dislike is how people know the nature of the issue before they buy it, and then act as if it is a surprise. Diablo 3 was known to have been online only for how many YEARS? If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. That is my response to Nintendo products I don’t like. The only reason why I attempt to go into detail of the nature of my dislike is because of a repeating cycle by Nintendo. I’m trying to help them out. I made this page because I didn’t see anyone else doing it.
3)Lag. People seem to be upset with the lag and some who said they had died as a result. I have heard of a few players just moving to Torchlight 2 because of this. They would be in a fight and the lag made the difference of death and survival.
So what is the problem? There is an alternative to people upset with Diablo 3’s online only issue: Torchlight 2. Everyone should be satisfied then. So why is there so much complaining on the Gaming Message Forums? “The woman does protest too much!”
These are all happenings of online games, but the problem isn’t them specifically. It has to do with the fact that the game is always online, so these are always problems. If I could LAN or play single player offline, then I can avoid these problems. If the servers are down, I just don’t play online and play single player. If I’m worried about hackers, I LAN and play offline. If Lag is bad now, I just play offline. But now there is no alternative. Servers offline? You don’t get to play. Hackers? You may just loss your stuff and have to hope Blizzard will help you out. Lag? Looks like you have to deal with it or find a new game. Of course, all these problems disappear when there is an offline mode. The point I’m making is there are all these flaws with are now embedded into the game because it’s online. And in all of this, what’s the point. To me, the player, why would I be happy Blizzard made it online only? Is it better? Does it add anything? It doesn’t seem to. In fact, the online only seems to be more for Blizzard than for players. The auction house allows them to make money off of the sales from players to players. But all of this comes at the expense of the player’s experience. I assume Blizzard keeps it online only because they don’t want players manipulating the game or avoiding their auction house.
Above: Start at 2:30 to hear Blizzard’s rationale for the Real Money Auction House
You can either agree with the rationale or disagree. But let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist.What is true is that if Blizzard did not provide a Real Money Auction House, third party companies would make them anyway like they did with Diablo 2. Many of these places were very shady. If you were a Diablo 3 developer, what solution would you have to this problem? The RMAH may not be ideal, but I ask what better solution is there to the problem?
I have spoken to people inside the company about where Blizzard gets their money. Surprisingly, they don’t get much profit from the WoW subscriptions due to the massive server costs (and they are expensive) as well as customer service personnel (which was not farmed out to India). While Blizzard does make considerable profit from selling pets and mounts (which is why you keep seeing them appear every now and then), Blizzard makes their money from selling the actual games and, especially, the expansions. Why do you think Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 has two expansions each? Since they use the same basic engine, it is not as costly as making a new game. And think of how much money was made with the WoW expansions. I was told the WoW expansions brought in a considerable amount of profit (which is why I was also told that WoW will keep having expansions until people stop buying them).