Nick Glover

I don’t think this has really been attempted yet, but I think it would be a great use of augmented reality. There are all kinds of ways to play D&D online: IM, text-based online options, actual D&D games… but most aren’t quite like the real experience of sitting around with some buddies. What if everyone had a web cam? There would be no way to move figures around on one unified board. That is, unless we take advantage of augmented reality. Imagine if the DM simply had to program the simple grid on the computer (not so different from drawing a map with pencil and paper) and each player had a figure that, when moved around in front of the web cam, would cause a representation of that figure to move around on the digital board. It would be a perfect solution to long-distance tabletop gaming. I wish I knew how to program it…

Rather than just be a naysayer about new technology, I thought I’d propose a solution that would fix all problems that I–and most people–have with digital downloads (and thus the PSPgo). That solution is license transfers. It sounds simple, but read through and you’ll see why simple license transfers can become the future of gaming.

Problem number 1: I bought games on an old account and can’t play them on my new account. License transfers solve this by allowing me to transfer the ownership from my old account to my new account.

Problem number 2: I’ve got a game (digital download) that I never play anymore, but since it’s not a physical game, I can’t trade it in. License transfers solve that problem, too. You could simply transfer the license to another account, denying you access to the game and giving someone else access to it.

Here’s the kicker that makes this all work: marketplace. Imagine if there was a section on the PSN store for “used” games. Anyone who had a license for a game they no longer play could list the game as available for purchase in that section, thus there would be a finite number of used copies available (much like in a real store). Pricing could either be set by Sony (using some agreed-upon standard) or they could allow users to set their own prices, much like Amazon’s marketplace, allowing you to list games for cheap or free should you so desire (it might be worthwhile to set a maximum price for “used” games, though). That free option would be the key to transferring the license to your own account (for when you set up a new account)–simply allow a private listing that only you have access to or some other similar solution. Sony could even take a small transaction fee, making it a great solution for them.

The PSPgo is a pretty innovative device in that it is a digital download only system, but I think my solution takes that innovation to a whole different level. It is the ultimate solution for the problem of digital content, and whoever adopts it first is likely to be the game changer that shakes up the market.

But that’s just my opinion.

Today I was thinking that I still need to catch up on the last episode of 24, but then remembered that if I watched it online, I’d have to deal with ads. Not that that’s any different than watching on TV, but still. So then I started wondering why Hulu hasn’t offered a “go pro” option for subscribers. Imagine this: you pay a small fee, say $5/month or something, and in return you don’t have to deal with ads on your shows. TV companies are happy because they are still getting revenue from the shows, thus the last few channels still refusing to use Hulu have more of an incentive to switch. Hell, they could even offer paying subscribers access to HBO programming or something. It’d be like cable and TiVo combined into one awesome, available-wherever-you-are package. Get on it, Hulu.