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"The 'killer app'"

Every console needs them. That one game, whatever genre it may be, that makes money for producers, draws critical acclaim for developers, and brings hours of enjoyment to us, the player. If you’re lucky, there might be more than one of them on one console. But the basic fact is undeniable – if a console is going to be successful it’s going to need one of these. Yep, you’ve probably guessed from the unimaginative thread title that I am talking about a very special sort of game indeed – the ‘killer app’.

What makes a ‘killer app’? Well, it can be any genre, it can have amazing graphics or simplistic colours, orchestra style sounds or bouncy tunes, but a ‘killer app’ has something. You can’t put your’re finger on it, you just know its there (God I sound like a Pop Idol judge). It just feels like quality and you know hen you are playing it you are probably experiencing something great. A ‘killer app’ can sell consoles on themselves, although as I explain later, that may not necessarily be the case.

With the console ‘war’ developing into to what could be quite possibly one of the hardest fought in the industry’s illustrious history, the need for the so-called ‘killer app’ is more so than ever. With Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all battling for industry supremacy and – let’s face it – the money in your wallet, the ‘killer app’ could be the game that makes or breaks the success of their latest console. I’m not talking about Triple A titles, because there will always be a substantial amount of those. I’m talking about the sort of game that will force people to buy a console just to play that game, and that, my friends, is very, very, hard to come by.

So lets look at the future potentials, starting with Xbox. In order to establish a guaranteed user base and attract customers, they have released their No.1 game for the foreseeable future, Halo. By all early accounts the game certainly seems to be living up to the hype and at this stage could definitely be described as the ‘killer app’. Whether people will buy the console is debatable, because when you strip it of its fancy graphics and new features, it is little more than a standard FPS. What comes after Halo is tricky, as there doesn’t appear to be anything on the horizon for Microsoft? PS2, like Microsoft, seem to have their killer app out already, MGS2 is already selling like a Will Young record and seems, like GT3 before it, to be selling consoles on its own. Gamecube also have games for the here and now - Smash Bros certainly looks like it has all the trappings of a ‘killer app’. Plus Nintendo have a couple of other games waiting in the wings. You might have heard of them, its Mariosomething and that thingamajig Zelda.

However, a ‘killer app’ doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, and Nintendo and Sega can vouch for that. The N64 had arguably the greatest collection of true must-have games, yet they still finished behind Sony, who despite their claims and sales figures had nowhere near as many great ‘killer apps’ (Ooooh, controversial). Why? Maybe the casual gamer just doesn’t appreciate brilliance, or their just happy buying the same graphical updates. Does that prove that a console needs more than ‘killer apps’? Could be. It can be argued that PSone’s cheap price won the first console war. But then what about Dreamcast?

Dreamcast was cheap, and had great games, so why didn’t it sell. I’m probably going to annoy some of you know, but I think that Dreamcast didn’t have a ‘killer app’. (Ooooh, controversial – again). Sure, JSR, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur and Virtua Tennis were great games, but would you buy a console because of them? I don’t think so. I think a lot of hopes were pinned on Shenmue to be that ‘killer app’, but it turned out to be something of an acquired taste. Maybe the lack of that ‘killer app’ contributed to Sega’s downfall, who knows?

What I do know is that the ‘killer app’ is certainly important and becoming increasingly more so as the console war hots up. All consoles will need ‘em, that’s for sure. Another thing I’m also sure about is that we can look forward to more great games as developers strive for that elusive ‘killer app’. If they continue to do so, then the future is looking very bright indeed.

Thanks for reading

RM18

Nice one...er...I mean, really good post

Mr. Happy wrote:
> Mr. Happy wrote:
> I was joking about
> Shaneo..

And we all know that
> Shaneo is a spook story invented by Tony to scare little children :-)

lol

Yeah, I was considering writing about the 'killer apps' of the last few generationsof consoles, from NES and Master Sytem to SNES and Mega Drive, but I didn't want it to get too long. I agree what you wrote about Mario 3, though.

Mr. Happy wrote:
> I was joking about
> Shaneo..

And we all know that Shaneo is a spook story invented by Tony to scare little children :-)

RM18 wrote:
> Would you please read my post rather than try and expose me?

Don't worry I have read+replied to your post and I was joking about Shaneo..

I did read your post with interest but as the killer app I'm most familiar with is Super Mario 3 on the NES I didn't think I'd be to good at replying to your more modern version...

I do have an N64 but don't play it much. My little brother is the console man. I rule at Fifa 99 and pro evolution soccer though. The only cosole I really played on was the NES, I got mine for christmas and it came with the Mario/duckhunt split and a lightgun. And I had asked my parents to get Mario 3 as well because that was the killer app, as you put it, but they got me Paperboy instead, which was a vacuum of enjoyment, and we all know taht vacuums suck (haha..), I ended up becominga duckhunt maestro though to the extent where I bought a controller extender so I could hide behind the sofa and shoot the baggers. Brilliant.

Would you please read my post rather than try and expose me?

No I am not Shaneo - check the stats

I was hoping you had actually read my post rather than instigated a witchhunt! :-)

ah no, my mistake.

It would require some pretty impressive co-ordination skills for Shaneo to pull off double posts under two different names... sorry

*sobs*

I only wanted a witch hunt..

RM18 are you shaneo?

You see there's only me and Shaneo on the forums at the moment, then shaneo goes and you appear...

no offense, if you're not... just starting the age-old, traditional WITCHHUNT!!!