Gamecasting….
Podcasting revolution revolutionised internet radio, could it do the same to games?
I’ve been podcasting (recording and listening) for a while now, I love the Hotspot, Arrow Pointing Down, BEAT.British (shameless plug), i love the Buzz Out Loud and I love watching video podcasts on my ipod touch.
But I own a Wii, and ofcourse I own a DS, (beautiful in black).
All those lovely rumors that bounced around about the Wii downloading demos for my DS automatically that I might be interested in. This sounds really fantastic, it could quite possibly be new evolution to portable gaming.
I can see it now. *insert drifty daydream music here*
I sign up with Nintendo for the weekly demo, and every Thursday or something I get a demo which i can download onto my DS. I play that demo on my way to uni and then during my free period or when I’m not needed. When I come home I load my stats (or achievements -you know It makes sence). This is free. (you hear me Nintendo it’s free. Or else)
But why should it stop there? What’s the next level to this idea? Think about it…. I sign up to a episodic game which adds a new story or level every 2 to 3 weeks. which updates my DS cart. The possibilities are almost endless….. new puzzles for warioware? New modes for Monkey ball? New patients in trauma centre? New Metriod areas? new minds to play in Psychonauts (look at the interview with head of Double Fine)? the list is endless….
But the idea that I could subscribe to get regular updates for a game, good updates give me at least a month of gameplay for £5 a month or like i don’t know a one fee for the year say £39.99 (this is for ALL of my subscriptions eg. more than one game). Is this reasonable? I think so.
What makes this different than episodic gameplay, is:
I’m not waiting six months for a new installment, I’m paying for a decent amount of content, it’s downloaded automatically and I’m paying to give good developers the chance to prolong a good franchise.
The important thing is it’s downloaded AUTOMATICALLY. It’s subscribed to like a podcast, and it’s for all kinds of games: portable and home consoles. It’s for everyone, it’s low cost, it’s wiicasting.
I’m hoping that this concept will happen one day, in a slow way Steam has been doing it for a while now with Half Life 2 and it’s episodic content. But look at Portal…
Portal is a perfect candidate for this model. Think of it! New levels every fortnight or week, nominal fee that maybe entitles you to a discount on steam for half life episodes. Delivered to the game by a level aggregator. Will Wright and Spore have already hinted at this (in a free model I might add) you can subscribe to users you like and download into your spore universe stuff that they create for other races and your own (they call them sporecasts).
The futre of gaming is here Gamecasting!
….Basicly I’m NOT paying £5 for horse armor.