Next Show: Your Input

Tim Spaeth · 09-17-2009, 08:06 PM

Episode 22 will use this Gamasutra article as a springboard for discussion:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=25122

Give it a read and post your feedback here; we'd love to read and debate your comments on-the-air. We'll also be Quick Hitting Scribblenauts, so jump in on that as well.

NOTE: If you'd like to record your comment as an MP3, I will definitely play it during the show. Let your voice be heard! Send it to podcast@gamecritics.com. No more than 60 seconds in length, please, just to keep the file size down.

gamevet · 09-17-2009, 08:33 PM

The Shenmue series (all 2 of them) was very much an interactive movie, with a few QTE and fighting scenes thrown in. Do you think (hypothetically speaking) if a Shenmue 3 came out with the QTE and fighting scenes being cinematic cutscenes, that the game would gather a much larger audience than the previous chapters?

Richard Naik · 09-17-2009, 11:50 PM

Indigo Prophecy is probably the closest thing to an "interactive movie" that I've ever played. The only disconcerting factor was the story's sudden turn into ridiculousness at the end.

However, I'm still a little leery about the games vs film comparisons. Games are a different medium any way you slice it, and I don't think there will ever be a consensus work that merges the two. They're just too different.

shun · 09-18-2009, 12:28 AM

I think categorizing Wii Fit as a game that "removed the onus of failure to compete" isn't accurate. Sure, you're not fighting an overlord in that game, but you're fighting your weight problems. Sounds just like a standard competition to me, except with yourself. I fail to understand how it's being made a case for "game with no challenge can be bestselling titles too".

To answer the question of "if we can enable video games to challenge those who like to be challenged, but accommodate those who just want to ride along", isn't that already the reason why some games have various difficulty settings?

I mean, if by riding along it means that a person will only want to "see the game" without wanting to be challenged by it, shouldn't he/she just go to Youtube and watch the "complete playthrough videos" instead?

Don't like the work? Then don't play. We don't dumb down basketball so that non-athletes can be involved in sports drama too.

Vince · 09-18-2009, 12:30 AM

I have found that the older I get the less I like my games to feel like work. Maybe my tastes are refining. Or I'm getting old and have less patience.

I have played just about all of the Resident Evil games. The only one I completed was RE5. I don't like to be frustrated by the games I'm playing, but I don't mind being challenged. RE1 - 3, and CV, are frustrating. Tank controls, limited ammo, limited points of view. Sure, elements of the scare factor. I don't believe it though. RE4 solved quite a bit for me, save the ammo issue. RE5, easily upgradable guns = teh awesome.

Back in the day, I finished Ninja Gaiden on the NES. I found that I cannot do the same on the virtual console. And I don't feel like going back to it. Does that mean that its a poor game design, or have I been spoiled by today's games and no longer have the skills I used to have?

I know that I don't want an auto-play feature. I want good gameplay. Games should have a progression to them, and not just within themselves, but carried from one to another. You don't just hop into a Halo3 online match and expect to have fun as your first game. There are skills to learn from other games first.

eaps · 09-18-2009, 09:42 AM

I think that if a game is designed to tell a story or be more narrative, than I would prefer to have have the save system be more forgiving. I haven't played the new Prince of Persia (yet) but I'm about half way through Batman right now. The game gives me a total buzz and, for me, it hits that sweet spot between challenge (work) and entertainment. If I do end up dying, there is usually a little hint on the loading screen that helps me plan my method of attack more appropriately. I like the idea that I can die, but if I fall off a ledge after a stupid jump, I can actually just hit a button and save myself.

I think the good news is that for those people who need a game that is balls to the walls hard, there will always be those games like Contra DS, Ikagura that are less story based and more about mastering the challenge. There is also the option of playing on the "insane" level. I'm curious if anyone ever starts out playing a new game on that level.

It's a pretty amazing time we live in that the market can support both types of gameplay options.

Tim Spaeth · 09-19-2009, 10:27 AM

Good stuff here guys, thanks. We've covered the "Game/Film" comparison on previous shows (we're all pretty much against it) so we'll probably gloss over that in favor of the failure-focused stuff in the article. Should be fun.

Tim Spaeth · 09-24-2009, 08:59 PM

It's not on the main page yet, but Episode 22 is on the RSS, iTunes, and Zune feeds as of five minutes ago. We talked about all of the above, so check it out -- thanks again for your questions!!!