Gamers with Jobs – June 6, 2006:
Most video games are a rip-off.
Nearly every video game since “tank pong” has buried its best content behind layers of work. Unlike any other retail product I can think of, when you buy a video game, the chances that you will actually get what you paid for are infinitesimal. I can’t think of a single game I’ve played where I am confident that I’ve seen every single level; unveiled every coveted secret; unlocked every whatsit and pretty and soundtrack left like kipple by the designers in the dark corners of the code.
I play games to escape. To go somewhere else. But our industry has so ingrained this concept of “earning” our fun that the best is somehow always saved for last. Like modern day Puritans, we’ve convinced ourselves that we are not worthy of that for which we’ve already paid. Sinners in the hands of an angry god, we don’t deserve our fun until we pay in blood.
But you know what? Real life is hard enough. Give me back my game.
Isn’t the effort/reward system part of what makes videogames psychologically addictive?
The problem here is that we differ in what is meant by a “game.” To me a game implies competition and if that is the case, then challenge, difficulty and “earning your fun” are part of the equation. If by “game” you simply mean some distracting and entertaining activity then clearly “earning your fun” does not fit. I suspect most people would agree that the my first definition is closer to what a video game should be.
As Thomas said – a game means competition. If you don’t want to “earn your fun” and the writer so elegantly puts it, try “playing” simulations. I play both, depending on the mood I’m in – if I just need distraction, I put in Sim City or Railroad Tycoon. If I need something more challenging I play something else.
Americans don’t have a Puritan work ethic, we’re lazy.
The game designers motive is not to make us ‘earn’ our fun, but to make a game that can still have new things to offer, even after we’ve beaten it two or three times. Its called ‘replay value’ and it sells more copies of the game.
As for the gratuitous God reference, the author should probably seek counselling to talk about his relationship with his dad…
I’m a gamer myself, and I know that I enjoy the challenge of finding the secrets and such. Usually more than the secret itself.
And what on earth is ‘Tank Pong’?
oh, wait…. in retrospect, I laughed again:
How many Puritans are working in Game Development?
Its sad the author has nothing more important to worry about.
This may be a stupid game to some of you but its a great party game and an excellent example of what this article raves againts.
Outlaw Golf while being extremly fun to play with friends and only fun to play with friends had most of the game hidden behind unlockables. What fun is that? Should have just pirated that one or used cheat codes.
You want puritan gaming?
Buy a game developed by Electronic Crap, sure they have good sports games, but IMNSHO a fantasy game where all the demons do to women is kill them if a bag of s**t
As a gamer who played the old Leisure suit Larry games I prefer a game with some double entendre humour than playing a game loaded with over muscled men and over muscled monsters and ALL of them wearing thongs while waving phallic symbols such as clubs and oversized swords.
I think several people here miss the point. There is little doubt that chess is challenging. Heck, it’s been a popular game for centuries. But, you’re not forced to play it any particular way. If you want to follow certain rules you can. But if you want to set up your own rules, you are completely free to do so.
Think of any other meat space games and you have the same freedom. Monopoly is a good example. There is nothing in the rules about getting money when landing on the “free parking” space, but people are free to play that way.
Thus, the “challenging” aspect of computer gaming in getting locked maps and items isn’t a real challenge. it’s a contrived and arbitrary challenge. Rules that cannot be broken aren’t rules. They’re limits or boundaries. Exploration and discovery is no fun when there are limits to where you can go. I see most computer games as being no different.
When I buy a game for my 5 year old son, I make sure there are cheats available so he can play any level he wants any time he wants. Some might argue that my son isn’t learning a valuable lesson about working towards a goal. Well, to that I first say you’ve proved the editorial’s point. You believe in the puritan work ethic. And I’ll also say that real life does not generally impose arbitrary and contrived restrictions. In the real world if you can find a more efficient way to get to where you want, you’re praised for finding and using it.
And real games bend rules all the time. Football (US football that is) players started passing the ball and now the run gaming is considered boring. Basketball players started doing jump shots, and now it’s the most exciting part of the game. These and other “cheats” were possible because the boundaries were not forced. They were merely suggested and the players were free to play in their own way.
I can’t think of a single game I’ve played where I am confident that I’ve seen every single level; unveiled every coveted secret; unlocked every whatsit and pretty and soundtrack left like kipple by the designers in the dark corners of the code.
Reminds me of the Doom/Duke Nukem-type games, where at the end of each level it would display how many of the monsters & “secrets” you’d missed. You were given direct, immediate feedback…
My frustration came when I would read a “walk-through” of a game level, and see what convoluted steps were needed to reach some of those secrets, and thinking “You’ve got to be sh*%ing me”..
Or, playing the original Unreal and turning on the invulnerable mode near the end – just to see what it took to defeat the final monsters & see the end-story of the game – because I would never have seen the ending otherwise…
My first computer was a 486 sporting a huge 135 MB hard drive and four MB’s of RAM, and I bought two games. One was something with a Falcon fighter and the included instruction book was over two inches thick, while X-Wing’s instructions came in a two page pamphlet and most of that was in how to get everything to work. Remember the fun with extended/expanded memory? Anyway, I tossed the Falcon thing and used X-Wing to play and screw my computer up.
Now, the only user installed game I have is Mahjongg, and that’s because I’ve probably spent more time than I really should have designing rather naughty tile sets.
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Hi,
Remember the fun with expanded memory. Anyway, I choosed the Falcon thing and used X-Wing to play and screw my computer up.I have tried the fun of helikopter rundflüge and you can also enjoy it in the same manner as I have enjoyd it.
Thanks.