By Scott Hillis 2 hours, 37 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co
Ltd unveiled on Wednesday new online services for their video
game consoles to showcase games by independent developers, part
of a push by the companies to tap enthusiasm for so-called
casual games.
The $18 billion U.S. game industry, increasingly dominated
by sequels and licensed properties, is turning to independent
developers for inspiration much as the movie industry uses
festivals like Sundance for fresh ideas and to discover new
film-making talent.
Microsoft said trial versions of the first independent
games, with titles such as "JellyCar" and "The Dishwasher: Dead
Samurai," were available immediately, and it expected hundreds
of games to hit the service by the end of the year.
Microsoft used its keynote at the Game Developers
Conference to officially launch the service for its Xbox 360,
underscoring the importance it expects such simpler games to
play in broadening the appeal of that machine.
"Now we have another entry point, which is games made by
people in their bedrooms," John Schappert, vice president of
the Xbox Live online platform, said in an interview.
Microsoft, playing to its traditional strengths in software
development for personal computers, began offering game
production tools to amateurs and hobbyists about 18 months ago
under an initiative dubbed "XNA."
"We've seen the democratization of game development, but it
will also take something new, the democratization of game
distribution," Schappert told the conference.
Nintendo said its WiiWare service, to launch in the United
States in May for its Wii console, would help lower the cost
and risk of creating new games.
Sony also has been pushing independent games through its
PlayStation Network, using the service to spotlight games like
"Flow" and "Everyday Shooter," made by teams of just one or two
people.
"It certainly makes the whole device a friendlier thing,
because there are games for everybody," said John Hight,
director of production development at Sony's Santa Monica games
studio.
"It's easy to experiment. If it only takes a year to go
from an initial idea to your home, then we can try a lot more
things. This is the closest we've ever been to our customer,"
Hight said.
The efforts are unlikely in and of themselves to boost
console sales, which are mainly driven by expensive A-list
games. But they help create the perception the companies are
addressing concerns about the rising cost of game development,
which can run into the tens of millions of dollars for a
typical blockbuster.
"It's good PR. They are encouraging and investing in
independent developers. Developers need it because the big guys
are now coming into the casual business," said IDC analyst
Billy Pidgeon. "These kind of indie quirky games give them a
little more cachet. You want some indie cred."
The Xbox Live service has 10 million users worldwide.
Chris Satchell, general manager of XNA, said the tools
would also let developers make one game that could run on the
Xbox, a Windows-based computer, or Microsoft's Zune media
player. Apple Inc's iPod devices already support games.
Satchell said Zune games could tap the built-in wireless
capability to allow multiplayer action.
Satchell said Microsoft will not control the games that
make it on to the service, relying instead on a peer-review
process that will make sure violence and other controversial
content is properly labeled.
"I'm not going to be the arbiter of what the community
does," Satchell told the conference. "We are not saying don't
have these things, we're saying be honest about it, tell people
what's in the game."
(Reporting by Scott Hillis; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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