It’s hard to bring our A-game 24/7. We try to be alert when it matters so we don’t make some silly mistakes that could haunt us down the line. That being said, keeping a constant vigil can be taxing, so it is vital to find techniques to help strategize how to preempt these momentary lapses in concentration. Let me share a few times I have been burned by stupid moments of lost concentration.
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Now that I’ve had around a month writing this column and I’ve put up a bit of a backlog, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a bit more about my vision for the column in a way that wouldn’t have made a lot of sense right at the beginning. Continue reading
There’s been an accidental trend in my recent posts – I’ve talked a lot about how the player plays the game, why that matters, and designing with that in mind. A big part of WILA Xenoblade was how the game entertained me for quite some time by letting me pick and choose which elements of its expansive world and somewhat varied mechanics I used at any given time. In WIHILA and WILA Deus Ex, I mused on the possibilities of reaching out to a varied audience with genre-bending gameplay choices, and the importance of communicating with the player about these choices, ultimately exemplified by Deus Ex. What better way to put a temporary stopper on the topic than with the game that’s intentionally about style: DmC. Continue reading
It can be hard to understand in life what exactly strikes a chord with us and the reasoning behind these reverberating instances. We attach extended value and meaning to all the interactions that barrage our daily lives by constantly constructing a memory web of connections and connotations. It is this hidden value that strikes me so wonderfully whenever certain video game songs reach my ears. Continue reading
Now that I have written a couple posts, I thought it would be a good time to write a piece talking about the namesake of my column here at TurnBasedLiving.
The Gamer’s [Insert body part here] is a fun go to phrase that I have always thrown around when playing with friends and family. The phrase definitely feels fairly universal to me, but I’m not sure how much it is used by others. In general, it refers to an adroitness or phenomenon that (often stereotypically) exists amongst gamers. Continue reading
I’m both excited and wary as I consider the possibilities contained in the disc case sitting in my room with ‘DmC’ splattered on the front. The Devil May Cry series has a decade (and a bit) long history and an enfranchised fanbase, so, as somebody who just missed that train, I’ve watched from a distance in the past – curious but not too bothered. Now it appears, fresh from the re-imaginings of Ninja Theory, and I get the perfect opportunity, as both gamer and game designer, to find out what all the buzz is about. At the same time, there’s always the possibility that I missed it the first time around simply because it’s not my thing. What if the stuff that fans love about the series (perhaps partially because they’ve put in the time already) just doesn’t translate to me? On top of that, it’s a reboot with a new developer – who’s to say I’ll even be getting the ‘real’ Devil May Cry experience (and how important is that anyways?). Continue reading
Okay, we are almost done with this series on fit. If you haven’t been reading, go check them out before reading on. If you have been reading, I’m glad that you are sticking with me here. Last time we touched on understanding the specific elements of fit and accepting how different these elements can be for different people. So now the final question: how do we leverage this understanding?
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Last time I talked about finding that feeling of fit and coming to grips with that balance of what works well for us versus areas that we have taught ourselves complacency. Today I want to jump into the topic of dissecting the components of that fit. Continue reading
There is a big difference between something that feels right because you are doing it and something that you do because it feels right. As a generally optimistic, go-with-the-flow kind of fellow I find that given most situations I can manage at least a feeling of complacency. Continue reading
Last time (it feels like just moments ago) I used Deus Ex as an example of giving the player choices about how he or she plays the game. If you’ve just tuned in, I recommend going and having a quick read of Part I. Unless you’re the kind of person who reads the last couple chapters of the book first, then you’ve come to the right place. While these layers of gameplay choices can add fun and interesting depth to a game, communicating that there is a choice at all can be equally important. I’m going to start a bit differently than normal just to illustrate the point. Enter: The Hypothetical Game. Continue reading
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