Crunchy, Milk-Soaked News Bites: Installment One.
It’s a phrase I coined to describe Disney’s DGamer initiative, which — despite its usage most probably being relegated to the likes of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and, at best, Jesus Lion: The Sequel — looks to have some potential.
In essence, DGamer seeks to combine features from the Wii’s clean yet saccharine interface with the Xbox360’s achievements — the best of both worlds, if you will. Then, those features will be integrated into Disney’s website, creating a wholly unified experience.
So, which features is Disney paying homage to? Pull out your clip-board, because it’s time for a checklist:
Customizable avatars: These are, of course, the Dismiis of which I earlier spoke. But hey, Miis rock. Who doesn’t enjoy creating a hilariously exaggerated version of their worst enemy and then picking him/her up and watching it/them kick and cry-out in protest? Now, you can clothe them in a myriad of advertiser-friendly Disney memorabilia! And even if you’re not completely maniacal, the ability to utilize the same avatars in multiple games lends a personality that otherwise wouldn’t exist. At the very least, fan fiction will no longer be the only option for those who wish to interact with Mickey, Hannah Montana, and a gang of rambunctious pirates — while dressed as them.
Honors: In the grand tradition of Xbox Achievements, Honors are gameplay-specific awards given to the player when a specific task is accomplished. It may not sound like much, but when enterprising gamers are making gobs of cash by ebaying their Achievement-loaded Xbox Live accounts, it’s obvious that Microsoft is on to something. Disney — along with Valve, Sony, and, thanks to a certain web application, real life — realized this. Achievements create a certain frothy-mouthed drive in gamers that normal in-game incentives can’t seem to inspire. Honors, then, will replicate this sort of meta-RPG — this improvement of your own “character,” i.e. yourself. Taken in conjunction with transferable, unified avatars, who, in theory should be able to carry previous Honors when they travel between games, the system sounds positively enticing.
Let’s put it this way: Have you ever voluntarily picked-up a Disney game, knowledgeable of the consequences your actions will carry? What about now? Would you give it a shot with this system in place? Lie all you want, but I see a twinkle of excitement in your eye.
With any luck, Nintendo will jump on this bandwagon as well, and introduce actual Miis to the DS. They really should, too — thus far, every bandwagon Nintendo has created or hitched a ride on has taken them straight to the bank.
