Recession What??

The title of this post is the question Ninetendo must have been asking themselves when they slated the release of their newest set of Wii controllers for somewhere just before Black Friday. Seeing as the Wii system is basically the biggest thing in the industry, putting out a pair of black controllers (Wiimote and Wii Motion Plus, to be specific) plus a specialized nun-chuck (and NO, its not a "numchuck", that's not a word) the Wii folks must be supposing that nobody's pocketbooks are stretched so far as being unable to purchase an added set of controllers for their system and will likely use the holiday consumer onslaught that typically begins in late November to purchase each other the new set of products. And why not right? Because now, instead of punching each-other accidentally, players will be able to accidentally hit each other in the face while trying out their favorite childhood fantasy karate moves, and who doesn't love that! 


Anyway, product photos are up after the jump

Full article via Joystiq

DJ Hero Video Hype

Love this new video from the people at DJ Hero. As if the virtual instrument series of gaming products weren't just about the hottest thing on the market (we definitely spent quite a few hours hogging microphones and the drum kit to The Beatles version of Rock Band the day it came out), the makers of Guitar Hero have zero-ed in on the fact that everyone these days wants to be a DJ. Forthcoming, exact date of release is October 27th, is "DJ Hero", is a single deck and mixer console combo that will allow players to step into the shoes of mixmaster monoliths like DJ Shadow and Daft Punk and recreate their mixes for fun or even for their friends.


To preview, they've pitched for the following bit of cinematic splendor. The clip will appear as the game's official intro. Check it!







Pretty darn cool, we think!

In Honor of the Our Neighbors to the North

On this, their Thanksgiving Monday and in light of the recent mobile release of our own Decades, we bring you an article from Canada.com's tech section regarding the rapid-fire production of gaming that's being caused by the acquisition of mobile phones by almost every single individual in the first world, and some in the second. 


The piece illuminates how much mobile devices are doing to shape both the way the games are programmed and how many people and which or them are getting to do it. In the article's case a 19 year old both programs a game as a class assignment and well as comments the following: 

"A game's creativity used to depend on the hardware," said Ide, a 19-year-old computer programming student who is developing an iPhone game as part of his studies.

"A successful game now is one that's simple and reaches a wide network of people..."

We'd say that that's pretty right on and rather insightful for someone of that age. But, then again, if you check our article from last Thursday, you'll see that young gamers are the brains behind todays apps and consoles. Check out the full article on here and for those of you celebrating, mazel tov. Enjoy the Turkey!

More In The Way of Digital Distro

Following up on our post of a couple of days prior, we've discovered this news item: Wal-Mart Launches Web-Based Used Game Sale

The mega-chain is one of many jumping on the gaming bandwagon. Amazon, Toys R' Us, and Best Buy already have initiatives that are allowing them access to this portion of the market place.

Very interesting, we think..

Generation "Y" Generating An Interesting Prospect for the Future

Spotted today on the Gamasutra blog is an interesting article about the current generation of young gamers are shaping the future in an interested way. 

The entry's essayist takes care to point out that in just a few short years the youngest consumers in this country have become individuals that take in their gaming via everything from fake plastic instruments, to web browsers, to table tops and slim, sleek mobile devices. We are certainly a group that's leapt past square, analog Mario Bros. of yesterday, into a present state where we have both short attention spans and a myriad of accessible technology and information sources.

Whether that's a deadly combination or not, Polack observes that Gen. Y is, 

"used to constant feedback from others (preferably praise) and we prefer the dynamic of a team. Years and years of academic life where tasks were group projects, paired assignments, and peer review have raised us with a familiarity and comfort in group work. 



As Generation Y gets older, the continual exposure to group activities and group projects throughout academic life manifests in unique ways. We're a generation in constant communication with one another; we text, we Twitter, we Facebook, we use just IM conversations with ease, and it feels weird to work at a computer without an internet connection.

Members of Generation Y are generally perceived to be sheltered, stressed, and entitled as a result of special treatment or attention due to the focus of parents who were acting opposite of the lax parenting in the 60s-70s "

And Polack concludes,

"It's hard to know how to properly evolve game design in ways that will fully appeal to the changing demographic...


What does seem somewhat helpful going forward is recognizing that the people who are growing up now have a different set of expectations for what games are and what they should be than the teenagers from a decade ago."

And interesting case study, indeed. To check out the full article, jump here: Gaming Generation Y

Decades To Make, Seconds to Enjoy

Our Decades mobile application has recently hit the street via iPhone and G1/Android platforms and is already catching some great buzz.

Some very happy users of the app hit us up with a stream of reviews from Google Marketplace. Check out what they had to say...

Pretty neat, huh? iPhone users can check out the game for themselves here and Android users can navigate in the following direction.

Stayed tuned here for more Decades-related news as we expand the product's reach into other territories.

Curious About The Future of Digital Distribution?

Wonder no more and watch the following video. In it, our own, wonderful, David Edery presents his take on the subject at Melbourne, Australia's "Digital Distribution Summit".

Just in case you've not heard, or read it here (ahem), Dave is recently appointed as an Executive Consultant in charge of independent game development here at SMERC, and not only are we proud of the man, who formerly served as Worldwide Portfolio Manager at XBox Live for some time and is now running his own consulting firm, Fuzbi, through MIT's Comparative Media Studies division, but, we agree with his insight and think he gave a terrific demo.

Check it out here:

And jump to GamersBytes to check out the full story.

A Bit More Uplifting (?) News Today

Following up on yesterdays rather droopy entry, today's two entries from Variety magazine's The Cut Scene gaming blog, seem to project a hopeful, and recession-unaffected, future for the gaming industry. Or not. 

Basically, there is first the news logged on the site last week announcing that visual marketing monolith 20th Century Fox (who are well-versed in marketing their own TV and film properties through video game licensing) is dipping its feet into the gaming pool by launching a full-scale gaming division. Appointed vice president of the new sector is former head of Vivendi Games Andre Emerson and it appears the studio will not continue to in-house their own licensed titles but also sire original titles. The move is basically in an effort to outrun the necessity to buy independent video game studios and thereby squeeze past that there is much less cash to throw around for such a venture. So, I guess as it goes, even in a recession, the rich just get richer. What will the decision of studios like Fox do to the little guys? That remains to be seen. Check out the full article here: Fox Gets Serious About Video Games

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