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

Wii & PS3 Controllers' Biggest Pitfall

In this year's E3, both Nintendo & Sony featured the motion sensor feature in their controllers. Sony's air combat game Warhawk and most Wii games intentionally avoid the traditional button pressing and heavily rely on the motion sensor. However, lots of people who tried it described them as a cheap-feeling experience.

PROBLEM

I tried both flying game in Nintendo and Sony's booth. Compared with the experiences I had playing Warhawk with traditional PS2 controller and my own Cloud game with mouse. My brain prefers the new controller because it is a new type of control mechanics, but my body prefers the later. Why? Because there is no physical feedback to my hands at all during the use of motion sensor on Wii or PS3 controller. My body feels no joy when using the controller.

PHYSICAL FEEDBACK

The reason people call a joystick "Joystick" is because moving the stick itself is a joyful experience. Applying forces and feeling the physical feedback from spring is very responsive and rewarding. It is very easy to feel empty and cheap when a controller doesn't give you feedback. Imagine after you push down the button, it doesn't bounce back. Imagine if you turn the wheel in your car and it doesn't return to its original position while driving. Imagine if you make a left turn in your car, your body doesn't feel the centrifugal effect. It's what we call cheap or incomplete experience.

POSSIBLE DESIGN SOLUTION

Since applying a real gyroscope is battery and cost expensive. I'm thinking about using rumble and sound from the controller to create physical feedback. If you turn your airplane very hardly, the controller should vibrate to give you an illusion of using force. If you use a controller and cut through the air, that controller should make the "Phong Phong..." sound. However, PS3 controller now has neither rumble pack nor speaker. I hope before they launch, both Nintendo and Sony should really look at this issue and offer more possibilities for Game Designer to reward player through waving their controllers