Two things I want to talk about, and I feel like right now is the perfect time to bring them up. First off, Microsoft needs to pull an Apple and take advantage of the tech they have right now and make a TV. And not just any TV, but one that will finally bring together all the devices hooked up to a TV in one. Details on that and why Origin is going to just make PC gaming more complicated after the jump (I promise these topics are related).
Microsoft is, as they often are, at a very important crossroads. And like every other situation they've been in, they are likely going to drop the ball and lose a chance at dominating a very important market: TV.
Now, Microsoft already has two PERFECT assets to enter this market: The XBox 360 (and especially the Kinect) and Windows 8. Now, let me explain. The Kinect has allowed for people to control their 360s using gestures, and Windows 8 is being built for touch interfaces. These two combined would make for a beautiful TV experience. On top of that, the the Media Center interface for Windows 8 is going to have integration with XBox Live (as seen here). Now, what I am getting at is, if XBox is going to stay relevant in a world where consoles are shifting away from mere gaming devices, they have to make the product nobody is expecting, but everyone will want when they see it. To me, that product is the XBOX TV.
The XBOX TV would be a TV with PC hardware (or something along those lines) built into it. Think along the lines of a large iMac, or a really powerful Google TV. But the advantage will be that it will be running Windows 8, with a very, very powerful Media Center interface that integrates with XBox Live. The TV will also have a Kinect built in, as well as a XBox 360 controller adapter (all internal, no hassle or hookups needed). So, out of the box you can turn it on and control it with the Kinect, or turn on a 360 controller and control it with that. This also allows for an extensive backlog of PC games that can be installed and played, and Microsoft should allow for games to be selected and played right from the media center menus. Special icons in the interface would indicate whether the games support 360 controller, kinect, or keyboard and mouse (as maintained on a database) and the service would allow games from Steam and other providers to be added to the Media Center interface.
The version of Windows 8 for the XBox TV will need to be built specifically for these purposes, so the user doesn't feel bogged down with setting things up and having to muck around with preferences. Things will need to be anticipated, but with the tools Microsoft already has, I don't think that is at all unreasonable. Add on top of that the ability to hook up the internal Kinect to an existing XBox 360, a special option to go to a classic Windows interface and install any Windows compatible software (but keep this mostly hidden from most users), keep it around the $1500 - $2000 price point, and I think they would have a formula for really bringing together several industries, reviving PC gaming, and allowing for some real PC hardware optimization.
I know this would come with some issues, such as not really being able to upgrade your hardware (though a panel you could open up to swap out a standard video card, RAM, or HDD would change this), and it would be a move away from a Desktop, but I think a change like this is necessary. Think of the potential of having all the entertainment devices you currently use in your living room, consolidated to one device, instead of the splintered mess that most of us deal with right now.
On the topic of splintering, though, part of the reason why this will never happen (at least with the gaming emphasis) is because of services like Steam or Origin. These things make it much harder for Microsoft to consolidate the user experience, because there are way too many places people can get their games, and way too many services that would need to be running to make sure those games are accessible. Perhaps allowing the user to choose which services they will want would alleviate this, all through a Media Center interface, but the problem remains.
Steam really put forth a standard for digital distribution for games, but unfortunately Valve is like an island in the world of Tech. It's a game developer that happened to make a good distribution platform for games. If they were to make an agreement with Microsoft, though, one that would allow their service to better integrate with Windows 8, they would have a real presence as the go-to company in digital distribution. But with services like Origin entering the game, with EA at its front, the whole situation has changed. Publisher specific distribution platforms are going to fragment the scene too much, and leave gamers with too much to have to setup. Blizzard has battle.net, EA has Origin, there are things like GoG and others, and that creates a HUGE issue for the XBox TV idea. Too much configuration makes for a very difficult user experience, and lack of control does as well. And the PC scene is hurting because it has no central point of control.
Ultimately, though, no one but Microsoft could take the wheel of the PC gaming scene and work to make it more unified. And they probably would have done it by now, had they not been sidetracked by the original XBox and the 360. That's why I think they need to bring those two ideas together and create a platform that finally marries their XBox branch to their PC gaming base. And when you think about how Windows already has the ability to support everything from Netflix to Hulu to Amazon on demand to iTunes to Amazon MP3 to... okay, so you get the point. The PC-powered XBox TV would be a great product.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Microsoft Should Make a TV, Origin Will Just Hurt PC Gaming
On The Topics of Sexism and Context
There has been a lot of talk lately about sexism in gaming, and how gaming communities and even the developers of the games themselves have created a very hostile environment for female gamers. And you know what? My eyes have been opened, and I admit, I am a bit embarassed with the scene I have finally come to see.
Frankly, it's kind of sad that it took me so long to really wake up to the issue, and that someone had to point it out so clearly for that to happen. And the reality is that the gaming community, in general, has left little room for women to take part. I mean, I have always been against discrimination of any kind in the communities I have taken part of over the years. I have even had to take action against it during the brief times I have administered forums, developed content for communities, and ran servers for gaming. While I felt I was helping maintain a safe environment for everyone, I now realize my efforts were in vain because the games being played were sexist to begin with.
And really, the idea that several of the games I've played have had very sexist content in them has been at the edge of my consciousness for years, but these thoughts never formed into a solid realization until now. In fact, after reading several articles of late (namely here, here, here, here, here, and even here) I finally fully realized how hostile an environment the gaming scene really is. I thought to myself, "Wow, certainly some of the games I play aren't sexist... Like, perhaps, Final Fantasy!" I felt somewhat relieved in recalling how I showed Final Fantasy IX to my sister and how she loved it, how my wife loves playing Final Fantasy, and how I have always seen it as a level-headed series. That was immediately dashed, though, as I thought of a few characters whose design and roles in the games were anything but flattering towards women. And so I realized the problem goes far deeper than I was actively aware of.
Now, I am writing this mostly to other guys out there in hope that more of us will stop propagating the hostility towards women. Please, please don't be the guy who reads what I am saying here and goes, "BUT GUYS ARE ALSO OBJECTIFIED IN GAMING TOO!" and "WOMEN SHOULD STOP WHINING!" or "I LIKE BOOBS IN GAMES BECAUSE THEY ARE FUN!" These opinions are just knee-jerk justifications and attempts to ignore the issue, and that is simply not okay. We need to get past that point. Electronic Games are so new and have evolved so much in recent years that we are still coping with the growing pains, but we need to stop just accepting that "sex sells" and allow the medium to mature.
Alright, good, now that's over. I've challenged everyone to open their minds, and that's all I'm going to say in regards to that. From here on, I'm going to talk about how I think things need to change. I don't pretend to know the solutions to everything, but let me humbly suggest what I think might help.
As games have progressed, especially in relation to technology, the ability to represent the worlds gaming takes place in has really exploded. Environment, narrative, immersion, all of these things and others have benefited from the technological advances of the hardware our games run on. These advances, though, are not without pitfalls. As the infamous NYU Street Fighter Panel recently illustrated, much of the sexism in games is possible these days because of the tech available in game development.
So, let me suggest that part of our problem is that certain aspects of our ever changing game industry have outpaced others. While we can render much more realistic characters, with so many more details, these details are often blatantly shown without personality or context. We are far too often presented with "sexy" views of women before we know anything else about them, as Latoya Peterson pointed out. So does that mean that we have to get rid of all the sexiness in games?
Some of the more over the top stuff will simply have to go, but it doesn't mean that these scenes will all disappear. But we will, at the very least, need to tone it down, and change the order of operations. Instant gratification is sometimes important in games, but too often it can get in the way of tasteful presentation. ESPECIALLY when dealing with characters. It's not acceptable to have games march characters out and, before we learn a single thing about them, present their near-naked bodies. That makes playing the game with any sensible group of people very awkward, and should make all of us a little uncomfortable, really.
Allow me to present you with two examples of how gaming has, in my opinion, done a good job avoiding the pitfalls of sexism:
The first has to do with Final Fantasy 6. The main character in that game, Terra, was presented as a lost soul hoping to find her heritage, and this made it very easy to relate to her and feel for her in the struggles she would pass through during the game. We didn't have to endure humiliating shots of her, scantily clad in rags in her role as a slave of the empire. Her first on-screen appearance wasn't one that tried to snag the attention of teenage boys through sex appeal. The female characters in this game were presented respectfully and their backstories are learned through the gameplay, allowing the player to relate to them, instead of having their only link to them be riddled with lust.
The second one is tainted, I know, but I think it's still a valid illustration. Metroid. The NES title really, really blew people away when they finally learned Samus was a woman. Of course, it didn't really help that she was in a bathing suit, and that you could play through the game in that bathing suit using a cheat, but my point is that you didn't know she was a woman until you had really come to know the character by playing through the game (as much as Metroid really could). There was context to that encounter, and so the reveal was a fun surprise that added depth to the avatar, instead of sexualizing her.
Now, I know both examples are from times when technology didn't allow for a lot of the issues that modern video games struggle with, but it just goes to show that "eye candy" isn't the only thing that should be boosted as consoles and PCs improve. As the Metroid example illustrates, it doesn't take much more than the bond of player and avatar, forged through struggling through obstacles and challenges, for there to be context for more personal, and even intimate, details of a character to be revealed. And that's the thing that too many games ignore, and the flesh is exposed right off the bat.
Ultimately, when making design choices, the simple thought of "Some people playing my games won't be male!" will help a lot to change. Games will still be fun without the petty visual stimulation, because the main emphasis will likely remain with gameplay no matter what approach is taken. Once the design emphasis of the women in games moves away from sexuality, the communities that have formed around gaming will slowly change, allowing for a stronger base of respect between all players, regardless of who they are.
Thank you Leigh, Nicole, Latoya, and all the others who have stood up and pointed out the problems games have with sexism. The time to change has arrived, and I think that all the buzz about sexism is a sign of this.
