Comment Re:The Next Ages of Game Development (Score 2, Interesting) 170
Let me reply to this point-by-point.
>increased Monetization of Product Derivatives"
>- a.k.a. make gamers pay for mods.
My point was that at some point modders will be released from having to give their work away for free. The result is there will be some monetization of this and that could result in more mods and people supporting teams who produce good ones. It doesn't mean much of it won't remain free otherwise or by choice of the developer. Already some developers have done this in the form of boxing and distributing various mods like CounterStrike.
>"Complete Toolset Integration & Standardization"
>Ah yes, the glorious uber-prize that all
>people want to see. One toolset for all
>genres of games
Actually I didn't advocate what you are talking about. The "toolset" I'm referring too are more generic things like Bink, Renderware Studio, Havok, 3D Studio, Alienbrain, etc. Not a one-size-fits-all kit. I think I even said that there will be specific engines for specific genres. Also if you haven't played morrowind, EQ, or Asherons call, why couldn't you use an FPS engine to do a kick but RPG?
>"Development Teams Become More Transient" -
>In other words, we don't want to pay for a
>full-time team of professionals.
Again, misinterpretation. I'm talking about professionals who are hired in a different manner. In fact, the fmr. Xbox manager for MS recently wrote about this issue in Wired. Teams today are not very transient. They are hired in-house, and stay together as a unit for multiple projects at the same publisher. Instead if tools make it easier to manage the process I see publishers moving back to a time where they outsourced lots of development. It doesn't mean they will seek cheap unprofessional labor. It means that you're brought aboard a project, you do your job, and when you're done you leave and hook up immediately on another production elsewhere.
>Except for the cell-phone part. Hard-core
>gamers wouldn't have the guts to actually
>talk to another person from the game.
Actually the technology inherent in a number of cellphones and thus cellphone games makes it impossible to talk to someone during the game. Doing that requires you to drop out of the network and lose state. Overtime this will get fixed. However, in the article I didn't necessarily make this point vis-a-vis cellphone games. I pointed out that they, and PDAs, would at times offer supplemental access to PC and console titles, e.g. helping arrange a trade in madden2024 so when you got home the trade was done. Or corresponding with your characters allies in a wargame or game like EQ.
>increased Monetization of Product Derivatives"
>- a.k.a. make gamers pay for mods.
My point was that at some point modders will be released from having to give their work away for free. The result is there will be some monetization of this and that could result in more mods and people supporting teams who produce good ones. It doesn't mean much of it won't remain free otherwise or by choice of the developer. Already some developers have done this in the form of boxing and distributing various mods like CounterStrike.
>"Complete Toolset Integration & Standardization"
>Ah yes, the glorious uber-prize that all
>people want to see. One toolset for all
>genres of games
Actually I didn't advocate what you are talking about. The "toolset" I'm referring too are more generic things like Bink, Renderware Studio, Havok, 3D Studio, Alienbrain, etc. Not a one-size-fits-all kit. I think I even said that there will be specific engines for specific genres. Also if you haven't played morrowind, EQ, or Asherons call, why couldn't you use an FPS engine to do a kick but RPG?
>"Development Teams Become More Transient" -
>In other words, we don't want to pay for a
>full-time team of professionals.
Again, misinterpretation. I'm talking about professionals who are hired in a different manner. In fact, the fmr. Xbox manager for MS recently wrote about this issue in Wired. Teams today are not very transient. They are hired in-house, and stay together as a unit for multiple projects at the same publisher. Instead if tools make it easier to manage the process I see publishers moving back to a time where they outsourced lots of development. It doesn't mean they will seek cheap unprofessional labor. It means that you're brought aboard a project, you do your job, and when you're done you leave and hook up immediately on another production elsewhere.
>Except for the cell-phone part. Hard-core
>gamers wouldn't have the guts to actually
>talk to another person from the game.
Actually the technology inherent in a number of cellphones and thus cellphone games makes it impossible to talk to someone during the game. Doing that requires you to drop out of the network and lose state. Overtime this will get fixed. However, in the article I didn't necessarily make this point vis-a-vis cellphone games. I pointed out that they, and PDAs, would at times offer supplemental access to PC and console titles, e.g. helping arrange a trade in madden2024 so when you got home the trade was done. Or corresponding with your characters allies in a wargame or game like EQ.
