I had a concern about the content framework that I posted here on my blog, as well as over at connect.microsoft.com. It was a bit of a multifaceted concern specifically related to the incremental rebuild functionality in XNA Game Studio Express Edition, but more specifically related to XNA Game Studio Professional, which will come out afterwards.
It's always nice when the "answer" is vague enough that it doesn't actually address any of the real concerns.
(Never mind that I'm still a bit sore that the Express Edition SKU's don't support integrated source control...of all the features to cut...)
September 27, 2006
September 26, 2006
[XNA] XNA and VB
One downside about having a ton of different topics in your blog is that it is very difficult to extract out meaningful data from search queries. For example, none of the queries currently hitting my site account for more than 1.2% of the total queries.
That said, some items are bubbling to the top. People want XNA. XNA-related queries currently account for more than 30% of the search engine queries that hit my site.
The number one XNA-related query is "xna vb." I think that speaks for itself, but I think it's more telling that "xna vb" has four times as many people looking for it than they do for "xna basiceffect" (essentially the fixed-function replacement inside the XNA Framework), has almost as many queries as all of the piracy-related search queries that hit my site (quite a lot, really), and has twice as many queries as people looking for Vista compatibility information.
Something tells me that the XNA team may want to rethink their message. Right now, the message being communicated is "We're aware of the VB problem, and are looking at ways to solve it." The message isn't that there's a VB problem...the true message is that VB is the market.
That said, some items are bubbling to the top. People want XNA. XNA-related queries currently account for more than 30% of the search engine queries that hit my site.
The number one XNA-related query is "xna vb." I think that speaks for itself, but I think it's more telling that "xna vb" has four times as many people looking for it than they do for "xna basiceffect" (essentially the fixed-function replacement inside the XNA Framework), has almost as many queries as all of the piracy-related search queries that hit my site (quite a lot, really), and has twice as many queries as people looking for Vista compatibility information.
Something tells me that the XNA team may want to rethink their message. Right now, the message being communicated is "We're aware of the VB problem, and are looking at ways to solve it." The message isn't that there's a VB problem...the true message is that VB is the market.
[GameDev] Region Coding Debate
Well, it's been awhile coming, but here's the article that I promised Ozymandias regarding region coding for console games.
Personally, I'm against region coding. I feel that the benefits to publishers are far outweighed by the negatives for publishers, retailers and customers, but I always try to understand both sides of the debate.
Region coding does have some benefits. First, it helps limit the damage that can be caused by professional pirates. When the French version of "Halo 2" was leaked, it was only playable on modded Xboxes, and if it was pressed to a disc by an unscrupulous distributor, it could only be played in European Xboxes.
Second, it can help you comply with the laws in certain countries. If you want your game stamped as playable in a region, you have to provide a copy of the rating certificates from that region to the console publisher. In some countries, distribution of a title that has not been submitted for certification or rating can be an offense punishable by fines or jail time.
Third, licensing restrictions. There may be times when you just can't get the rights to distribute certain assets outside of your region. A good example would be a licensed song for a soundtrack. U.S.-only licensing of that song may only run $30,000 for the SKU, but worldwide licensing would run over $100,000. The potential extra sales may not offset the extra cost.
Fourth, it allows staggered releases. This is a big thing with movie tie-ins, especially. Since movies are not always released day-and-date worldwide for a variety of reasons (the local markets may be saturated during the U.S. release window, or there may be a more opportune window overseas), being able to lock the title down to a released region often increases sales in a region.
Fifth, it can allow a customized experience for a region. There may be times when a title would sell better in other regions with a few minor changes, like swapping out realistically proportioned faces from the U.S. release to more anime-styled faces for the Japanese release. (This was done for at least one title because focus testing in Japan showed hatred towards the characters because the smaller eyes indicated hostility.)
Finally, it can allow interest in other regions to be properly gauged based on the release in other regions, and allow me to make the proper number of units. More on this in a second, because it leads to my reasons to dislike region coding for console games.
The first thing I have against region coding is the cost for the developer and publisher. Each region-coded SKU is a seperate SKU for a console game, and each console SKU has a minimum disc order. For each disc pressed, some money goes to the console manufacturer as a licensing fee for allowing the game on the console. Let's say that the minimum order per SKU for console X is 100,000 units. The COGS for the manual and disc are about $4 a unit, and the console manufacturer's non-refundable royalty would be about $10 a unit. In other words, that's a $1.4 million outlay before I've made dollar one on the title. If I'm shipping in three regions, that's 100,000 units minimum per region, or $4.2 million minimum outlay. (To be fair, some console manufacturers are allowing discs to be authorized for multiple regions, so you can have a disc that will play in regions 1 and 2 but not 3. For those manufacturers, the minimum order applies to the disc, not the region.)
The second thing I have against region coding is that it short-circuits customer choice. While it may be illegal for us to distribute our titles in certain regions or the licensing costs may be prohibitive towards release in a region, the weird thing is that it usually isn't illegal for people in those regions to import the titles. People in Germany can still buy titles that are denied classification. We may not actively distribute the title there, but they can purchase it themselves. As a gamer, there are tons of quirky Japanese titles I'd love to import, but can't because none of my consoles are modified, and I don't feel right using some of the "hack discs" that are available.
The third thing I have against region coding is the support costs. Each SKU generally gets a seperate media ID from the console manufacturer. These media ID's are used for matchmaking and updating purposes. If I split my SKU's, it becomes harder for me to allow cross-region matchmaking, and the work necessary to master the game and create any updates increases geometrically by the number of regions we are going to release in.
So while I'm personally against region coding in most cases, I can see certain circumstances where region coding your media would increase sales. However, those circumstances are generally so few and far between that I really can't see them outweighing the benefits from a lack of region coding.
Personally, I'm against region coding. I feel that the benefits to publishers are far outweighed by the negatives for publishers, retailers and customers, but I always try to understand both sides of the debate.
Region coding does have some benefits. First, it helps limit the damage that can be caused by professional pirates. When the French version of "Halo 2" was leaked, it was only playable on modded Xboxes, and if it was pressed to a disc by an unscrupulous distributor, it could only be played in European Xboxes.
Second, it can help you comply with the laws in certain countries. If you want your game stamped as playable in a region, you have to provide a copy of the rating certificates from that region to the console publisher. In some countries, distribution of a title that has not been submitted for certification or rating can be an offense punishable by fines or jail time.
Third, licensing restrictions. There may be times when you just can't get the rights to distribute certain assets outside of your region. A good example would be a licensed song for a soundtrack. U.S.-only licensing of that song may only run $30,000 for the SKU, but worldwide licensing would run over $100,000. The potential extra sales may not offset the extra cost.
Fourth, it allows staggered releases. This is a big thing with movie tie-ins, especially. Since movies are not always released day-and-date worldwide for a variety of reasons (the local markets may be saturated during the U.S. release window, or there may be a more opportune window overseas), being able to lock the title down to a released region often increases sales in a region.
Fifth, it can allow a customized experience for a region. There may be times when a title would sell better in other regions with a few minor changes, like swapping out realistically proportioned faces from the U.S. release to more anime-styled faces for the Japanese release. (This was done for at least one title because focus testing in Japan showed hatred towards the characters because the smaller eyes indicated hostility.)
Finally, it can allow interest in other regions to be properly gauged based on the release in other regions, and allow me to make the proper number of units. More on this in a second, because it leads to my reasons to dislike region coding for console games.
The first thing I have against region coding is the cost for the developer and publisher. Each region-coded SKU is a seperate SKU for a console game, and each console SKU has a minimum disc order. For each disc pressed, some money goes to the console manufacturer as a licensing fee for allowing the game on the console. Let's say that the minimum order per SKU for console X is 100,000 units. The COGS for the manual and disc are about $4 a unit, and the console manufacturer's non-refundable royalty would be about $10 a unit. In other words, that's a $1.4 million outlay before I've made dollar one on the title. If I'm shipping in three regions, that's 100,000 units minimum per region, or $4.2 million minimum outlay. (To be fair, some console manufacturers are allowing discs to be authorized for multiple regions, so you can have a disc that will play in regions 1 and 2 but not 3. For those manufacturers, the minimum order applies to the disc, not the region.)
The second thing I have against region coding is that it short-circuits customer choice. While it may be illegal for us to distribute our titles in certain regions or the licensing costs may be prohibitive towards release in a region, the weird thing is that it usually isn't illegal for people in those regions to import the titles. People in Germany can still buy titles that are denied classification. We may not actively distribute the title there, but they can purchase it themselves. As a gamer, there are tons of quirky Japanese titles I'd love to import, but can't because none of my consoles are modified, and I don't feel right using some of the "hack discs" that are available.
The third thing I have against region coding is the support costs. Each SKU generally gets a seperate media ID from the console manufacturer. These media ID's are used for matchmaking and updating purposes. If I split my SKU's, it becomes harder for me to allow cross-region matchmaking, and the work necessary to master the game and create any updates increases geometrically by the number of regions we are going to release in.
So while I'm personally against region coding in most cases, I can see certain circumstances where region coding your media would increase sales. However, those circumstances are generally so few and far between that I really can't see them outweighing the benefits from a lack of region coding.
[DRM] Straight Outta Lynwood
Good news, the new "Weird Al" Yankovic DualDisc "Straight Outta Lynwood" is completely DRM-free.
Bad news, it is a DualDisc, so the disc won't play in several slotloaders, and even some newer drives...like the Samsung TS-H552B 16x DVD burner I use at work.
September 22, 2006
[Personal] Home Sick
For the first time this year, I left work early because I felt sick.
Hopefully, my stomach calms down...
By the way, asking for laptop video chipset configuration testing is evidently the equivalent of asking for an anal rape sans lube (i.e. ten laptops config tested evidently costs more than forty desktops).
Hopefully, my stomach calms down...
By the way, asking for laptop video chipset configuration testing is evidently the equivalent of asking for an anal rape sans lube (i.e. ten laptops config tested evidently costs more than forty desktops).
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