Jesus.
After 5 press conferences, (and some good natured banter) it's safe to say the gaming and tech worlds had big info dumps today: new hardware and software, pricing announcements, previews, embarrassments, and even a few technical hiccups. This is the time of year when the next year and a half (not to mention the holiday season) start to take shape. Apple's annual presentation kicking off the WorldWide Developers Conference started just as Microsoft was beginning their E3 press conference, which may or may not have been an attempt on Apple's part to take away their thunder, but too many eyes were on Microsoft today, wanting to see if they could make up for their seriously lackluster unveiling of their new Xbox One console. For simplicity's sake, I'll start alpahabetically, because this is my blog dammit shut up.
Apple
Apple had a slew of things to go over, but the biggest were most likely the redesigned Mac Pro and iOS 7. The Mac Pro redesign looks great, and the power it's looking to pack is indeed impressive, but since it's a fall release, there wasn't much in the way of solid information about it. No specifics on specs, no price point; just a good look at the chassis and some general info about the processors and graphics units, along with some neat tidbits involving Thunderbolt 2 and multiple displays. Reactions to this have been expectedly mixed, but most folk seem to like the general design. It doesn't leave much room for expandability (though it IS upgradeable, just with custom hardware), but folks in the "pro" space don't need to "upgrade" their machines every year; the smart folks buy a seriously overpowered machine, designed to last several years down the road. Plus, with those Thunderbolt ports, I think it's designed more for external expansion (hard drives and the like) rather than internal expansion (graphics cards, etc.). It'll be interesting to see how reactions change as more info comes to light later this year.
iOS 7, however, is getting even harsher divides. It seems you either love it or hate it. Personally, I'm a fan of cleaner, flatter interfaces. Interface clutter is a big pet peeve of mine (which is why I don't typically play MMOs) but Apple did a pretty neat job of throwing all the commonly used stuff in easy-to-reach places, while getting rid of most of the skeuomorphic aspects, giving a more "smoked glass" look to the interface. Some complainers have whined about how they "stole the look from Android;" I've had the opportunity to use a few different variations of Android devices - none of them have looked even close to this new design. I'm betting it'll pop up a lot later this year, though. Basically, it's a moderate redesign, keeping most of the core functionality while bringing a new visual flair and theme to the new generations of devices to come. To me, it's fairly striking, and the forthcoming functionality that comes with it will be useful. Haters gonna hate.
Microsoft
Last Thursday, Microsoft unceremoniously dumped a bunch of severely unflattering info about the Xbox One's policies regarding used games, rentals/lendings, online DRM, family access, and other such things. As such, the internet went kind of berserk, and probably rightfully so. The policies basically come down to this: you don't own the games you buy anymore, and we'll be checking on you daily to make sure you remember that. When you buy a disc-based game, you are not buying the game itself, you are buying permission to play it on a certain number of accounts, with restrictions. There were many (more consumer-friendly) options available to essentially accomplish the same thing, but they were ignored, for whatever reason. This new info, paired with the reveal a couple weeks prior, left a bad taste in gamers' mouths, and as such, many were looking to the E3 conference today for actual information on games, as well as pricing and release dates.
They weren't disappointed... with the games. For the most part.
The cap of it all was the $500 price point, which is what the PlayStation 3 launched at all those years ago, and it didn't work. One thinks that their reasoning behind it is based on the "it does cool things with your cable box" thing; a feature that the majority of gamers don't really want, despite the potential usefulness of the features themselves. The reaction got bad enough that an executive got snippy during a BBC interview after the conference, when asked about the high price point and the slew of limits placed on the users.
Most of the games did indeed look pretty good; Titanfall and Below in particular were quite interesting, and many of the exclusives revealed looked fairly decent. I was quite surprised that Metal Gear Solid V might end up being a "next-gen" exclusive, at least for now. But the color of the restrictions placed on it's users and the high initial price point are tough pills to swallow for many people.
Sony
Sony was kind of in the opposite position than Microsoft for this E3; with only a controller revealed back in February, their last event concerning about the PlayStation 4 was focused mainly on games rather than hardware features. This time around they had to discuss the hardware in more detail (along with actually showing the console itself), as well as talk about games and policies. There were worries that the conference would get a little buried in jargon, but thankfully not only did games get a great amount of attention, so did the console itself.
Physically, I'm a little torn on the design; it's nice enough, but possibly a bit too similar to the Xbox One's design theme; basically, they're both black boxes that'll sit on your shelf or entertainment center. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I was just hoping for something that could stand out a little more.
The games they showed ran the full gamut: from big triple-A titles like Watch_Dogs, Assassin's Creed 4, and Destiny; to a wide range of indie titles like Don't Starve, Transistor, and Octodad. They didn't have a large number of titles to show overall - due to having to discuss the system itself a bit - but all were overshadowed by the last couple announcements.
Saving the best for (mostly) last, they went on record in front of hundreds of live people and several thousand streaming online that there would be NO restrictions on disc-based used games, NO restrictions on "lending" or renting disc-based games, and NO online DRM check-ins. Also, it would be priced at $400. Whereas Microsoft's pricing announcements were met with a few "boos," Sony got a standing ovation. Sony went out of their way to not only ensure that a customer's ownership rights for physical-based games would be protected, but to actually encourage the resale of games. For the time being, Sony has "won" this year's E3.
A few other conferences went out, most notably EA and Ubisoft. Good things were shown there; The Division was a big highlight, as well as the Trials Fusion/Frontiers reveal. That being said, there's still a full week of E3 to go, and I'm sure one or two things will show up there that no one expects. Here's hoping.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Xbox One frustrations (or, HEY MS SHARE IT IF YOU GONNA SMOKE IT.)
Lots of contradictions going around as to how used games can happen on the new Xbox One. This is a subject close to my heart and mind, as well as many others. The confusion here lies with the lack of actual real finalized information, but that's not the fault of the people reporting it, it's the fault of the company that can't seem to stay on message.
Here's a step-by-step synopsis of how these things are supposedly going to work:
1: You buy a shiny new game, most likely Call of Duty Ghosts, since that's... yeah. Whatever. You push it into that slot-loading drive. It begins to install the game itself to the internal HDD.
Personally, I'm fine with this. Installing games for consoles isn't really a new thing, and you can supposedly play them as they are installing. Storage space is an issue, of course, but 500GB is decent by console standards. As long as you can delete game data off of it, it shouldn't be too big a hassle.
2: As the game is installing, before you can play it, you must enter a one-time activation code that ties that copy of the game to your Xbox Live account. After that, you don't even need the disc itself anymore, just a semi-regular connection to the internet.
I can see the logic behind this, but it's still a bad idea. A majority of the country doesn't have what could be considered "regular internet access," not to mention the crappy ISPs who love to cut access for funsies. Also, DISPOSABLE BLU-RAYS BECAUSE MS CARES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT BUT REALLY NO SERIOUSLY THROW THOSE DAMN THINGS IN THE GARBAGE.
3: Weeks or months later, you decide you are bored with this stupid shooting game. So you (apparently) have a choice: take it in to a Gamestop (or whatever) and trade it in, or (somehow, specifics are non-existent) trade it in digitally over Xbox Live, gaining... some form of reward, maybe.
As you may be aware, this last one is where much of the confusion comes in. If there's a one-time activation code, how can one trade the disc in to a retail shop? How would MS even know that you've done it? And the poor person buying the used copy from said Gamestop: how do they play the game without the activation code? The only thing I can think of is a partnership with retailers (maybe in the form of a "key generator"), but no one's even whispered about anything like that at ALL. All this comes down to is an attack on used game markets and an implementation of some weird DRM.
Another question: say you want to bring that sweet, sweet new Forza game over to a pal's place, play it there? Well there are two options, the primary being you can bring your disc over there and sign in to your account on their device. Not unreasonable, though there's no confirmed limit as to how many consoles you can be simultaneously signed into at any given time (if it even allows more than one, for instance). The other option is somewhat more likely: you lend your disc to the aforementioned buddy, then go about your merry life, eating tacos and (potentially, anyway) having sexual relations. Your buddy puts the game into their console, and is prompted for an activation code. Since he doesn't have one (you already used it, remember?) they are then prompted to pay FULL MSRP (that's the full $60 price tag for those of you not knowing what that term means) if they want to play the game. So they're basically paying full retail price for "renting" a game from a friend. Granted, they get all the "benefits" of ownership of the game: account ties, disc-less play, etc, but if someone is only borrowing to see if they enjoy the game or not, that's not a great way to go about it.
Some of you will cry "That'sh what DEMOSH are for, jerkfacesh," in your whiny, lispy voices, and I would agree with you, but demos are a rare thing these days; developers can't justify the cost of making one (and yes there is a significant cost; it's not just "cutting out" a chunk of the game and wrapping it up) since they don't bring in as much in the way of "extra" sales.
More of you may say "If you want your friend to play it, then you should GO TO THEIR PLACE AND SIGN IN, OR MAYBE GIVE THEM YOUR ACCOUNT PASSWORD." Again, this would make sense, if one was not conscious of how BAD an idea that is. I know you trust your friends and all, but it is really unsafe to do that, with ANY account. If they're devices you own, that's usually alright, as long as you change the passwords regularly. But devices you don't own, or have regular access to should NEVER have your account information saved on them, EVER. Again, NEVER EVER EVER. It's just asking for something to get compromised. It's fairly common sense, which is why it's surprising that Microsoft is encouraging folks to do just that. Wait, did I say surprising? I meant NOT SURPRISING AT ALL.
What if your friend has a console, but for whatever reason - no wi-fi, not enough cables, evil assbutt parents - no regular internet access? No borrowed (or whatever) gaming for you, my friend. That means you'd have to bring your friend to your own place. Not a terrible idea, but not always a viable one. You might have to share the aforementioned tacos or sexual relations, which is... just... not a fun afternoon.
A lot of these confusions and contradictions would be disrupted if Microsoft would just come out and actually say what the actual deal is. Instead, they let people just say things, and instead of clarifying, they fire off a "we'll talk more about that later" brush-off. Not smart, especially in this day and age of Twitter, Facebook, and, well, the goddamned Internet. People have been asking about this stuff, specifically, for months. If Microsoft didn't have a clear answer to give, then they should've waitied to announce until they did. Giving incomplete information, especially when the missing info is what most people actually want to know about, is just bad PR. Ask Sony. Their conference was mostly well set up, had good solid info, and a pretty clear message after the fact, but lots of people went "DURR WHERE'S THE BOX HUUUR."
Not surprisingly, none of this stuff was covered in the reveal event itself. Adam Sessler even tweeted that the enthusiasm at the event was a little disingenuous. It served the purpose of getting the core of the hardware specs (mostly) out into the public, showing off the interesting (but frankly fluff) TV controlling and multitasking features, and the media hub stuff. Games were almost an afterthought; games themselves weren't mentioned until over half an hour into the conference. And the ones they showed... weren't great.
It seems obvious to me that they stuck to the stuff that sells well on Xbox consoles: EA Sports stuff, Forza, and Call of Duty. Aside from Halo (which did get a bit of a mention in the form of a TV show) those are probably the most visible names Xbox has to offer (Gears of War notwithstanding). It's a clear strategy, but not a very exciting one, particularly for core gamers, who are typically looking for new stuff to consume fairly regularly. This particular "reveal" strategy focused on franchised that both A) are annual and B) sell well across most demographics. The result is that this "new" machine feels almost exactly like the old one, in terms of gaming, which is what the majority of folks are going to buy it for. Sony at least tried; in fact, most of their games announcements (which were touched on early with demos and lasted the majority of the conference) were new IPs. Microsoft announced that they were working on 15 exclusive Xbox One games, 8 of which were new IPs, but they were nowhere to be seen, aside from a thoroughly confusing trailer for Quantum Break. If they're all going to be released within the next 12 months, today would've been the perfect time to announce or tease them. As a result, the conference (and by extension, maybe the console itself) felt rushed and incomplete.
Most of what's going to decide the validity of these systems is going to depend on their respective showings at E3. With games being the core of that convention in general, it'll be a decent opportunity for more information, clarification, and actual games to get shown off. (Or, in Sony's case, an actual console box thingy.) Sony has a lot to prove given their rough start with the PS3, but with their changing attitudes and focus on actual gaming features, they're in a better position than Microsoft is right now in the "battle" for core gamers. Microsoft is in Sony's position from last gen - the clear winner of this last generation, going into the next with more than a little smugness and "we can do whatever the fuck we want" attitude. If they're not careful, they'll end up where Sony was this last gen, too: fighting hard for second place. (Wait, they're going up against the Wii U? Nevermind. Second place is pretty much a given.)
Here's a step-by-step synopsis of how these things are supposedly going to work:
1: You buy a shiny new game, most likely Call of Duty Ghosts, since that's... yeah. Whatever. You push it into that slot-loading drive. It begins to install the game itself to the internal HDD.
Personally, I'm fine with this. Installing games for consoles isn't really a new thing, and you can supposedly play them as they are installing. Storage space is an issue, of course, but 500GB is decent by console standards. As long as you can delete game data off of it, it shouldn't be too big a hassle.
2: As the game is installing, before you can play it, you must enter a one-time activation code that ties that copy of the game to your Xbox Live account. After that, you don't even need the disc itself anymore, just a semi-regular connection to the internet.
I can see the logic behind this, but it's still a bad idea. A majority of the country doesn't have what could be considered "regular internet access," not to mention the crappy ISPs who love to cut access for funsies. Also, DISPOSABLE BLU-RAYS BECAUSE MS CARES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT BUT REALLY NO SERIOUSLY THROW THOSE DAMN THINGS IN THE GARBAGE.
3: Weeks or months later, you decide you are bored with this stupid shooting game. So you (apparently) have a choice: take it in to a Gamestop (or whatever) and trade it in, or (somehow, specifics are non-existent) trade it in digitally over Xbox Live, gaining... some form of reward, maybe.
As you may be aware, this last one is where much of the confusion comes in. If there's a one-time activation code, how can one trade the disc in to a retail shop? How would MS even know that you've done it? And the poor person buying the used copy from said Gamestop: how do they play the game without the activation code? The only thing I can think of is a partnership with retailers (maybe in the form of a "key generator"), but no one's even whispered about anything like that at ALL. All this comes down to is an attack on used game markets and an implementation of some weird DRM.
Another question: say you want to bring that sweet, sweet new Forza game over to a pal's place, play it there? Well there are two options, the primary being you can bring your disc over there and sign in to your account on their device. Not unreasonable, though there's no confirmed limit as to how many consoles you can be simultaneously signed into at any given time (if it even allows more than one, for instance). The other option is somewhat more likely: you lend your disc to the aforementioned buddy, then go about your merry life, eating tacos and (potentially, anyway) having sexual relations. Your buddy puts the game into their console, and is prompted for an activation code. Since he doesn't have one (you already used it, remember?) they are then prompted to pay FULL MSRP (that's the full $60 price tag for those of you not knowing what that term means) if they want to play the game. So they're basically paying full retail price for "renting" a game from a friend. Granted, they get all the "benefits" of ownership of the game: account ties, disc-less play, etc, but if someone is only borrowing to see if they enjoy the game or not, that's not a great way to go about it.
Some of you will cry "That'sh what DEMOSH are for, jerkfacesh," in your whiny, lispy voices, and I would agree with you, but demos are a rare thing these days; developers can't justify the cost of making one (and yes there is a significant cost; it's not just "cutting out" a chunk of the game and wrapping it up) since they don't bring in as much in the way of "extra" sales.
More of you may say "If you want your friend to play it, then you should GO TO THEIR PLACE AND SIGN IN, OR MAYBE GIVE THEM YOUR ACCOUNT PASSWORD." Again, this would make sense, if one was not conscious of how BAD an idea that is. I know you trust your friends and all, but it is really unsafe to do that, with ANY account. If they're devices you own, that's usually alright, as long as you change the passwords regularly. But devices you don't own, or have regular access to should NEVER have your account information saved on them, EVER. Again, NEVER EVER EVER. It's just asking for something to get compromised. It's fairly common sense, which is why it's surprising that Microsoft is encouraging folks to do just that. Wait, did I say surprising? I meant NOT SURPRISING AT ALL.
What if your friend has a console, but for whatever reason - no wi-fi, not enough cables, evil assbutt parents - no regular internet access? No borrowed (or whatever) gaming for you, my friend. That means you'd have to bring your friend to your own place. Not a terrible idea, but not always a viable one. You might have to share the aforementioned tacos or sexual relations, which is... just... not a fun afternoon.
A lot of these confusions and contradictions would be disrupted if Microsoft would just come out and actually say what the actual deal is. Instead, they let people just say things, and instead of clarifying, they fire off a "we'll talk more about that later" brush-off. Not smart, especially in this day and age of Twitter, Facebook, and, well, the goddamned Internet. People have been asking about this stuff, specifically, for months. If Microsoft didn't have a clear answer to give, then they should've waitied to announce until they did. Giving incomplete information, especially when the missing info is what most people actually want to know about, is just bad PR. Ask Sony. Their conference was mostly well set up, had good solid info, and a pretty clear message after the fact, but lots of people went "DURR WHERE'S THE BOX HUUUR."
Not surprisingly, none of this stuff was covered in the reveal event itself. Adam Sessler even tweeted that the enthusiasm at the event was a little disingenuous. It served the purpose of getting the core of the hardware specs (mostly) out into the public, showing off the interesting (but frankly fluff) TV controlling and multitasking features, and the media hub stuff. Games were almost an afterthought; games themselves weren't mentioned until over half an hour into the conference. And the ones they showed... weren't great.
It seems obvious to me that they stuck to the stuff that sells well on Xbox consoles: EA Sports stuff, Forza, and Call of Duty. Aside from Halo (which did get a bit of a mention in the form of a TV show) those are probably the most visible names Xbox has to offer (Gears of War notwithstanding). It's a clear strategy, but not a very exciting one, particularly for core gamers, who are typically looking for new stuff to consume fairly regularly. This particular "reveal" strategy focused on franchised that both A) are annual and B) sell well across most demographics. The result is that this "new" machine feels almost exactly like the old one, in terms of gaming, which is what the majority of folks are going to buy it for. Sony at least tried; in fact, most of their games announcements (which were touched on early with demos and lasted the majority of the conference) were new IPs. Microsoft announced that they were working on 15 exclusive Xbox One games, 8 of which were new IPs, but they were nowhere to be seen, aside from a thoroughly confusing trailer for Quantum Break. If they're all going to be released within the next 12 months, today would've been the perfect time to announce or tease them. As a result, the conference (and by extension, maybe the console itself) felt rushed and incomplete.
Most of what's going to decide the validity of these systems is going to depend on their respective showings at E3. With games being the core of that convention in general, it'll be a decent opportunity for more information, clarification, and actual games to get shown off. (Or, in Sony's case, an actual console box thingy.) Sony has a lot to prove given their rough start with the PS3, but with their changing attitudes and focus on actual gaming features, they're in a better position than Microsoft is right now in the "battle" for core gamers. Microsoft is in Sony's position from last gen - the clear winner of this last generation, going into the next with more than a little smugness and "we can do whatever the fuck we want" attitude. If they're not careful, they'll end up where Sony was this last gen, too: fighting hard for second place. (Wait, they're going up against the Wii U? Nevermind. Second place is pretty much a given.)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Skyfall is basically Dark Knight with a bit of DKR in there too.
NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD. WARNED.
Movies are a tough thing for me to see, given my situation, so when the opportunity comes along to catch something good, under whatever circumstances, I grab at it. Skyfall was a great film, but had been slightly colored by the fanfare prior to my viewing, the more common remark being "it's basically this new Bond's Dark Knight." A telling statement, that.
What does a description like that implicate? To me, it is mainly defined by a few factors.
1) A villain who - while certainly quite deranged, sinister, clever, and ruthless - is also surprisingly likeable, mainly due to the actors portraying them. Dark Knight had the wonderful Heath Ledger, while Skyfall gets the equally wonderful Jarvier Bardem, who dives into "Silva" beautifully, even going so far as to actually wear a set of false teeth over his own to simulate how a mouthpiece (such as one used by his character in the film) would alter a person's voice. Creepy, devious, and almost always one step ahead, my only real nitpick is that we never really see how his hand-to-hand skills compare to Bond's, especially given that he's touted as Bond's predecessor, of a fashion. In the film he comes of as a brilliant planner, great with a gun, and honestly believes he's untouchable, which makes his rare looks of surprise much more valuable. His motivations are a bit one-dimensional - basically a fairly standard revenge plot - but that doesn't diminish Bardem's presence as a genuine threat.
2) A plot involving the villain knowing the ins and outs of who he's up against, while doing a fairly decent job of keeping his own methods and machinations out of the eyes of his adversaries. This usually does involve the "planned" capture of said villain, who then proceeds to demolish or otherwise diminish the protagonists' abilities, then cleverly escaping. It also tends to include the destruction (and subsequent moving or rebuilding elsewhere) of the protagonists' main headquarters or home. (Though in Batman's case, the demolishing of Wayne Manor happened in Batman Begins, with the new "basement cave" thing popping up in Dark Knight.) It's interesting that this is now a "thing" that movies do, and it isn't always done right. Skyfall's attempt is admirable, and certainly unique in places, but it does somewhat feel like it's just going with the proverbial flow. (This also worries me about Star Trek Into Darkness.)
3) An ending that drastically changes the status quo for the characters moving forward into the next installments. With the death of Dame Judi Dench's "M," it falls to Ralph Fiennes to take the mantle and run with it, basically bringing this version of Bond to a place similar to where the other iterations of the character lived for so long. Dark Knight did this by making Batman a fugitive, which he hadn't really been up to that point in the "Nolanverse," but in terms of the comics he has been for many years, through most iterations. In Skyfall, this is further qualified by the introductions of two other characters: Moneypenny and "Q." Both long-time franchise stalwarts, bringing them into the fold in the third movie of this "new" franchise sends a clear message that THIS IS A REBOOT PEOPLE. Given how the series has gone so far, it's doubtful that things are ever going to "go back to normal," at least in terms of the formula that the older Bond movies followed fairly tightly.
And for those confused about the concept of a "reboot," it means just that: fresh start, all stats back to zero. This series is NOT a prequel to the other flicks. They DID keep Dench on from her Brosnan days, but honestly I couldn't see anyone else doing that role; she did it so well, they decided to potentially destroy all credibility concerning the reboot to keep her. Basically, they almost broke the Bond universe to keep Judi Dench on their cast. And honestly, who wouldn't?
I do find it interesting that it took them 3 movies to firmly establish that this is a reboot. Things such as showing where Bond grew up hit this home hard. One of the big rumors (not helped by the continued casting of Dench) is that there is no "real" James Bond; that the name is a codename given to anyone who takes over the "007" designation after the previous agent assigned to it dies (or is killed in the line of duty, as is more likely given the job itself). But here we visit the family manor. The old groundskeeper (who is curiously quite good at killing armed secret agent types) calls him by the name "James Bond." The father's gun is stamped "AB," and the parents' grave has the clear inscription of "Andrew Bond." So, it's settled. James Bond is his actual name. Now, when another actor takes over (sadly, Craig has got maybe 2 more in him, I think) that may change. But for now, this is clearly the beginning (or third beginning, whatever) of a redesigned continuity. Star Trek did it, as did Batman, with Superman coming up. Why can't 007?
Other, more singular thoughts as follows:
The New "Q" - Ben Wishaw does a great job capturing the dry, superior wit that "Q" needs to have, while making it clear that his genius with a computer or gadgetry is countermanded by his nearly zero experience with field work, or field agents in general. I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop this character beyond the old-school "Here's your stuff, now bring it back in one piece" bit that gets referenced in his first scene. (Though his line about exploding pens is genius - itself a reference to Goldeneye, considered by many to be Bond's first "reboot," and basically a great big middle finger to those who want the wacky gadgets to come back.)
Moneypenny - I honestly don't care that she's black, so let's not mention that again. Established up front as a middling quality field agent (she did accidentally shoot Bond in a critical moment) she pops up a few times to kindle interest in Bond, help out in a pinch, and finally basically "retires" to desk duty as... the new "M's" secretary. Some things never change. Though I'm interested to see where they go with her, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets relegated to just the occasional flirtation and over-the-radio intel gathering.
Less Hand-to-Hand - Casino Royale had a few great hand-to-hand combat scenes, but there are very few in Skyfall. Lots of focus on chase sequences, gunplay, and vehicular carnage, but the few instances in which Bond gets up in someone's face are short, and brutal. That might've been their focus, or even Bond's focus, this time around: hand-to-hand needs to be quick and effective, so one can move on from it in as little time as possible.
Crippling the Hero - Another Batman comparison comes from Dark Knight Rises; the crippling (or near enough) of the hero, so their recovery is more important as the story goes on. In DKR, Batman gets crippled nearly halfway through the flick; Skyfall does it at the end of the first chase sequence, not even 15 minutes in. Most of the movie he spends recovering, both mentally and physically, while trying to find / fight this new threat, bigger than most he's seen up until now. It's an interesting dynamic, and handled well enough, it's just one of those "trilogy" things that happens sometimes; take away (or limit access to) the thing that makes the hero "special" so we can see how they do without it, thereby making them a better person. We'll see.
Overall, it was a great movie, worthy of the box office receipts it earned. It basically made "Avengers money" (formerly known as "Dark Knight money") and it deserved it. You can tell they worked hard to make this a unique entry in the series, especially since Quantum of Solace seemed kinda "by the numbers," a worrying sign for a rebooted franchise. So, hope renewed, I eagerly await the next one. It'll be interesting how these "new, yet old" elements will fit with the new direction that the character (and series) are going.
Movies are a tough thing for me to see, given my situation, so when the opportunity comes along to catch something good, under whatever circumstances, I grab at it. Skyfall was a great film, but had been slightly colored by the fanfare prior to my viewing, the more common remark being "it's basically this new Bond's Dark Knight." A telling statement, that.
What does a description like that implicate? To me, it is mainly defined by a few factors.
1) A villain who - while certainly quite deranged, sinister, clever, and ruthless - is also surprisingly likeable, mainly due to the actors portraying them. Dark Knight had the wonderful Heath Ledger, while Skyfall gets the equally wonderful Jarvier Bardem, who dives into "Silva" beautifully, even going so far as to actually wear a set of false teeth over his own to simulate how a mouthpiece (such as one used by his character in the film) would alter a person's voice. Creepy, devious, and almost always one step ahead, my only real nitpick is that we never really see how his hand-to-hand skills compare to Bond's, especially given that he's touted as Bond's predecessor, of a fashion. In the film he comes of as a brilliant planner, great with a gun, and honestly believes he's untouchable, which makes his rare looks of surprise much more valuable. His motivations are a bit one-dimensional - basically a fairly standard revenge plot - but that doesn't diminish Bardem's presence as a genuine threat.
2) A plot involving the villain knowing the ins and outs of who he's up against, while doing a fairly decent job of keeping his own methods and machinations out of the eyes of his adversaries. This usually does involve the "planned" capture of said villain, who then proceeds to demolish or otherwise diminish the protagonists' abilities, then cleverly escaping. It also tends to include the destruction (and subsequent moving or rebuilding elsewhere) of the protagonists' main headquarters or home. (Though in Batman's case, the demolishing of Wayne Manor happened in Batman Begins, with the new "basement cave" thing popping up in Dark Knight.) It's interesting that this is now a "thing" that movies do, and it isn't always done right. Skyfall's attempt is admirable, and certainly unique in places, but it does somewhat feel like it's just going with the proverbial flow. (This also worries me about Star Trek Into Darkness.)
3) An ending that drastically changes the status quo for the characters moving forward into the next installments. With the death of Dame Judi Dench's "M," it falls to Ralph Fiennes to take the mantle and run with it, basically bringing this version of Bond to a place similar to where the other iterations of the character lived for so long. Dark Knight did this by making Batman a fugitive, which he hadn't really been up to that point in the "Nolanverse," but in terms of the comics he has been for many years, through most iterations. In Skyfall, this is further qualified by the introductions of two other characters: Moneypenny and "Q." Both long-time franchise stalwarts, bringing them into the fold in the third movie of this "new" franchise sends a clear message that THIS IS A REBOOT PEOPLE. Given how the series has gone so far, it's doubtful that things are ever going to "go back to normal," at least in terms of the formula that the older Bond movies followed fairly tightly.
And for those confused about the concept of a "reboot," it means just that: fresh start, all stats back to zero. This series is NOT a prequel to the other flicks. They DID keep Dench on from her Brosnan days, but honestly I couldn't see anyone else doing that role; she did it so well, they decided to potentially destroy all credibility concerning the reboot to keep her. Basically, they almost broke the Bond universe to keep Judi Dench on their cast. And honestly, who wouldn't?
I do find it interesting that it took them 3 movies to firmly establish that this is a reboot. Things such as showing where Bond grew up hit this home hard. One of the big rumors (not helped by the continued casting of Dench) is that there is no "real" James Bond; that the name is a codename given to anyone who takes over the "007" designation after the previous agent assigned to it dies (or is killed in the line of duty, as is more likely given the job itself). But here we visit the family manor. The old groundskeeper (who is curiously quite good at killing armed secret agent types) calls him by the name "James Bond." The father's gun is stamped "AB," and the parents' grave has the clear inscription of "Andrew Bond." So, it's settled. James Bond is his actual name. Now, when another actor takes over (sadly, Craig has got maybe 2 more in him, I think) that may change. But for now, this is clearly the beginning (or third beginning, whatever) of a redesigned continuity. Star Trek did it, as did Batman, with Superman coming up. Why can't 007?
Other, more singular thoughts as follows:
The New "Q" - Ben Wishaw does a great job capturing the dry, superior wit that "Q" needs to have, while making it clear that his genius with a computer or gadgetry is countermanded by his nearly zero experience with field work, or field agents in general. I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop this character beyond the old-school "Here's your stuff, now bring it back in one piece" bit that gets referenced in his first scene. (Though his line about exploding pens is genius - itself a reference to Goldeneye, considered by many to be Bond's first "reboot," and basically a great big middle finger to those who want the wacky gadgets to come back.)
Moneypenny - I honestly don't care that she's black, so let's not mention that again. Established up front as a middling quality field agent (she did accidentally shoot Bond in a critical moment) she pops up a few times to kindle interest in Bond, help out in a pinch, and finally basically "retires" to desk duty as... the new "M's" secretary. Some things never change. Though I'm interested to see where they go with her, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets relegated to just the occasional flirtation and over-the-radio intel gathering.
Less Hand-to-Hand - Casino Royale had a few great hand-to-hand combat scenes, but there are very few in Skyfall. Lots of focus on chase sequences, gunplay, and vehicular carnage, but the few instances in which Bond gets up in someone's face are short, and brutal. That might've been their focus, or even Bond's focus, this time around: hand-to-hand needs to be quick and effective, so one can move on from it in as little time as possible.
Crippling the Hero - Another Batman comparison comes from Dark Knight Rises; the crippling (or near enough) of the hero, so their recovery is more important as the story goes on. In DKR, Batman gets crippled nearly halfway through the flick; Skyfall does it at the end of the first chase sequence, not even 15 minutes in. Most of the movie he spends recovering, both mentally and physically, while trying to find / fight this new threat, bigger than most he's seen up until now. It's an interesting dynamic, and handled well enough, it's just one of those "trilogy" things that happens sometimes; take away (or limit access to) the thing that makes the hero "special" so we can see how they do without it, thereby making them a better person. We'll see.
Overall, it was a great movie, worthy of the box office receipts it earned. It basically made "Avengers money" (formerly known as "Dark Knight money") and it deserved it. You can tell they worked hard to make this a unique entry in the series, especially since Quantum of Solace seemed kinda "by the numbers," a worrying sign for a rebooted franchise. So, hope renewed, I eagerly await the next one. It'll be interesting how these "new, yet old" elements will fit with the new direction that the character (and series) are going.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
RECENT THINGS
Alright, things to talk about...
Borderlands 2 - I burned out fairly quickly on the first Borderlands, honestly. The story dragged for a few too many hours, taking forever to get anywhere interesting, and the sense of humor it was trying to push on me had very few redeeming moments. ("Also he has three balls" is priceless.) The core gameplay concept I found very interesting: a shooter-rpg (fairly rare) with randomly generated weapons numbering in the millions (literally) and a heavy emphasis on co-op play. A great mix, though maybe not executed as well as one could have hoped. Seeing the same 3 or 4 areas over and over again covering almost a dozen hours pushed my patience to the limits, and I eventually dropped it. A crappy PC interface didn't help things. So, when a sequel was announced, I held my breath until I saw who was writing it: none other than Anthony Burch, former game journalist, comedy writer, web show creator, and all around smart guy, particularly when it comes to storytelling. As soon as he said he took a lot of influence, tone-wise, from Firefly, I knew the story was in good hands, so I kept a look out for changes to gameplay. Again, good things flooded my ear-holes: more varied designs for areas and enemies, better checkpoints for fast travel, even more guns, and PC options and interfaces that didn't suck. All seemed well. And it is. BL2 is a great time, both online and off, with some interesting characters, great (but smart) humor, and lots and lots of explosions of various kinds, it's taking about half of my free time. Which leads me to...
XCOM: Enemy Unknown -I must confess, I had very little experience with the X-COM series prior to this game. I had played a little bit of one of them, and was turned off by the "complexity for the sake of complexity because challenge" mentality of it. I like turn based strategy, as long as it's done well, a la Civilization. Seeing the videos of this new game (alongside the troubled 2K shooter) intrigued me, and the way they marketed it (basically having the devs just flat-out play the game with folks) was a good move. After sinking many hours and a couple attempted playthroughs, I can say that it's among the best games of this year. It's deep without being offensive to the brain. It's challenging and terrifying in subtle ways, and the unique experience of having a whole squad (named after friends and family) decimated is a mix of emotions one needs to experience.
Borderlands 2 - I burned out fairly quickly on the first Borderlands, honestly. The story dragged for a few too many hours, taking forever to get anywhere interesting, and the sense of humor it was trying to push on me had very few redeeming moments. ("Also he has three balls" is priceless.) The core gameplay concept I found very interesting: a shooter-rpg (fairly rare) with randomly generated weapons numbering in the millions (literally) and a heavy emphasis on co-op play. A great mix, though maybe not executed as well as one could have hoped. Seeing the same 3 or 4 areas over and over again covering almost a dozen hours pushed my patience to the limits, and I eventually dropped it. A crappy PC interface didn't help things. So, when a sequel was announced, I held my breath until I saw who was writing it: none other than Anthony Burch, former game journalist, comedy writer, web show creator, and all around smart guy, particularly when it comes to storytelling. As soon as he said he took a lot of influence, tone-wise, from Firefly, I knew the story was in good hands, so I kept a look out for changes to gameplay. Again, good things flooded my ear-holes: more varied designs for areas and enemies, better checkpoints for fast travel, even more guns, and PC options and interfaces that didn't suck. All seemed well. And it is. BL2 is a great time, both online and off, with some interesting characters, great (but smart) humor, and lots and lots of explosions of various kinds, it's taking about half of my free time. Which leads me to...
XCOM: Enemy Unknown -I must confess, I had very little experience with the X-COM series prior to this game. I had played a little bit of one of them, and was turned off by the "complexity for the sake of complexity because challenge" mentality of it. I like turn based strategy, as long as it's done well, a la Civilization. Seeing the videos of this new game (alongside the troubled 2K shooter) intrigued me, and the way they marketed it (basically having the devs just flat-out play the game with folks) was a good move. After sinking many hours and a couple attempted playthroughs, I can say that it's among the best games of this year. It's deep without being offensive to the brain. It's challenging and terrifying in subtle ways, and the unique experience of having a whole squad (named after friends and family) decimated is a mix of emotions one needs to experience.
Monday, July 16, 2012
FRUSTRATION.
Gaming isn't all fun and games. (Get it?)
Buying and playing games used to be a lot easier. Or at least that's my memory of it. My earlier experiences involved console gaming, starting with the NES. I also had experiences with the Genesis, Game Boy, and even a Game Gear. Consoles being what they are, it was never super complex of a process to acquire a game. Go to most any store, plunk down some cash. Playing it was even easier: plug game into console, turn on said console. As I got older, I found myself desiring a bit more out of my gaming experiences, so I starting splitting time between consoles and PC gaming. Definitely more complex and involving, PC gaming tended to give richer experiences that consoles couldn't really emulate. The drawback is that they can sometimes take some extra maintenance and effort to make them work optimally.
The Internet changed a lot of things, few more dramatically than games. Consoles were suddenly able to handle such things as online multiplayer games and patches, which then evolved into downloadable content and even entire games delivered via the internet. PC gaming evolved around the same lines, though slightly ahead of consoles in terms of online features. Then publishers conjured something interesting: online DRM. This is basically part of the software that "checks in" with a server owned and controlled by said publisher. This is mainly used as a way to make sure that the software that's being used has been genuinely bought and paid for, and is otherwise un-molested. It started with simple, one-time checks upon installation, moved on into installation limits, and finally, into the current era: always-on DRM. Granted, few companies use it, the big two being Ubisoft and Blizzard, currently. Ubisoft puts it (or did, rather, it's difficult to tell) into almost all of their PC games, most notably the extremely popular Assassin's Creed series. Blizzard had an account system in place (similar to Steam) until Diablo 3, where it was implemented to justify the existence of their auction houses.
Here's a couple of recent examples of why this system doesn't work, from personal experience:
Ubisoft: Steam's annual summer sale is in full swing, conveniently falling just after my birthday. One of the games that I hadn't owned yet that I'd been hoping to grab was one of the first to go on sale: Assassin's Creed Revelations. I nabbed it, installed it, and started it up. Ubisoft games require what's known as a UPlay account; an Ubisoft specific account that ties the game you buy to the account, forever linking them so all one has to do in order to play one of their games on just about any computer is log in. With fresh installs, it does a single check to Ubisoft's servers to verify the game key that you entered upon installation. Only I couldn't log in. At all. I figured I had forgotten my password, so I went to Ubisoft's website to log in there, possibly reset my password. But the password I had worked fine on the site. I thought it was a software issue so I ran some integrity tests. All clear. Then I hit the support forums. Turns out that the sudden increase in activity had pretty much knocked out Ubisoft's authentication servers. A few hundred thousand players couldn't log in and activate their games, which meant they couldn't play the games they had recently bought, or previously bought, or any Ubisoft game at all that was tied to that account. A couple days later, the server was back up, but the rage put forth by the community (and myself as well) is another reminder of the flaws behind such forms of DRM. Basically, if one demands or requires that their DRM is "always on," that company is responsible for having those servers being "always on."
Blizzard: This is the one that really pisses me off. For my aforementioned birthday, I was given a copy of Diablo 3. Good times. Like all most current Blizzard games, these require a battle.net account, which I have had for a good long while. These accounts are set up pretty straightforwardly (email address/password) with an "additional security" option being an "authenticator," a little keychain device that syncs up with Blizzard's servers, outputting a code that you enter upon logging into a game. I went into the game to log in, and was kicked back, with a "login / password are not correct" message. Considering I had logged in with the same credentials the day before, this was a ridiculous lie. So I went to Blizzard's site to log in. Same result. Happening to have my e-mail open at the time, I found a message from Blizzard saying that the e-mail address associated with my account had been changed by request. I clicked the suggested link that would bring me to a "I call bullshit" section of the site. There is, however, a problem. Whoever got into my account had changed everything about it. Name. E-mail. Security questions. Password. All gone. The account was still active, but it had been scrubbed clean of all traces of... well, me. This being the case, the online methods of "calling bullshit" are completely invalidated. My only recourse is to call Blizzard's support directly (which, due to scheduling, I won't be able to do until Thursday) and I have a good idea of what they're going to say: "You really need to get an Authenticator." Here's the thing, Blizzard: No I Fucking Don't. I don't put my information onto your site so I can keep track of it. Once it's on your site, that's your job now. I shouldn't need to buy a stupid little keychain to keep my info secure; that's your responsibility. I know that Blizzard gets hacked and phished a lot, but I'm more careful than most folks; I'm 99% sure this is not something that's my fault. I'm hoping this can get resolved soon, but this really shakes my faith in Blizzard as a developer.
So, ranty rant rant. Basically, I want games to be on Steam. Is that too much to ask? Their security is super tight, it's unobtrusive, and the client is a joy to use. WHY, GAMING, WHY.
Buying and playing games used to be a lot easier. Or at least that's my memory of it. My earlier experiences involved console gaming, starting with the NES. I also had experiences with the Genesis, Game Boy, and even a Game Gear. Consoles being what they are, it was never super complex of a process to acquire a game. Go to most any store, plunk down some cash. Playing it was even easier: plug game into console, turn on said console. As I got older, I found myself desiring a bit more out of my gaming experiences, so I starting splitting time between consoles and PC gaming. Definitely more complex and involving, PC gaming tended to give richer experiences that consoles couldn't really emulate. The drawback is that they can sometimes take some extra maintenance and effort to make them work optimally.
The Internet changed a lot of things, few more dramatically than games. Consoles were suddenly able to handle such things as online multiplayer games and patches, which then evolved into downloadable content and even entire games delivered via the internet. PC gaming evolved around the same lines, though slightly ahead of consoles in terms of online features. Then publishers conjured something interesting: online DRM. This is basically part of the software that "checks in" with a server owned and controlled by said publisher. This is mainly used as a way to make sure that the software that's being used has been genuinely bought and paid for, and is otherwise un-molested. It started with simple, one-time checks upon installation, moved on into installation limits, and finally, into the current era: always-on DRM. Granted, few companies use it, the big two being Ubisoft and Blizzard, currently. Ubisoft puts it (or did, rather, it's difficult to tell) into almost all of their PC games, most notably the extremely popular Assassin's Creed series. Blizzard had an account system in place (similar to Steam) until Diablo 3, where it was implemented to justify the existence of their auction houses.
Here's a couple of recent examples of why this system doesn't work, from personal experience:
Ubisoft: Steam's annual summer sale is in full swing, conveniently falling just after my birthday. One of the games that I hadn't owned yet that I'd been hoping to grab was one of the first to go on sale: Assassin's Creed Revelations. I nabbed it, installed it, and started it up. Ubisoft games require what's known as a UPlay account; an Ubisoft specific account that ties the game you buy to the account, forever linking them so all one has to do in order to play one of their games on just about any computer is log in. With fresh installs, it does a single check to Ubisoft's servers to verify the game key that you entered upon installation. Only I couldn't log in. At all. I figured I had forgotten my password, so I went to Ubisoft's website to log in there, possibly reset my password. But the password I had worked fine on the site. I thought it was a software issue so I ran some integrity tests. All clear. Then I hit the support forums. Turns out that the sudden increase in activity had pretty much knocked out Ubisoft's authentication servers. A few hundred thousand players couldn't log in and activate their games, which meant they couldn't play the games they had recently bought, or previously bought, or any Ubisoft game at all that was tied to that account. A couple days later, the server was back up, but the rage put forth by the community (and myself as well) is another reminder of the flaws behind such forms of DRM. Basically, if one demands or requires that their DRM is "always on," that company is responsible for having those servers being "always on."
Blizzard: This is the one that really pisses me off. For my aforementioned birthday, I was given a copy of Diablo 3. Good times. Like all most current Blizzard games, these require a battle.net account, which I have had for a good long while. These accounts are set up pretty straightforwardly (email address/password) with an "additional security" option being an "authenticator," a little keychain device that syncs up with Blizzard's servers, outputting a code that you enter upon logging into a game. I went into the game to log in, and was kicked back, with a "login / password are not correct" message. Considering I had logged in with the same credentials the day before, this was a ridiculous lie. So I went to Blizzard's site to log in. Same result. Happening to have my e-mail open at the time, I found a message from Blizzard saying that the e-mail address associated with my account had been changed by request. I clicked the suggested link that would bring me to a "I call bullshit" section of the site. There is, however, a problem. Whoever got into my account had changed everything about it. Name. E-mail. Security questions. Password. All gone. The account was still active, but it had been scrubbed clean of all traces of... well, me. This being the case, the online methods of "calling bullshit" are completely invalidated. My only recourse is to call Blizzard's support directly (which, due to scheduling, I won't be able to do until Thursday) and I have a good idea of what they're going to say: "You really need to get an Authenticator." Here's the thing, Blizzard: No I Fucking Don't. I don't put my information onto your site so I can keep track of it. Once it's on your site, that's your job now. I shouldn't need to buy a stupid little keychain to keep my info secure; that's your responsibility. I know that Blizzard gets hacked and phished a lot, but I'm more careful than most folks; I'm 99% sure this is not something that's my fault. I'm hoping this can get resolved soon, but this really shakes my faith in Blizzard as a developer.
So, ranty rant rant. Basically, I want games to be on Steam. Is that too much to ask? Their security is super tight, it's unobtrusive, and the client is a joy to use. WHY, GAMING, WHY.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Shop Concepts/Ideas - Miscellaneous
Some of you may know that I'm planning to open a custom computer /
gaming center shop here in Fairbanks. If you didn't know that... well,
there it is. In keeping with my weird brain ideas about such things,
it's helpful to gauge public opinion. I realize that my "audience" here
(or on FB, twitter,
etc.) isn't huge, and may not reach the majority of folks I'd like it
to reach. So sharing this post with friends or other interested parties
would be greatly appreciated, especially if one lives in the Fairbanks
area, and even if you don't, opinions are always appreciated. That
being said, I'd like to have some of these ideas down on (non-existent)
paper, if for nothing else than to see how they look outside my head.
Miscellaneous
This is going to be a bit of a "catch-all" post, as there are ideas that have come up since the other posts went up, or I feel that some points or ideas may need clarification and/or expansion. To get these points across, I'm just going to basically dump them into this post instead of updating and re-sharing the older ones, because laziness. There may also be mild ranting.
UPDATE: One thing I did forget to mention was having a table set up for tabletop gaming, ranging from CCGs, (Magic, etc.) Board Games, grid-based games, (Warhammer and it's ilk) as well as RPGs. (Dungeons and Dragons, for example.) I wouldn't charge for use of these, mainly because the one place in town that also does this doesn't charge; nor should they. They would, of course, need to bring their own materials, (books, paper, etc.) but I'm fully willing to sell snacks and the like. If a group would like their session recorded, however, I would charge an hourly fee for "equipment usage." (Since I'd already have the equipment needed from the computer videos and the podcasts. See? SYNERGY.) These could also go up onto YouTube or into the weekly podcast feed as a sort of "bonus" episode.
One of the first ideas I had about the shop was having an iPad as a kind of multi-tool, mainly in terms of the computer shop. The obvious usage would be as a veritable library of tech manuals, guides, and other useful texts, which would come in handy in both the building and repairing aspects. However, another potential use has just recently become technologically sound: mobile checkout. The Point-of-Sale software I'm planning to use for the computer shop (yes, there will be multiple POS systems; sadly, it's unavoidable, but I can make it work) has a companion iPad/iPhone app, that can access the main "server" of my store from pretty much anywhere. This means if I'm doing a field repair, (yes, I'm offering that as an option) when I finish up, I can generate an invoice and take a credit card payment, then e-mail a receipt to the customer, without having to go back to the store to finalize anything. It also means I can generate repair orders, quotes for custom systems, and create temporary inventory orders on the go.
Some concern was raised about the custom "walkthrough" videos for the computer shop, mainly consisting of : "Isn't that showing off a trade secret?" or somethingstupid weird like that. As I mentioned in the post, YouTube has tons of videos made in the same vein: some instructional, some are more professional, some are showing off. Most of them are pretty dry, no offense to the folks making them, and it's understandable why: its a highly technical subject, so it's hard to figure a way to make something like that informative as well as entertaining. A couple guys do it fairly well, but for the most part it's blank faces saying words that only a fairly low percentage of people will fully understand. So, building computers isn't a trade secret. Honestly, it's not an extremely difficult thing to do. I liken the "self-building" experience to going to a restaurant: of course you can buy the food and prepare it yourself, but chances are, unless you've had some form of training (self or otherwise) it's not going to be anywhere close to the same as having that same meal prepared by a professional. So while it's not a secret, building a computer does take a fair amount of skill, training, and preparation. (Not to mention patience and more than a little in the guts department. Also steady hands are a big plus.) Why else do companies like Dell, HP, and Acer exist?
To add another spin to the videos, I'm going to relate things back to my Community post. Typically, when one buys a computer (especially a branded pre-built one) they don't have any real connection to the device. It's a tool, nothing more. Even if you customize the specs a bit, custom order it, the process still feels all you're doing is exchanging money for a thing you'll use to do more work. (Or play games, or whatever.) Because that's all you're doing. Even buying a custom made system (not a branded one) can be a fairly benign experience, because there's no real customer involvement, aside from giving specs (or a general idea of what they want it to do) and paying for it. The idea behind these videos is to help the customer feel more involved in the building process, even if only tangentially. By speaking directly to a customer through these videos, they can feel more connected to their system, making it more than "just" a tool or device; it's a part of their lives, one that they had a hand in.
Another clarification has to do with the gaming shop, and whether or not it will be pre-paid or post-paid. Both methods have their advantages, but for the sake of simplicity (not to mention security) I've chosen to go with pre-paid. It saves from hassles like having a card declined or "accidentally" forgetting a wallet or cash, as well as keeping sneaky or opportunistic individuals from "skipping on the bill," as it were. Doesn't take much; a phone call, a conversation, a smoke break, whatever, and someone could be able to take off without paying what they owe the store for the time they've spent. This also gives customers a bit more control over how much they spend; by planning ahead, they can choose how much they plan to use in any given day, week, whatever. The "cafe" software will give them advance notice as to when they're almost out of time, so if they're coming up to the end of their purchased time, they can purchase more to keep their session going. I may use post-paid on a case-by-case basis, such as if someone who has a good established record (and who I have some amount of trust in) wants to play for a couple hours, but doesn't get paid until the next day, I may consider letting them pay by the end of the current week. In cases like this, I'll also take down some contact information, so I can annoyingly inquire as to when I'd be expecting them to come back in. After that week of waiting, I can "suspend" their account until they come back in, as well as letting other similar places know about the incident.
While I'd like to think I've got a lot of things figured out in regards to this endeavor, there are a great many things that I'm still up in the air about, or need suggestions for:
Miscellaneous
This is going to be a bit of a "catch-all" post, as there are ideas that have come up since the other posts went up, or I feel that some points or ideas may need clarification and/or expansion. To get these points across, I'm just going to basically dump them into this post instead of updating and re-sharing the older ones, because laziness. There may also be mild ranting.
UPDATE: One thing I did forget to mention was having a table set up for tabletop gaming, ranging from CCGs, (Magic, etc.) Board Games, grid-based games, (Warhammer and it's ilk) as well as RPGs. (Dungeons and Dragons, for example.) I wouldn't charge for use of these, mainly because the one place in town that also does this doesn't charge; nor should they. They would, of course, need to bring their own materials, (books, paper, etc.) but I'm fully willing to sell snacks and the like. If a group would like their session recorded, however, I would charge an hourly fee for "equipment usage." (Since I'd already have the equipment needed from the computer videos and the podcasts. See? SYNERGY.) These could also go up onto YouTube or into the weekly podcast feed as a sort of "bonus" episode.
One of the first ideas I had about the shop was having an iPad as a kind of multi-tool, mainly in terms of the computer shop. The obvious usage would be as a veritable library of tech manuals, guides, and other useful texts, which would come in handy in both the building and repairing aspects. However, another potential use has just recently become technologically sound: mobile checkout. The Point-of-Sale software I'm planning to use for the computer shop (yes, there will be multiple POS systems; sadly, it's unavoidable, but I can make it work) has a companion iPad/iPhone app, that can access the main "server" of my store from pretty much anywhere. This means if I'm doing a field repair, (yes, I'm offering that as an option) when I finish up, I can generate an invoice and take a credit card payment, then e-mail a receipt to the customer, without having to go back to the store to finalize anything. It also means I can generate repair orders, quotes for custom systems, and create temporary inventory orders on the go.
Some concern was raised about the custom "walkthrough" videos for the computer shop, mainly consisting of : "Isn't that showing off a trade secret?" or something
To add another spin to the videos, I'm going to relate things back to my Community post. Typically, when one buys a computer (especially a branded pre-built one) they don't have any real connection to the device. It's a tool, nothing more. Even if you customize the specs a bit, custom order it, the process still feels all you're doing is exchanging money for a thing you'll use to do more work. (Or play games, or whatever.) Because that's all you're doing. Even buying a custom made system (not a branded one) can be a fairly benign experience, because there's no real customer involvement, aside from giving specs (or a general idea of what they want it to do) and paying for it. The idea behind these videos is to help the customer feel more involved in the building process, even if only tangentially. By speaking directly to a customer through these videos, they can feel more connected to their system, making it more than "just" a tool or device; it's a part of their lives, one that they had a hand in.
Another clarification has to do with the gaming shop, and whether or not it will be pre-paid or post-paid. Both methods have their advantages, but for the sake of simplicity (not to mention security) I've chosen to go with pre-paid. It saves from hassles like having a card declined or "accidentally" forgetting a wallet or cash, as well as keeping sneaky or opportunistic individuals from "skipping on the bill," as it were. Doesn't take much; a phone call, a conversation, a smoke break, whatever, and someone could be able to take off without paying what they owe the store for the time they've spent. This also gives customers a bit more control over how much they spend; by planning ahead, they can choose how much they plan to use in any given day, week, whatever. The "cafe" software will give them advance notice as to when they're almost out of time, so if they're coming up to the end of their purchased time, they can purchase more to keep their session going. I may use post-paid on a case-by-case basis, such as if someone who has a good established record (and who I have some amount of trust in) wants to play for a couple hours, but doesn't get paid until the next day, I may consider letting them pay by the end of the current week. In cases like this, I'll also take down some contact information, so I can annoyingly inquire as to when I'd be expecting them to come back in. After that week of waiting, I can "suspend" their account until they come back in, as well as letting other similar places know about the incident.
While I'd like to think I've got a lot of things figured out in regards to this endeavor, there are a great many things that I'm still up in the air about, or need suggestions for:
- A Name: This seems like a fairly important aspect to have in place. In my head, I've been calling it "Arctic Gaming and Computer Shop." If this happened to be the final name, this would be the "official" name (the one required by law to be on all advertising and signage, etc.) but in more casual conversation I'd refer to it as just "Arctic Gaming." This isn't a great name in my mind, but I'm having trouble figuring anything else. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Of course, a name typically leads into...
- A Logo: I can't draw to save my life. While I have a few core concepts in terms of a logo, I have no real way to execute it in a meaningful way. So, if any budding or wannabe artists want to take a crack at it, feel free to give me an e-mail or DM on my various social media. Sine this is something that will represent the store (both in signage, adverts, etc.) I'm of course willing to pay a commission fee, if or when this venture does actually happen.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Store Concepts / Ideas - Gaming Center
Some of you may know that I'm planning to open a custom computer /
gaming center shop here in Fairbanks. If you didn't know that... well,
there it is. In keeping with my weird brain ideas about such things,
it's helpful to gauge public opinion. I realize that my "audience" here
(or on FB, twitter,
etc.) isn't huge, and may not reach the majority of folks I'd like it
to reach. So sharing this post with friends or other interested parties
would be greatly appreciated, especially if one lives in the Fairbanks
area, and even if you don't, opinions are always appreciated. That
being said, I'd like to have some of these ideas down on (non-existent)
paper, if for nothing else than to see how they look outside my head.
Gaming Center
This will more than likely be the main revenue stream for the store. Even though the individual receipts may be smaller than a computer sale, the (hopefully) sheer quantity of these purchases is going to bring some fairly substantial profit margins; after all, there's very little overhead associated with this type of transaction. Granted, there will still be a daily and monthly amount, sales-wise, to justify keeping the doors open, but that's a much smaller number than some might think. There's a lot to talk about here, so I'm going to attempt to get into it, in no real order.
First, let's talk operating hours. This will obviously be somewhat dictated by where the location eventually ends up; malls can be fairly strict about their hours, but even with that being the case, I'm sure things can work out with whatever management is involved. All that aside, I'd like to keep it simple: 10AM to 10PM. Early enough so folks needing computer service don't have to wait too long, and late enough so gamers can feel like they've got enough time (say after school or work) to get some decent gaming time in. For those of you concerned about the employees working such long hours every day we're open, rest assured, the plan is to have multiple "official" breaks per shift. For those of you not concerned about the employees, fuck you.
Next topic should be the games themselves. This is a trickier subject, believe it or not, as there's still a few question marks about a few aspects of handling multiple licenses, or adding new ones. Any PC gamer worth their salt knows of and uses Steam regularly, if not primarily. I've been using it for almost a decade, if not longer, and I shudder at the thought of how much time and money I've spent with it. Of course, there is a reason for this, as well as the fact that it's the most popular PC gaming service on the planet. A user-friendly client, huge selection of games, near constant sales and specials, cool features, a thriving community, exclusive content, spotlights on games both big and small, and more. It's a great service, created by a great company, Valve; known for making such huge hits such as the Half-Life series, the Portal series, Team Fortress 2, Left4Dead, and more. The Steam store itself has a vast selection of games, both single-player and multiplayer alike. Thankfully, Valve has a "cyber cafe" program designed specifically for gaming centers and the like, which gives places like this access to most of the Steam catalog, over multiple computers, for a monthly or yearly fee. It's not clear what this fee is, but it also includes: listing by Valve in their official directory (so people can search their database for nearby gaming centers,) exclusive promotions, advertising material, customer service, etc. It's a great service from what I can tell. It'll be important to note that not only will customers be able to access our "store accounts" to access Steam games, but also will be able to log in with their own Steam accounts for syncing save games or installing a game they like that's not available on the store account. (With permission, of course.) Likely big hits from this service would be Counter-Strike, TF2, L4D2, Civilization 5, Call of Duty, and even some Free-to-play MMOs.
However, Steam doesn't cover everything. There are plenty of games, indie and AAA that don't use it for one reason or another. The big one at the moment is Battlefield 3. Huge multiplayer component, widely popular, (though not as much as Call of Duty,) and is sadly tied to EA's vastly inferior (and much maligned and controversial) Origin service. Granted, it's only been around a year, so it does need some room to grow, but it's a bit of an obvious attempt on EA's part to ignore customer's demands and do what they want while getting as much money as they can in the process. This wouldn't be a big deal if EA had offered to put BF3 on Steam as well, but sadly, it as well as other popular games such as Mass Effect 3 are exclusive to Origin, leaving PC gaming customers no other choice (other than consoles) if they want to play these popular games, or any of the upcoming ones such as Crysis 3 or Dead Space 3. To top it all off, Origin has no "cafe" or gaming center program, which means that I'd have to buy a copy for each machine I intend to run it on, which would be a substantial expense. Plus, since Origin accounts and software are tied to single machines, there's no way for achievements or ranks in multiplayer games to carry over from machine to machine, so customers would have to try and stick with a specific computer each time they wanted to play that particular game. Frustrating, to say the least. That said, I'm not against doing that, buying a bunch of copies for the machines in my store. Gamers are savvy enough to know these limitations, and deal with them on a regular basis, so it might go over alright in the long run. We shall see.
Other games such as Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft, Star Wars the Old Republic, Minecraft, and plenty of others use their own fashion of DRM, mainly based upon user accounts. If you're a previously paid (or currently paying/prepaid) customer, your user account for said game will reflect it, and all you have to do is log in. These clients are fairly easy to obtain, with little to no cost. MMOs in particular use this method a lot, so there will be plenty of support for those, both current and upcoming. It'll be interesting to see which ones become more popular; there seems to be a wild shift in the direction of Free-to-Play games in this particular category, such as DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online, and Lord of the Rings Online. Many F2P shooters and MOBAs such as Super Monday Night Combat, Tribes Ascend, and League of Legends use this particular system as well.
One note I've gotten (that was pretty well in the back of my mind anyway) was how young kids are going to be handled in the store. (More than likely by parents who think they're basically dropping them off at a "playground" while they go do grown-up things, like taxes or cheating on their spouse.) It's a valid point: many of these games are rated "M" for Mature, meaning that they're intended for folks 17 and up. Think of them as an "R" rating for games. We're talking realistic violence, blood, gore, foul language, sexual content, partial nudity, and just plain being mean. I'm all for keeping mature content away from youngsters, but I also think that that decision isn't up to me; it's up to the parents to take the responsibility for what their child's doing, even in terms of the games they play. So, anyone under 16 or so will be asked to bring a parent in to sign a waiver. This will basically explain that their children may be exposed to the various things I mentioned above, and that neither I nor my store are liable or at fault for what these children experience while they're in the store. If they have a problem with any of these, or are unable to sign for whatever reason, it doesn't mean the kids won't be able to play. The account they use to log in to the system to access games will limit them to games rated no higher than "T" for Teen, possibly lower if they're younger than teens, which I doubt would be coming into the store very often at any rate. It may be inconvenient, but it's important. It'll (hopefully) force the parents to take a good look at what their kids are doing, gaming-wise, and make a judgement call based on how well they know their children. I'm also hoping that it'll open up a line of dialogue between parent and child about what kind of games and other media they consume.
On to the machines themselves. I'm of the opinion that customers aren't paying for an experience they can have at home or on a cheap/outdated computer. They're paying for a better experience than that. So, without going too much into technical specifics, here's a general rundown of the "standard" tier of machines I'm going to build for customer use: Intel quad-core i5 processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 graphics cards, at least 8 GB of RAM, a hybrid SSD/HDD drive, high definition monitors, gaming grade mice/keyboards, comfortable headsets, and cushy chairs. (That last one is more important than one might think.) This is all subject to to change, of course; no telling what kinds of new things will come out (or how pricing will change) in the time between now and when the time comes to actually order and build these things. I haven't settled on a case as of yet; I'll probably keep them fairly smallish, nothing too fancy, though I do want things such as fan controllers, side windows, (so I can put at least one light strip in there to show off) and decent wire/cable management.
That's the standard tier of machines, which will consist of 16 out of the 20 machines that customers will be able to use. The other four are going to be... interesting. More powerful, for sure: faster (as well as possibly overclocked) processors with liquid cooling, more RAM, higher-end (if not multiple) graphics cards, boot/system SSDs, surround sound headsets, and more. That's not what's making these "premium" machines interesting, however. These remaining 4 machines will be split into 2 categories: 3D, and Surround. Surround systems will be basically triple-monitor systems tuned for games that utilize that screen real estate to immerse gamers by basically surrounding the gamer with the game world. 3D systems are just like they sound: a surprising number of games use 3D to enhance their experience, and it's something everyone should experience at least once. We may even add an extra machine that combines the two categories: NVIDIA calls it 3D Vision Surround, and it'll be interesting to see how customers react to these systems. They will be first come, first serve, of course, but I may institute a "consecutive time limit" and possibly a customer queue in regards to those machines, just so everyone who wants to (and wants to pay for it) can experience these unique machines.
I don't want to keep console folks out in the cold, so there'll probably be a selection of the major ones (PS3, 360) along with some of the more popular games on hand. Gamefly would probably be utilized quite a lot for those games, though I may purchase ones that get requested a lot, along with just ones that are universally awesome or unique. Thanks to X-Box Live and PSN, profiles and saves can travel with the customers, so they can keep their achievements and rankings up to date. This isn't going to be a huge part of the business, so I don't see having more than one TV connected to both consoles paired with a comfy couch. More ideas may surface about that at a later date, but for now, that's pretty well done.
Another common practice in gaming centers is LAN party hosting. This is a nice idea, and allows customers to basically have an all-night gaming session, complete with food, games, and friends. I also think of it as a way for some of the more tech-savvy customers to bring in (and show off) their personal machines. There would be a flat fee for this ($20 for bringing a personal machine, $25/$30 for using a store machine) and it would include pizza, soda, and other such snacks. We may also play movies or TV shows as a kind of background noise or small distraction while folks are taking breathers from their gaming sessions. As this is fairly common practice, a way to make it unique (not to mention community oriented) is to film the hijinks (both in-game and real life varieties) and post them to Facebook and YouTube. (With customer's permission, of course.) It'll be more work; editing a video together from multiple sources is never an easy task, but I believe it'll bring the customers as well as the employees together. Since these would literally be all-nighters, though, the store would probably be mildly short-handed the next day.
Speaking of snacks: yes, we will sell sodas, energy drinks, candy and the like. We may also go a little further with frozen foods, to be used in one of a couple microwaves conveniently located within the store itself. Outside foods would be allowed in a minimal basis; that is to say, customers can bring in one drink and one snack of their own with them into the store per day. If we do get located within a mall, I'm not going to argue with folk refilling a personal water bottle a few times, but for insurance reasons we wouldn't be able to risk outside food/drink damaging our equipment. I'm fine with a couple risks, but there is a limit. Weird how insurance works like that.
Tournaments are a great way to get people involved, and are fun to boot. This may roll in well with the LAN party concepts; small charge for entry (say $5-10) with the prize being... well, I dunno. I'm hesitant to put cash up as a prize. Possibly an upgrade for their computer (if they have one) or an individual component, some unique gaming swag or accessories? It's a work in progress, people. THIS IS WHY I NEED FEEDBACK. Valve hosts tournaments on their servers occasionally, usually for some pretty interesting prizes, though I believe one needs to sign up (and possibly pay) for a store's entry into these things.
Well, that's all I got for now. This is the largest part of the shop, so it needed the most attention. Hence the long post. Please, comment. PLEADING NOW.
Gaming Center
This will more than likely be the main revenue stream for the store. Even though the individual receipts may be smaller than a computer sale, the (hopefully) sheer quantity of these purchases is going to bring some fairly substantial profit margins; after all, there's very little overhead associated with this type of transaction. Granted, there will still be a daily and monthly amount, sales-wise, to justify keeping the doors open, but that's a much smaller number than some might think. There's a lot to talk about here, so I'm going to attempt to get into it, in no real order.
First, let's talk operating hours. This will obviously be somewhat dictated by where the location eventually ends up; malls can be fairly strict about their hours, but even with that being the case, I'm sure things can work out with whatever management is involved. All that aside, I'd like to keep it simple: 10AM to 10PM. Early enough so folks needing computer service don't have to wait too long, and late enough so gamers can feel like they've got enough time (say after school or work) to get some decent gaming time in. For those of you concerned about the employees working such long hours every day we're open, rest assured, the plan is to have multiple "official" breaks per shift. For those of you not concerned about the employees, fuck you.
Next topic should be the games themselves. This is a trickier subject, believe it or not, as there's still a few question marks about a few aspects of handling multiple licenses, or adding new ones. Any PC gamer worth their salt knows of and uses Steam regularly, if not primarily. I've been using it for almost a decade, if not longer, and I shudder at the thought of how much time and money I've spent with it. Of course, there is a reason for this, as well as the fact that it's the most popular PC gaming service on the planet. A user-friendly client, huge selection of games, near constant sales and specials, cool features, a thriving community, exclusive content, spotlights on games both big and small, and more. It's a great service, created by a great company, Valve; known for making such huge hits such as the Half-Life series, the Portal series, Team Fortress 2, Left4Dead, and more. The Steam store itself has a vast selection of games, both single-player and multiplayer alike. Thankfully, Valve has a "cyber cafe" program designed specifically for gaming centers and the like, which gives places like this access to most of the Steam catalog, over multiple computers, for a monthly or yearly fee. It's not clear what this fee is, but it also includes: listing by Valve in their official directory (so people can search their database for nearby gaming centers,) exclusive promotions, advertising material, customer service, etc. It's a great service from what I can tell. It'll be important to note that not only will customers be able to access our "store accounts" to access Steam games, but also will be able to log in with their own Steam accounts for syncing save games or installing a game they like that's not available on the store account. (With permission, of course.) Likely big hits from this service would be Counter-Strike, TF2, L4D2, Civilization 5, Call of Duty, and even some Free-to-play MMOs.
However, Steam doesn't cover everything. There are plenty of games, indie and AAA that don't use it for one reason or another. The big one at the moment is Battlefield 3. Huge multiplayer component, widely popular, (though not as much as Call of Duty,) and is sadly tied to EA's vastly inferior (and much maligned and controversial) Origin service. Granted, it's only been around a year, so it does need some room to grow, but it's a bit of an obvious attempt on EA's part to ignore customer's demands and do what they want while getting as much money as they can in the process. This wouldn't be a big deal if EA had offered to put BF3 on Steam as well, but sadly, it as well as other popular games such as Mass Effect 3 are exclusive to Origin, leaving PC gaming customers no other choice (other than consoles) if they want to play these popular games, or any of the upcoming ones such as Crysis 3 or Dead Space 3. To top it all off, Origin has no "cafe" or gaming center program, which means that I'd have to buy a copy for each machine I intend to run it on, which would be a substantial expense. Plus, since Origin accounts and software are tied to single machines, there's no way for achievements or ranks in multiplayer games to carry over from machine to machine, so customers would have to try and stick with a specific computer each time they wanted to play that particular game. Frustrating, to say the least. That said, I'm not against doing that, buying a bunch of copies for the machines in my store. Gamers are savvy enough to know these limitations, and deal with them on a regular basis, so it might go over alright in the long run. We shall see.
Other games such as Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft, Star Wars the Old Republic, Minecraft, and plenty of others use their own fashion of DRM, mainly based upon user accounts. If you're a previously paid (or currently paying/prepaid) customer, your user account for said game will reflect it, and all you have to do is log in. These clients are fairly easy to obtain, with little to no cost. MMOs in particular use this method a lot, so there will be plenty of support for those, both current and upcoming. It'll be interesting to see which ones become more popular; there seems to be a wild shift in the direction of Free-to-Play games in this particular category, such as DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online, and Lord of the Rings Online. Many F2P shooters and MOBAs such as Super Monday Night Combat, Tribes Ascend, and League of Legends use this particular system as well.
One note I've gotten (that was pretty well in the back of my mind anyway) was how young kids are going to be handled in the store. (More than likely by parents who think they're basically dropping them off at a "playground" while they go do grown-up things, like taxes or cheating on their spouse.) It's a valid point: many of these games are rated "M" for Mature, meaning that they're intended for folks 17 and up. Think of them as an "R" rating for games. We're talking realistic violence, blood, gore, foul language, sexual content, partial nudity, and just plain being mean. I'm all for keeping mature content away from youngsters, but I also think that that decision isn't up to me; it's up to the parents to take the responsibility for what their child's doing, even in terms of the games they play. So, anyone under 16 or so will be asked to bring a parent in to sign a waiver. This will basically explain that their children may be exposed to the various things I mentioned above, and that neither I nor my store are liable or at fault for what these children experience while they're in the store. If they have a problem with any of these, or are unable to sign for whatever reason, it doesn't mean the kids won't be able to play. The account they use to log in to the system to access games will limit them to games rated no higher than "T" for Teen, possibly lower if they're younger than teens, which I doubt would be coming into the store very often at any rate. It may be inconvenient, but it's important. It'll (hopefully) force the parents to take a good look at what their kids are doing, gaming-wise, and make a judgement call based on how well they know their children. I'm also hoping that it'll open up a line of dialogue between parent and child about what kind of games and other media they consume.
On to the machines themselves. I'm of the opinion that customers aren't paying for an experience they can have at home or on a cheap/outdated computer. They're paying for a better experience than that. So, without going too much into technical specifics, here's a general rundown of the "standard" tier of machines I'm going to build for customer use: Intel quad-core i5 processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 graphics cards, at least 8 GB of RAM, a hybrid SSD/HDD drive, high definition monitors, gaming grade mice/keyboards, comfortable headsets, and cushy chairs. (That last one is more important than one might think.) This is all subject to to change, of course; no telling what kinds of new things will come out (or how pricing will change) in the time between now and when the time comes to actually order and build these things. I haven't settled on a case as of yet; I'll probably keep them fairly smallish, nothing too fancy, though I do want things such as fan controllers, side windows, (so I can put at least one light strip in there to show off) and decent wire/cable management.
That's the standard tier of machines, which will consist of 16 out of the 20 machines that customers will be able to use. The other four are going to be... interesting. More powerful, for sure: faster (as well as possibly overclocked) processors with liquid cooling, more RAM, higher-end (if not multiple) graphics cards, boot/system SSDs, surround sound headsets, and more. That's not what's making these "premium" machines interesting, however. These remaining 4 machines will be split into 2 categories: 3D, and Surround. Surround systems will be basically triple-monitor systems tuned for games that utilize that screen real estate to immerse gamers by basically surrounding the gamer with the game world. 3D systems are just like they sound: a surprising number of games use 3D to enhance their experience, and it's something everyone should experience at least once. We may even add an extra machine that combines the two categories: NVIDIA calls it 3D Vision Surround, and it'll be interesting to see how customers react to these systems. They will be first come, first serve, of course, but I may institute a "consecutive time limit" and possibly a customer queue in regards to those machines, just so everyone who wants to (and wants to pay for it) can experience these unique machines.
I don't want to keep console folks out in the cold, so there'll probably be a selection of the major ones (PS3, 360) along with some of the more popular games on hand. Gamefly would probably be utilized quite a lot for those games, though I may purchase ones that get requested a lot, along with just ones that are universally awesome or unique. Thanks to X-Box Live and PSN, profiles and saves can travel with the customers, so they can keep their achievements and rankings up to date. This isn't going to be a huge part of the business, so I don't see having more than one TV connected to both consoles paired with a comfy couch. More ideas may surface about that at a later date, but for now, that's pretty well done.
Another common practice in gaming centers is LAN party hosting. This is a nice idea, and allows customers to basically have an all-night gaming session, complete with food, games, and friends. I also think of it as a way for some of the more tech-savvy customers to bring in (and show off) their personal machines. There would be a flat fee for this ($20 for bringing a personal machine, $25/$30 for using a store machine) and it would include pizza, soda, and other such snacks. We may also play movies or TV shows as a kind of background noise or small distraction while folks are taking breathers from their gaming sessions. As this is fairly common practice, a way to make it unique (not to mention community oriented) is to film the hijinks (both in-game and real life varieties) and post them to Facebook and YouTube. (With customer's permission, of course.) It'll be more work; editing a video together from multiple sources is never an easy task, but I believe it'll bring the customers as well as the employees together. Since these would literally be all-nighters, though, the store would probably be mildly short-handed the next day.
Speaking of snacks: yes, we will sell sodas, energy drinks, candy and the like. We may also go a little further with frozen foods, to be used in one of a couple microwaves conveniently located within the store itself. Outside foods would be allowed in a minimal basis; that is to say, customers can bring in one drink and one snack of their own with them into the store per day. If we do get located within a mall, I'm not going to argue with folk refilling a personal water bottle a few times, but for insurance reasons we wouldn't be able to risk outside food/drink damaging our equipment. I'm fine with a couple risks, but there is a limit. Weird how insurance works like that.
Tournaments are a great way to get people involved, and are fun to boot. This may roll in well with the LAN party concepts; small charge for entry (say $5-10) with the prize being... well, I dunno. I'm hesitant to put cash up as a prize. Possibly an upgrade for their computer (if they have one) or an individual component, some unique gaming swag or accessories? It's a work in progress, people. THIS IS WHY I NEED FEEDBACK. Valve hosts tournaments on their servers occasionally, usually for some pretty interesting prizes, though I believe one needs to sign up (and possibly pay) for a store's entry into these things.
Well, that's all I got for now. This is the largest part of the shop, so it needed the most attention. Hence the long post. Please, comment. PLEADING NOW.
Store Concepts / Ideas - Computer shop
Some of you may know that I'm planning to open a custom computer /
gaming center shop here in Fairbanks. If you didn't know that... well,
there it is. In keeping with my weird brain ideas about such things,
it's helpful to gauge public opinion. I realize that my "audience" here
(or on FB, twitter,
etc.) isn't huge, and may not reach the majority of folks I'd like it
to reach. So sharing this post with friends or other interested parties
would be greatly appreciated, especially if one lives in the Fairbanks
area, and even if you don't, opinions are always appreciated. That
being said, I'd like to have some of these ideas down on (non-existent)
paper, if for nothing else than to see how they look outside my head.
Computer Shop
This may not be the big money making aspect of the shop, but it'll be an important part nonetheless. I've already gone over some aspects of this in a previous post, so I won't go over those again, but there's still a decent amount to mention in regards to this. Granted, there are plenty of computer shops in Fairbanks, and for the most part they do their jobs fairly well. I'm not going to claim that I can put them all out of business with my awesome skillz, because that's just not true. (Also, "skillz" is spelled wrong.) But what I've seen (and heard from others) of these places are a couple things I've mentioned in yet another previous post: pricing, and service. Again, not to repeat things, but these are important aspects that get ignored by customers, mainly because there's a kind of mindset customers get that says, "Well, it's not like there are any other options." (Locally, at least.) I'd like to bring an alternative to these folks.
That being said, local shops aren't the only thing I'll be up against. Online shops like Amazon and Newegg tend to kill in terms of pricing structures for components. While I'm going to do my best to get as close to these as I can, it's a tough road for that sort of thing. Luckily, Alaskan customers are slightly accustomed to paying a bit more for things, thanks to high shipping rates and availability issues. So, while I'm not planning to gouge customers in any way, I'll be able to find a fair price that, while not up to raw online deals, will still be very comparable. However, this may limit my ability to sell individual components, as I might not be able to be as close to the various "sale" prices as I'd like to.
In light of that, I'm aware that there are people who will order components online no matter what, whether from a limited online sale or other such promotions. Some of these folks, while certainly budget conscious, aren't always knowledgeable enough or brave enough to build a system on their own. So, I plan to offer a builder's fee. Bring in your components, we'll build it for you for a modest fee. This fee may have to vary depending on what exactly the customer wants done to the system (windows install, drivers, transfer of old data, custom cooling or lighting, etc.), but will in the end be fair while still giving us (the store) a valuable income source.
It's worth mentioning at this point that any system we build or sell will be thoroughly tested and benchmarked. Once the OS is installed, and the relevant drivers are updated, We'll be running much in the way of hardware diagnostics, stress tests, software testing, and other important services that ensure any system we deal with is up to the tasks customers want from it. We can also install other software at the customer's request, for a minor fee, depending on the amount or type of software requested. Some tasks (such as old data transfer) can be done for a fee as well.
Now on to something that's not quite as "income conscious" as it could be. In fact, it could even incur more effort and time than it might be worth. However, I think it's important, and more importantly, it's unique. I don't think any shop in town is doing anything like this. (Though that might be for good reason.) Anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty big on commentaries for movies and TV shows. They can be informative and entertaining simultaneously, which is a fairly rare thing. So, I'm proposing this: film the building process and sell it to the customer on a DVD.
YouTube gets lots of videos like this, typically very instructional and fairly dry. Now neither myself or the short list of people I'm wanting to work with me in this venture are stand-up comedians by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to think we're fairly funny folks. So by filming the building process, step-by-step, with a running commentary that's funny, interesting, and educational, we can provide a valuable service to the customer (education, information, and entertainment) while connecting with the customers on a personal level, showing we're all part of the same group. These videos would be custom made for each custom build customer (including systems brought in for us to build), incorporating their names and what we know about them into how these videos are presented. I'd also want to create more generalized versions for each of our pre-built system tiers that's tailored to how those systems are built. These would, of course, be an optional purchase, most likely no more than $15.
Like the podcast idea I mentioned previously, this wouldn't be a hugely profitable venture, at least not right away. There's equipment and software to purchase, not to mention the extra time it will take to edit and produce these DVDs. Unlike the podcasts, however, there is an actual revenue stream associated with this, albeit a small one. What this has in common with the podcast idea is that it's unique, and can bring in customers that might not have bothered or noticed otherwise. It's a hard thing to bring up in a straight advertisement (say a 30-second radio or TV ad), but that's why we're going to use lots of social media to push public awareness.
So, there's another post out into the world. Feedback, folks. Gimme some.
Computer Shop
This may not be the big money making aspect of the shop, but it'll be an important part nonetheless. I've already gone over some aspects of this in a previous post, so I won't go over those again, but there's still a decent amount to mention in regards to this. Granted, there are plenty of computer shops in Fairbanks, and for the most part they do their jobs fairly well. I'm not going to claim that I can put them all out of business with my awesome skillz, because that's just not true. (Also, "skillz" is spelled wrong.) But what I've seen (and heard from others) of these places are a couple things I've mentioned in yet another previous post: pricing, and service. Again, not to repeat things, but these are important aspects that get ignored by customers, mainly because there's a kind of mindset customers get that says, "Well, it's not like there are any other options." (Locally, at least.) I'd like to bring an alternative to these folks.
That being said, local shops aren't the only thing I'll be up against. Online shops like Amazon and Newegg tend to kill in terms of pricing structures for components. While I'm going to do my best to get as close to these as I can, it's a tough road for that sort of thing. Luckily, Alaskan customers are slightly accustomed to paying a bit more for things, thanks to high shipping rates and availability issues. So, while I'm not planning to gouge customers in any way, I'll be able to find a fair price that, while not up to raw online deals, will still be very comparable. However, this may limit my ability to sell individual components, as I might not be able to be as close to the various "sale" prices as I'd like to.
In light of that, I'm aware that there are people who will order components online no matter what, whether from a limited online sale or other such promotions. Some of these folks, while certainly budget conscious, aren't always knowledgeable enough or brave enough to build a system on their own. So, I plan to offer a builder's fee. Bring in your components, we'll build it for you for a modest fee. This fee may have to vary depending on what exactly the customer wants done to the system (windows install, drivers, transfer of old data, custom cooling or lighting, etc.), but will in the end be fair while still giving us (the store) a valuable income source.
It's worth mentioning at this point that any system we build or sell will be thoroughly tested and benchmarked. Once the OS is installed, and the relevant drivers are updated, We'll be running much in the way of hardware diagnostics, stress tests, software testing, and other important services that ensure any system we deal with is up to the tasks customers want from it. We can also install other software at the customer's request, for a minor fee, depending on the amount or type of software requested. Some tasks (such as old data transfer) can be done for a fee as well.
Now on to something that's not quite as "income conscious" as it could be. In fact, it could even incur more effort and time than it might be worth. However, I think it's important, and more importantly, it's unique. I don't think any shop in town is doing anything like this. (Though that might be for good reason.) Anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty big on commentaries for movies and TV shows. They can be informative and entertaining simultaneously, which is a fairly rare thing. So, I'm proposing this: film the building process and sell it to the customer on a DVD.
YouTube gets lots of videos like this, typically very instructional and fairly dry. Now neither myself or the short list of people I'm wanting to work with me in this venture are stand-up comedians by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to think we're fairly funny folks. So by filming the building process, step-by-step, with a running commentary that's funny, interesting, and educational, we can provide a valuable service to the customer (education, information, and entertainment) while connecting with the customers on a personal level, showing we're all part of the same group. These videos would be custom made for each custom build customer (including systems brought in for us to build), incorporating their names and what we know about them into how these videos are presented. I'd also want to create more generalized versions for each of our pre-built system tiers that's tailored to how those systems are built. These would, of course, be an optional purchase, most likely no more than $15.
Like the podcast idea I mentioned previously, this wouldn't be a hugely profitable venture, at least not right away. There's equipment and software to purchase, not to mention the extra time it will take to edit and produce these DVDs. Unlike the podcasts, however, there is an actual revenue stream associated with this, albeit a small one. What this has in common with the podcast idea is that it's unique, and can bring in customers that might not have bothered or noticed otherwise. It's a hard thing to bring up in a straight advertisement (say a 30-second radio or TV ad), but that's why we're going to use lots of social media to push public awareness.
So, there's another post out into the world. Feedback, folks. Gimme some.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Shop Concepts / Ideas - Community
Some of you may know that I'm planning to open a custom computer /
gaming center shop here in Fairbanks. If you didn't know that... well,
there it is. In keeping with my weird brain ideas about such things,
it's helpful to gauge public opinion. I realize that my "audience" here
(or on FB, twitter,
etc.) isn't huge, and may not reach the majority of folks I'd like it
to reach. So sharing this post with friends or other interested parties
would be greatly appreciated, especially if one lives in the Fairbanks
area, and even if you don't, opinions are always appreciated. That
being said, I'd like to have some of these ideas down on (non-existent)
paper, if for nothing else than to see how they look outside my head.
Community
No, not the troubled-yet-awesome television show. I'm speaking of the sense one gets of being in a close-knit of similarly passionate people. (Which is, I guess, also the show.) I've worked in one form of tech retail or another for almost 10 years, both in corporate and local settings. Each method has it's upsides and faults, with very little experimentation or even attempts to find a middle ground. Ever been to a highly polished multinational chain of stores? Sure, they're pretty to look at, and the people who work there are helpful to a fault (and even then only occasionally), but there's a couple secrets going on behind the scenes that gives of a sense of "eeeyugh." (At least, that's how it can be for me sometimes.) My problems with corporate places are thus:
So, there's faults on both sides. I'm not going to claim that I know of a perfect way to combine the positive aspects of both lines of thought, but I'm experienced enough to where I think I've got a pretty good idea of how people should be treated when they enter a business.
How does this come back to "community?" I'll be honest: not all of it does. But to me, that term covers many aspects of how it feels to be in a store: treatment by employees, fairness of policy, etc. The sense that we're all here together in a common interest and passion is why places like this future store would exist in the first place.
Another aspect of the whole "community" thing is involvement. I want the customers to be involved with how the store grows and operates as much as possible. This could be just as simple as a "suggestion box," (which there will probably be), but also semi regular surveys, not to mention just flat out talking and hanging out with the people populating the seats. A presence on the major social sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, etc.) will be a major part of how we present ourselves to customers, as well as a gathering place for people to share what they like or dislike about the store itself. But in the interests of being unique and such, I also propose this: a weekly podcast.
I'm a fan of a great many podcasts, particularly gaming ones. Podtoid, Laser Time, Comedy Button, Rebel FM, Judge John Hodgman, and the Thrilling Adventure Hour are among the ones I listen to every week. Inspired by some of these, along with the now-dead TalkRadar and Penny Arcade's Downloadable Content podcast, I'm planning to do a weekly podcast where members of the community (read: customers) may vie to join in a discussion about games, tech, movies, TV, comics; nerdy things in general. Granted, we don't want each week's episode to be 5 or 6 hours long, so there will be a bit of an agenda for each episode, but what I love about many of the above podcasts is when they go off the rails with rants, sidebars, random thoughts, and heated (but friendly) debates, all covered in a fine layer of nerd and swearing. We'd take a couple hours or so after the store is closed (or even before it opens) to record an episode, I'd edit it all together and upload it to iTunes and a few other services, as well as posting links to the episode to the previously mentioned social media.
There's a bit of extra cost and work associated with this, though. Equipment, first of all. One can't do something like this half-assed, especially if anywhere between 3 and 5 people are all going to be recorded on any given episode. So, decent equipment is key, and it's not always cheap. I've gotten some advice from the Laser Time guys (particularly the wonderful Chris Antista) about it, mainly because their podcasts regularly have numerous people on it while keeping a great level of sound quality. Another cost is hosting. There are plenty of places designed for podcast hosting, but it's still another monthly fee on top of all the other operating costs of the store itself. I think it'll be worth it in the long run; maybe not monetarily, but in terms of getting our name out there for doing something no one else is really doing.
Another aspect of the "community" sense is how the store itself looks. This includes the machines themselves, the point-of-sale, shelving, wiring, workspace, etc. Some of that can be solved with a backroom for storage, tech work, system building; typical things that aren't really a part of the daily customer experience. We'll also be spending lots of time and effort on cable management, both power and network, both for safety and connectivity's sake. The machines themselves I'll talk about more in another post, but suffice to say that they'll be pretty without being overdone, with a few exceptions. I'm also going to plaster the walls (and possibly ceilings) with posters: games, movies, comics; anything that's nerdy, popular, and just plain cool. This may also extend into statues or action figures set up on display; because if good nerds love anything, it's to show off what they love.
Well, that's that for this post. More ideas may crop up that fitin this category, and I'll try to work them into the relevant posts. So, once again, I beg you to comment. Bring suggestions or ideas of your own. Criticize. Brainstorm. Call me an idiot. Whatever. I'm looking for feedback here, and the more the merrier.
Community
No, not the troubled-yet-awesome television show. I'm speaking of the sense one gets of being in a close-knit of similarly passionate people. (Which is, I guess, also the show.) I've worked in one form of tech retail or another for almost 10 years, both in corporate and local settings. Each method has it's upsides and faults, with very little experimentation or even attempts to find a middle ground. Ever been to a highly polished multinational chain of stores? Sure, they're pretty to look at, and the people who work there are helpful to a fault (and even then only occasionally), but there's a couple secrets going on behind the scenes that gives of a sense of "eeeyugh." (At least, that's how it can be for me sometimes.) My problems with corporate places are thus:
- The people working there are helpful because they have to be. Deep down, most of these folks working the sales floor want to figure out what you need, track it down, put it in your hands, get your money and send you out the door as fast as humanly possible. I've worked at places that chastise their employees for spending more than 5 minutes with a customer, even to the extent of docking pay or hours. Granted, this kind of policy is in place as a prep for the super-busy times (Black Friday, mainly), but I don't see that as an excuse. Granted, there is the rare drop that is the genuinely interested (not to mention knowledgeable) employee, but those are few and far between.
- Clean is okay. Sterile is not. A store's looks can be important, especially if there's a lot of physical product to show off. But nothing irks me more than going into a store, seeing something cool, buying it, taking it home, and discovering that it doesn't look as cool as it did at the store. This is usually on purpose, of course; tons of money is spent on just the right kind of lighting and materials that make products stand out to potential customers. I'm of a firm belief that stores that sell such things as computers, televisions, and other such devices should display these items in such a fashion that is more realistic to a consumer's eye.
- Needling money = not cool. It's astounding how many corporate policies are in place to either A) keep from giving money back to customers, or B) get as much extra money out of them as possible. This comes back up to my first point as well: one of the big reasons there are policies for getting people checked out quickly is so the customer has very little chance to second-guess their purchase. If something does turn out wrong, there are many ways to override or diminish the chance of a return: restock fees, "exchange-only" programs, gift cards, etc. I don't wholly disagree with a lot if these ideas; however, I don't think that giant corporate entities need to implement them. These are more intended for smaller businesses to mitigate or control their losses as much as possible, since they don't have a few hundred million dollars to fall back on should things go way south.
- Customers deserve a modicum of respect. I'm not a fan of the idiom "The customer is always right." It is flat out not true. That said, they do require some measure of respect and attention. Condescending to them isn't going to make them want to come back to your store anytime soon. Granted, it's tougher in a retail job that's more tech-oriented, where customers often wander in without any real knowledge about what you're selling. That's part of the job, really. Get over it. Yet I've been to many a place that treats it's customers as walking wallets that occasionally say things. When a salesperson only asks a few questions (not really listening to what the customer is saying, just listening for key phrases to direct them to a particular product) and over half of them are things like "Have you heard about our new Visa card?" or "Would you like to hear about our extended warranties on this item?" or "Did I mention our super secret club card?" there's a problem afoot.
So, there's faults on both sides. I'm not going to claim that I know of a perfect way to combine the positive aspects of both lines of thought, but I'm experienced enough to where I think I've got a pretty good idea of how people should be treated when they enter a business.
How does this come back to "community?" I'll be honest: not all of it does. But to me, that term covers many aspects of how it feels to be in a store: treatment by employees, fairness of policy, etc. The sense that we're all here together in a common interest and passion is why places like this future store would exist in the first place.
Another aspect of the whole "community" thing is involvement. I want the customers to be involved with how the store grows and operates as much as possible. This could be just as simple as a "suggestion box," (which there will probably be), but also semi regular surveys, not to mention just flat out talking and hanging out with the people populating the seats. A presence on the major social sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, etc.) will be a major part of how we present ourselves to customers, as well as a gathering place for people to share what they like or dislike about the store itself. But in the interests of being unique and such, I also propose this: a weekly podcast.
I'm a fan of a great many podcasts, particularly gaming ones. Podtoid, Laser Time, Comedy Button, Rebel FM, Judge John Hodgman, and the Thrilling Adventure Hour are among the ones I listen to every week. Inspired by some of these, along with the now-dead TalkRadar and Penny Arcade's Downloadable Content podcast, I'm planning to do a weekly podcast where members of the community (read: customers) may vie to join in a discussion about games, tech, movies, TV, comics; nerdy things in general. Granted, we don't want each week's episode to be 5 or 6 hours long, so there will be a bit of an agenda for each episode, but what I love about many of the above podcasts is when they go off the rails with rants, sidebars, random thoughts, and heated (but friendly) debates, all covered in a fine layer of nerd and swearing. We'd take a couple hours or so after the store is closed (or even before it opens) to record an episode, I'd edit it all together and upload it to iTunes and a few other services, as well as posting links to the episode to the previously mentioned social media.
There's a bit of extra cost and work associated with this, though. Equipment, first of all. One can't do something like this half-assed, especially if anywhere between 3 and 5 people are all going to be recorded on any given episode. So, decent equipment is key, and it's not always cheap. I've gotten some advice from the Laser Time guys (particularly the wonderful Chris Antista) about it, mainly because their podcasts regularly have numerous people on it while keeping a great level of sound quality. Another cost is hosting. There are plenty of places designed for podcast hosting, but it's still another monthly fee on top of all the other operating costs of the store itself. I think it'll be worth it in the long run; maybe not monetarily, but in terms of getting our name out there for doing something no one else is really doing.
Another aspect of the "community" sense is how the store itself looks. This includes the machines themselves, the point-of-sale, shelving, wiring, workspace, etc. Some of that can be solved with a backroom for storage, tech work, system building; typical things that aren't really a part of the daily customer experience. We'll also be spending lots of time and effort on cable management, both power and network, both for safety and connectivity's sake. The machines themselves I'll talk about more in another post, but suffice to say that they'll be pretty without being overdone, with a few exceptions. I'm also going to plaster the walls (and possibly ceilings) with posters: games, movies, comics; anything that's nerdy, popular, and just plain cool. This may also extend into statues or action figures set up on display; because if good nerds love anything, it's to show off what they love.
Well, that's that for this post. More ideas may crop up that fitin this category, and I'll try to work them into the relevant posts. So, once again, I beg you to comment. Bring suggestions or ideas of your own. Criticize. Brainstorm. Call me an idiot. Whatever. I'm looking for feedback here, and the more the merrier.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Shop concepts/ideas - Pricing
Some of you may know that I'm planning to open a custom computer / gaming center shop here in Fairbanks. If you didn't know that... well, there it is. In keeping with my weird brain ideas about such things, it's helpful to gauge public opinion. I realize that my "audience" here (or on FB, twitter, etc.) isn't huge, and may not reach the majority of folks I'd like it to reach. So sharing this post with friends or other interested parties would be greatly appreciated, especially if one lives in the Fairbanks area, and even if you don't, opinions are always appreciated. That being said, I'd like to have some of these ideas down on (non-existent) paper, if for nothing else than to see how they look outside my head.
Pricing
This covers a few different aspects of the store, and possibly will be the most "visible" part of the business. As such, having a unique structure is key to being distinct. Starting with the computer shop aspect of the store, I'd like to do something not seen very often in "smaller" or "custom" computer stores: pre-built price points. Basically, 2 or 3 pre-built computer "models" (or SKUs, for those of you in the retail know-how) at a set price, that are either already built and ready to be given to a customer right away, or at least have the required parts themselves kept in regular stock as to avoid waiting for parts to ship. My initial idea was for 3 skus:
Not for free though, which brings me to another point: repair/diagnostic prices. I find it mildly irritating that so many places want as much as $100 for an hour's worth of work diagnosing or fixing computer problems. I understand that it's a valuable service, especially for businesses that need their equipment, but at some point it becomes customer gouging, and I just can't do that. That being said, I haven't mentally settled on an hourly rate for tech services as of yet, but I do know it'll be surprising to a great many people. There will be flat price points for more common ailments and services; this is a pretty common practice, and I'll be doing my best to stay competitive and fair with those as well.
This brings me to the pricing structure for the gaming center itself. Common practices are to charge an hourly fee to use the provided machines, primarily for gaming, but also for more general internet usage, printing, etc. This has worked for a couple decades, along with discounts for purchasing longer blocks of time. I've even seen "combo" deals, which include a block of time, a drink and a snack. All good ideas, ones I plan to implement. However, one thing I haven't really seen much of is something that MMO players have been used to for almost 10 years now: monthly fees.
The concept that I had was this: a customer pays a monthly fee, giving them a large chunk of time to use over the course of that month. This fee (or subscription, club, plan, whatever) also entitles said customer to discounts on snacks as well as on time blocks, should they go over their monthly limit. The time in the initial block can be applied to both the "standard" machines as well as the fancier machines for a better, unique experience, which normally cost a little extra to use. (Again, more on this later.) It wouldn't have to be a recurring fee, of course; it could just be a kind if extended "special" that can optionally recurred at the customer's discretion. This structure would encourage folks to come into the store more often (possibly bringing friends), if for anything else than to get cheap snacks and use up the time they've got.
That's all I got for this particular subject. I'll expand more on the computer building, gaming center, and other ideas in later posts. Comment, folks; either on here or on Facebook.
Pricing
This covers a few different aspects of the store, and possibly will be the most "visible" part of the business. As such, having a unique structure is key to being distinct. Starting with the computer shop aspect of the store, I'd like to do something not seen very often in "smaller" or "custom" computer stores: pre-built price points. Basically, 2 or 3 pre-built computer "models" (or SKUs, for those of you in the retail know-how) at a set price, that are either already built and ready to be given to a customer right away, or at least have the required parts themselves kept in regular stock as to avoid waiting for parts to ship. My initial idea was for 3 skus:
- A "general use" machine, not super powerful, but enough to do more "everyday" things, such as emails, word processing (or other business/school type applications), web browsing, some multimedia functionality, etc. It'd retail for about $600-700.
- A more powerful second tier, which would be just a step or so less powerful (if not completely the same) than the machines that would used for the "standard" tier of gaming machines that customers would use in the shop itself. (More on that later.) It'd be suitable for HD media, higher-end gaming, some minor video/photo editing, etc. Price on these would be around $1200-1300.
- The final tier is the big banana, so to speak. A massive gaming machine built to handle current as well as future gaming software with very little metaphorical sweat breaking. I'm talking high-end processors with overclocking and liquid cooling; multiple graphics cards in a SLI or CrossFireX configuration; SSD boot drives alongside typical mechanical storage drives, and more. The market for these machines isn't huge, and I doubt I'd keep very much of these particular components in stock, but it would be a sight to see. For about $2500+, it'd better be.
Not for free though, which brings me to another point: repair/diagnostic prices. I find it mildly irritating that so many places want as much as $100 for an hour's worth of work diagnosing or fixing computer problems. I understand that it's a valuable service, especially for businesses that need their equipment, but at some point it becomes customer gouging, and I just can't do that. That being said, I haven't mentally settled on an hourly rate for tech services as of yet, but I do know it'll be surprising to a great many people. There will be flat price points for more common ailments and services; this is a pretty common practice, and I'll be doing my best to stay competitive and fair with those as well.
This brings me to the pricing structure for the gaming center itself. Common practices are to charge an hourly fee to use the provided machines, primarily for gaming, but also for more general internet usage, printing, etc. This has worked for a couple decades, along with discounts for purchasing longer blocks of time. I've even seen "combo" deals, which include a block of time, a drink and a snack. All good ideas, ones I plan to implement. However, one thing I haven't really seen much of is something that MMO players have been used to for almost 10 years now: monthly fees.
The concept that I had was this: a customer pays a monthly fee, giving them a large chunk of time to use over the course of that month. This fee (or subscription, club, plan, whatever) also entitles said customer to discounts on snacks as well as on time blocks, should they go over their monthly limit. The time in the initial block can be applied to both the "standard" machines as well as the fancier machines for a better, unique experience, which normally cost a little extra to use. (Again, more on this later.) It wouldn't have to be a recurring fee, of course; it could just be a kind if extended "special" that can optionally recurred at the customer's discretion. This structure would encourage folks to come into the store more often (possibly bringing friends), if for anything else than to get cheap snacks and use up the time they've got.
That's all I got for this particular subject. I'll expand more on the computer building, gaming center, and other ideas in later posts. Comment, folks; either on here or on Facebook.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Being All Stupid and Such
So... much... things.
Here's a few things I'd like to talk about in the near future:
- Mass Effect 3's ending
- Vita love
- Business opportunities
- Other nerdy things
Currently, I'll bring up just the one thing: SuperBrothers Sword & Sworcery EP. Just go buy it. If one hasn't experienced it on an iPhone/iPad, it is completely worth a purchase. If you've already experienced it on these platforms, it's still worth a purchase, if anything for seeing that amazing art direction in an enhanced fashion on a full screen, not to mention the uber-hidden extra content. It's amazing to see the reactions to this game be so positive, especially since it's a genre that has supposedly been dead for years.
Here's a few things I'd like to talk about in the near future:
- Mass Effect 3's ending
- Vita love
- Business opportunities
- Other nerdy things
Currently, I'll bring up just the one thing: SuperBrothers Sword & Sworcery EP. Just go buy it. If one hasn't experienced it on an iPhone/iPad, it is completely worth a purchase. If you've already experienced it on these platforms, it's still worth a purchase, if anything for seeing that amazing art direction in an enhanced fashion on a full screen, not to mention the uber-hidden extra content. It's amazing to see the reactions to this game be so positive, especially since it's a genre that has supposedly been dead for years.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Waiting...
My Vita stuff has started to show up; everything but the system itself at this point, which supposedly will land in my mailbox on Friday. So at this point I have the games, (WipEout and Uncharted) headset, memory card, and case. So, since I'm bored. I'll give a bit of an "impressions" on these items, some gut reactions if you will.
Memory card: Jesus these things are small. Seriously. Smaller than my pointer fingernail. I'm glad that these are apparently hard to put-in/take-out of the Vita itself, because I'm seriously afraid that I'd lose this if I had to take it out a lot. The packaging for it, however, is overkill. This damn near microscopic card is surrounded by almost 6 inches of dual layers of thin cardboard, along with a plastic insert to hold it in place. I'm sure that environmentalists will love that.
Case: I went with Sony's travel pouch, mainly because it looked pretty nice, had room for accessories, and was fairly cheap. The pictures, until recently, made it seem smaller than it actually is. Having the thing in my hands, it's almost more the size of a camera bag. Surprising, but not unpleasantly so. My only worry is that the system might shift around inside of it, but considering this case is mainly going to be sitting inside my laptop bag, it's not a huge concern.
Headset: Again, I went with the official Sony headset, mainly because I liked the design of them, and I've had good luck with Sony headphones in the past. Having used them for about a week and a half, I can say a few things. They sound surprisingly good; clear, sharp sound, decent base, no tinniness to them that I can detect. The cord is a decent length, and thick enough so it doesn't just wind up on it's own. The earpieces themselves feel pretty solid: hard plastic, metal ends. The PlayStation logo on the tip of the metal ends are shiny and cool-looking. The removable ear pieces, however, are a bit flawed. They come with three sizes: Large, Medium, and Small. The Large and Small sets fit those descriptions, for sure. The Medium, however, should be called Large Minus Two Millimeters. There's not a easily noticeable difference between Large and Medium, and since Large doesn't fit in my ear, and Small doesn't stay in either, Medium is my only route, and it's a bit tight. After about an hour or so, pain starts setting in. It's something I wouldn't have complained about so much, except I also use these headphones for listening to my iPhone, which I sometimes do for several contiguous hours.
Games: Obviously I haven't played these yet, so I can't speak to the quality of the games themselves. (The rest of the internet will fill that role nicely.) I can say, that opening the Amazon box, I was afraid that I hadn't received the games, but flyers about the games. The cases are small. I had seen comparison pictures online, of course, but it's hard to actually judge the size of something based on a picture. That being said, the case size surprised me; they're about 1.5 times the size of a deck of cards, width wise. The game cards themselves are pretty tiny as well; just a hair bigger on the surface than a SD card, but about half the thickness. Again, I'm afraid that I'd lose these, which is why I'm glad the case I bought has a few slots to hold game cards. This also goes to show that Sony really wants folk to buy games digitally; you can't trade in or sell a digital game, but at least you don't have to worry about losing a tiny card.
So, the waiting continues. Hopefully USPS is correct on that delivery date, but this being Alaska, one never knows. Here's hoping.
Memory card: Jesus these things are small. Seriously. Smaller than my pointer fingernail. I'm glad that these are apparently hard to put-in/take-out of the Vita itself, because I'm seriously afraid that I'd lose this if I had to take it out a lot. The packaging for it, however, is overkill. This damn near microscopic card is surrounded by almost 6 inches of dual layers of thin cardboard, along with a plastic insert to hold it in place. I'm sure that environmentalists will love that.
Case: I went with Sony's travel pouch, mainly because it looked pretty nice, had room for accessories, and was fairly cheap. The pictures, until recently, made it seem smaller than it actually is. Having the thing in my hands, it's almost more the size of a camera bag. Surprising, but not unpleasantly so. My only worry is that the system might shift around inside of it, but considering this case is mainly going to be sitting inside my laptop bag, it's not a huge concern.
Headset: Again, I went with the official Sony headset, mainly because I liked the design of them, and I've had good luck with Sony headphones in the past. Having used them for about a week and a half, I can say a few things. They sound surprisingly good; clear, sharp sound, decent base, no tinniness to them that I can detect. The cord is a decent length, and thick enough so it doesn't just wind up on it's own. The earpieces themselves feel pretty solid: hard plastic, metal ends. The PlayStation logo on the tip of the metal ends are shiny and cool-looking. The removable ear pieces, however, are a bit flawed. They come with three sizes: Large, Medium, and Small. The Large and Small sets fit those descriptions, for sure. The Medium, however, should be called Large Minus Two Millimeters. There's not a easily noticeable difference between Large and Medium, and since Large doesn't fit in my ear, and Small doesn't stay in either, Medium is my only route, and it's a bit tight. After about an hour or so, pain starts setting in. It's something I wouldn't have complained about so much, except I also use these headphones for listening to my iPhone, which I sometimes do for several contiguous hours.
Games: Obviously I haven't played these yet, so I can't speak to the quality of the games themselves. (The rest of the internet will fill that role nicely.) I can say, that opening the Amazon box, I was afraid that I hadn't received the games, but flyers about the games. The cases are small. I had seen comparison pictures online, of course, but it's hard to actually judge the size of something based on a picture. That being said, the case size surprised me; they're about 1.5 times the size of a deck of cards, width wise. The game cards themselves are pretty tiny as well; just a hair bigger on the surface than a SD card, but about half the thickness. Again, I'm afraid that I'd lose these, which is why I'm glad the case I bought has a few slots to hold game cards. This also goes to show that Sony really wants folk to buy games digitally; you can't trade in or sell a digital game, but at least you don't have to worry about losing a tiny card.
So, the waiting continues. Hopefully USPS is correct on that delivery date, but this being Alaska, one never knows. Here's hoping.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
School, Games, and SOPA
School is back. My sleep schedule, however, is fairly well screwed from a long night of trying not to vomit on my bed. So my brain is pretty well fried, going on about one and a half hours of sleep before I'm expected to be awake and functioning. So, yeah. Fuck. Classes this time around are mostly degree-related courses, so I'm looking forward to it and all, I just need to keep my brain in a semi-functioning state. This may go badly.
The holidays came and went, and thankfully I was able to procure enough in the way of cash and gift cards to fully pre-order a PS Vita, some games, accessories, and a copy of Star Wars The Old Republic. TOR is taking a good chunk of time, and for good reason: it's one of the most solo-friendly MMOs I've ever played. I'm all for gaming becoming more of a social gathering; it's a great step forward for the medium, and it can be a fun experience to partake in. However, I've never been a great participant in this phenomenon, either in a competitive or cooperative setting. I've always been a fairly solitary person, so interacting with other humans in general puts me on edge, either in person or using a virtual analogue. It's not just because I don't want someone on the other side of the country/planet to know my approximate skill level. (Though there is that.) Enjoying gaming is, for me, akin to enjoying porn. It's not something I'm ashamed of, just something I prefer to do by my lonesome. Also, headphones are a necessity.
SOPA is something else that came and went. Personally, I'm glad. It's a piece of legislation that would've affected most of the sites I visit on a daily basis, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, news sites, etc. It's amazing. After reading the bill, it's pretty obvious that it was some jackass in power wanting to make friends in higher places, particularly in Hollywood and record labels. Providing greedy people more ways to control the people who use their products is not the way to move an industry forward; providing great services and benefits to those customers is. Piracy is not an issue that's going to go away because you restrict access to a few sites; honestly, it's not going to go away completely, period. The way to fight piracy is to make buying these products easy and hassle-free, while providing great incentives for paying customers to continue paying. The main example of this strategy in action is iTunes. Love it or hate it, iTunes dealt a huge blow to music piracy, while giving customers an easy and cheap way to buy music they love, without having to go through a bunch of bullshit that record labels had been forcing people to do for quite a while. Bigwigs like movie studios and record labels had so much control up until a decade or so ago, they thought that they'd be able to sit back and let money flow into their coffers. They did this for so long, they didn't really notice (or didn't care) that the way their customers wanted to access and use the things they had legally purchased had changed. People want access to their stuff in more ways, some of which don't work in the bigwigs' financial interests. Their reaction? Evolve with their customers, as well as the medium that they represent? Not so much. Legislation and restriction methods (read: DRM) that basically punishes people who legally obtained their products? Now you're on to something, Kim Jong.
It may not be dead, but SOPA is definitely on life support. I was skeptical about the blackouts that Google and Reddit had announced, but when Wikipedia blacked out as well, my hopes raised significantly. Never underestimate the rage of millions of idiot college students trying to access Wikipedia to answer questions for their papers. When the bill gained about 18 opposing senators over the course of 3 days, I actually was hopeful. And when it was announced that the bill was put on an "indefinite hold," I actually stood up and cheered. Freedom for consumers won out, which is kind of a rarity in these days, sadly. This needs to happen more often.
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The holidays came and went, and thankfully I was able to procure enough in the way of cash and gift cards to fully pre-order a PS Vita, some games, accessories, and a copy of Star Wars The Old Republic. TOR is taking a good chunk of time, and for good reason: it's one of the most solo-friendly MMOs I've ever played. I'm all for gaming becoming more of a social gathering; it's a great step forward for the medium, and it can be a fun experience to partake in. However, I've never been a great participant in this phenomenon, either in a competitive or cooperative setting. I've always been a fairly solitary person, so interacting with other humans in general puts me on edge, either in person or using a virtual analogue. It's not just because I don't want someone on the other side of the country/planet to know my approximate skill level. (Though there is that.) Enjoying gaming is, for me, akin to enjoying porn. It's not something I'm ashamed of, just something I prefer to do by my lonesome. Also, headphones are a necessity.
SOPA is something else that came and went. Personally, I'm glad. It's a piece of legislation that would've affected most of the sites I visit on a daily basis, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, news sites, etc. It's amazing. After reading the bill, it's pretty obvious that it was some jackass in power wanting to make friends in higher places, particularly in Hollywood and record labels. Providing greedy people more ways to control the people who use their products is not the way to move an industry forward; providing great services and benefits to those customers is. Piracy is not an issue that's going to go away because you restrict access to a few sites; honestly, it's not going to go away completely, period. The way to fight piracy is to make buying these products easy and hassle-free, while providing great incentives for paying customers to continue paying. The main example of this strategy in action is iTunes. Love it or hate it, iTunes dealt a huge blow to music piracy, while giving customers an easy and cheap way to buy music they love, without having to go through a bunch of bullshit that record labels had been forcing people to do for quite a while. Bigwigs like movie studios and record labels had so much control up until a decade or so ago, they thought that they'd be able to sit back and let money flow into their coffers. They did this for so long, they didn't really notice (or didn't care) that the way their customers wanted to access and use the things they had legally purchased had changed. People want access to their stuff in more ways, some of which don't work in the bigwigs' financial interests. Their reaction? Evolve with their customers, as well as the medium that they represent? Not so much. Legislation and restriction methods (read: DRM) that basically punishes people who legally obtained their products? Now you're on to something, Kim Jong.
It may not be dead, but SOPA is definitely on life support. I was skeptical about the blackouts that Google and Reddit had announced, but when Wikipedia blacked out as well, my hopes raised significantly. Never underestimate the rage of millions of idiot college students trying to access Wikipedia to answer questions for their papers. When the bill gained about 18 opposing senators over the course of 3 days, I actually was hopeful. And when it was announced that the bill was put on an "indefinite hold," I actually stood up and cheered. Freedom for consumers won out, which is kind of a rarity in these days, sadly. This needs to happen more often.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Re-Vita-lized!
So despite somewhat pricey memory cards, backwards compatibility being a little late, game sharing restrictions, UMD passports, and other weird things, I still really want a PlayStation Vita. Is it because I'm an addict who wants some form of game with me wherever I go? Not really, or, at least, not entirely. Is it because I'm a Sony "fanboy?" I wouldn't say that, though I do like their gaming hardware in general, faults and all, and will usually grab one of Sony's offerings rather than Microsoft's or Nintendo's.
I think part of it might be because I'm a fan of mobile hardware in general. Ever since I was a young'n, I found myself lusting over laptops, rather than the more powerful desktop counterparts. This was around the time when laptops were rapidly approaching becoming equal to desktops in terms of raw power, but it was also when I started to notice something: mobile devices tend to innovate more than desktops or set-top boxes. It started with laptops: getting more powerful, sure, (not to mention smaller) but also adding things like hot-swappable drives, (long before things like USB came along) interchangeable covers, and built-in webcams. Then PDAs came along: Palm did a pretty good job of moving them along, but that market fizzled out not long before smartphones (the iPhone in particular) took off like so many pissed off avians.
Gaming portables haven't had much in the way of innovation, save for the last 5 years or so. Game Boy started it, really, as the one of the first to have interchangeable cartridges for each game. Then the various iterations of that system (Color, Advance, SP, Micro) as well as the various copycats (Game Gear, Lynx, Wonderswan, and many others) didn't really change the formula, and as games a a whole evolved into more mature and cinematic experiences, portable gaming seemed more or less stuck in the same place, as kid stuff. Along came the Nintendo DS, and alongside that, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. Both innovated in different ways: the DS used dual screens and a limited touch-screen capacity to make games more "friendly" and "interactive" to non-gamers, but the system and it's tricks always seemed way too "gimmicky" to me, which turned me off of it initially. (I did own an iteration of it later, as it did eventually get a few decent games on it, but it is no longer part of my collection.) The PSP, however, was much more graphically powerful, could play music and video, surf the internet, read digital comics, download podcasts, and more. (Granted a few of these features were added months or even years later.) It was designed to be a new generation of device. Sony even called it "the new Walkman" at some point. It could deliver console quality gaming (or close to it at the time) in the palm of your hand. Literally.
So, why did the DS become so damn popular? It's hard to say, but I'd bet that it had to do with the PSP coming off as a bit of a split personality. It could do so many different things, that what it actually was as a device was a tough question to answer. Was it a gaming device? Yes, but it was lacking a couple things, hardware wise, that would've made the games it delivered more, well, payable and fun. (One analog stick is so 2001.) Was it an MP3 player? Yes, but it wasn't better than an iPod, and didn't have an easy way to organize/import music onto it. (Such as iTunes.) Was it a web browser? Yes, but a crappy one, limited by the system's memory which was pretty low to begin with. And oh, god, did the pirates go after that system with everything they had. So, in the long run, it really had it's work cut out for it, and despite some great games made for it, the system never really got a foothold in the collective minds of gamers.
The Vita seems to recognize this, and learn from Sony's past mistakes. In the wake of Nintendo's 3DS flopping, the iPhone/App Store making portable games something completely different in the public mind, and Sony's own struggles with the PS3 launch, the Vita is in a position to take aspects of iPhone gaming and it's own technological and gaming prowess and make something truly unique. A touch screen, a touch pad on the back, front and rear cameras, motion sensors, WI-Fi, GPS, 3G, (if you so choose) a high-resolution OLED screen, dual analog sticks, and games that already span from unique, casual, touch friendly stuff (Sound Shapes, Escape Plan, Little Deviants) to stuff aimed at more hardcore, traditional gamers. (Uncharted, Resistance, Ruin) And this is all before the system is actually out. The next year or so has a long list of incoming games for the device that I not only want, but I believe others of all kinds and creeds would enjoy as well.
There's a lot of potential in the Vita, more than there is in the 3DS, in my opinion, and that's part of what draws me to it. The potential in both the hardware and software is there to not only bring great times with you wherever you go, but to also share those times with your friends, whether they're with you or not. Another part of the Vita's appeal is, as I mentioned earlier, the games. The 3DS has maybe 4 or 5 games I'd ever play on it. Ever. I seem to have this problem with a lot of Nintendo's recent work, alongside the aforementioned "gimmicky" nature of their new direction. The Vita, on the other hand, has at least 10 or 12 I'd buy on release day, and that's just the stuff in the next year. The Vita isn't without problems, at least in terms of the things I'd need to make it function properly (namely a memory card, as mentioned earlier) but they are something I can easily overlook as growing pains or early adopter syndrome.
So, a preorder is at the top of my wishlist this year. It doesn't hit the states till February, but a fully paid preorder would make an excellent Jesus-Birthday gift. The dilemma I had was how to preorder it. Do I go with the First Edition Bundle, and get a game I'm not super interested in, a smallish memory card, and a system with a feature I don't really need (3G)? Or do I make a custom bundle, say with the WI-Fi only model, Uncharted, a bigger memory card, and a kit of accessories? Turns out the latter option is only $10 more than the official bundle. Sold.
I think part of it might be because I'm a fan of mobile hardware in general. Ever since I was a young'n, I found myself lusting over laptops, rather than the more powerful desktop counterparts. This was around the time when laptops were rapidly approaching becoming equal to desktops in terms of raw power, but it was also when I started to notice something: mobile devices tend to innovate more than desktops or set-top boxes. It started with laptops: getting more powerful, sure, (not to mention smaller) but also adding things like hot-swappable drives, (long before things like USB came along) interchangeable covers, and built-in webcams. Then PDAs came along: Palm did a pretty good job of moving them along, but that market fizzled out not long before smartphones (the iPhone in particular) took off like so many pissed off avians.
Gaming portables haven't had much in the way of innovation, save for the last 5 years or so. Game Boy started it, really, as the one of the first to have interchangeable cartridges for each game. Then the various iterations of that system (Color, Advance, SP, Micro) as well as the various copycats (Game Gear, Lynx, Wonderswan, and many others) didn't really change the formula, and as games a a whole evolved into more mature and cinematic experiences, portable gaming seemed more or less stuck in the same place, as kid stuff. Along came the Nintendo DS, and alongside that, the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. Both innovated in different ways: the DS used dual screens and a limited touch-screen capacity to make games more "friendly" and "interactive" to non-gamers, but the system and it's tricks always seemed way too "gimmicky" to me, which turned me off of it initially. (I did own an iteration of it later, as it did eventually get a few decent games on it, but it is no longer part of my collection.) The PSP, however, was much more graphically powerful, could play music and video, surf the internet, read digital comics, download podcasts, and more. (Granted a few of these features were added months or even years later.) It was designed to be a new generation of device. Sony even called it "the new Walkman" at some point. It could deliver console quality gaming (or close to it at the time) in the palm of your hand. Literally.
So, why did the DS become so damn popular? It's hard to say, but I'd bet that it had to do with the PSP coming off as a bit of a split personality. It could do so many different things, that what it actually was as a device was a tough question to answer. Was it a gaming device? Yes, but it was lacking a couple things, hardware wise, that would've made the games it delivered more, well, payable and fun. (One analog stick is so 2001.) Was it an MP3 player? Yes, but it wasn't better than an iPod, and didn't have an easy way to organize/import music onto it. (Such as iTunes.) Was it a web browser? Yes, but a crappy one, limited by the system's memory which was pretty low to begin with. And oh, god, did the pirates go after that system with everything they had. So, in the long run, it really had it's work cut out for it, and despite some great games made for it, the system never really got a foothold in the collective minds of gamers.
The Vita seems to recognize this, and learn from Sony's past mistakes. In the wake of Nintendo's 3DS flopping, the iPhone/App Store making portable games something completely different in the public mind, and Sony's own struggles with the PS3 launch, the Vita is in a position to take aspects of iPhone gaming and it's own technological and gaming prowess and make something truly unique. A touch screen, a touch pad on the back, front and rear cameras, motion sensors, WI-Fi, GPS, 3G, (if you so choose) a high-resolution OLED screen, dual analog sticks, and games that already span from unique, casual, touch friendly stuff (Sound Shapes, Escape Plan, Little Deviants) to stuff aimed at more hardcore, traditional gamers. (Uncharted, Resistance, Ruin) And this is all before the system is actually out. The next year or so has a long list of incoming games for the device that I not only want, but I believe others of all kinds and creeds would enjoy as well.
There's a lot of potential in the Vita, more than there is in the 3DS, in my opinion, and that's part of what draws me to it. The potential in both the hardware and software is there to not only bring great times with you wherever you go, but to also share those times with your friends, whether they're with you or not. Another part of the Vita's appeal is, as I mentioned earlier, the games. The 3DS has maybe 4 or 5 games I'd ever play on it. Ever. I seem to have this problem with a lot of Nintendo's recent work, alongside the aforementioned "gimmicky" nature of their new direction. The Vita, on the other hand, has at least 10 or 12 I'd buy on release day, and that's just the stuff in the next year. The Vita isn't without problems, at least in terms of the things I'd need to make it function properly (namely a memory card, as mentioned earlier) but they are something I can easily overlook as growing pains or early adopter syndrome.
So, a preorder is at the top of my wishlist this year. It doesn't hit the states till February, but a fully paid preorder would make an excellent Jesus-Birthday gift. The dilemma I had was how to preorder it. Do I go with the First Edition Bundle, and get a game I'm not super interested in, a smallish memory card, and a system with a feature I don't really need (3G)? Or do I make a custom bundle, say with the WI-Fi only model, Uncharted, a bigger memory card, and a kit of accessories? Turns out the latter option is only $10 more than the official bundle. Sold.
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