Comments on Fullbright: An obligation

i agree with you that making players think has far...

2010-02-09T11:29:49.667-08:00

i agree with you that making players think has far-reaching and maybe even measurable value. this is a good thing and should be encouraged. it is also good to see (from your comment) that you don't feel that a game without this aspect in inherently bad. i think that we as an industry can create value for our society through many different mechanisms.

games such as Skate 2 fall

Steve: Brilliant article. I'd been meaning to...

2010-02-07T12:04:03.957-08:00

Steve: Brilliant article. I'd been meaning to write something very similar for some time. I agree with you on every point and I think some of your critics on here fundamentally just don't get it. My keynote speech at AIIDE '09 made much the same point.

Game developers continually forget that the medium they are working with is their players' minds. This is why so

Michael: I agree of course that games should be ev...

2010-01-31T08:55:18.463-08:00

Michael: I agree of course that games should be everything to everyone. I guess I tend to blog in what sound like absolutes but it would be silly to think that there's only one thing that every game should be. I would be more accurate to say "here's what's most interesting to me personally about game design right now."

But I think it's oversimplistic to

As I get older, I do feel that I should play some ...

2010-01-31T04:00:28.360-08:00

As I get older, I do feel that I should play some brain-teasing games once in a while, to postpone my unavoidable senility. But, please, I don't want this exercise to be mixed with things I find actually interesting and important. My health is one thing. My thoughts and emotions are another. I also want games that are bad for me, games that are subversive, games that make me drunk, games that

Well, sure. Though I think it's interesting to...

2010-01-24T23:45:57.750-08:00

Well, sure. Though I think it's interesting to note that via gating we're able to objectively test whether the player has reasoned out the solution to a problem, guaranteeing that they've at least gotten some cognitive exercise out of the deal (or gone to gamefaqs.) It's different from the fuzzier artistic intent. It's what you did with each puzzle piece in Braid of course,

Of course you can't control what people actual...

2010-01-24T22:49:09.570-08:00

Of course you can't control what people actually get out of a work. That's the same with any art. What I am talking about has to do with the designer's intention. One can design with the intent that the player gets certain things or doesn't get certain things. This is obvious. We do it all the time.

I'd be interested to hear how you'd person...

2010-01-24T21:51:55.578-08:00

I'd be interested to hear how you'd personally define the distinction between the two. Unless there is no more concrete definition than "something in which the player find value," in which case I guess it all comes down to taste.

I was more responding to the way GunBlade was phra...

2010-01-24T20:04:42.414-08:00

I was more responding to the way GunBlade was phrasing things than I was to the original article.

But also, what I am saying is a different issue than whether something is open-ended or a linear puzzle. Rather it just has to do with what the player gets from the experience -- so I think we pretty much agree there. I am just saying that there is a difference between setting up a

Jon: I think I follow you (and if I'm off, cor...

2010-01-24T18:59:00.113-08:00

Jon: I think I follow you (and if I'm off, correct me): the distinction you're making is between the paradigm I imply-- in its simplest form, setting up obstacles which the player must figure out before receiving the next reward-- and a more systematized paradigm in which the greater investment you exhibit through your inputs, the more meaningful or unique the resultant outputs (something

Jonathon: Not sure I catch your point - first you ...

2010-01-24T18:08:16.918-08:00

Jonathon: Not sure I catch your point - first you seem to deprecate the importance of asking how to "make your players think", but then you say we should develop a culture of asking that question? If your point is that yes we should require people to think pretty hard to make it through our games, then of course I definitely agree - this is part of what troubles me about overly "

"How can we require thinking of the player?&q...

2010-01-24T10:37:59.231-08:00

"How can we require thinking of the player?" is not really a productive way to think about it. Put that way, it is a losing proposition.

What is necessary is to give players something valuable in accordance with the amount of effort they put in; then the player feels his effort is fruitful, and people like it when their efforts are fruitful.

One trick is finding

I have to say, your starting lines really felt lik...

2010-01-24T00:19:14.288-08:00

I have to say, your starting lines really felt like they cheapen games development to the point where it actually sounded as if it was wrong of us to engage in it, rather than "curing cancer".
However, the rest of the post was great. This is the first time I heard of "fluid intelligence" and it's kind of relieving to know it's decay can be slowed.
How can we

Beyond being a practical obligation it can be seen...

2010-01-23T22:53:52.080-08:00

Beyond being a practical obligation it can be seen as a worth and noble cause. There are the physical benefits from increased brain activity yes, but there are also the far reaching social and emotional benefits from crafted meaningful experiences for our audience.

Dallas Snell did a great article on a similar topic that can be found here: http://dallassnell.com/?p=12 or

I need to get something out of my entertainment. I...

2010-01-23T17:29:26.968-08:00

I need to get something out of my entertainment. It doesn't need to be deep or life-changing, but something has to stick. Otherwise, if a game or a movie is just sensation and spectacle, forgotten the moment I turn it off, it's wasted time. I am no richer for having experienced it, and am poorer in terms of time.

Since I started gaming, I've always tried to make sure my