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I remember seeing a preview of this game and it seemed pretty interesting but can't say I was totally blown away. Still I just read an article on what this game is doing for expanding the online capabilities on the Wii and have to say I'm interested.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008...-wii-online-capabilities-makes-breakthroughs/
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008...-wii-online-capabilities-makes-breakthroughs/
Majesco Actually Impressed With Wii Online Capabilities, Makes Breakthroughs
0 Comments | Posted by Stephen Totilo on 4/24/08 at 3:00 pm.
Blast Works -- Official ScreenshotIs “Mario Kart Wii” the next big step in Wii online gaming?
Maybe not.
Not if Majesco – yes, the “Cooking Mama” people — pull off their plans for a little-discussed Wii game coming May 6.
“Kart” mostly does what Wii games like “Smash Bros.” already did. Majesco’s game does things that you usually only hear in reference to projects like “Spore” or “Little Big Planet.”
The game? “Blast Works: Build, Fuse & Destroy,” a Budcat-developed remake of the “Tumiki Fighters” side-scrolling shoot-em-up created by cult favorite Japanese bedroom programmer Kenta Cho.
This is the big leap? Stay with me, folks.
“Blast Works” will let gamers create their own content, trade it, even go to a website to browse anything other people have created and then, with just a mouse click, send that content to their Wii.
And it does all of this without friend codes!
Majesco’s Chief Technology Officer recently told me how Majesco got away with innovating with the Wii’s online capabilities, how Nintendo reacted, and why the Wii has at least one online advantage over the Xbox 360.
Blast WorksMultiplayer: How did the idea of the Blastworks Depot come about?
Kevin Ray, Chief Technology Officer, Majesco: We’ve been really in to the idea of player-created content and share a belief that it’s better to give users tools to create their own content rather than just coming up with add-on packs to games. “Blastworks” was the perfect opportunity for us to show that you can do player created content on the Nintendo Wii.
“Blastworks” integrates a really powerful editor that allows players to create amazing stuff. But for a player to be motivated to use a tool like that they need to know that they’ll be able to share their work with their friends. A bigger motivation would be if they could share their work with the world and reap the benefits of millions of users recognizing their effort and talent.
Multiplayer: What made you think that an essentially user-generated content system could fly on the Wii?
Ray: There’s no technical reason why games for the Wii aren’t more connected. The Wii is a very connected device and Nintendo not only provides library support for communications, but NOA also was very supportive with positive feedback and marketing input.
“[Nintendo is] providing a lot of support for developers to integrate the Internet into their games.”
I think historically (SNES, GameCube), Nintendo was less focused on wide-area multiplayer and more focused on the single-player game experience. But if you see the tools coming out from Nintendo today, they are providing a lot of support for developers to integrate the Internet into their games. It’s really up to the publishers now to adopt these features into their games - the tools are their and the support from Nintendo is there as well.
Multiplayer: Given the fairly low-key online plan for the Wii in its first year, how did you go about crafting a way to make the user-generated/Depot idea work? And what was the process of working with Nintendo on it?
Blast Works Ray: Nintendo is very supportive of Blastworks specifically and online in general. Obviously, Nintendo is most concerned that the player experience is going to be in line with their standards; the site needed to be safe and sane and comply with ESRB and COPPA [the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act]. The user needed to be able to seamlessly be able to access the site from the Wii without going through a cumbersome registration process, and the content posted in public areas must be monitored by Majesco to make sure it complies with our Terms of Service agreement. Content that is overtly sexual will not be posted and all users can flag content that they feel is inappropriate and which we will review.
The process for working with Nintendo is very straight forward. There is a lot of documentation for developers on the WiiWare web site and the NOA Software Development Support Group is incredible. They work very hard to make sure that we had access to the information we needed to get this site launched.
Blast Works Multiplayer: What kind of inspiration did you draw — and lessons did you learn — from things like YouTube or “Little Big Planet”?
Ray: We have a lot of modders at Majesco and we love a lot of stuff that comes out of the homebrew scene. The Blastworks Editor really came from [Majesco executive vice president of research and development] Joey Sutton’s desire to see that kind of community grow around this game. The online component really follows most of the Social Networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace. We want to make the online component all about the community and have completely stayed away from pay subscriptions or even advertising for our web site. It’s all about making the game better and keeping our business model based on selling more games.
Multiplayer: How did you get around the Friend Code issue?
Ray: Every Wii has a guaranteed unique ID (GUID) that identifies the device. If you look in the Address Book on your Wii you can see this number called the Wii Machine ID. We reference this ID when you connect to the site. The combination of a secure network connection and this unique Wii Machine ID allow us to seamlessly integrate the web site with your Wii and bypass any cumbersome login procedures. It also allows us to implement a directory-service that is above the cumbersome method of remembering friend-codes and allow players to find one another based on real name, user name, favorite game, geographic region, etc.
” It allows us to implement a directory-service that is above the cumbersome method of remembering friend-codes.”
Multiplayer: How did you get around the Wii’s limited storage capacity?
Ray: Budcat was really efficient in their data design. The files we’re throwing around are fairly compact. We have implemented some methods to allow streaming, progressive loading, and even P2P data-file distribution and these features may be used in future games. Again, the bottom line is that the Nintendo Wii is a very connected device and developers can absolutely design games that are rich with online features.
Multiplayer: Is there any element to this that you can point to as only being possible on the Wii, something that took advantage of the Wii’s unique online set-up?
Ray: With Nintendo it’s all about enhancing gameplay, especially in a way that broadens the audience for these games. Online capabilities may be showing up on the Wii later than on the Xbox, but I think that what you see show up on the Wii will be much more community-based and with a much broader appeal than the traditional 18-35 year old male demographic that we see with Xbox multiplayer games.
“Online capabilities may be showing up on the Wii later than on the Xbox, but I think that what you see … will be much more community-based and with a much broader appeal.”
Multiplayer: Are there any misconceptions about the Wii’s online set-up that, because of this experience, you’d like to clear up?
Ray: Absolutely! Contrary to popular belief the Wii is a very connected device and Nintendo enthusiastically supports publishers adding wide-area multiplayer and community features into their games.
Multiplayer: What other grand ideas do you have for the Wii? (like you’d share….)
Ray: Lots and lots. We have a few big announcements coming up soon, but I think it’s still a little early to say anything more. I promise I’ll give you an update soon though and I think it’s something we’ve all been hoping to see for online gaming for a long time.
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