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Allowing Ad Hoc: Freeing Free Games By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman I have an ambivalent view towards free games. On one hand, some of them are very well produced, addicting games by competent developers who are trying to get their proverbial foot in the door. On the other hand, a lot of free games are huge disappointments, most get an immediate deletion from my hard drive or I never bother to revisit the game’s site. So whenever I catch wind of a free game I’m normally very wary of it (hence, why I got into Metanet’s N so late in its life). Though beyond the galaxy of free internet games, is the world of handheld downloadable content. The downloadable content for handhelds is a marketing idea that began with cellphone applications and games in the late 90’s. Games like Snake (Nibblers) and Mancala could be downloaded right to your phone for free; it was like having a TI-83 calculator that made calls. However, with the major boost in trend and power of Wi-Fi technology downloadable content for handhelds as hit the true gamer’s market. During the holiday season of 2004 Nintendo and Sony both released systems that would change the face of handheld gaming. Enter the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, these 2 pocket sized devices now made it possible to have recent generation games available on the go. While impressive in itself, another thing they added to the handheld gaming world is downloadable play and demos. While demos speak for themselves as playable previews for a given game, the downloadable play works a little differently. In downloadable play you’re allowed to download a dumbed down version of a multiplayer game in order to play against the owner of the said game. For example: in Tetris DS you can effectively allow other DS owners that don’t own the game to have access to a version that let’s them challenge you. There’s also some downloadable play content that offers co-op play, for example Kirby Super Star Ultra’s Spring Breeze. While the owner of the cart gets to control the titular pink puff ball their friend can control the myriad of helpers found throughout the game. While this does sound like a really great idea in gaming, I have to ask why all DS and PSP games aren’t supporting these functions. There are so many marketing benefits to adding these functions to your games. In fact, the only games I can’t see these working for are turn based RPG games. Having a downloadable demo should be mandatory for all PSP and DS games. Whether you have to get the demo from the PS Network, the Wii’s Nintendo Channel, or download station at your local store; a demo should be available for every new worthwhile release. Imagine, if the movie studios let you watch the first 20-30 minutes of a film. I’d honestly be seeing a lot more movies; I’d really want to know what happened to the characters next. The same with a game demo; if you wet our appetites and show us how a game is going to be, then there is no skepticism or having to wait for another person’s review. You’ll already have known exactly what to expect. Though it’s not always feasible, I also think most games should have ad hoc/single cart download play. Not only does it serve the same purpose as a demo, but it also gets players thinking how much more fun a game would be with friends if they had all the functions available. Another argument for ad hoc is it allows gamers access to games they would never play otherwise. A few months ago, Gavin, Josh and I were hanging around watching the Laker game and drinking some beers. During the halftime break Josh and I begin to play Sonic Rush DS race mode with the single cart play. After a few rounds Gavin asks to play and to our shock admits that he has never played a classic Sonic game. By our competitive match Josh and I opened up a new game series to Gavin. Would he have tried Sonic on his own? Not likely since he hadn’t played one in the 20 year life span of the series. And he probably wouldn’t have played the game had one of us was playing alone (since I’m a controller hog and Josh is really good at the Sonic games. Thus, Gavin would never have gotten cycled in for a round). Ad hoc/single card download play should be available on as many games as possible, since it breeds company loyalty. As you can see from the site, aside from Ron, Steve and Vivian the rest of us here are hardcore Nintendo fans. I personally developed my devotion from not only their quality games, but through their bonuses. I remember when Nintendo Power gave me Dragon Warrior for the NES for free. At 8 years old getting a $50 game in your mailbox for free was epic. I’ll never forget that gesture. Now, I’m not saying that we should be getting free full versions of games, but to quote Josh “demos and single card play make it feel like Nintendo isn’t cash raping you without your consideration and consent.” I would stay a loyal fan of a company if they made me feel like they cared about their customers. While I do understand the development costs and resources that go into creating a game; I have to ask why aren’t the developers at least adding some form of downloadable content/ad hoc to their games? Perhaps, we should write to our congressmen or senate… Or better yet, support developers that do have those functions as a way of saying “You’re doing the right thing, we appreciate it. And we won’t be backing up those other guys.”
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