Bruce Lee & Game Design

First of all, I am not a Bruce Lee fan. And I have only seen one of his movies. I got intrigued by him through a lost video interview of him and his philosophy about martial arts. As a game designer, I'm with his philosophy. Here's a link to that part of the conversation.

You might not get what I mean after watching through once. And you might think me being cocky to talk about video game design as an art. But to me, game design is about art. It is about designers' self-expression. It is all about the experiences they want to create and share with the others. In martial arts, you feel an artist's soul through his punch. In games, you experience their soul from playing.

If you've heard my GDC talk about emotion and genre, you probably would know that I'm an anti-genre game designer. Today's video games are made around existing genres. And genres are defined by the same core gameplay experiences shared by a number of games. You have to have some sort of level up to call it an RPG. You have to an army to control in order to make it an RTS.

"Styles tend to not only separate men — because they have their own doctrines and then the doctrine became the gospel truth that you cannot change. But if you do not have a style, if you just say: Well, here I am as a human being, how can I express myself totally and completely? Now, that way you won't create a style, because style is a crystallization. That way, it's a process of continuing growth." - Bruce Lee

To a businessman, style and genre means a successful model he can use and make money out of it again and again with very small risks. It is a safe zone and an excuse of being lazy to explore the wild. To an artist, following certain style and genre is a good way to learn. The true masters always create their own later. When everybody starts under an existing genre or style, the growth of our industry yields. Just think about today's Hollywood movies.

If you want to truely express yourself, you need to be flexible. Design games without too much concern on existing genres. Think about what you really want, and your knowledge gathered through your life will speak for you. Be the Bruce Lee of video game design, this world needs you...

"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend." - Bruce Lee

Posted by Jenova at May 30, 2006 1:53 AM