"We are currently experiencing a very sharp slowdown in our sales for Nintendo DS...this will have a significant impact on our first-half showing. Against this backdrop, the solid performance of our Wii titles...demonstrates that good products are continuing to sell well," Guillemot said.  "Piracy is strong so we are working to put new figurines and new elements in the boxes that will change that in the future... we see a different attitude toward piracy in the U.S. than Europe. We did a survey that said our consumers will be more willing to buy products than pirate them. "

He said that "Altogether on console, the piracy is low.  On the PC, that piracy is quite a lot.  We see when we put other things with the product (people) go and buy the game. We need to make sure that the value is better when they buy the box then when they download (the game) from the Internet."

Ubisoft would have us believe that the entire reason for the decline of the Nintendo DS is rampant piracy that began in Spain.  Study after study has shown that those who are going to pirate will do so not because of the software encryption, expensive pricing, or any other reason but because they can.  Pirates download games illegally because they do not want to pay for something that they can get free in a system where they believe there is no chance of being caught.  In other words, true pirates believe pirating is total reward versus no consequence.

Who actually believes that including a small figurine of one of the characters in the box is going to make these people go out and purchase the game instead of downloading it?

Now, a significant threat to those who actually pay money for video games if they had no other choice would be if they could install a new anti-piracy tool.  According to Kotaku.com that is exactly what Ubisoft plans to do.  However, the president would not talk about exactly what that new tool would be but a sense of the word "it" was used, many are assuming it may be a new internal tool different from SecuROM and other DRM.

Motion cameras are the next standard in gaming

The Ubisoft CEO almost brushed off the horribly bad numbers in some countries of DS sales because of the uptrend with the Nintendo Wii.  He states that most of their ongoing efforts have shifted to the Wii in preparation for titles that can be ported to Microsoft's Project Natal.

Alain Corre, the Executive director of Ubisoft explains, "This year we expect the Wii to represent over 40% of our sales on casual versus last year it was at 18%. So it's a big change for the Wii, and [the Wii] is contributing much more to our casual sales than the DS last year."

Once again, we come down to the argument that casual game players are on the rise.  Although, no one can argue against the fact that games are becoming more portable and more accessible to casual gamers, one can only hope that the new 3-D camera systems are not the end all be all of casual gaming.

As Popcap had already discovered, many casual gamers are disabled and although it is debatable how accessible handheld devices are to the disabled.  There is no debate that gaming devices, which require your full body such as 3-D motion sensitive gaming systems like the Natal, could be disastrous for disabled gamers.

Many of us suspect that the system will be useful for select group disabled individuals.  The visually impaired and deaf gamers will be able to enjoy these new types of games as long as standard accessibility options such as closed captioning, colorblind symbols, and/or increased font sizes are included in the games.

For one-handed gamers, the mobility impaired, and those with serious neuromuscular diseases such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, video games that require your entire body to help you play will be next to impossible.

Technology can be good and bad

Recently, AbleGamers' Steve Spohn has been talking a lot to Spouseaggro.com, a website that delivers podcasts about video games and technology in the format of the hilarious interactions between couples in video games.

When comparing notes on a possible guest appearance by AbleGamers on their show, Beau Turkey made an interesting comment to Steve.  He said, "Technology must be wonderful because as it marches on the disabled must be able to play an increasing amount of games."

Initially Steve agreed but then he paused and answered, "Technology is always a great thing but sometimes it is a curse.  For example, 10 years ago I could play any game that Nintendo produced because the controllers simply had one directional pad and two buttons.  Today, the controller has six buttons, a directional pad, two analog sticks, and does not sit flat on a table.  So yes, technology has let me play some games more than others but other developers have lost my business entirely because they made things too complicated."

For an example of what we mean, check out the recent accessibility review of Ghostbusters with an example of what a one-handed gamer would have to do to be able to play one of this year's hottest titles.

Comments (0)

Write comment

Email Name		Comment smaller | bigger
		Subscribe via email (registered users only) Write the displayed characters Add Comment