Quicktime Event (n) A gameplay mechanic in which players are instructed to push buttons exactly as they are displayed on the screen. Frequently accompanies a cinematic-like sequence of the player character doing something cool but outside the game’s control schemes. QTE heavy games include God of War, Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and [...]
Verb (n) An action the player can use to interact with the game or game world. Verbs include shooting, running, jumping, pushing buttons, insulting people, and eating food. Usage: We never properly trained the chicken-kicking verb, so how can we count on players using it to solve this puzzle? Comment: Understanding verbs is important in [...]
Joe Six-Pack (n) A proverbial average player who is not interested in thought-provoking game experiences and has a low tolerance for complex rules that he needs to learn. Usage: The mind reading hamburger character an interesting concept, but do you think Joe Sixpack will really care? Comment: Ah, Joe Sixpack. How I love you. Joe [...]
Parse (v) To absorb and understand information presented by the game. Usage: The menu screen threw so much information at the player that it was impossible to parse. Comment: Parseability is extremely important. It’s one of the main reasons (if not the main reason) that otherwise good ideas need to be thrown out. There are [...]
The best thing about the old tabletop role-playing games is the Dungeon Master concept. The Dungeon Master is a person who creates and presents challenges to the other players. Since the DM can essentially do anything that a fictional world could do, he can spin, together with the players, emergent stories of incredible richness and [...]
Technology doesn’t just mean physical devices. The word also refers to techniques. In game design, we develop technology that has nothing to do with CPUs or game engines. We develop design technologies. This is my list of the most important developments in design technology in 2008. Note that this is heavily biased towards the types [...]
Once again, confirming the incredible weirdawesomeness of everything Japanese. Via Jeff Green.
Played through Bioshock again recently. This audio log jumped out at me: “On the surface, I once bought a forest. The Parasites claimed that the land belonged to God, and demanded that I establish a public park there. Why? So the rabble could stand slack-jawed under the canopy and pretend that it was paradise earned. [...]
Naive design is what a 14 year old video gamer does when you ask him what kind of game he would want to play. He doesn’t know anything about design theory or analysis. He doesn’t understand game balance, player training, system performance. For him, everything in the game is real. I don’t recommend doing naive [...]
Bottomless (adj) A bottomless game has more strategic depth than can be explored within years of study. Examples include Chess, Starcraft, and Street Fighter 2. Bottomless games require constant thought and re-strategizing to play properly.Expert players will be constantly inventing new strategies and counter-strategies. Usage: People have been inventing new Starcraft strategies for years! The [...]