@theprof00
Forget my earlier responses.

The main way to tell the difference between something the industry wants and something customers want is to ask witch one will have to change for the other. If customers habits have to change in order for the “revolution” to take hold then it's not made for them.

If the whole plan for making HD or Digital Downloads mainstream is to just wait for customers to change then those “revolutions” are industry based. If on the other hand they take into consideration customers habits then they would be customer based.

The HD and Digital Downloads “revolutions” will probably change into something customers want but customers will just pass on them until then.

MY GOODNESS player generated content was taking over gaming! We're doomed Malstrom help us I know your wise knowledge speech about markets and gaming could save us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDfz-XnMiA8&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPCE7WSBdO8

LOLWUT?!!

Malstrom was no different than you and I, simply because he was right 70 percent on his opinions doesnt mean he was right in all the subjects.

He says DD was bad at the gaming and yet when a response came and disagree with him and says what about XBLA, Wiiware, VC, and PSN games and DLC he just says its not DD. If those arent DD then what is. DONT TELL ME that DD are full games that you pay and download on the internet. not only its not practical its senseless. Just look at Steam.

And he dont like UGC and yet he praise mario paint composer even its 100 percent UGC.

And now he says mods arent UGC because you need to be a skill programmer before you can create mods. Then what is CS then?!! its made by an amamteur. In fact, its just Half Life with different skins and weapons and maps. I DARE YOU to play 1.6 and then compared it to CS beta. Most of the gamers that keeps playing CS beta was because of nostalgia amd the scope M4. In fact its the scope M4 was the only reason why people still plays CS beta. Even the jumping was spaztic and looks theyre epileptic

@yushire

Nobody is saying he's right on everything but he is right about "User Generated Content" and "Digital Distribution" not being society changing revolutions. When he talks about those things all he's referring to is the proposition that developer/publishers are trying to push. The developer/publisher are talking about "Player[User] Generated Content" as being the primary content. They are also talking about "Digital Distribution" where you pay full price for games but still are artificially restricted with what you can do with them.

I think with Mario Paint's Composer, he was just comparing it to Wii Music's Composer Mode. He didn't praise it because of it's User Generated Content.

The biggest issue with Wii Music is that there is not enough songs (content). It's like that was the after though with the game or it's wasn't seen as important enough. Apparently, everyone was just supposed to be creative and make their own songs.

Half-life isn't a Player Generated Content game it's primary content is made by professionals. Do you think anyone would buy Half-life if all it was was a FPS Level Editor?

Ah this guy again. Does anyone still take him even a bit seriously?

SO... You're one of those Malstrom believers too eh? amirite?

Heres the other horrors of UGC content:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1rWNUbjRQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1rWNUbjRQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPgQJ_SiNAE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBENP-qhlyU

Its worse than I thought! they even copied a "professional idea and works" to create a stage have the users have no shame! Its Mario on PS3 OH MY!

Player generated content as the primary content? LOL if thats the case then why need a third party companies and console makers and first parties for. It makes no sense if it so then gaming companies cant sell their digital distribution content.

OH digital distribution! BURN IT WITH FIRE theres no need for gaming industry for that Malstrom said so! It will end the gaming industry!

So DLC, wiiware, PSN and XBLA games didnt belong in DD? Because this is what the definition of DD is:

Digital distribution (also known as digital delivery or Electronic software distribution) is the practice of providing content in a purely digital format, which is downloaded via the internet straight to a consumer's home. Digital distribution bypasses conventional media, such as paper or DVDs.

Digital distribution is generally found in the forms of streaming content and downloadable content. Streaming content is downloaded as it is used, and is generally intended for on-demand usage. On the other hand, downloadable content is fully saved to a hard drive or other form of storage media for future use.

So why Malstrom was always angry at DD and UGC? Because he dont want the console industry to be in PC gaming industry. Just look at the few games on PCs today and still played because of DLC and UGC(mods) like World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Half Life, Half Life 2 and Doom 4.  The PC gaming industry literally implodes because of mods and DLC.

Now most PC developers are switching ship to consoles because theres nothing gaming companies can do in PC gaming its literally invaded by mods and DLC. And yet the PC gaming companies that embraced the idea are making money out of it especially Blizzard. WoW was the no. 1 online MMORPG to date and its because of DLC.

Malstrom even admits that he plays more with his PC and play RTS more than consoles.Thats a hint.

This is the future of gaming if Malstrom's apocalyptic scenario will come true:

Traditional games(CD based of course NOT DIGITAL) that relies on user content. Which means the DLC are free but you're not sure if you're what downloading was good or not.

Traditional games(again NOT DIGITAL) that relies on digital distribution by gaming companies you're sure of you're downloading are good but you have to pay for it. Just like World of Warcraft. Though if its maps you can buy the map packs without paying it monthly but with gaming companies that always making maps monthly you need to buy the maps to satisfy your enjoyment. Doesnt mean the game company will force you to buy the DLC though to play the game... Just like GH and RB2.

The new generation games started by the Wii. These are the games that the gaming company have full control no DLC, no UGC, no downloadables, no online multiplayer the game was for local multiplayer and for parties. Wii Sports and WSR was one of them.

Emmersive type games again, the gaming company have full control. Only for sungleplayer experiences the game in this genre are long and needs skill. Zelda, SMG and Metroid Prine are one of them. Singleplayer FPS and TPS like Bioshock also fits on this genre.

And there you have it! The future of videogames.

@yushire

I'm having trouble understanding your position here: (please these are Yes/No questions)

1. Do you think that the publishers/developers promoting “Digital Distribution” are proposing downloadable games that limit whether or not you can sell, lend or copy them?
2. Do you think that the publishers/developers promoting “User Generated Content” are proposing games where the primary content is user made?
3. Do you think those proposals will be revolutionary, change society or become a social phenomenon?
4. Do you think that Malstrom was referring those terms in any other way than what the publishers/developers were proposing?

1) NO NO NO NO NO. Not only he makes his readers paranoid like quack up conspiracy theorists that he is he even didnt understand what DD means. DD in gaming term means DLC. Like in RB 2 and GH. thats what gaming companies after. gaming companies cant sell new games every month or every year for just new maps or songs(in this case COD and GH) forever... Gaming cvompanies needs only ONE game to satisfy the gamer's needs and make the game have DLC. Its succesful in RB2 thats why many people still playing RB2

2) AGAIN NO. UGC means downloadable content that is free. You can choose, buy a retail game(which BTW have contents in it) if you're bored or finished playing the game you can download content you have 2 options, either download the contents free(which BTW UGC games) but you're not sure if you're downloading a good content OR you can buy DLC but you have to pay for it.

3) YES. it means you dont need to pay a new retail full price game evry year to satisfy your gaming needs. Since most gamers are after are either new maps, skins, stages, weapons and player models. Thats what console companies were after.

4) AGAIN NO. Im reading gaming news since then and I didnt encounter a news that DD was a full priced game that you have to pay on the internet.

And yet my point was that there was no explicit, conscious general need for the internet before it was offered.

Engineers and scientists might be over-confident in what the appeal of new technologies might be for the general public, and yet if it wasn't for their probing -resulting in both great successes as great failures- those great jumps would not happen.

Revolutionary innovations can come from mass adoption of cheaper/simpler products -as in the disruption theory- or come top-down from technological innovations that make the product available or viable at all.

As such, relying on mass consumer guidance only is as much tunnel vision as relying on the appeal a new tech has for the technically-inclined minority. Malstrom seems to be so fixated with the disruption theory, that it's all he seems to see everywhere. And he fixates on short-term marketing and economy so much that he seems to measure everything on the scale of the sales of products. Whereas a tech that fails to gain mass adoption might still have had a great value in breaking new grounds development-wise, in testing the usage pattern of a small minority of users and so on.

Altavista used to be the biggest web search engine years ago. And yet it was not a financial success, so much that big players such as MS did not think it could be a viable business and never invested heavily in it. Then came Google and it became both one of the most known brands on earth and a huge cash mine.

It was not bottom-up disruption. It was a massive improvement over the known past experiences and quite a bit of academic research (heavy usage of an infrastructure based over map-reduce algorythms), and yet it led to an explosive success over the incumbent competitors.

BTW, on a very different issue.

Can you quote a developer or publisher saying that the future of games is in having user-generated content only? You say it is not a strawman, thus please present me the man in flesh and blood.

he is not saying UGC will not succeed
he is saying UGC has already succeeded !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

blind people ....

gg malstrom