This article, linked to by BoingBoing, describes why we (well, some of us) can’t resist surfing the web. It’s apparently because we get an endorphin high from viewing new and richly interpretable information. Interesting – because for me it also explains why I like the games I do.
I’m a neophile, which probably just means I’m wired to get a hell of an endorphin kick from new, deep information. But I have terrible coordination and reflexes, and I don’t particularily enjoy conflict or adrenaline rushes, so I don’t get a massive kick out of visceral action gaming – twitch gaming. So the games I like provide me regularly with dollops of interesting (and beautiful) New Stuff which I have to think about in order to keep playing the game.
My favourite game is probably Ico – there’s a bit of fighting but it’s not a problem, it’s mainly just a case of wandering around a beautiful, huge castle solving puzzles. Every new area is a massive endorphin hit for geeks like me; a new wodge of beautiful, inventive worldbuilding I have to get involved in to solve.
Shadow of the Colossus didn’t entirely work for me, because the environment, while lovely, wasn’t deep enough. And the monsters were fundamentally the same fight over and over again – not much new data there. And I was shit at the fights, because of my dreadful coordination.
Portal works beautifully – each new level is a world I have to get involved in. They’re not particularly pretty, but they are very cleverly designed and have to be explored and engaged with in a new way because of the game’s novel mechanic. Also, of course, there’s always a new bit of comedy from GlaDOS waiting for me when I get to a new level, which is a massive hit of new, quality data in itself. But largely I loved it because I didn’t have to jump through too many frustrating time-dependent and coordination-dependent hoops to win the level. I just had to analyse the puzzle successfully, and then put my analysis into practice, with just enough acrobatics to make it require a few tries to get it right.
Now, it seems to me that most games are designed for another sort of person – a competitive person who likes adrenaline rushes, exercising their reflexes and coordination, practicing physical skills. There are currently few games for those of us who get that same visceral kick from thinking and exploration. Oh yes, we’ll play the twitch games because there’s often enough interesting stuff in there to keep us hooked, wading through the combat parts even though they’re a chore.
But where are the exploration games like Ico and Myst now? Why don’t they sell well? Because the article seems to say that everyone, to a large extent, should be sucked in by this sort of dynamic.
Or are most gamers really jocks and not geeks?
I have very similar tastes to you in games, it seems. Probably for similar reasons. My idea of game hell is a boss fight.
I think there are two main reasons why innovative or exploratory games aren’t so common. Firstly, the publishers like a sure thing and hence will only fund more of the same type titles. Valve got past this by having there own distribution method, enough cash and playing Portal as the "b-movie" second feature bundled with HL2:EP2. Other developers don’t have that freedom (or are parts of the big media companies who are risk adverse.)
Secondly, exploration games need more work. The virtual environments need to be more detailed and varied, as do the textures etc. Twitch games are far easier, at least once you’ve got the AI working.. that’s if you bother with one (e.g.Quake 3 Arena).
"Or are most gamers really jocks and not geeks?" I think this it the
real reason. When I first got into computer games you had to be a geek
to figure out how to operate the machine in the first place (and how to
get around the copy protection *koff*, not to mention study the
assembler and work out which locations to POKE to gain game advantages).
And many of my favourite games were impressive mainly because you knew
the limitations of the machine it ran on, and you were impressed that
clever writing had delivered something you’d have sworn wasn’t possible.
David Braben’s Elite springs to mind. Gaming isn’t like that anymore.
Well, maybe it is for you, but it isn’t for me.
Sometimes I get the feeling that for huge swathes of the population,
thinking hurts. They seem to shy away from anything that makes them
think in the same way they would avoid anything that delivered electric
shocks to their gonads. They don’t want to solve puzzles, they just want
to shoot stuff. They’re jocks, not geeks.
Maybe the Tomb Raider series was a clever psychological test. It clearly
separated the people who got bored by shooting the crocodiles etc. and
just wanted to get to the part where they could run around the tomb
unhindered and solve the puzzles, from the people who got bored with
solving the puzzles and just wanted to get out of the tomb so they could
have a new bunch of crocodiles to shoot at.
Starting with my tastes – I love good games from all genres. I enjoy being challenged by a fast action game, and also savouring a beautiful game with a great story.
I’d disagree too, that there are "few games for those of us who get that same visceral kick from thinking and exploration." Instead, I’d agree that there are fewer games created for that purpose – there are many out there, but they don’t come out so often. Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk for the DS are recent and fit perfectly with that ideal, as do the few graphic adventures still on release, like Still Life. In fact, the graphic adventure is pretty much what it sounds like you’re craving here – combat light, exploration and thinking heavy, with some beautiful images and storylines.
There are certainly a lot of graphic adventures out there – just very few new ones. It’s a sore subject, as there a lot of people who loved to play them. There are a few studios still producing them – telltale games make a few (mostly comedies – Sam and Max, Bone etc. but also some CSI games) but I don’t know of any others.
More thoughts, but I’d best get on with the long notes.