Today is


"...Now we hear that some publishers are intending on raising the price of games in the future. I say Hell NO! We should not take this laying down...."





Two Cents: March 2005 Edition
    [April 4, 2005]

Editors Note: The following article is an editorial opinion and is just an opinion. The article does not represent the view of the site nor all of its staff. 

The videogame industry is as fluid as the ocean. Every month there is something that is announced or brought to the attention of the public that become important and change the dynamic of the industry. Most of the time those announcements have either a positive or negative impact on the industry and with that there are those whom have strong opinions on those announcements. Like many of you I have an opinion and here you can hear mine. I will talk about the big news for the month of March 2005 that tick me off, for these are my 2 cents. March is a month that features St. Patrick's Day, Spring Break and this year, Easter. Was there a lot to enjoy about March 2005? Read on to find out....

Too Violent for Nine Year Olds
 RELATED STORIES: New ESRB Rating for Videogames

A new video game rating category, E10+ (Everyone 10 and older), was introduced by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), to help consumers more easily differentiate between games that have content appropriate for the whole family and games that are suitable for ages 10 and older.

Game titles that carry the E10+ rating might contain moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. Games appropriate for all ages will continue to receive an E (Everyone) rating.

In recent years the videogame industry has come under fire from certain political groups saying that videogames are turning children into trained killers. We all know what games most of these people are talking about, its the games that are rated "M" for Mature. Games intended and rated for those aged 17 and above. Instead of better enforcing the ratings they already have, the ESRB in its divine wisdom decided to create another rating that will no doubt confuse parents. Apparently we have become so conservative now that when a cartoon character punches another cartoon character and that character disappears into a cloud of smoke that is considered violent... so violent that only those above the age of 10 should witness it, its too violent for the virgin eyes of nine year olds.

In my opinion I think this is a step backward. Sure you have those rare parents that say that Super Mario is too violent, but they are no more violent than your average Looney Tunes cartoon. I think that the ESRB should better educate parents through in-store displays and advertising on the game cover. I'm not saying on the actual artwork... but a booklet. Many 3rd party publishers in Canada have a booklet that is outside the gamebox for the French instructions, (Nintendo has in the actual artwork and instruction booklet inside the box) if they can do that, why not an ESRB pamphlet? There should be more time spent on better education rather the splitting of a rating with games that cause no controversy. 

Just What we Wanted to Hear!
RELATED STORIES: BREAKING NEWS: DS & Revolution Online & Zelda!

 Iwata, a veteran video game designer and player himself, made several major announcements during his Game Developers Conference keynote speech, Nintendo's next game console, code-named "Revolution," is proceeding on schedule and will include both backward compatibility and Wi-Fi features. Nintendo soon will offer a free Wi-Fi connection service to Nintendo DS owners. Iwata unveiled new images from the highly anticipated Legend of Zelda adventure coming this year for Nintendo GameCube.

Ten days into the month, Nintendo gave us some news that made us very, very happy. With the Revolution being backwards compatible we can safely buy GameCube games well into the next generation much like how Playstation One games were still be being made not that long ago. If you ask me, I think it is probably one of the single greatest decision Nintendo has made about the Revolution. Nintendo also announced the codenames for its processing and graphic chips. According to Nintendo...."Revolution’s technological heart, a processing chip developed with IBM and code-named "Broadway," and a graphics chip set from ATI code-named "Hollywood," are being designed to deliver game experiences not possible to date." Using the same chipmakers for the Revolution as they did with the GameCube sounds like a good idea. I wonder if the codename Hollywood could be an indicator whether or not that it will be able to play DVDs or HD-DVD/Blu-Ray. We'll have to wait and see on that front. Lets not forget that the fact that the Revolution will feature built-in Wi-Fi protocols, which will allow users around the world to connect with one another wirelessly. I do have a problem with this, why wirelessly? They make it sound like there will be a direct connection to other users rather than a central server that games will connect to. I do hope that Nintendo decides to do something similar to what Microsoft has done XBox Live, which in my opinion is one of the greatest innovations in console gaming since the Nintendo 64 with Rumble Pak and the four controller ports. If Nintendo doesn't do something that will welcome gamers to the wonderful world of Nintendo Online... that would not be a smart thing.

Nintendo also announced that the DS will also connect online using Wi-Fi. Once the service begins later this year, Nintendo DS users will be able to connect to the service wirelessly at Wi-Fi hot spots, whether they’re at home, in a hotel or at a coffee shop. Now this makes more sense, wireless online play for a handheld game console. Another good decision Nintendo made is having Animal Crossing DS use these features. Although under Nintendo own admission, that a game like Mario Kart DS will be hard to do with Wi-Fi. And for some reason everyone seems to think that MKDS will also be online when in fact all Nintendo said was that it will be only playable through LAN similar to Metroid Prime: Hunters and Pictochat.

Get Ready to Pay More...
 RELATED STORIES: Next-Gen Games to Cost More?

Activision CEO Robert Kotick commenting that the company intends to raise its wholesale prices by $10 for next-generation console software, largely due to the increasing costs of next-gen development. "We haven't raised prices as an industry in 20 years," Kotick mused in the piece. "Look at the movie business as an analogy. You're not getting any more hours of entertainment -- it's the same two hours of a motion picture -- and yet you're spending twice as much as you did 10 years ago."

Walk into any store that sells videogames and you will see some expensive games. $49.99 USD is not an easy price to swallow for a lot of people. Now we hear that some publishers are intending on raising the price of games in the future. I say Hell NO! We should not take this laying down. I really hope that they don't raise the price... other wise we may have to boycott. I can see this sort of action leading towards increased piracy, people already use the price to justify piracy, even though there is no excuse to pirate except being a thief. But if the price for the games is higher... I can see people turning to burned copies of games. I realize that nothing is set in stone yet... but this would be a definite step in the wrong direction. And only Activision is talking on the record so far, so they better come up with a reason for gamers to buy their more expensive games over their competitor's cheaper games cause I sure ain't paying an extra $10 for the next millionth game in the Tony Hawk series.