Connections - March 30, 2009: Computer game design is changing as games become more of a platform for play, creativity and collaboration and not just a challenge of skill and reasoning.
Lunar's Gretchen Anderson talks with Mike Khoury, a game designer at Maxis Software and contributor to the hot new game Spore, about changing approaches to designing the gaming experience and some surprising ways Spore's fans have taken the game in new directions.
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'if you applied usability rules to game design you'd end up with a big red button that says push here'
Actually, this describes quite accurately a recently popular mechanic in some games called 'quick time events.' In an effort to have a more cinematic delivery, the game plays a cutscene where the player is, for example, required to press X when 'PRESS X' flashes on screen. It is supposed to play like an interactive movie, but instead gamers are reminded of how one dimensional and insignificant their actions are.
Posted by: jeffrey carver | June 15, 2009 at 02:25 PM