The games of tomorrow needs answers that last

By Vince

Two weeks ago I was in Europe visiting some universities and making contacts for my future doctorate. I visited the University of Antwerpen (Belgium) to have a talk with Dr. Karolien Poels, and the IT University of Copenhagen (Denmark) to talk with Dr. Espen Aarseth.

I presented some highlights about Brazilian ludic interfaces to the researchers (you can see the files on THIS LINK). Both conversations were awesome and I got a lot of new good references for my research in the field of game design and gaming concepts. It’s very good to listen to the ideas of great minds from this area.



Nevertheless, I reached a conclusion after these two meetings: it’s important to discuss the impacts of the game culture in the contemporary world and understand those consequences for the future. We – from the gaming research field – need to be somewhat clairevoyant to identify the answers that will help us in the future. The games of tomorrow need answers that last.

A broad viewn is required to understand the game, the player, the gaming culture, the language and all things related to this subject. We need researches that give us a horizon to work better and create more accurate experiences.

Technology is an important piece in this context, but it is nothing without relevant content.

The game is only in the beginning. Let’s keep on rockin. Let’s undertand this wide world of possibilities. Let’s make good researches.

May the force be with us.

Go gamers!

Here's where the fun begins

Brazilian Ludic Interfaces: an internacional presentation

Right now I'm in Belgium giving a presentation at the University of Antwerp about BRAZILIAN LUDIC INTERFACES. Next week I will be in Denmark presenting the same content at the University of Copenhagen.

You can see the highlights of the presentation on the PDF below:

Presentation Antwerp & Copenhagen (November 2012) from vincevader

Or you can download the document with the complete contents through THIS LINK.

This is a unique opportunity to make new acquaintances and improve my research about the ludic field and ludic interfaces. Cross yours fingers for me!

Go gamers!

JOURNEY: an art framework to play

I really appreciate the work in the area of indie games. Every month we can see good examples of different kind of games in this field.

Some indie games have a very particular way of showing their gameplay. Some have a traditional interface, but others have very different ways of displaying their properties. The game Journey (2012) is one such example.

Journey is a video game developed by Thatgamecompany for PlayStation 3. In the game, the player controls a robed figure in a vast desert, journeying towards a mountain in the distance. Other players on the same journey can be discovered, one at a time, along the way; the two players can then assist each other, but are not allowed to communicate via speech or text and are not shown each other's names.

The only form of communication between the two players is through wordless "singing". This noise also imbues floating pieces of cloth found throughout the levels with magic powers, affecting the game world. The robed figure wears a trailing scarf which, when charged by approaching floating pieces of cloth, briefly allows the player to fly.



Journey was intended by the developers to evoke in the player a sense of smallness and wonder, and to forge an emotional connection between them and the anonymous players they meet along the way.

So we can say that Journey is a trip inside a gameplay. It's a different idea of game (like many others of the same kind) because it balances art (or introspective reflexion) and game. You can appreciate this game as an art framework, but your television is the museum.

With the constant growing of the gaming industry, I think we'll have more and more room to create experimental games like this one. With the expansion of the gaming field we can think outside the box to create new experiences beyond the traditional first person shooters or traditional side-scrolling games.

The indie games area looks perfect for this. Let's try this theory in our own games.

Two good quotes from Raph Koster

Raph is one of my favorite authors. There are two excellent quotes from his book "A Theory of Fun for Game Design":

"When you're playing a game, it exercises your brain". (p.39)

"Since different brains have different strengths and weaknesses, different people will have different ideal games". (p.105)



About the author:

Raphael "Raph" Koster (born 7 September 1971) is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies. Since July 2006, he has been working as the founder and president of Metaplace (previously operating as Areae and acquired by social gaming company Playdom in 2010) producing an upcoming platform for online games also called Metaplace.

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Reference:

KOSTER, Raph. A theory of fun for game design. Arizona: Paraglyph Press, 2005.

Huizinga’s magic circle

In the fields of gaming concepts and game design there's a very important author for reference: I'm talking about Johan Huizinga and in this post I want to discuss a very important concept: the idea of the "magic circle".

Johan Huizinga (1872 – 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. In his book "Homo Ludens" (1938) he discusses the possibility that playing is the primary formative element in human culture.

In this book, the author presents the idea of the "magic circle". As described by Adams and Rollings (2009, page 8), Huizinga did not use the term as a generic name for the concept: his text refers to the actual playground, or a physical space for playing.

Inside the magic circle, real-world events have special meanings, as in the example below (ADAMS & ROLLINGS, 2009, page 8):



The magic circle is a place of dreams and fantasy. It's an escape for everyday problems and chores. And the most important: everything inside the magic circle is, in some way, transformative. Each time a person leaves the magic circle they bring meaning and experience.

Huizinga (1955, page 10) wrote that all play moves and have their existance within a playground marked off beforehand, either materially or ideally, deliberately or as a matter of course. Just as there is no formal difference between play and ritual, so the ‘consecrated spot’ cannot be formally distinguished from the playground. The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc, are all in form and function playgrounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. They are all temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart.

In the image below I try to create a visual representation of the idea of the magic circle:



These ideas are essential to study and understand the gaming universe around the players and the impacts of the game culture in the mediatic scene and how important it can be for the contemporary world.

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REFERENCES:

ADAMS, Ernest; ROLLINGS, Andrew. Fundamentals of Game Design. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009

HUIZINGA, Johan. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Boston: The Beacon Press, 1955.

Nintendo Wii U: First Impressions

Last week I tried the new Nintendo console Wii U at the Brasil Games Show fair (by the way, the biggest videogames fair in Latin America). After a long waiting, my friend Mauro Berimbau and I played a few games on the new platform. I'm going to share some opinions in this post.



In forty minutes we tried three games: New Super Mario Bros U, Nintendo Land (with the shuriken mini game) and Zombie U.

However, I don't want to make an analysis on the games. I want to highlight my very first impressions about the Wii U:

1. The tablet joystick is a little bit strange and big in a first moment. I really like the idea of a "second screen", but it's not very comfortable.

2. The graphics are average. New Super Mario Bros U is beautiful, but Zombie U could be better.

3. Everything made for Wii also works on Wii U (games, joysticks, accessories). That's a positive point.

4. It's clear to me: the Wii U focuses on families and casual players.

5. The tablet has a camera (there are games with camera interaction), the internet connection operates well, and the idea of the console is to be a kind of media hub. However, in my humble opinion, Nintendo is far from Xbox Live in the field of social networking.

6. The tablet joystick has potential with the second screen mode. But even PS Vita and Surface (Microsoft's tablet) have already been doing it.

I really want to buy the new console to play at home. I think I'll have new points of view about the product. Until there, let's enjoy a video about Wii U below.



Go gamers!