Today’s third round of Vs. Mode picks up in mid-stream. I had just asked Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal if he agreed that “Super Stardust HD” is the first of a new wave of high-end small games. His reply kicks off today’s round. Dust off round two if you need a refresher.

In today’s exchange we finally get past our impasse (sorry folks, N’Gai just isn’t interested in a “Space Invaders” with really advanced artificial intelligence). Instead he has ideas for a sequel to “Everyday Shooter.” Me? I suggest that a rush of small games may change the way we all relate to games.

An excerpt from me that might remind my fellow bloggers who attended a Game Developer’s Conference Sony event as the thing I kept asking Phil Harrison about:

I’ve argued that the cost and length of new retail games narrows most gamers’s experience. Rentals and demos aside, gamers wind up playing just a few new titles a year and/or are unlikely to try many games outside of whatever genres they’re comfortable with. The widespread availability of small games to console gamers can change that. I feel like we’ve all been given a new (or newly refined) mechanism to experiment with and enjoy a broader array of games. It’s like we all just went from having broadcast TV to 500-channel cable.

This feels healthy to me, as it seems like it will speed the feedback loop of creativity and consumer reaction. And it’s all hinging on getting new thing after new thing.

Read the rest of the exchange after the jump. And in the next round, we’ll start breaking down some specific games. Enjoy!

(Editor’s note: remember, I’ve just asked N’Gai if “Super Stardust HD is the start of a new wave of high-end small games)

To: Stephen Totilo
Fr: N’Gai Croal
Date: August 7, 2007
Re: Graphics, Si. Gameplay, No.

Stephen,

Not really, because the graphics are the only difference. This could presumably have been done on, say, Insomniac’s “Ratchet” 2 engine. It wouldn’t look the same, but it ought to play pretty much the same.

Cheers,

N’Gai

***

To: N’Gai Croal
Fr: Stephen Totilo
Date: August 7, 2007
Re:Once More…

N’Gai,

That’s the point! Recall the bit in my letter where I talked about the game being made on luxuriously over-powered (for small games) hardware. That’s what I was trying to explore with you: what happens when, for whatever reasons, developers start making simple games for super-powered hardware? What can/will they do with the extra juice? and what kind of small games emerge from that? That’s why I was suggesting things like “Space Invaders” with near-human enemy AI or photo-realistic “Pac-man“…. that, to me, is the logical extension of “Super Stardust HD“: a simple game design injected with high-end extras. and it got me wondering what kind of potential such high-end simple games have.

-Stephen

***

To: Stephen Totilo
Fr: N’Gai Croal
Date: August 7, 2007
Re: All Day I Dream Of EDS

Stephen,

I don’t know how “Space Invaders” would benefit from near-human enemy AI, and I don’t now how “Pac-Man” would benefit from photorealism. I guess this is where we’re parting company: you’re curious about what the tech can give us, and I’m more interested in what the network can bring us. In other words, short-session games delivered via digital distribution let developers take chances riskier concepts without having to compromise them to satisfy the needs of traditional retailers. As a gamer, “SSHD” is one of the most joyful experiences I’ve had this year. But as a journalist and a critic, I think it’s an evolutionary dead end. Any sequel would probably feel like more of the same thing, so that’s why I don’t spend much time thinking about the logical extension of “SSHD.”

“EveryDay Shooter,” on the other hand, is an inspired blend of twin-stick shooter mechanics, retro-futuristic art direction and an engaging interactive musical score; what’s more the chaining system changes with each level. Jonathan Mak has barely scratched the surface of what “EDS” can do. Today, the game only uses guitar-based music. Imagine an “EDS” sequel built around other types of instruments: brass, woodwinds, stringed, percussive. Imagine an EDS built around choral voices, or a human beatbox like Rahzel from The Roots, or a DJ collective like the X-Ecutioners. Imagine an “EDS” with adjustable audio effects to go along with the visual effects that gamers can unlock in the current version, and new visual effects to boot. Imagine an “EDS” where you could mash up these different elements with new backgrounds and enemies. I’d love to play that.

Unfortunately, we may never get those games, as Mak didn’t seem very interested in doing a sequel when I spoke with him at E3; it sounded as though he’d rather work on something new. But I hope this game does well enough to persuade Sony or another publisher to license “EDS” from Mak and take it into these other areas. Does “EDS” need the Cell or the RSX to pull this off? I’m not a developer, so I don’t know. But I do know that without the network, we might never have seen this game on PS3. The tech helps developers realize their dreams, but the network lets them dream in the first place, console audience-wise. That’s why I see the network as the more evolutionary part of the equation.

Cheers,

N’Gai

***

To: N’Gai Croal
Fr: Stephen Totilo
Date: August 10, 2007
Re: EDS vs. ADD

N’Gai,

I like your ideas about “EveryDay Shooter” sequels, but not as much as I like the idea of playing something entirely different from “EDS” creator Jon Mak. I’m restless for new stuff, and I think my own renewed love for short games is both the cause and the cure for that.

A couple of evenings ago I sat down at my computer to write you a Vs. Mode response. Unfortunately for you (I think), I checked my e-mail first and discovered there was yet another new small game available on the PS3 store, something called “Piyotama.” I downloaded it, tried it for a few minutes, decided I didn’t like it (When “Tetris” meets “Hexic,” I don’t need to be around, you know what I mean?) and that was that.

In the last two weeks I’ve also sampled “Nucleus,” “EverDay Shooter” and “Pixel Junk Racer” on the PSN store. My Xbox Live account is set to automatically download every new game on Xbox Live Arcade. I’m awash in small games and loving it. Note that none of this is driving me to the PC to download and play small games there. In fact, the anecdote I just shared had a small game driving me away from the PC. I prefer gaming on the couch (or via handheld), not in my desk chair.

Since I started covering games, I’ve had a huge variety of big new games at my fingertips. I’ve played a lot of those titles. But it’s only now as I indulge in this newly available plethora of small games on non-PC hardware that I’m experiencing that kind of variety at this rapid pace. And you know what? I like this gaming lifestyle. I like the idea that every couple of days there is a new game for me to play on the 360 or PS3 that I can download in the blink of an eye, have embedded in an easy-to-navigate menu of games, and that I can sample and judge whether I like it in just a few minutes. I feel that this is a more exciting way to be a gamer.

I’ve argued that the cost and length of new retail games narrows most gamers’s experience. Rentals and demos aside, gamers wind up playing just a few new titles a year and/or are unlikely to try many games outside of whatever genres they’re comfortable with. The widespread availability of small games to console gamers can change that. I feel like we’ve all been given a new (or newly refined) mechanism to experiment with and enjoy a broader array of games. It’s like we all just went from having broadcast TV to 500-channel cable.

This feels healthy to me, as it seems like it will speed the feedback loop of creativity and consumer reaction. And it’s all hinging on getting new thing after new thing. Or am I going to get crushed if (when?) it all calcifies into services that only house a few proven hits?

-Stephen

(to be continued…)