In my first Interactive Design class (MCDM program at the University of Washington), I got an opportunity to play four games, including online game, mobile game and Wii. As fun as the games themselves were, that experience actually was the first time I consider a game totally from a designer’s point of view, instead of a gamer, and it really differed a lot from what I usually felt from a game.
In this Blog entry, I am going to talk about the four games I played in class, to discuss and comparing several aspects of them.
The first game I played was:
http://www.games.com/game-play/star-marbles/single/
When I was searching for games, I just googleed “online game”, and this was the first website showed up. It was a very simple and easy game, frankly speaking, not so much fun, however, surprisingly, it’s a very popular online game, and gets a high hits.
In my opinion this game belongs to the category as “puzzles”. Interesting thing is: the simplicity of this game is exactly what makes it popular. You do not even need an instruction to play. Meanwhile, the sitemap for the game is simple as well. The main menu is just “start” and ”high scores”. It’s a game suitable for those busy workers who cannot be stay in games for a long time, but take a little rest from now and then.
Second game, another online game, called “Escape games”.
http://www.escapetheroomgames.net/play-11708-basementescape.html
I am not very sure about the U.S, but Escape games are very popular in Asian countries. It’s not a traditional type of game, as it does not need to be trained for fighting or killing. It looks like very easy, but you might need a couples of hours stuck in a room and have no clue how to get out of it.
It belongs to “Adventure game”. The rules for the game: the player needs to find a way to escape from a mysterious room. The room usually consists of a locked door, several objects to manipulate as well as hidden clues or secret compartments. The object is: the player must use the objects to interact with other items in the room to reveal a way to escape.
Certainly, it’s a fun game, but more accurate question is fun to whom? As far as I am concerned, the audience/fans of Escape game are the group who likes detective novels, crime film, and so on.
Third game: Wii
No one would disagree that Wii is popular, Wii is a success, Wii brings not only children, adults, but also even the older generation to the game planet. I would say, the most remarkable feature of Wii is the universality.
The amazing element of Wii is its wireless controller, the Wii remoter, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions. There is barely “learning curve” at Wii games, as it is designed just as the real world. In this sense, if you know how to play in the reality, you then know how to play in front of the TV. You move with your character in the screen, and you feel his/her feels.
Wii is like a combination of the reality of and game world.
The last game: Kinect —control free!
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect
If Wii would be considered as a bridge to the real world and game world, then kinect probably could be considered as a “real” world itself.
Kinect enables users to control and interact with the Xbox games without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands.
Kinect definitely is the coolest game in these four, even in all kinds of games. To me, it even felt like Sci-fi, like we are living in the future. Kinect’s sensor should take most of the credits. It is a horizontal bar connected to a small base and is designed to be positioned lengthwise above or below the video display.
Players do not even need to touch anything, or you would say, the only thing they touch is the air.
In some words, Kinect releases human beings from computers and programs. It’s a time for us to PLAY the game, not being played by games.
