jgreen

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January 19, 2006

My Three Objects Presentation

Item 1: Super Nintendo

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) is my most favorite object. Why? Well, it represents a time in the history of game development in which some of the most original content had been created.

When it first arrived on the scene in the United States in 1991, it was considered by many to be exactly like its 8 bit predecessor, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), but with better graphics. Such critics were silenced over its 5 year lifespan as one amazing game after another was released.

SNES represented an interesting phenomenon that has not been repeated in the roughly 30 years that video games have existed. On one hand, SNES had a deeper color palette, the ability to display more pixels on the screen (allowing for much high detail in sprites), the ability to take a bitmap and place it onto a plain that can be scaled and rotated, and Sony SPC-700 sound processing hardware, and other amazing features too numerous to mention. However, the fact remained that it was a 2D tile-based console game system.

What was amazing about this system was that people didn’t really think about how to make the best Super Nintendo game. They thought about how to force the Super Nintendo to run the game they had in mind. People challenged themselves to design and implement games that weren’t just graphical enhancements over the previous generation. They created games that redefined what we thought video games could be. They were focused more upon the experience offered by the game, as opposed to simple game features and taking advantage of hardware for the sake of a visceral thrill.

Basically, SNES was and still is the representation of what games can still be. We have only to think more about the experience and not focus so heavily on hardware technology and a built-in audience.

Item 2: Games. Lots of them.

On one hand, I do feel that this “object” is a bit of a cop-out. On the other hand, I strongly believe it’s the absolute truth about what inspires me to do be a game developer and a designer of interactive entertainment/media.

It is completely impossible for me to point out the absolute best interactive entertainment/electronic game/video game experience I have ever had the pleasure of encountering. There are so many different games that I’ve enjoyed, each with its individual reason for my liking of it.

I suppose I could attribute my enjoyment of games and wanting to make them with my desire as a child to actually be a character in a movie or novel. I used to always play with my friends and my sister make-believe games in which we pretended we were actually in the story of a movie, book, or game. I find it rather scary that I look back to those days as a reference as to how games and related interactive entertainment should be.

Sierra On-Line graphical adventure games approached this level of interactive storytelling/story experience. In a game such as King’s Quest, Space Quest, Black Cauldron, Leisure Suit Larry, etc you take on the role of a particular character. For instance, in Leisure Suit Larry you fill the shoes of a loser who tries his darndest to become a playboy. You go about fulfilling various tasks in the way that you feel Larry would do them. You try to pick up on women (with often hilariously disastrous results) and attempt to fulfill his immature sexual fantasies.

Japanese role playing games (RPGs) have a different way of telling a story. You usually (but not always) take on the role of a party of characters. They use the old method of gameplay borrowed from Dungeons and Dragons in a way to tell what is often an “epic” tale of a person or group of people overcoming daunting odds to bring peace to their world. There have been other RPGs that have done more than simply retell the same “epic” over and over. Most notably is a game called Xenogears that chronicles the rise of a religion, its purpose to subvert the populace.

These are merely a sampling of the games that I have found influenced me to be a game designer. I hope my list of games that have been my inspiration will continue to grow. It’s been a bit weak over the last 10 or so years.

Item 3: Unfinished Game Design Documents

Okay, so why would I show this as my greatest achievement? It highlights the fact that I don’t really have a project that’s been my greatest achievement. My greatest achievement has yet to be realized. In fact, even if I realize it, I probably won’t recognize it as all that great. I suppose that’s just how I am.

Anyhow, despite the documents being extremely short, they exemplify what I want to do in the game industry in the immediate future. They’re games that could work in today’s market. The only problem is, they need completion. I need to flesh out their details and make it perfectly obvious what it is I want to accomplish for each project to the reader(s) of said documents.

The only real complete thing I’ve done that I’m proud of is my Eagle Scout Rank. That took a couple of years to finish. Granted, my parents played a big role in helping me to accomplish this feat. However, I was determined to do better than my Dad in Boy Scouts, who had only achieved the Life Scout rank. To me it is proof positive that I can complete things, if only I put my mind to it.

Posted by jgreen at January 19, 2006 12:06 PM

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