"Keep It Simple, Stupid" – David Braben on Added Value Services

[Callum Rowley]

"Keep It Simple, Stupid" – David Braben on Added Value Services

As you may already know, David Braben has recently started writing a regular monthly column for Develop Magazine where he delves deep into "technology, design, and the murky ground where they cross-over" within the games industry. Today we've got the second article in the series, titled "Keep It Simple, Stupid" available for you to read on the Frontier Website.

We are very lucky to work in such a new industry; one of the few where there is a great deal of positive discussion and exchange between us, when we are, let’s be honest, competitors. This is not the case in say, the film business. Nevertheless, you go into a retailer, and you see ranks of DVDs and BluRays in identically sized packaging, where the consumer knows exactly what to do with each one – just stick it in the player. OK, there are slight menu variations, and different numbers of irritating disclaimer screens on the discs, but essentially the process is the same. Until this year, that was substantially true of games, at least console games.

Read the Article in full

Let us know your thoughts, we'd be delighted to hear them.

 

[rgmarett]

Yeah I agree with this. As long as I can still stick the disk in another system and play it without being told "This disk is already registered to "Xbox A", please insert into "Xbox A" if you wish to play" (We have two Xboxes in our household).

And would prices really come down if the pre-owed market went. Activision hiked the price up on MW2, for no real justification, so I can't see prices ever coming down.

 

[Carlos Massiah]

For me, as a gamer, I like the idea of serialized disks. Its simple, and cuts out multiple layers of fussing. It would also mean we can get rid of DRM.

I've had many bad experiences with DRM. My first being with Farenheit. I had a legitimate disk, but the DRM software would not let me play so I had to download a CD crack to play it. More recently, last Christmas I baught Mass Effect and Mirrors edge. The DRM software prevented me from playing either of them, so I was pretty annoyed. So I bought myself a copy of Crysis on steam - that wouldn't have DRM on it. Well it did, I couldn't play that either. I'm not planning on buying anymore EA games, their DRM has put me off their products. Ubisoft has put themselves on my boycott list also by doing the always-online DRM too.

Ah so DRM rant aside, serialized disks would be great. If the games retailers are not happy with It I think it could be worth selling through supermarkets. I'm sure Tesco wouldn't care at all about selling serialized disks. Not as if Tesco or ASDA ever attempt to make profit on games releases anyway (they use them as loss-leaders to get people in-store)

 

[Bungarus]

I see the problem for the creators of not earning anything from the "pre-owned"-market, which probably keeps many people from buying the game in new condition.

But one obvious problem that I don't see addressed here: Often enough classic games can only be purchased "pre-owned" because they are out of print. So if it's made impossible to resell used games, all games will face premature eternal death.

And I did not quite understand how reselling is prevented with "serialized discs" (perhaps because English is not my native language):

At the very least, if we were to bring in serialised discs, this can be used to attach a disc to your account automatically

Does that mean I have to create an online account, then the serialized disc only works if logged on to that account using the correct password? What would prevent me from reselling the game together with that password then? An account that also checks the hardware so it can only be played on the system it was initially installed on? So if I buy a new computer the game will be dead even though I have a legitimate disc?

 

[Callum Rowley]

And I did not quite understand how reselling is prevented with "serialized discs" (perhaps because English is not my native language):

Serialised discs wouldn't out-right prevent reselling, what they would do is create incentive to buy games new at retail as by doing so you'll get added value functionality / bonus content. Games would still be playable once the original purchaser has passed it on - the second user just won't be privy to the bonus content as it'll have already been used up. This is already in place now (Mass Effect 2 for example has it) but it's done via 25-digit-codes on a sheet of paper which, for the casual consumer is quite intimidating.

Does that mean I have to create an online account, then the serialized disc only works if logged on to that account using the correct password? What would prevent me from reselling the game together with that password then? An account that also checks the hardware so it can only be played on the system it was initially installed on? So if I buy a new computer the game will be dead even though I have a legitimate disc?

The primary driving force behind serialised discs would be to give added value content to the first purchaser. If it were somehow tied to an online account system then you would still be able to play the game - just not register the bonus content. Most systems such as Xbox and Playstation profiles don't require an online connection to unlock bonus content (providing the content is already on the disc) so I can't see owning an online account being a requirement, especially as the idea behind serialised discs is to make the process of unlocking content easier and more streamlined in comparison to how it's done now - though I can see some companies issuing account registration as mandatory to grow their userbases and feed new content updates to the players.

 

[Bungarus]

But the plan is to prevent reselling on a later date, the "added value functionality" being only the first step:

So to sum up, let’s move to serialised discs now, as an industry. We should all agree that it will not be used to prevent pre-owned at the current price point, but to give added value functionality to the first purchasers.

(...)

It also creates the opportunity to bring in, at a later date, a ‘not for resale’ version of the game, that does use the code to prevent pre-owned at a lower price point

And of course "added value functionality for first purchasers" can be seen as an euphemism for turning the disc into crippleware for the pre-owned-purchasers. The more added value in the first place, the more crippling afterwards.

So let's think about what is planned for the future. How does it work then? Hardware-check? And what can be done to prevent the premature vanishing of a game as soon as it runs out of print?

 

[Steve O B Have]

Perhaps the whole pirating issue would be less troublesome if vendors didn't charge such exorbitant prices for new games. £40 for a game is in my opinion quite a bit. I personally tend to wait till the price drops below £20 before I buy them however if it were at that price initially then I would put my saved £20 betting that more people would just go and buy an original version.

In my mind there are several issues these days with games and the release process.

1. Demos - they just aren't as prevalent as they used to be - I would warrant that a large number of downloads are part of a 'try before you buy' process. Games houses are asking people to put faith in reviewers and in production houses that the quality is there and that they are getting value for their hard earned money. Unfortunately this is just not the case in a large number of games released these days. There are very few franchises that I buy into without first having had my trust gained by good production values and great products.

2. Price - As I alluded to earlier - pricing is, in my opinion, out of kilter for both the value of the game and the value of the package accompanying. Gone are the days where you would get a nice little box of goodies with a game - your £40 buys you a generic DVD case with one or two disks and a quick start guide. Games are costing less to press and costing us as the consumer more. One could argue that there is a parallel between the cost of producing games in this day and age but I would come back with the idea that if games houses didn't treat us like the enemy and more like a valued customer then perhaps, just perhaps, the monetary return might reflect that.

Now undoubtedly there are going to be people out there that are always going to take the cheap easy way to obtaining software but in the current trend of pricing vs content the industry is only making the cheap illegal way more desirable. Personally I think that the solution to this problem is not to make consumers jump through hoops but to offer them a great price combined with content that shows that we're not just a bunch of wallets to be arbitrarily dipped into because we have morals.

From the perspective of second hand games - again this is an issue with the price point that games come onto the market at - if you price the games at a more reasonable level then the second hand market would have far less weight with the consumer.

I think the problem is not with people buying pre-owned games or retailers selling them. This situation has be caused by the games industry getting too greedy and seeing the consumer as a threat. You want to fix the problem then the games industry has to move first not the consumer. We're oddly not the enemy, we're the ones that keep you in pocket but for some bizarre reason the gaming industry is hell bent on making us pay for the situation they have got themselves into.

 

[Callum Rowley]

Perhaps the whole pirating issue would be less troublesome if vendors didn't charge such exorbitant prices for new games. £40 for a game is in my opinion quite a bit. I personally tend to wait till the price drops below £20 before I buy them however if it were at that price initially then I would put my saved £20 betting that more people would just go and buy an original version.

I think the problem is not with people buying pre-owned games or retailers selling them. This situation has be caused by the games industry getting too greedy and seeing the consumer as a threat. You want to fix the problem then the games industry has to move first not the consumer. We're oddly not the enemy, we're the ones that keep you in pocket but for some bizarre reason the gaming industry is hell bent on making us pay for the situation they have got themselves into.

As a gamer, a more suitable price for gamers would be desirable as £39.99 for the standard edition of a game is a bit excessive when the special edition of the same game costs £44.99. However, for games at retail it's not the developer who dictates the prices, and publishers only get to say what the recommended price point should be. IMO this is where the current issue with prices arise as regardless of what price the publisher sets, the sales, manufacturers, printers and retailers will still take the same cut - and as it stands developers/publishers are already only making a fraction of return from the £39.99 price point at physical retail.

This is why digital distribution is such a welcoming thing for publishers/developers as it cuts out a lot of the middle men, allowing the publisher to sell directly to the consumer without the need to pay for physical goods - which in return, allows for the price point to come down. However this isn't yet widely accessible on console's, so for now we need to find ways to entice people to purchase new games at retail - and serialised discs is a way of building upon and making more widely accessible what publishers such as EA are already doing.

 

[Geraldine]

This is why digital distribution is such a welcoming thing for publishers/developers as it cuts out a lot of the middle men, allowing the publisher to sell directly to the consumer without the need to pay for physical goods - which in return, allows for the price point to come down. However this isn't yet widely accessible on console's, so for now we need to find ways to entice people to purchase new games at retail - and serialised discs is a way of building upon and making more widely accessible what publishers such as EA are already doing.

Well I had a similar point in this thread, "More Crazy Thoughts" http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1666

Do it yourselves, then every penny goes to the devs, good point though about the consoles. A possible workaround is to build a healthy PC user base first to generate enough income (and so put yourselves in a better bargaining position with publishers) before turning to more conventional retail routes and involving the "middle men".

 

[Sir.Tj]

As a gamer, a more suitable price for gamers would be desirable as £39.99 for the standard edition of a game is a bit excessive when the special edition of the same game costs £44.99. However, for games at retail it's not the developer who dictates the prices, and publishers only get to say what the recommended price point should be. IMO this is where the current issue with prices arise as regardless of what price the publisher sets, the sales, manufacturers, printers and retailers will still take the same cut - and as it stands developers/publishers are already only making a fraction of return from the £39.99 price point at physical retail.

This is why digital distribution is such a welcoming thing for publishers/developers as it cuts out a lot of the middle men, allowing the publisher to sell directly to the consumer without the need to pay for physical goods - which in return, allows for the price point to come down. However this isn't yet widely accessible on console's, so for now we need to find ways to entice people to purchase new games at retail - and serialised discs is a way of building upon and making more widely accessible what publishers such as EA are already doing.

So, hypothetically speaking, would Frontier developments look at something like the Steam system to distribute Elite 4?

 

[Callum Rowley]

Do it yourselves, then every penny goes to the devs,

We've already started with the likes of LostWinds - which we both developed and published. If we were to enter the publishing space on a larger scale its best (IMO) to start small with digital download platforms.

So, hypothetically speaking, would Frontier developments look at something like the Steam system to distribute Elite 4?

Digital download platforms for any future game we do is always on our minds as we have much more control over them. However, for our larger games it's also dependent on the publishers objectives.

 

[Steve O B Have]

As a gamer, a more suitable price for gamers would be desirable as £39.99 for the standard edition of a game is a bit excessive when the special edition of the same game costs £44.99. However, for games at retail it's not the developer who dictates the prices, and publishers only get to say what the recommended price point should be. IMO this is where the current issue with prices arise as regardless of what price the publisher sets, the sales, manufacturers, printers and retailers will still take the same cut - and as it stands developers/publishers are already only making a fraction of return from the £39.99 price point at physical retail.

This is why digital distribution is such a welcoming thing for publishers/developers as it cuts out a lot of the middle men, allowing the publisher to sell directly to the consumer without the need to pay for physical goods - which in return, allows for the price point to come down. However this isn't yet widely accessible on console's, so for now we need to find ways to entice people to purchase new games at retail - and serialised discs is a way of building upon and making more widely accessible what publishers such as EA are already doing.

Of course it's a welcome thing for publishers - it means they can (and do) charge above the odds for new release games and not have to pay shops their 'handling fee'. Steam has some brilliant deals but hell do they wring every last penny out of you for new releases. If you purchase off Amazon you can typically save yourself £10 and get a physical disk.

I love the digital distribution method but I really do still think that they need to be rethinking their pricing and take the lead. The bonus is that the return to publishers (and hopefully by proxy developers) is increased and there is greater control with the end product - something that I have no issue with. Serialised disks do make an element of sense but getting rid of them all together makes more IMO. It strikes me that digital distribution is the perfect vehicle for restructuring the entire selling 'tree' and forcibly bringing the price down but whilst it still appears to be a cash cow (especially with the middle man gone) publishers aren't going to do diddly and then end result is that someone is always going to find a way around DRM or serial keys or for that matter serial disks.

Am I wrong in thinking that if you cut the price of games by half then more than twice as many people would be inclined to legitimately purchase it? All this copy protection stuff just seems to be more about wallet protection from narrow minded industry Scrooges.

 

[Geraldine]

Hidden Treasure

Yes, I am for digital downloads (especially so if it helps secure the financial future of Frontier Developments), but part of me still wants to hold that Elite IV box (which is ever so slightly, a little small to hold all the manuals, fiction, key cards, galaxy map, disk and who knows what else), which pops open to reveal it's hidden treasure within.

 

[rgmarett]

Am I wrong in thinking that if you cut the price of games by half then more than twice as many people would be inclined to legitimately purchase it?

I do agree with you, but that argument does have a flip side - you can double the price of a game and you only need to sell half as many.

For me, I like the idea of digital download, but I think my heart still wants to hold something tangible. I like having the original disk. Incentives for buying something new are not old, but the serialization will just make things easier for the purchaser (although, it's not really that hard to enter in a code). Also, one other point - most of the incentives these days are not for buying the product new, it's for pre-ordering the product that gets you your bonus. How would serialization work then?

 

[Steve O B Have]

I do agree with you, but that argument does have a flip side - you can double the price of a game and you only need to sell half as many.

That's assuming that 50% of people that were going to buy the game at the original price would still consider it worth twice the price. I'm not sure that would be the case.

 

[rgmarett]

That's assuming that 50% of people that were going to buy the game at the original price would still consider it worth twice the price. I'm not sure that would be the case.

Take a look at the awful map pack Activision released for Modern Warfare 2. I think something like 2.5 million copies have been sold so far, and for (on the xbox 360) 1200ms points (compared to Mass Effect 2's 560ms points for DLC).

Buuuut, I don't know why I'm arguing the point, because I agree with you. Games are overpriced, no matter what we get with high 'developmental costs'.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Not only that RG, but they're releasing another pack at the same price in a couple of weeks, so not only overpriced but taking the **** as well

 

[rgmarett]

Yeah, it's crazy really. I know a lot of people (including myself) that won't be buying the new map pack. They ignored the Special Ops game mode as well, and that was great fun.

 

[Geraldine]

Well, this is were, waiting for the "game of the year" or "gold" editions can be an alternative. I did this with Silent Hunter IV Gold. Would be nice to have Silent Hunter V "Gold" without the horrid DRM.

 

[potsmoke66]

maybe i'm oldfashioned, but i never bought one thing in the web.
if that is music or a game, a dvd of a movie or a toy, i like to go to a shop to see and feel what i get.

guess i don't like to pay neither in advance or by check and a web account of course i don't have (whatfor if i buy nothing).

i said i'm oldfashioned, maybe outdated though.