Design's Archenemy

If there's one thing that can kill a game's design, it's genre. If someone sets out to make an RPG with fighting elements, guess what they are going to end up with? An RPG with fighting elements.

Fun games can certainly be made with this approach. It happens a lot. This is the model preferred by frugal publishers. It's cheaper, less risky, and can still end with a decent profit.

Great games though are never made this way. They start with the design, the genre will inevitably come after the game is finished.

-Shadow of the Colossus (Action/Adventure)
-Rez (Shooter-on-rails)
-Meteos (Puzzle)
-Gran Turismo (Racing)
-Metroid Prime (???)


Rez is hardly just a shooter-on-rails. People still squabble over exactly what Metroid Prime is. At the end of the day though it doesn't matter because they completely nailed a fun and interesting design.

Here's the question:
-What are some more examples of great games that disregard genre?

Stat Tracking

Stat tracking is an amazing game design element, and is also way undervalued.

The most effective use of stat tracking so far is in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It tracks absolutely EVERYTHING. It went way beyond wins and losses and dives into areas such as:

-How far (distance in miles) you have jumped/fallen

-Cumulative home run distance

-Amount of times you've powered on the game

These are interesting on their own, but what makes stat tracking fun is when value is added to the stat, most commonly through an unlockable. This encourages the player to move beyond the main game mechanic and explore what else they can do with the game.

Microsoft introduced the concept of achievements with XBox 360. These are a lot of fun and can really add replay value to a game, but they rarely foster the player's creativity and curiosity. Instead they are often relegated to tracking the linear progress of the player through the game.

Having a universal measurement of what the player has accomplished is a great thing. Challenging the player's concept of what they can do with the game is also a great thing. I'd love to see games combine these two elements more than they do.

Here's the questions:

-What's your favorite use of stat tracking in a game?

-Do achievements add enough value on their own or could they do more?

Return On Investment

What makes a video game addicting? There are different types of addiction, and many games combine multiple forms. Some games are simply "page turners" where you just have to know what happens next. Others are repetitive but still manage to draw the player back for more. I believe the strongest type of addiction is one that speaks directly to human nature: practice makes perfect.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the simple levelling-up grind of RPGs. The model is a very simple ROI (return on investment). The generic formula: fighting in a few battles, becoming stronger, learning new attacks, making more money. Similar patterns can be seen in saving for retirement, training for a marathon, practicing an instrument and even gambling.

These are all things that tend to be addicting, especially when there are early or quick wins (hitting a jackpot on the first pull). The beauty of the RPG level-grind is it takes the concept, and adds a guarantee (something the others don't) that you will get a positive return on your investment.

The attraction of this system is something the human condition can't deny.

The Last Remnant & Missables

The Last Remnant obtained extremely mixed reviews, mostly for its graphical problems. Those complaints aside, I have been playing it for a while now and I think it's actually a lot of fun!

BUT...

There's one big gaping hole of a problem with it (and many other games) that not a lot of people have addressed: missables.

A missable is something that is no longer obtainable past a certain point in a game. In The Last Remnant's case there are several pre-requisites on Disc 1 to unlocking side quests on Disc 2. Many of these snowball to where you have to go through an entire chain of missables to get something.

I think missables are a terrible concept. I am playing through this game with a full strategy guide sprawled out on the floor and several tabs in my browser pointed to specific forum posts, gamefaqs etc. just to make sure I can enjoy the full content that I paid for. In no other medium or consumer good would the manufacturer be able to get away with this. Why do game makers get away with it?

Nintendo is working on a system that aims at the exact opposite end of the spectrum. A system to ensure that you can access all of the content you have purchased - http://kotaku.com/5276446/shigeru-miyamoto-spills-beans-on-kind-code-almost

While I applaud Nintendo's approach, it seems like it would take some of the fun and excitement out of the game. On the other hand, having missables in a game can force the player to spend more time reading strategy guides than actually enjoying the game.

Here's the questions:

-Do missables add to the game experience or detract?

-What are some alternatives that could produce the same type of excitement provided by a missable?