Work for Content

When we think of what makes games unique as a medium, the answer would seem to be their interactivity.  But this is only a partial answer to the question, for there is plenty of interactive media that we do not consider games: interactive installation art for example.  As interactive media objects, what is truly unique to games is the need for their audience to work in order to see the content the game has to offer.

There’s no need to be “good” at film, there’s no trick to finishing a book, but if you want to see level 2, you have to beat level 1.  Games purposefully withold and obscure their content until you have performed adequately, the player is employed by the designers and paid in content.  This can mean learning the moves of a fighting game so you can see a well-choreographed combo, or solving a puzzle so you can see what the next one is like.

Some games consist more of mechanics than content: chess for example has few fully rendered cutscenes.  But even in purely mechanical games, good players are rewarded with the content of a memorable game.  In console games cutscenes, sexy animations, or even new outfits for their character will drive players to put far more effort than is reasonable into fully completing a game.

I think that this unique relationship between audience and media object is so key to games that it should be considered as a central paradigm from which to form a design framework.  It is the only medium where the object subjugates the user.

In a sense, designers should consider themselves as employers.  The professionals that you want to hire (players) are in such demand that they can work wherever they wish.  As a designer, it’s your job to set up your workplace, and the work that you offer, to be so attractive as to be irresistible, and to ensure that you can pay your employees with enough content to keep them working for you.

This is why low content games like Counter Strike can still keep players even when competing against more lavish console shooters: the pay isn’t very good, but the work is challenging and engaging.  The best games are those that do both, those that can provide a satisfying set of challenges as well as an epic story or cinematic animations.

One should not assume that this means games should be easy and deliver their content freely: a sense of accomplishment is a potent emotional addition to a game’s content.  It is essential, because it is the one emotion that passive entertainment can never deliver.

Scale in Games

I have noticed in many games across all genres that scale is a device that can be consistently applied to games to make them feel more visceral and immersive: in fact, it seems to be an almost shamefully easy technique. From racing games like Hydro Thunder, with its pulse pounding mile-long drops, to space [...]

Castle Crashers and Significant Differences

I was caught completely off guard by Castle Crasher’s astounding level of quality: fresh personality, updated old-school gameplay, and, perhaps most importantly, an astounding amount of content.  The game feels truly enormous: 26 characters, 40 weapons, and 23 animals (they act as helpful familiars) and an epic campaign make for the richest experience to be [...]

Dragon’s Lair in Action Games

The adventure game “Dragon’s Lair,” was a laserdisc title that was essentially a video “choose your own adventure.” A full motion movie would play out, and the player’s inputs (there were very few and they were quite simple) would trigger a branching video: much like skipping to page fifty four if you want [...]

Assassin’s Creed - First Impressions

I was going to write something about how Call of Duty was far and away the most next-gen game I have played.
But then Assassin’s Creed came out.
Because the good things I have to say about the game are nearly endless, let me throw out this one negative: the combat is shallow, and a bit [...]

Halo 3

I hesitate to write on Halo 3, as so much has already been said on the topic, but I feel compelled, as it is rare that I am as affected by a game as I was by this massive, opulent, and finely tuned game.
I played Halo 3 with a fresh set of eyes, having played [...]

Repetition

Over and over and over and over
Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal
The spell of repetition really is in you.
– Hot Chip, Repetition
Repetition is a fundamental, though often overlooked, element of a game’s structure. Like other electronic media, such as digital music, duplication is given to us for free by technology. If you [...]

Resonance

I am attempting to discover some consistent underlying properties to what we call “fun,” that ever elusive aesthetic unique to interactive media. What is it which, across genres and across platforms, inspires that particular tingle we get from a clever strategy, a narrow escape, a flawless victory?
At first I thought that the common [...]

Earth Defense Force 2017 = A Massive Retro Romp

Recently I got the chance to play the wholly excellent Earth Defense Force 2017. Though rough around some of its edges, the game is truly one of the most fun I have experienced in some time. Some of the art is entry level at best, all the powerups look like they’re from the [...]

On Head-Tracking

A friend of mine remarked upon head-tracking in games today, and I found myself realizing how important it can be to a game’s immersion. Technically, it’s such an easy thing to do, yet the degree to which it enhances one’s sympathy to an animated 3d character is uncanny.

The excellent adventure game Grim Fandango used [...]