When you look at the gaming industry’s humble beginnings now, it’s kind of hard to really sit here and say “What could I have done differently?” I mean sure we obviously can, but my view on what makes fun addictive game-play is a little.. well spoiled. Being a gamer in today’s world has given me the opportunity to do, well.. Just about anything.
I’ve rescued princesses over and over and over again. (Seriously how many times is THE SAME ONE GOING TO GET CAUGHT!?) I’ve mowed down hordes of zombies, orcs, animals, humans, hell think it and you’ve probably killed it. I’ve made friends of enemies and enemies of friends. Explored expansive worlds and disgusting sewers, and watched the main love interest get murdered in cold blood. Jumped, hopped, ran, flew, and dragon punched my way to victory year after year. Really you get the idea.
While the fathers of our most beloved industry paved the way for these things to happen, I think the only thing I would change in the beginning is the amount of sports titles released. Given the time and technology I can understand that they made from great games, I just feel that they should of sooner saw that there is more out there to explore. From a design standpoint the games that captivate us now are ones when you explore and becoming something bigger. A better way of explaining it is we had a reason to do something. Everyone loves to be the hero and imagine what it would be like to have super powers. I’m surprised that it didn’t kick in much early than it did. Sure killing aliens were fun and all, but what if all the wanted was a “cup of Joe”? I think the fact that we need a reason to do the things we do in games is what makes the experience that much more memorable. But who am I kidding, blowing stuff up for no good reason is in itself fun for a while. But like most people who love video games, it’s the story that adds so much more to the game-play. I would of tried to give players a reason.
Do I hold the upmost respect to the games that paved the way for the ones I love now? The answer is absolutely. But if I were born early enough to catch the “Golden area of arcades” I honestly don’t believe I would be as big a gamer as I am now. It’s like Michael Jackson and the Beatles to me: I respect what they did for their industry and time.. But it doesn’t mean I like anything they did.
-Cp
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I think the early industry (Atari era) did a fine job of branching out from sports gaming. As we've seen with Wii Sports, athletics are a great jumping off point for getting someone to understand how your platform works. The Fairchild gaming system came with hardcoded sports games, even. However, there many more "story" games, by numerical comparison. And, it seems that the "story" games had a greater influence on the industry than purely competitive, rooted-in-realism sportsy titles.
Also, I think more often than not, every game justifies its carnage. Its just a matter of the end user conceding to respect that justification! "Because I'm a spaceship and they're aliens", as thin as it may be for some early shooters, speaks to feelings of xenophobia or existentialism. You're just given more room to find or disregard the reason.
Actually as of late I haven't been playing any games with a story component. Just give me the orders and I become a mindless killing machine. I guess that's what stress does to you.
The assignment was to read chapters 1 – 10 in the book <i>The Ultimate History of Video Games.</>
and as for the question I answered it was about some of the Hurdles that game designers faced when making fun addictive games. What could I have changed?
With that said!
@Tubatic:I completely agree. I probably should of fleshed out more about this posts requirements. This view is on the the beginning of the industry up to a certain point. In my assignment I had to talk about what I thought could be changed in the a specific time line. I think that were they went with games was incredible. But for the time frame I had to work with for this post it was hard not to deviate into the later 80's. (Unfortunately were I ended reading was at the beginning of the Golden era -.-) I thank you for your input and look forward to expanding my idea's through this blog and hope to have more in depth chats about this topic :)
@CelicaCrazed: I wish I shared your enthusiasm for sports games! I do find them fun when given the right circumstances (A room full of friends does help!) But I do agree that being given orders sometimes and blowing things the F up is great for relieving stress :)