Really? I really liked how the characters were done in Oni, and the glow effects for Konoko and her brother were cool, quite the inspiration. :D

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8717533

I thought this was an interesting article which i hope changes some publishers and developer's opinion of the DS.

here's a snip from the article:

Quote:

"Nintendo dominates the portable game industry with about 94 percent market share and aims to strengthen its grip with the DS as it goes up against Sony's new PlayStation Portable, which was launched last year. It expects to more than double sales of its DS to 12.4 million units in the year to next March. Software sales for DS, which it launched late last year, are expected to more than triple to 35 million units."

35 million games for 12.4 million users... yea, I'd like in on that market! amazed more people in the US arent in the same frame of mind.

-aro

Quote:

Original post by alexokita ... 35 million games for 12.4 million users... yea, I'd like in on that market! amazed more people in the US arent in the same frame of mind. -aro

I'de say it's because most of those millions are asians, and us westerners have been known to fail in those markets, because the kind of game that appeals to them isn't the same that appeals to us.

Quote:

Original post by xor I'de say it's because most of those millions are asians, and us westerners have been known to fail in those markets, because the kind of game that appeals to them isn't the same that appeals to us.

Interesting indeed. Japan/asian markets are an escapist audience, where as the western gamers tend to lean toward reality type games. Strange though that many eastern games do well here in the states. Final Fantasy RPGs and the like, Capcom style fighting games, etc.

I'm not sure if there's a point in highlighting the fact that many Japanese developed games are successful world-wide. Where on the contrary very few American titles succeed outside of the states.

By that you could conclude the western audience buys into both reality games and escapist/fantastic games. And escapist games are international where as reality games are not. seems off topic and more suited for another thread... but in any case, I'd imagine a fantasy game doc like this would still do well here in the states.

-aro

[Edited by - alexokita on June 10, 2005 6:48:04 AM]

I'm new to game development, coming in from the art side of things, and I've read several articles on how to put together a design doc. Actually being able to read a real one and see how these theories are implemented in a working document is just awesome. Thank you for posting the link here!

A couple of my bandmates have 8-11 year old boys, and they would be all over this game. The collectible card interactivity and game universe-based sequels make it all the cooler. When they have to leave their players at home, they would seriously be LARPing out the gameplay at recess and stuff, waving cards at each other casting spells and whatnot.

Quote:

Original post by Anonymous Poster Really nice work - I hope this opens some doors for you somewhere. I had thoughts on the collectible card angle. I know it's not a critical aspect of the design, but I have some doubts as to it's viability. Basically, you're poising the cards as a way to 'unlock' content in the game, right? It's a cool concept, but... Do you think this might limit your set of publishers too much? I'd imagine that very few video game publishers would have any idea how to design, produce, and market a CCG. They'd probably have to contract that part out, increasing the complexity & risk of the whole package. Also, I'd imagine within a few weeks of release there'd be websites listing every card & new spell/item/monster. That would seriously undercut your stated motivation for players to buy the cards. Now if the card game took off in it's own right, that's another thing, but that's a pretty huge undertaking in itself. Anyway, it's a cool idea, I hope I get to play something like this someday. I played around with a similar design once, but all keyboard driven and more like that really old electronic game simon than what you're doing. The idea of physically involving the player in the spellcasting is a great concept.

originally the card game was going to be published by a separate company, like flier, someone who specialized in collectable cards. In addition I was expecting to be able to use something like the GBA's card reader which would actually read a strip of data directly from a card, something very difficult to reproduce on a regular inkjet printer.

Recently I've learned that the GBA's card reader isn't compatible, but the possibility of exploring some other ideas hasn't gone up in smoke. There is also the possibility that a regular pokemon game would appear on the DS, and that would require a new data reading card reader be made for the DS. Super Mario also had a similar idea where cards actually had a powerup on them.

It's sort of a gimmic, but I did hope that the CCG does take on a life of its own. I was talking to one of the original designers of magic the gathering about having him develop a card mechanic to mirror the electronic game.

I just found out I have some contacts into Capcom and Koei, so I'll see how far that pans out.

-aro

I read through most of this design document. Some parts several times.

The outrageous thing is that this game has me more excited than any other NDS game released or planning to be released. It's outrageous to me that game devs can't come up with ideas like this. It has so many great things going for it, best of all it is one of the few games that puts the touchpad and dual screen to good use. Even from a business standpoint, this is a guranateed money maker.
It's exactly what both consumers and developers are looking for. It would swing the fate of the NDS in the other direction, so Nintendo would love you too for saving their console against the PSP.


And even after saying all those good things about your game, I don't even think your game is all that brilliant. It is a great idea, definitely. But I think lots of people should have been able to think of this, especially people who are paid to sit around and think of game ideas all day. It frustrates me that game companies can't do this on their own. Either they are completely inefficient or I have no idea how the industry works because the bottom line is - this game would make money.

A small criticism. The story and characters seem kind of cliche. But I wonder if you made it that way on purpose. Sometimes cliche ideas are more accessible to a wider audience and thus have a higher marketing potential.

Thank you for that interesting look at your craft Alexokita... a document like that would win over developers and suits alike. Props!

haha, yea, it is true the game is pretty obvious. And thats why I didnt have any worries posting the design, It's something that _someone somehwere_ has to already have in production. And yes, the plots/characters were cliche on purpose, mainly because I concentrated work elsewhere.

It's odd to me that right now the most creative games come out of japan, Katamari Damacy, Dance Dance Revolution, Zelda Wind Walker, and coming soon Okami. Aside from being cartoony, these games demonstrate mechanics that are unusal and unique, but more importantly, refined well thought out, and fun. I hope to see more creative titles being workd on in the states, since we *do* have the resources and talent here, but the american publishers have to learn to go out on a limb on a game that *doesn't* include a professional sport, a movie license, or zombies.

I also wonder too if American publishers fear the foreign markets. I've had people tell me "we could probabbly sell that over seas, but probabbly not here" which means they dont want to sell it over seas either.

publishers are soo confusing, they want money, but they dont want money in unexpected ways. boggles my mind, im going to go back to my character modeling for now, and start some of the other designs I had in mind. so confusing.

-aro

(this is starting to feel a bit like a blog)

See, that's the thing. I don't think this is a niche game or some wild experimental idea that could fail. It's a no brainer. It would sell in Japan, it would sell in North America. I don't understand what the marketing logic is by people who are telling you they don't think it will sell.

There are millions of people sitting around right now with NDS who foolishly bought the console the moment it was released. They are starving for a great game for it, one that utilizes the NDS technology. Combine that with the portable RPG market, hungry for a fantasy game, and the whole concept is a marketting no-brainer.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but the new Castlevania DS game has an ability where you draw symbols to cast spells. I don't have DS nor am I a Castlevania fan. The only reason I know of this is because when it was announced everyone thought it was such a cool idea that it made headlines. So there's the proof that people are interested in this idea. And your game goes beyond that simple concept and creates a whole game about it.

Also! Since I'm so sure this game will be a best seller, that means that it will establish that Rarearth franchise. And the only thing that is a bigger no-brainer than this game is creating a sequel for an already prooven game. So add franchise potential to the list of reasons why this game is a good idea.