I fyou had to pick one... XNA Live, Home, or WiiWare?

[expletive]

Now that we have a pretty good idea of all three services, and their 'killer app feature', which would you pick if you could only have one? Your answer doesnt mean that you HAVE to own the console its attached to, this is only about your preference for the service, regardless of hardware platform.

From what I understand, WiiWare is more akin to XBLA or PSN but I wanted to include a Nintendo option...

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Shouldn't we wait to see what content appears on WiiWare and what Home is really like? Plus they aren't comparable. WiiWare is equivalent to Live! Arcade and PSN download titles. Wii's online experience is nothing like Live or Home, being the simplest possible solution AFAIK and with no announced plans to create an online community.

 

[Carl B]

Well, I do have to say that I don't consider Home to be analogous to the other two, as it's more community/lifestyle centric vs community/game centric like the others. So, I'll abstain from voting myself, but I'll say that I like the promise MS is realizing with XNA. I think it's a good and bold move.

 

[patsu]

Now that we have a pretty good idea of all three services, and their 'killer app feature'...

Not sure what to make of Home yet. Much remain unknown. I'll vote in late March (betting that it will show up publicly by then). ;-)

 

[wco81]

How about none of the above?

What exactly is XNA Live, the community-built games or the ability to play games on phones and Zunes?

How about the quickest way to find games and get into them and cut out all the "community" stuff?

 

[RobertR1]

XNA live gives me the youtube of games vibe. Where we'll see lots of homebrew.

 

[patsu]

How about none of the above?

What exactly is XNA Live, the community-built games or the ability to play games on phones and Zunes?

How about the quickest way to find games and get into them and cut out all the "community" stuff?

That's why I prefer to experience Home first before commenting. The minimalist XMB (and/or Virtual PSP) interface is supposed to give you quick access, but PSN store is missing a search function.

The run-time behaviour is important too (e.g., whether loading is fast/slow).

 

[Archgamer]

I reserve judgement until I see all three with my own eyes in front of my TV. Serously this is not a good time to talk about it.

 

[expletive]

Shouldn't we wait to see what content appears on WiiWare and what Home is really like? Plus they aren't comparable. WiiWare is equivalent to Live! Arcade and PSN download titles. Wii's online experience is nothing like Live or Home, being the simplest possible solution AFAIK and with no announced plans to create an online community.

I think we have a good enough idea on where each is going and what the overarching goals are. If things change drastically from what we know/expect, then I guess we can do this again. (Also see my comment below wrt 'comparable')

I Agree with wiiware and I sad as much in the op, just didnt want to leave nintendo out.

Well, I do have to say that I don't consider Home to be analogous to the other two, as it's more community/lifestyle centric vs community/game centric like the others. So, I'll abstain from voting myself, but I'll say that I like the promise MS is realizing with XNA. I think it's a good and bold move.

I dont think they need to be analagous to each other in order for someone to be able to have a preference. In fact, in some ways, the fact that they arent comparable makes the choice that much more compelling.

I think the one way in that they ARE analogous is that each stakeholder has dedicated a lion's share of their resources/strategy on the respective concepts. Sony and MS are each betting on these ideas to set their online service apart.

Sony cannot easily strike up an XNA-ish initiative and copy what MS is doing, and vice-versa with MS to Home. Theyve both essentially played their hand have gone in different directions. The question is more or less which service would you "hitch your wagon to" if you could only pick one?

 

[Carl B]

I dont think they need to be analagous to each other in order for someone to be able to have a preference. In fact, in some ways, the fact that they arent comparable makes the choice that much more compelling.

Ok fair enough.

 

[patsu]

If you're talking about concept and preference, then XNA is not that appealing to me. I don't have time to write a game to benefit from XNA Live. I hardly have enough time to play the packaged ones too (and PSN games are inexpensive). You may want to pick a larger concept than just XNA Live.

In MS's GC 2008, I am more attracted to Fable 2 (The gamer economy) rather than XNA Live.

For WiiWare, from what little I saw, I like its simplicity but I do not know enough to elaborate.

For Home -- assuming it works well -- at least I know I can hang out with the GAF guys while waiting for games to launch. And it's an open platform for more third party applications (e.g., user created arcade games, media sharing, auto-HTML generation of my own home/media page, owning a virtual home, car and pet like what Fable 2 showed, etc.). These things stack on top of each other in the Home world and can have additional economy to drive the momentum.

They are not equivalent so I don't think the comparison is fair.

 

[JNewt427]

For Home -- assuming it works well -- at least I know I can hang out with the GAF guys while waiting for games to launch. And it's an open platform for more third party applications (e.g., user created arcade games, media sharing, auto-HTML generation of my own home/media page, owning a virtual home, car and pet like what Fable 2 showed, etc.). These things stack on top of each other in the Home world and can have additional economy to drive the momentum.

They are not equivalent so I don't think the comparison is fair.

I agree, I look forward to HOME and the perks associated with its features to clans/guilds/groups,etc. The thought of having a virtual war room can almost trump any kind of website a organized group as such could have for open discussions about the game they play.

Ha!!.. I will actually save money myself from not having to host the site of my own clan. I see no reason to have my own site anymore when HOME finally releases. Sure I started my clan back in the day's of Socom 2's online multiplayer almost 5 years ago, and thats like about $50.00 in webhosting fees per year. Don't get me wrong I did it because I wanted too, but what I never thought of is the hundreds of hours I have probably spent on my website updating this or changing that since then, not easy as my learning of HTML is self taught. That's all time spent away from doing what I want in the first place, and that is to play games.

What is the delay though with HOME?. The launch of the PS3 is over a year now. Sorry but that's to long, the majority of people I know personally don't even now it exsits and some actually forgot about it, and yes they all own PS3's. Like I said way, way to long...

 

[patsu]

I agree, I look forward to HOME and the perks associated with its features to clans/guilds/groups,etc. The thought of having a virtual war room can almost trump any kind of website a organized group as such could have for open discussions about the game they play.

Ha!!.. I will actually save money myself from not having to host the site of my own clan. I see no reason to have my own site anymore when HOME finally releases. Sure I started my clan back in the day's of Socom 2's online multiplayer almost 5 years ago, and thats like about $50.00 in webhosting fees per year. Don't get me wrong I did it because I wanted too, but what I never thought of is the hundreds of hours I have probably spent on my website updating this or changing that since then, not easy as my learning of HTML is self taught. That's all time spent away from doing what I want in the first place, and that is to play games.

Well, that's the larger concept and has been hinted before. But it really depends on whether Sony can deliver the entire scope and on-time. >_<

What is the delay though with HOME?. The launch of the PS3 is over a year now. Sorry but that's to long, the majority of people I know personally don't even know it exsits and some actually forgot about it, and yes they all own PS3's. Like I said way, way to long...

No idea.

 

[Cornsnake]

Home the ultimate game lobby. Thats something I will use a lot. Make's me wonder if the reason a lot of games have such a poor ingame lobby is because they were expecting home to do the job for them.

 

[mrcorbo]

XNA Creator's Club will allow anyone with a good game idea, access to a PC running Windows (and currently also an XBOX), and the necessary motivation and skill to realize that idea to reach an audience of millions for a $100 annual investment. I'm excited about the potential this new platform has and can't wait to see what new and innovative game concepts we will see come out of it.

Is WiiWare anything more than Nintendo's answer to XBLA and PSN?

And Home.....continues to do nothing for me. Maybe once it launches and it begins to get fleshed out there'll be something there for me to care about.

 

[betan]

This looks like a stealth "Which console are you fan of?" poll.

 

[Arwin]

As a programmer, I'm torn between XNA Live and Home. I both really like them, but they also both still have to prove themselves some more before I can make a final judgment. In the end I voted for Home, but it's a close call at this point in time. Things may change in the future, in either direction. I can't say anything about WiiWare yet, because to me, it simply doesn't exist yet. At least Home has a beta, and XNA Live has the creator's club already in place and I've bought a 3-month trial and tested how easy it is to get something running on the 360, but WiiWare is a big unknown to me.

 

[Titanio]

Home is an odd man out there.

It's like choosing between a car and..I dunno, a six-pack of beer or something. You can make a choice alright, but it's not exactly an illuminating one because the purposes are so different.

Well, Home for NOW is the odd one out. If they release a SDK for Home arcade games - as they've suggested might be possible - then it might be comparable in that regard.

As for Wii-ware vs XNA, I'd need to read more to see which I might prefer if I were a developer. As a consumer, I guess I'll have to wait and see what kind of content becomes available on each before saying which I think is better. In principle they're offering the same thing, an expansion of what's already on services like marketplace and playstation store, I think there'll be good content on both, but right now it's like asking which of two stores you prefer, before they're even open.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They're not quite offering the same thing though. I think the difference is XNA is open and Wiiware is Nintendo ratified. That is, XNA will be inundated with all sorts, to the point of potentially too much choice. Wiiware should be more like Arcade and PSN titles, more selective but you are guaranteed better average quality.

Perhaps it's analogous to choosing either YouTube or BBC2 as your only TV channel. Would you prefer the mass of options and ideas on YouTube, or the invested programming but limited selection of BBC2? Of course with the whole XB360 package whcih isn't referred to in this poll, you have both with XNA and Arcade. In that respect XB360 is the better choice as you get the best of both worlds. What Wiiware can offer is potentially interesting applications of the Wiimote, but given the rush of minigames out there, how much more is there to explore with that device?

 

[DeanoC]

If they release a SDK for Home arcade games

I will put bets on the being one when its released

For me currently its XNA, simply because its got the best tools and its the easiest for anybody to get and use at the mo. Anybody can download it and make a game, assuming they have the talent.