I enjoyed writing a post for this week's Design & Development Analysis class discussion so much, I have decided to share the results with the entire world! Or, at least to the small part of the world that follows this blog. Here was the prompt:
Discussion Board Goal
Examine the necessity of controller apparatus and their relationship to videogames using game design theory.
Discussion Board Specifications
The advent of MOTION and TOUCH control interfaces for playing games suggests a decreased reliance on game controllers.
Draw directly from the course text, the handout on Controller Feel, and outside sources to respond to the following items:
• Why, or why not, will game controllers remain an important part of videogame culture?
• What lessons learned from controller use must be applied to all videogame interactions moving forward? Consider both MOTION and TOUCH interfacing.
In my response to this prompt, I drew inspiration from three seemingly incongruous sources: Jesse Schell's book The Art of Game Design (which is also the class textbook), Ernie Cline's novel Ready Player One, and the ++Good Games Podcast (specifically, the Halo 4 midnight launch special). Take a look, and let me know what you think!
Despite how much it pains me as a player to say this, I do
not think that game controllers will remain an important part of videogame
culture for very much longer. In Chapter 26 of The Art of Game Design (The Team Builds a Game with Technology),
Jesse Schell talks about the Innovator’s Dilemma, where technology companies
and other innovators often fail because they listen to their customers cry “not
good enough” in regards to a new technology. The problem is that new
technologies are improving at a much faster rate than current technologies, and
can quickly cross that “good enough” threshold. When it comes to videogames,
motion, touch, and voice control interfaces are rapidly improving, and have
already become “good enough” for the casual and newly emerging segments of the
gaming market. (Schell, 2008)
There is little improvement that can be made on traditional
game controllers, but motion, touch, and voice interfaces are improving
dramatically with each iteration. Wii Motion Plus, the next iteration of the
Kinect, and the recently revealed prototype of the new PlayStation controller
are all prime examples of the direction that game control interfacing is
headed. However, I believe that the best way to see where technology will be
heading is to look at our current science-fiction. The technologies invented
for a futuristic world often provide inspiration for today’s innovators and
designers. For example, when my parents were children, the idea of cloning was
something that only existed in books and movies. However, within the last few
months, a woman paid $50,000 to clone her deceased pet dog, a great example of
how yesterday’s science-fiction is today’s science-fact.
So, in looking at today’s science-fiction, what are tomorrow’s
game control interface ideas? That answer can be seen in one of my favorite
novels, Ready Player One by Ernest
Cline. In his dystopian future, all virtual worlds and games have coalesced
into one master game world, Oasis. This game world is made possible by advances
in precisely what we are discussing this week: motion, touch, and voice control
interfaces. In the book, the player puts on a virtual reality visor and gloves,
and is instantly immersed in the world of Oasis. (Cline, 2011)
The key to that new level of immersion is making the
technology and interfacing invisible to the user, and that is the main lesson
that motion, touch, and voice control interfaces need to learn from traditional
game controllers. In a recent episode of the ++Good Games Podcast, Anthony (one
of the show hosts) spoke with gamers who were waiting in line for the midnight
release of Halo 4. When he asked them what they thought about the Kinect, both
he and I were quite surprised to hear that those “hardcore” gamers were
actually excited about the future possibilities of the technology! (Bauer,
Bacon, and Ernst, 2012) If you read between the lines a little, what they were
actually saying is that they are excited for the point where those types of
interfaces become as invisible and seamless as the controller has become for
them.
References
Schell, J.
(2008). The art of game design, a book
of lenses. (1st ed. ed.). Burlington,
MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
Cline, E. (2011). Ready player one. Broadway.
Bauer, N.
(Performer), Bacon, J. (Performer), & Ernst, A. (Performer) (2012, November
05). ++good games’ halo 4 midnight launch coverage. ++Good Games
Podcast. [Audio podcast].
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