So I was “Chain-Watching” YouTube
videos on my Xbox when I had the thought “I’m going to give my console a rest,”
“not play games!?” I asked myself, and this got me to thinking. I don’t do a
lot of console gaming as of late. I’ve been chiseling away at Final Fantasy
Record Keeper, a mobile free to play game. Building my Steam Library and I’ve
been enjoying platformers on my phone, on smoke breaks and lunch breaks. In no
way do I think console gaming is dying nor do I believe mobile gaming is the
future. What I do know is that for a person who works full-time, sleeps and at
least tries to have a social-life, time is quite disproportioned. If you don’t
rollerblade instead of walking, have nitrous in your car and use jetpacks
instead of stairs then there just simply isn’t enough time in the day.
The trend of games I’ve been playing lately, is that I pick them up put some time into it, put it away with the quickness and eventually later on in the day pick it up from where I left off. In these modern times games have to be accessible, not easy but accessible. I find with many games if I happen to direct my focus elsewhere, I have a problem picking up games without being given any context. I’m not saying games should be easier, nor that they should be shorter or that they should sacrifice story or narrative for time’s sake. But you should be able to play games in brief squirts in-between life outside of your hobby. Mobile-Gaming caters to these needs, as well as being an accessible platform for casual games, like mahjong and the King’s games which opens gaming to such a larger audience. Factors like these are why companies like Nintendo and Konami are drawn towards going mobile. The thing here is that the games themselves are far more profitable than consoles and corporate greed may impose transitioning to mobile on us similarly to the way “always online” and social features have been in the past. On the other hand despite all the new technology introduced to the games market, most gaming is done in front of a monitor with a controller in hand, the most welcomed change made was going wireless, to make playing in your home that much easier. Even though I’m playing these older platformers on my phone, there is a disconnect that stems from the lack of a controller and no matter how many little puzzle games and casual games I come across I’m yet to hold one near and dear to my heart, in an attempt to streamline for simplicity and accessibility so much is chopped off that not all but a lot of these games are forgettable. (I do highly recommend Peggle and Quell despite of this.)
I realize the bias, I’m not a “hardcore” gamer (though a passionate one,) and I’m also not the type to beat a game in a night or in one run unless the game absolutely compels me to (and time permits.) I enjoy longer games, not fluffed-out games and not playing the same 30hrs several times (looking at you Lightning Returns!) but a game like Skyrim where the world is so massive so many details about the land, the people and the mythology are scattered throughout and despite having an overall story lingering above you, you can get to your first objective turn around never see the story again, play not only for hundreds of hours but in short spurts, save wherever and pick up where you left off. The beautiful thing about our industry, as dad-joke level cheesy as it is, there really is something for everyone, to fulfill everyone’s needs and I believe this is one of the many reason why Interactive media will go down in history as one of if not the superior art forms.
A wonderful channel on YouTube made a couple videos in regards to "Humane Game Design" and exit points that are very insightful on how game design affects the players ability to hop in and out of a game, check out the video below:
The trend of games I’ve been playing lately, is that I pick them up put some time into it, put it away with the quickness and eventually later on in the day pick it up from where I left off. In these modern times games have to be accessible, not easy but accessible. I find with many games if I happen to direct my focus elsewhere, I have a problem picking up games without being given any context. I’m not saying games should be easier, nor that they should be shorter or that they should sacrifice story or narrative for time’s sake. But you should be able to play games in brief squirts in-between life outside of your hobby. Mobile-Gaming caters to these needs, as well as being an accessible platform for casual games, like mahjong and the King’s games which opens gaming to such a larger audience. Factors like these are why companies like Nintendo and Konami are drawn towards going mobile. The thing here is that the games themselves are far more profitable than consoles and corporate greed may impose transitioning to mobile on us similarly to the way “always online” and social features have been in the past. On the other hand despite all the new technology introduced to the games market, most gaming is done in front of a monitor with a controller in hand, the most welcomed change made was going wireless, to make playing in your home that much easier. Even though I’m playing these older platformers on my phone, there is a disconnect that stems from the lack of a controller and no matter how many little puzzle games and casual games I come across I’m yet to hold one near and dear to my heart, in an attempt to streamline for simplicity and accessibility so much is chopped off that not all but a lot of these games are forgettable. (I do highly recommend Peggle and Quell despite of this.)
I realize the bias, I’m not a “hardcore” gamer (though a passionate one,) and I’m also not the type to beat a game in a night or in one run unless the game absolutely compels me to (and time permits.) I enjoy longer games, not fluffed-out games and not playing the same 30hrs several times (looking at you Lightning Returns!) but a game like Skyrim where the world is so massive so many details about the land, the people and the mythology are scattered throughout and despite having an overall story lingering above you, you can get to your first objective turn around never see the story again, play not only for hundreds of hours but in short spurts, save wherever and pick up where you left off. The beautiful thing about our industry, as dad-joke level cheesy as it is, there really is something for everyone, to fulfill everyone’s needs and I believe this is one of the many reason why Interactive media will go down in history as one of if not the superior art forms.
A wonderful channel on YouTube made a couple videos in regards to "Humane Game Design" and exit points that are very insightful on how game design affects the players ability to hop in and out of a game, check out the video below:
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