Wii Internet Channel Update

Just what I was waiting for. Well, actually not, but it's important all the same.

Nintendo released today an update to the Internet Channel for Wii, with an updated Flash Player. I haven't yet tried which version it is, I guess it's 9 or 10. (edit: read below)
The incredible news is that now Wii will be overwhelmed with GOOD Flash games rivaling Wiiware offerings. Is Nintendo crazy? Waiting for an answer, I hope that the good folks at Wiicade will update their Flash APIs for the Wii to ActionScript 3.0

Moreover, the channel is now free to download and the ones who bought it will get a refund. They will download a NES game worth 500 Wii Points for free. This is really kind from Nintendo.

EDIT: The Flash Player has been updated to Flash Lite 3.1, which means it can play Flash 8 movies or lower. No AS 3.0. WHAT A SHAME.

Will Flash 9 ever arrive on Wii?

Everybody knows that Wii has got a browser, that the browser is Opera, and that it can only play Flash movies up to the version 7.
Now everybody knows that Flash 7 is old now, there was 8 who added filters, enhanced video playback, there was 9 (the current standard) that brought ActionsScript 3.0, and now there's 10, which brings to the table some nifty features like 3D APIs, image processing effects and so on.

I am investigating into making some games for Flash on the Wii, thanks to some great APIs created by the guys at Wiicade, which let you use the wiiremote in awesome ways even in a Flash game. You could use buttons other than A, you could read the rotation of the wiimote, the distance from the sensor bar and wether or not it's pointing at the screen. This is all good things and actually I already made a small game, although it's incomplete.

The problem is that with Flash 7 we're not going anywhere. I'm tired of ActionScript 2.0, and besides, I can't even port things to the Wii easily from now on. So Nintendo should really let Opera update the browser, and a rumor has it that they are just doing that. The rumor appeared in December, so it's a bit old now, but I'm not desperate yet. Some things point at the fact that while that rumor is not accurate and the screenshot provided is a fake, the Wii could receive a Browser Channel update sometime soon.

1 - There was a post at the Opera forums that told people why the browser could only play Flash 7 movies. That post was sticky, meant to be seen from everyone, but not it's not the case. Maybe the Opera team means to bury that thread because it's becoming old? Will this be a hint that the browser will add Flash 9 or 10 soon?

2 - The PS3 can play Flash 9 movies. They haven't got an exclusive, so there's no reason Nintendo couldn't have them.

3 - Adobe released some sort of kit of APIs to let everyone port Flash to every device. They mean to spread the player even more, to conquer more than the PC scene. This could mean that Nintendo doesn't need a deal to use Flash 9 on his browser, but I can't bet on it.

Some people think that Opera has a new version of the Wii Browser already, they are only waiting for Nintendo to give the green light. Let's keep fingers crossed.

Kind Code

Some days ago Kotaku and other sites published an article about a patent filed by Nintendo (from Miyamoto itself actually) about something called Kind Code.
I read a big deal of the patent itself, and came out with the following: Kind Code is a fanciful name for something that actually exists in some way, and then some more.
The patent describes various ways to play a game: "Play", "Digest" and "Scenes select".
"Play" is the normal way of playing a game, and then it adds a hint button that the player may press to get a hint for riddle and puzzles in the games (I guess it won't work for action games).
"Scenes select" is also something already seen (lately in Alone in the Dark): the player can select, from the first time he starts the game, the chapter that he wants to play. So he can choose the last level, and clear the game in 5 minutes. It's an option, a bad one for me, but not too stupid.
"Digest" is the new part that generated a lot of chaos: the player is allowed to see a video of the developer playing the game (thus turning the game in a sort of movie) and by pressing a button, he can drop in the game and take control. Playing in digest mode does not allow to save.

While I can see that some people tremble at the thought of "games as movies", I think it's not something to worry about too much, since the patent clearly states (I'm quoting it directly):

"That is, a player who desires to easily play the game or a player who dose not have a lot of time for the game is allowed to easily enjoy the game by selecting the "digest" (or "scene menu" described below). On the other hand, a player who desires to enjoy the game as much as possible is allowed to thoroughly enjoy, by selecting the "game", the game including, for example, a trick event, and a sub-story (elements other than the main game story) which are not provided in the "digest". Further, data of the game obtained by his/her own attacking can be stored as saved data."

So the key is in the hands of the developers and hardcore players do not need to worry about it. Furthermore it's only a patent for now, so it's higly possible to misunderstand it.
I'm having a big discussion with people at ArsLudica (sorry, it's in italian)... it seems that people like a lot to bash new things, just for the pleasure of bragging. Some of them twist the meaning of the article that started it all, just to say something. Every discussion is impossible.

You can't fool a casual (gamer) thrice

What I mean is... why software houses are trying so hard on the average casual gamer? How long do they think it's gonna last?
If a person that just got close to videogames buys a really bad game, one of those games that swears "Fun for the whole family!", and then turns out to be boredom for the whole family and even the pets, maybe he will try again.
He could buy another bad game, but that's it. There's a company (whose initials are D.D.) who developed a complete series of bad games in a few months, each one similar to all the other ones (although being different genres). How many they think they can sell, after this bad service to the player?
I'm referring of course to Wii and DS situation, I'm sick tired of seeing a bunch of cash-ins every month. If they keep going like this, each casual and potential hardcore player will turn off in disgust from videogames.

You can trick a casual gamer into buying your game once. Maybe you can fool him twice. But you can't fool a casual THRICE.

(actually some get fooled more than ten times... but not all!)