Section 7: E-Mario
M.G. McIntosh
OPINION
09/29/2021
CONCEPT REPORT (EXT.)
OVERVIEW
In this day and age, it wouldn’t be the full Super Mario experience if it didn’t include a variety of electronic games and collectibles to satisfy fans everywhere. It also goes without saying that most of those things will be available on your phone or tablet. The trick is to make this all compatible with your Nintendo Wii (or whatever the next console is called). You may remember me suggesting this would be the best course of action for Nintendo to take in my earlier article entitled “Xbox Smartphone”, for which I have included the link below. For now I’ll assume that Nintendo brings its Wii operating system to phones and tablets and so compatibility won’t be an issue. Or the use of apps will suffice.
PICTURE THIS
Nintendo has a vast library of games at its disposal. It also has nostalgia and sentimental value it can use to grab sales. Look at me, for example. I grew up on the original NES and I would love to have a chance to collect some old classics like the Dragon Warrior series (retitled Dragon Quest later on). If I had my way, this would mean ‘cloud gaming’. I picture something like Google Docs, but instead of ‘tiles’ representing saved documents, they would represent games I have purchased and saved to the cloud. This would allow a seamless transition between devices I play my Nintendo games on. Simply pick up the device (i.e. Nintendo Switch Lite), access the cloud and pick up where you left off. This would also allow gamers to play on any computer too. Obviously, the service would come with a fee, but that’s pretty standard for businesses.
GOAL
The objective here would be to link gaming with the theme parks. Gamers could win tokens, e-trading cards, etc and they could be redeemable both in the games themselves and at the theme park stores. As a bonus, players could buy, sell and trade these collectibles amongst themselves. A possible vehicle for this could be a ‘swap shop’, like the one found in Dragon Quest Heroes, but accessible to all gamers. Simply put the item up for sale and see who makes a purchase!
DISCUSSION
As an added bonus, ‘cloud gaming’ might be a way to keep old classics alive and well in the gaming industry. The ability to use folders and subfolders, would allow the games to be organized by console. The ability to filter would allow games to be sorted by series (name), year created, manufacturer (Tengen, Konami etc) and may even lead to the revival of old games. After all, games back then were much more story driven and that leaves open the possibility of sequels, prequels and anything else the writers can come up with for the games’ story arcs.
DESIGN
As I mentioned earlier, one option is the use of the Wii operating system on phones, tablets and computers. The widespread use of this operating system would make it a natural platform for ‘cloud gaming’. Another option could be the use of emulators, but they are traditionally created by ‘pirates’ and often get hacked. The third option is to simply create a platform on the cloud itself which is compatible with all future consoles, as well as phones, tablets and computers. I don’t know which way Nintendo will go, but personally I still like the idea of using the Wii operating system. It’s familiar and easy to navigate. Why fix what isn’t broken?
CONCLUSION
I can see a future where the original wristband, handed out at the theme park, is simply replaced with a smart watch. And through the smart watch gamers and enthusiasts can have access to collectibles, tokens, trading cards and anything else they need while enjoying a day out. At the end of the day the watch would simply be ‘synced’ with the other devices in the Nintendo collection.
LINKS
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