Derek Sivers writes about an idea for a creative computer: it would do nothing until you figet with it enough / learn about it enough to make it work. Kind of like the Radio Shack TRS-80 in 1978, which he grew up with.

I love this idea, but my no. 1 thought is that the context differed largely for him as a kid and for kids now. 1. there’s peer influences. I know that home schooling is a semi-big deal in the US (tried it once, it sucks) and that a large factor of that is keeping your kid isolated from bad influences.

In the scenario of CreatoComputer2009(TM), you would have to keep the “bad” influence of innovation and gadgetery around kids to a minimum, to allow your kid to use CreatoComp. Because as soon as that kid sees that all the other kids have to work nada to have a working computer, the whole experiment implodes.

Vs. 1978, where everyone had to work at making these wiry beasts, people dared calling a computer, work.

You can take this analogy to anything retro really: cars, movies, Asteroids the game. Compare that to any modern invention and people (except for the nostalgic crowd) quickly turn away.

I agree that to create creative & creating people, you have to confront them with difficult problems to solve at an early age (perhaps). I do think that it needs to be built upon the platform that we are now living with: super-connected graphical interfaces that operate in the digital realm mostly and involve minimal wiring or soldering. I also think that our understanding of education is evolving to the extent that even playing games can be considered a type of learning, which seems fairly compatible with being a child also.

You know there’s only one answer to this problem, right?

Vincent.
(P.S. I know, 2 posts in 2 days. Doesn’t mean that I’m back though, more confused about whether I want to come back. Gotta love the limbo that is August…).

Nintendo released the new channel, Nintendo Channel, for Wii recently in Europe. It was released about a week after WiiWare, the channel that enables online shopping and downloading of games. WiiWare is interesting in the sense that we can easily expect some really amazing stuff coming out through that channel, while Nintendo Channel is something that exemplifies why Wii is different from other consoles.

It is an interesting channel in regards to Nintendo’s blue ocean strategy (discuess earlier here by Jeremy), but like many other aspects of Wii, it leaves me wanting more. The channel is basically an advertising/marketing channel for Nintendo. You can download demos, see information and trailers about upcoming games, and some other stuff. One of these additional functionalities is the feedback section, where you can submit feedback back to Nintendo on the games you’ve played on your Wii. You can also enable a tracking feature so that your Wii will send information what you do (the same info it shows in your Message view) to Nintendo and in exchange the channel will recommend you titles and allows you to download demos for DS. All in all, really simple stuff, but the execution is really nice – and dead simple.

I know that one main aspect of Wii is its simplicity and many of the things I think I’d want it to do would just make it too complex. I’m well aware the limitations of the console – most of which seem likeconscious design decisions by Nintendo. The hardware has been optimized for cost and really makes the developers focus on the gameplay (instead of graphics, like on the other next-gen consoles). The software and mutliplayer are made as child-safe as possible, to the point that mutliplayer racing in Mario Kart Wii feels like anonymous one-night-stand-orgy. It’s a bit like with most Apple products, you know the limitations in (mostly) advance and accept them as they are the reason “things just work”.

Remote would be one solution to aforementioned problem, but that of course is totally infeasible solution. Wireless broadband adoption of today doesn’t also warrant spending too much time on making I find it sad that some innovative features are underutilized with the Wii. I’d love that my Mii character would actually be “in the cloud” and propagate through my friends, carrying over my settings and accomplishments. Now, my Mii can only propagate a read-only copy of its appearance across other Wiis. No doubt the authentication scheme for such feature would be a nightmare. I like to fantasize something like this was in the initial vision of Wii, because otherwise I can’t understand why the Wii Remote has storage capabilities. Tying your character to a WiiMiis the global representation of my Wii gaming they could be. The ubiquoitus rules of unlockable content on console games mean that, as it is today, my gaming experience depends on how far the I or owner of the Wii I’m playing has progressed in a game and not how far I have progressed in some Wii. I guess this tradition will remain for all nomad Miis who wander from a firend’s Wii to another.

The current “next-gen” consoles have me split. While Wii is truly exciting and something new, it is a bit too centred still on the age-old Italian plumber. The Playstation 3, on the other hand, has only GTA IV going for it (okay, and Super Rub-a-Dub) and it’s twice the price. Xbox 360 just doesn’t feel right, and that it has like twenty different editions á la Vista doesn’t help. The Wii of course has lots of hidden fees in form of accessorizing (Component cable, Wii Wheel, Wii Fit…), but the other consoles are guilty of this to some extent too.

What interests me in today’s console gaming is multiplayer, both on my sofa and online. Both of these aspects are taken more into account on the Wii, where most gaming has been designed as a group activity. PS3 and Xbox360 have taken the more traditional PC way of mutliplayer and have focused on online only, which is stupid as the expectation that my friends would be online at the same time at their own homes playing the same game is really, really far-fetched. On the other hand, some games insanely enough do not supportmultiplayer on the same console even if they have online-multiplayer. This anti-social tendency I can understand in story-driven games as GTA IV, but not otherwise.

I did answer on Nintendo Channel’s feedback section that, in my opinion, Mario Kart Wii is, in fact, a Hardcore game (as opposed to casual). Once you’ve passed the easiest cups you start to see the classic Nintendoesque features. The game cheats as much as it can in the hard mode, just like in Mario Strikers Charged Football. It’s amazing just how in the last 10 meters or so, I’m hit with all the suffering theWii can inflict on me (red and blue shells, lightning…) just like it’s able to make a goal in the last second despite me trying to tackle the seemingly invincible player with all my players.

It is really exciting to see how Nintendo tries to do new innovative things with Wii. This has been no doubt a risky decision, but it seems to have paid off as Wii is still outselling other consoles, even though its pricing is exactly the same as on the launch date. The other consoles have seen aggressive price cuts, no doubt in part response to the success of Wii.

I’m quite sure that Wii can and will probably surprise us in the future, but I’m afraid the initial design decisions of PS3 and Xbox360 means that they can only replicate or improve, but not innovate. One reason, I guess, is because of people like me, who want to expect certain things from them. There’s no room for innovation when you got expectations on top of long traditions. In those circumstances you can only perform.

It’s time again for the weekend edition of Tech IT Easy. It was almost a year ago when I wrote about Sam & Max games in the context of episodic gaming and how episodic format combined with digital delivery might save some niche gaming genres, like point-and-click adventure games.

I mentioned some other, at the time secret, projects the other old-timers like Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer were up to. Now both of their super-secret projects have been publicly announced. Tim Schafer’s DoubleFine is working on an action-adventure game called Brütal Legend, which should be released sometime this year. It’s somewhat ironic that a game from LucasArts old-timer is published by Sierra. Ron Gilbert, on the other hand, is embracing the episodic gaming model with his “strange little episodic RPG-adventure” DeathSpank. Both projects sound cool, and at least I’m following their progress with great interest.

Back to Telltale and Sam&Max. Before Christmas I finally downloaded the free demo of first episode, Ice Station Santa, of Sam & Max’s second season. I was really afraid that it might not be enough new content to buy the whole season right away. After playing the demo, I felt confident enough to buy the whole episode, which turned out to be much more funny than the demo had led me to believe. Then again, at 8,95 USD per episode, that wasn’t that much of money. The game was really funny, and at parts even somewhat difficult. One of the new features this season is in-game help system, which means that you can set the Max the insane rabbit to spurt out hints when you get stuck. It’s actually quite nicely implemented.

One thing that I’ve found really great with the new season is that they have made it really easy to buy the game. You just need to download the demo, click around the game launcher and you’re ready. This is one of the most slickest e-commerce solutions I’ve so far encountered.

Well, the third episode of the second season is already here, but I’ve not even played the second episode yet. One reason is that I no longer have as frequent access to a computer with Windows installed as I had last year. The other reason is that I’m not still completely sold on the rest of the season.

For those, who missed the first season, there’s a special bonus. Telltale has also released one episode from this (slightly self-repeating) first season, Abe Lincoln Must Die for free. I highly recommend this one, because it gives a better picture of the style of the game overall and the length of an episode. It is also one of the better episodes of the season.

There’s still nothing on Wii or Mac versions so far. But after waiting for the Sam & Max sequel for quite a many years, I’m willing to wait…

Just a quick find that I found fun, and genuinely interesting, as it is not yet another try at bulky and/or expensive VR systems (remember those huge helmets and gloves that made you dizzy after 30 seconds?).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw]

It is still in the early stages of development – and is not even an official/business-oriented development, but hey: it seems simple enough to have a realistic dream about it being in our living room in the near future.