a looking-glass book

takes on the state of games

everywhere i look, everything i see and read points me to the same game issues - fewer and fewer xompanies are willing to take risks because of high development costs and long process cycles.

the move away from simple controls has become an inhibitor for new user bases. people gave up on systems when the buttons expanded from nintindos.

where does that leave us? amazingly, taking a step backward to the gba and moble phones might be the answer. as we move forward, we could see a larger gap in games - where the consoles really push to deliver immersive entertainment and interactive stories and the handhelds and less complex machines deliver "games".

this obviously wouldnt fix the long development cycles and high budgets of the interactive pieces, but it could allow us to back out of the pit we are digging for ourselves.

the joy of playing a sports game, a game without any immersive elements is less complicated in an immersive sense and requires less issues to be overcome (agency, avatars, branching paths, open-ended narratives, etc) than something like 'metal gear solid'. interactive narratives have not been figured out yet - there hasnt been an elegant solution to them yet. but by focusing more on the immersive elements (over the idea that it must be a game), we open a new set of possibilities. the idea of making a "narrative game" is so limiting and engrained in our heads that it is restricting us on every level. all the games have the same elements and concepts, even if the story changes. backing away from this mentality of games, of what is expected now would allow a fresh perspective and a whole new way of telling stories that could redefine everything that has come before.

think about how we make games now and realize how limited this approach is. we actually have had conversations in class about 1st person vs 3rd person. cmon. you cant tell me that this is the extent of what is possible in games. or interactive experiences. think bigger picture.

lets separate games from experiences and let each play to its strengths. games need to remain in their domain and lets take what we have learned and make even better experiences.