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微软在电子游戏行业需要重视的4点建议

发布时间:2013-02-26 17:22:45 Tags:,,,,

作者:Benjamin Quintero

作为Xbox的长期拥有者,我认为微软的新主机仍有许多需要改进之处。1年的时间让Xbox丧失了其领先的开发平台地位,但是之后发行的Xbox 720仍有可能帮助它翻身。这并不是我为微软所设定的选择。不过我想在他们为自己寻找下一个借口前提出几个建议。

Microsoft(from washington)

Microsoft(from washington)

1.重视独立开发商

当我们将AAA级军事射击游戏与可下载的独立游戏的销量进行比较时会发现,它们之间并不存在可比性。显然,带有强大宣传机器并具有有趣游戏体验的游戏大作总是会超越那些能让玩家驻足,并思考人生的游戏,但是这些发人深思的游戏却能够吸引不同类型的玩家来到你的平台。索尼采取了各种方法去拉拢独立开发商们,甚至还培养了一些广受好评的小型团队。与此同时,像Jonathan Blow,Team Meat等公司则忙于编写他们与微软合作的公开信件。从中我们可以看出,微软亲自扼杀了开发商们为自己的平台创造游戏的机会。

索尼至少创造了自主发行平台,我也很好奇这一平台的作用。就像我在第2点所提到的,微软创造了一个比索尼还开放的平台,让那些拥有巨大成本但却未把握住最初机会的开发商们能将自己的游戏推向该平台。XNA便是微软迈出的正确一步。尽管微软在许多方面都做错了,但是创造门户让开发商传达游戏内容的决定却是非常重要的。就像应用是玩家选择手机的重要元素,这也将影响着玩家在两种类似硬件间做出选择。

就像《Call of Battlefield》和《NBA Madden Jam》能够同时出现在这两个平台上,但从根本上来看它们却是不同的。这种不同源自灵活的团队或那些缺少足够资本,但却拥有丰富创造性的个体所创造的充满想法的体验。微软最好能在索尼着手前把握先机。

2.提供信息

索尼最近的新闻稿便做得非常出色。在2个小时有关硬件与游戏的谈话中,人们觉得好似在Mac World待了一整天,吸收了许多信息。有关硬件和规格的详细信息填满了动态消息。索尼之所以在这方面做得如此出色便是因为复制了微软和任天堂的脚本,但不管怎样,这么做却非常有效。

很多人都期待能够听到有关硬件的谈话,或其它PPT描述内容,去告诉他们谁会是下一个Blast Processor(游戏邦注:一个独立的公司,总部设在布赖顿,创造性的应用程序)以及它将如何改变游戏。索尼便为我们提供了许多有关他们的云服务,控制器设计以及界面的信息。他们甚至为开发商们创造了一个平台,好似在传达着这样的信息“我们迫不及待地想分享更多内容。”在谈话的最后,我们可以发现索尼并不只是在推广一款功能强大的硬件。

微软必须注意到这一点。单单召开记者招待会还不足够。近几年索尼一直在向外界传达自己的各种消息,不管是承认技术配置难度还是购买云流媒体服务Gaikai。而微软却从未采取类似的行动。这些年来微软发布了Windows 8,成立了一间工作室去制作Kinect游戏。但却仅此而已。他们失去了Bungie(游戏邦注:美国著名的电子游戏软件制作商),所以不得不创建一间新的工作室而继续创造同一款游戏。从外界看来,微软只是在走形式罢了,而我们也不清楚他们接下来会采取何种行动。

3.社交体验

我并不需要一个专用设备去播放电影。如今大多数智能电视做得跟台低功率的PC似得,与各种游戏和软件绑定在一起,包括Hulu和Netflix。让用户花费数百美元以及会费去做那些本就能在电视上做的事真的有够滑稽。

索尼便领悟了这一点。他们知道我们现在生活于一个相互连接的世界中,人们的口袋塞着智能手机,咖啡桌上还摆着平板电脑。于是索尼便明确地告诉世人他们带来了PS4去推销游戏。奇怪的是这是微软在7年前所做的事,即当他们还得到广大玩家拥护的时候,但是在推出Kinect时他们却已经抛弃了这一方法。

重要的是微软必须了解硬核玩家,即那些愿意不断为他们的硬件掏钱的玩家所看重的是游戏而非附加功能。所以在平台上整合社交功能便很重要,特别是当它能够作用于玩家的游戏体验时。而Xbox上的twitter应用却不足以解决这一问题。

4.把握2013年假期进行销售

在新的一年里微软不应该继续坐在荣耀上无动于衷了。不可否认的是,对于任何人来说Kinect都是个奇迹,但是在商业领域始终抓住一辆金钱列车并不是一个好的决定。在电子游戏领域,特别是硬核游戏方面,微软的发展已经出现了滞缓。他们的第一方游戏发展缓慢,第三方独立品牌也不再与索尼签订合作关系。如果错过了这次的假期,他们便只能落后于Wii U而排在第二,甚至是第三的位置上。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

4 Things Microsoft Can Do To Avoid Failure

by Benjamin Quintero

As a longtime Xbox owner I can pretty definitively say that Microsoft has a lot to prove with their new console.  Between the fake out of yes-no-maybe-so support that indie’s have gotten to the complete mismanagement of their aging LIVE service; they are a classic example of someone who tripped and fell onto success and mistook it for talent.  The 1 year lead that solidified XBox as the lead development platform is gone and there is still the chance that the 720 may release later than this holiday season.  It’s not an option that I would rule out for Microsoft.  So before they come out this E3 with the message of, “One more year” I would like to make a few suggestions.

4. Ship Holiday 2013

Microsoft can not and should not continue to sit on their laurels for yet another year.  Kinect was a surprise for everyone, including Microsoft it seems, but expecting to ride the money train like it was an operating system is the single worst thing you can do in this business.  In video games, especially the hardware side, much is built on momentum and Microsoft has slowed to a crawl.  Their first party titles are a trickle, their 3rd party exclusive brands will likely not sign those deals again with Sony releasing neck and neck with the 720.  If they let this holiday season slip, it will secure their position in 2nd and maybe even 3rd place behind Wii U.

3. Consoles Are About Games

I don’t need a dedicated device to stream movies.  Most smart televisions these days are like low powered PCs that are packed with games and software including Hulu and Netflix.  This idea that someone wants to spend hundreds of dollars plus membership fees to do what they can already do on their existing television is ludicrous.

Sony got the message right.  They finally understand that we live in a connected world and that people have smart phones in their pockets and tablets on their coffee table.  They made their message clear that they are bringing the PS4 to market with games in mind, married to all of those devices.  Strangely this is exactly the message that Microsoft delivered some 7 years ago when it gained the majority vote of gamers wallets, right before they stabbed them in the back with a Kinect carved down to a shiv.

It’s important that Microsoft understand, like perhaps Sony is coming around to, that core gamers; the people who spend repeated dollars on their hardware, are there for the games not the bullet point addendum features.  It is fine to have social integration with your platform but don’t pretend like that is a “thing” and understand that it is only meaningful if it services the act of playing and enjoying the gaming experience.  A twitter App on my XBox is not the answer to this challenge.

2. Do Not Match, Exceed

Sony did a pretty bang-up job I feel in their latest press release of blitzing the internet with information.  After a 2 hour long blow out of hardware and games talk; one that felt more like a day at Mac World than the usual Sony drone, there was still more information flooding in.  Press releases were going out around the world and more details on hardware and specs were filling up the news feeds.  Sony did it right this time because frankly they copied Microsoft and Nintendo’s playbook in many respects, but you know what? It worked.

Most people were expecting maybe some drawn out hardware talk to ensue, another collection of Powerpoint Slides to describe how awesome their next insane Blast Processor is and how it will change gaming forever.  Instead we were reintroduced to a more humbled Sony, and treated to a healthy dose of information that included many facets of their cloud service, their controller design and even examples of their interface.  They even chose to give a platform to several developers, big and small, significant stage time.  Any or all of these could have just as likely been thrown up to a “we can’t wait to tell you more at E3″ but they didn’t hold any punches, or at least it felt that way.  By the end of their talk, there was no question that Sony was doing more than putting out another powerful piece of hardware this time around.

Microsoft needs to take note.  It is not enough to match expectations and getting the internet into a frothy frenzy of fervor takes more than a “me too” press conference.  I honestly don’t see this happening.  Sony has been telegraphing their moves for years now, from their acknowledgement of the difficulties of cell processing to the purchase of the cloud streaming service Gaikai.  I have seen nothing like this from Microsoft.  In all these years Microsoft has released Windows 8; a critical flop to PC gamers, and opened a studio to make Kinect games… Thats about it.  They lost Bungie and their only recourse was to build a new studio to continue the same game.  From the outside looking in, Microsoft is going through the motions right now and it is unclear if they even know what to do next.

1. Indies Matter

When you compare the sales numbers of your grade-A military shooter to a downloadable indie game there is no argument.  Obviously the blockbuster titles with their massive hype machines and visceral power fantasy experiences is going to outpace a game that makes you stop and think about your life, but those thoughtful experiences are ones that entice a different breed of players onto your platform.  Sony has done a relatively exceptional job of courting indies and has cultured some smaller teams to critical acclaim.  Meanwhile, developers like Jonathan Blow, Team Meat, and others are busy writing F.U. open letters about their experiences with Microsoft.  Marry this to the fact that Microsoft killed the one and only way for garage developers to create games and you have a company that is going to have to buy a lot of Flowers (pun intended) for indies to make a strong return on their platform.

Sony is at least making an effort with their self publishing platform and I am curious to see how that plays out.  Like I mentioned in #2, it is important that Microsoft exceed expectations here and create a platform that is not simply as open as Sony but more so; allowing developers who aren’t front loaded with hundreds of thousands of dollars to find a way to put their games on that device.  XNA was a step in the right direction.  Though it was flawed in many ways the concept of creating a portal for anyone to deliver content I feel is going to be crucial in the next generation.  Apps put iPhone on the map for many gamers who questioned which phone to buy next and this may very well be the same question for gamers staring at two relatively similar pieces of hardware.

Look, the Call of Battlefield, and NBA Madden Jam games will exist on both of these platforms, but the difference will be on the ground level.  The difference will be in the thoughtfully crafted experiences that come from nimble teams or individuals who are short on cash and rich in innovation.  Microsoft needs to harness that before Sony takes their lunch.(source:gamasutra)


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