Sotamaa Cph290108slideshare

Democratizing the Console Environment? Console Games and Player-generated Content Olli Sotamaa University of Tampere FREE TO PLAY: USER GENERATED CONTENT IN COMPUTER GAMES October 29th 2008, Copenhagen

Overview
The role of player production in the console market until recently
The promise of democratizing the console environment
The forms of player productivity
” Console game snapshots”
Beyond the player-facilitating initiatives

Console environment traditionally
closed
proprietary
oligopolistic
manufacturer royalties
strict control of content
not particularly known for supporting player’s own production

The forms of control over player productivity

” With your help, we can achieve our goal of democratizing game development and distribution. We are building a lightweight and scalable distribution platform for community-created games. We want to ensure that all creators can participate in game development.”
Dax Hawkins, development manager of Microsoft XNA

” By reducing the barriers that make console game development prohibitively expensive, WiiWare showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history, connecting the people who make games more directly with the people who play them.”
Nintendo.com on WiiWare

More democratic console environment?
Projects like XNA and WiiWare still not for anyone, but for small studios, indie and student projects
The emergence of hard drives and online services has, however, slowly paved the way for player-generated content
So, what kind of player participation is encouraged?

Homebrew software, wiimote hacks, console case mods etc.
Mostly tolerated but not supported

Content modifications: UT3 mods, Halo maps etc.
Supported, relatively closely controlled
Differentiate the means of consumption (console) and the means of production / distribution (PC)

Towards ”casual modding”
No need for programming skills or complicated software
Limits the possibility space but allows new player segments to experiment
New functions for games will emerge
” Console game snapshots”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2iGG9uTZY

http://www.mybuzzquiz.com/en_GB/actions/Home.do

Browser games
for consoles
Both Nintendo Wii and PS3 have an integrated internet browser
The browser provides a design environment mostly free from the manufacturer restrictions
Browser gaming has been claimed to be the future of PC gaming, why not console as well?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clSCqglH42I&feature=related

Concluding remarks
Despite the noble rhetorics, console democracy still in the very early stages
If manufacturers and developers really want to benefit from player’s creative investements they should not be too greedy
Providing players with easy-to-use design tools can create new mundane functions for games
The browser as an open design and gaming environment can challenge our understanding of console gaming

Sotamaa Cph290108slideshare

by ollisotamaa on Nov 10, 2008

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