Who knew something as simple as designing a Mii character could get BusinessWeek off on a tangernt about Web 2.0 and “user-generated content?”
Regardless, the article and the Web 2.0 buzzword thing got me thinking: Could gaming resemble YouTube someday? Well, not all of it, but could one day there be a “developer channel” in amongst the Wii Channels we’ll all experience November 19? My reference to YouTube is this: The Miis in WiiSports and Wario Ware are only beginning. And then there’s this next bit, which will show that I borrowed generously my YouTube comparison from Squre/Enix president Yoichi Wada and Sega COO Simon Jeffrey.
“In the past, only game developers created content,” Square Enix (SQNFX ) President Yoichi Wada said in a keynote address at the conference. “From now on, gamers will be able to join the creation process.” If it sounds as if game creators hope to refashion themselves into Web 2.0 companies, it’s hardly a surprise. “As a game developer, the goal is to become the YouTube or MySpace of games,” says Simon Jeffrey, chief operating officer of Sega (SGAMY ) of America. “It’s not purely about just delivering a great game. You’ve got to also build online communities around the games so there’s credibility, communication, longevity. That’s the holy grail.”
The million dollar question is, does any of this matter to the Nintendo gamer? Making Mii’s is one thing, a small one at that, but partaking in the development of an online community is another thing entirely. Are you comfortable taking a little more control over your games? (I mean, more than the Wiimote is going to give you, which I freely admit is leaps and bounds over what we’re all used to anyway) As for me, I’m all about opening things up to as many minds as possible. It lowers costs and eliminates bugs in the long run. That’s just me though, how about you?
