A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games
Why are history's best-selling platform games so successful? How important is a solid reward structure? Can a control tutorial negatively affect game sales? Answers to these and more, in today's exclusive Gamasutra cover feature.
[Note:
This unprecedentedly detailed survey of the platform game genre was
originally created in 2003 by journalist and game designer Daniel
Boutros, but this special 2006 version includes much additional
information and is publicly released for the first time.]
After
writing this piece, I got an equal amount of heat and praise for it.
Thanks to some much-needed critical feedback, I was made aware that
there were far too many terms that really didn’t need to be there, so
they’re gone, so now some of the data won’t be such a headache to read.
I also realised that there was a need to develop a
detailed taxonomy to describe common game elements and at present I’m
working toward a project that will address that, though cannot announce
it in detail just yet. Some of these processes and measuring standards
have also been significantly refined and will be revealed in the next
paper.
As for the platform game market, since the
writing of this piece we’ve seen the market go more toward a ‘hybrid’
genre, with richness of interactivity in the environment traded off for
more crudely (but competently) implemented multiple genres and
sub-games. Conversely we’ve also seen a resurgence of late 80s / early
90s era 2D platform gameplay in the handheld Nintendo DS and Sony PSP
consoles.
Current darlings of the scene include the
simplistic and charming Loco Roco, which has considerable depth in a
simplistic control scheme where you tilt the environment to move the
lead character. It also contains concepts where you squish the
character and split it up to move through areas of a certain shape and
size.
New Super Mario Bros is regarded as a
hybrid mix of all the best features of Super Mario Bros and Super Mario
Bros 3, married with completely new concepts and a fully comprehensive
two-player mode. The game has achieved excellent reviews and for good
measure, I’ve added it to the analysis below, just for comparison’s
sake. Though sadly lack a copy and the time to play through Loco Roco
at present.
As for overall game design trends in
the last few years, games have taken on a philosophy to become more
rewarding. Burnout is the perfect example of this, with players being
able to unlock hundreds of bonuses, be they titles, pictures, extra
vehicles or special areas. It’s rare to find any sports or general
action games nowadays that don’t contain a reward at least once per
level or every five to ten minutes. Some games now have more
unlockables than actual levels.
To end, you may
find that some of the conclusion data has not aged well, though
regardless, it’s hard not to find something useful in it at the end of
the doc. Hope you get something out of this,
Dan
Platform Games
Platform games
used to enjoy a 15% share of the market in 1998 - and considerably more
in the 16-bit era - but 2002 Chart Track results showed a staggering
drop to 2%.
As consequence, marketing circles are
reportedly deliberating that platform games – as a genre - are not as
attractive to consumers as they once were.
We believe it’s not an issue of genre, but an issue of effective design principles of past being forgotten.
Thanks
to Naughty Dog and Insomniac, the PS2 has been awash with well-produced
platform games and we’ve also recently been blessed by new outings from
Mario and Sonic on Gamecube. However, although they’ve all been
successful in their own respects, these games have failed to match the
astronomical sales success enjoyed by their predecessors.
To
prove our point, we’ll use the best selling games of each top-selling
platform game series and compare them alongside the recent
next-generation updates.
According to online
reports, the worldwide best sellers of each series – that were not
initially bundled with their respective consoles - are:
Super Mario Brothers3 – more than 17 million worldwide total sales
Rayman – over 4 million worldwide total sales
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – over 6 million worldwide total sales
Crash Bandicoot – over a million worldwide total sales
And the next-generation products we’ll examine are: Jak and Daxter, Super Mario Sunshine and Sonic Adventure
Some
would say that it’s pointless to compare to the 16-bit or even 8-bit
days, as it was a different market and of course, it’s true that the
market has changed.
Another truism however, is
that if online reports are correct, not a single game – of any genre -
has sold as much as Super Mario Bros 3. Being that we’re in an industry
which is largely built on forward thinking, it may be productive to
look to the past for lessons in improving the present and future of
games - and this includes looking in classic game designs and ideas.
For effective feedback, we’ll look at game design elements in these games alongside other relevant conditions, in detail.
Super Mario Bros. 3
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 17 million
Gamerankings Score: 92%
NES system
Origin: Japan
Number of Players: 2 in sequence and 2 simultaneously when in VS mode
US release: Feb 1st 1990
It
is well known that Super Mario Brothers sold more than this title,
being that it was bundled with every NES. We’re choosing this title
however, as it was not bundled initially and still managed to shift
more than every other unbundled game – let alone platform games – in
existence today.
Instead of
relying on holiday bundles for a sales surge, the game benefited from a
high-profile product placement in the film ‘The Wizard’ - 3 months
before the U.S release - helping SMB3 rocket to worldwide sales,
reportedly in excess of 15 million.
SMB3
was also the most varied and experimental of all other platform games
in existence. It broke new ground in it’s genre by being the first to
introduce a level progression system in the form of a fully interactive
World map – which was a level in itself. This also presented the option
to complete the game without having to finish every single level –
another first for the platform genre.
It
took the original Super Mario Brothers formula and outdated it
considerably, resulting in one of the finest examples of effective game
design and design progression in recent decades.
Rayman
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2003 = 4 million (no updated figures available at time of publishing)
Gamerankings Score: 70%
PSOne
Origin: France
Number of Players: 1
US Release: Jan 1st 1996
ESRB Rating: K-A
Rayman
was initially released on the ill-fated Atari Jaguar and was initially
met with disdain by critics because of its on-the-surface shallow
gameplay - masked by lavish visuals and animated introductions.
Another
negative, was the fact that the Jaguar release came at a time when the
market was being saturated with generic characters like Accolade’s
Bubsy and Sunsoft’s Aero the Acrobat and thus came into the world
un-noticed in the sea unoriginality which many critics decided to make
Rayman a part of.
Upon
its 1996 port to the PSOne, it’s been an evergreen title, and then upon
its budget re-release - combining it with Rayman 2 - it sold even more,
possibly owing to it’s residence on high-street super market shelves.
It
was hardly ground-breaking, but its lush visuals and bizarre world,
characteristic of French design, won plenty of young hearts and the
total series has now sold in excess of 11 million and climbing at time
of writing.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 6 million
Gamerankings Score: 89.4%
Sega Genesis
Number of Players: 1 or 2 simultaneous
US Release: Dec 31st 1992
Sonic
2 was released on New Years day in the US, although some would say
foolishly, as the impact of its release would likely be muffled by the
New Years celebrations. This however, didn’t stop Sonic 2 becoming the
best selling 2D Sonic game and furthermore – one of the best selling
platform games of all time.
Sonic
was the blue to Mario’s red, combining lightning fast movement with
vast and plush areas to explore – an antidote to Mario’s far more
compact game levels.
Sonic’s
design allowed for new ways for players to move around levels that were
often larger in size than those in other games. These levels mainly
consisted of half-pipes, loop-the-loops and ramps as parts and pieces
of some very unique navigational situations. In this episode of the
franchise, you could also race through selected stages with a friend in
a simultaneous two-player split-screen VS mode – a first for platform
games.
Sonic 2 had the
first fully simultaneous competitive two-player mode and some say that
this episode was also the greatest moment of the entire franchise.
It
reportedly propelled Genesis unit sales to that which surpassed the
legendary Super Nintendo and helped secure Sega as a powerful force for
years to come.
Crash Bandicoot
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF NOV 2003 = 6.8 million
Gamerankings Score: 78.4%
PSOne
Number of Players: 1
US Release: Sep 3rd 1996
ESRB Rating: E
Crash Bandicoot seemingly came out of nowhere and filled the void that was waiting for a Playstation mascot.
Crash
wasn’t a groundbreaker in terms of new ideas, but the way the
developers worked with the Playstation hardware to achieve environments
with such visual wealth and compacted gameplay, was impressive for it’s
time.
Naughty
Dog created a level-design formula which although on-rails and slightly
claustrophobic at times, created a large amount of challenge through
skill-jumps and completist-geared navigational puzzles which required
pixel-perfect accuracy.
Crash
Bandicoot has since gone on to star in a dozen more games and has even
crossed into Kart game territory, showing that the Crash franchise has
indeed become strong enough to stretch outside the platform game market.
Sonic Adventure
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 2.5 million
Gamerankings Score: 87.2%
Sega Dreamcast
Number of Players: 1. 2-player option is a short-term secret mode
US Release: Sep 9th 1999
ESRB Rating: E
Sonic’s
first full 3D adventure was clearly a labour of love, as displayed by
the sprawling and beautiful environments and the ambitious and
well-realised multiple-character story perspective feature.
The
game displayed an almost entirely new persona from its 2D counterpart,
emanating a more uniquely stylised and unique look to its 16bit
counterparts.
The
3-dimensional update scaled down the open and vast level designs that
were familiar throughout the 2D episodes and went for a far more linear
and focused layout that limited the player to only a handful of
off-path areas to explore for bonuses. Some found this off-putting.
One change was well received however - the inclusion of a multi-story viewpoint.
In short, you could play as six different characters, each with its own
view on the main narrative and a suitable twist on the core game engine
- another platform first, courtesy of Sonic.
Super Mario Sunshine
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 5.5 million
Gamerankings Score: 91%
Nintendo Gamecube
Number of Players: 1
US Release: August 26th 2002
ESRB Rating: E
Super
Mario Sunshine reportedly began as an N64DD intended update, minus the
water cannon, before the 64DD was scrapped for a full worldwide release
and Gamecube was given the green light.
SMS
is a large departure from the traditional Mario formula, removing the
old power-up system of past and the ability to pick up and throw
enemies.
The new formula
introduces the multi-functional ‘Fludd’ water-jet and consequently a
wider breadth of possibility for original puzzle and level design ideas.
Although
initially praised by the specialist media, some publications have
back-tracked in recent stories to say this is Mario’s least spectacular
moment, made even more so by the arguably unpolished camera software,
which at times requires extreme precision of movement and can cause
immense frustration.
It
sold 500,000 copies in Japan in its first week, but sales spiked low
after the initial excitement wore off. The game was soonafter announced
for Budget catalogue inclusion. Now, in ’06, the game has since enjoyed
sitting in the ‘Player’s Choice’ catalogue on a heavily discounted
console and has amassed a rather impressive amount of sales.
Jak & Daxter
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 3.2 million
Gamerankings Score: 90%
Playstation 2
Number of Players: 1
US Release: Dec 4th 2001
ESRB Rating: E
Jak
and Daxter was born from the same loins that originally gave Crash
Bandicoot to the world - Naughty Dog. In terms of level-design style,
both share similarities – not in the superficial sense, but in the
sense of a design ethos favouring less-puzzles and more movement and
action. Jak and Daxter trimmed the puzzle-fat further, by possibly
becoming the first fully action orientated platform adventure.
Jak
and Daxter was also a test for Naughty Dog; a test of whether the
studio with not much of a reputation prior to Crash Bandicoot could
carry on being successful without relying on the Crash franchise.
Thankfully
for Naughty Dog, Jak and Daxter was a success and more than that – it
showed a clear difference in style between U.S and Japanese platform
game design:
Japan’s style favouring puzzles and abstract play-themes - within an action orientated environment
And
U.S designers pushing for more action and variety and less brainwork in
terms of elaborate puzzles or complex navigational dilemmas
New Super Mario Bros.
TOTAL WORLDWIDE SALES AS OF JUNE 2006 = 2.5 million
Not yet released in Europe
Gamerankings Score: 89.2
Nintendo DS
Number of Players: 1 or 2
US Release: May
ESRB Rating: E
New Super Mario Bros is the first traditional 2D Mario sequel since Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo.
Touted
as a return to form for the series, it compiles the best of the 2D
Mario games. NSMB has seen across the board rave reviews and having
only released in Japan and America thus far, it has totalled more than
2.5 million sales worldwide.
It
remains to be seen how much power this classically influenced
realisation of the Mario brand has and thus far, things are looking
positive.
From a recent Nintendo press release:
“After
just 35 days on store shelves, New Super Mario Bros.® for Nintendo DS?
has racked up sales in excess of one half million in the United States
alone. That's a sell-through rate of more than 20 every minute since
the game went on sale May 15.”
The First Ten Minutes
A common
belief amongst psychologists is that people make up a vast majority of
their total opinion of a person in the first five seconds of meeting.
It would also be fair to say that games are also subject to this
nature-programmed degree of scrutiny.
We’ll stretch
this test time slightly from five seconds to ten minutes and examine
factors that are relevant to a player's enticement and enjoyment within
the first ten minutes of gameplay.
Bear in mind
that games reviewers are particularly sensitive to negativity in a
game’s initial moments, and when games nowadays are mostly reviewed for
an average of a handful of hours before the verdict goes to print,
you’ll be able to appreciate why the functionality and enjoyment of a
game’s beginnings is worthy of your focused attention.
1. Visuals
Just
as the 16-bit era was drawing to a close – thanks largely to Sony’s
Playstation - a flood of titles appeared which promised ‘best ever
graphics’ as their main unique selling point. This was largely because
the title was made entirely using FMV technology. Such titles included
Night Trap on Mega CD, Voyeur on Phillips CDi and Sewer Shark on 3DO.
This
flood was met with initial awe and helped titles that relied on better
graphics to sell rather well, but of course these fads eventually died
out and as a result, the market was made aware that appealing visuals
are not worth hinging a while game on for an engaging game experience,
if the mechanics and play rules are at least not up to standard.
One
thing developers learnt from this short-lived gold rush, is that
enticing visuals are important, and the old adage of “graphics doesn’t
matter”, was and is largely an idealistic and unrealistic view in
regards to having your titles sell well.
In turn,
marketers learnt that mechanics play a significant role and a game is
more likely to sell if both graphics and mechanical design are well
executed.
See the terminology on the following page, to understand terms that will be used throughout this analysis.
Terminology
Touch Hurt Hazards: Hazards that take a hit-point from the player character when the hazard is touched.
PC: Player character – meaning the character whom the player controls.
Kill Zone: A bottomless pit or an area that upon entering will kill you instantly.
Boost: An object, which increases the level of whatever it’s boosting – speed or strength for instance.
Quota Token: A token or item which is part of a set. Once the set is complete, a reward is received. Types include:
Area unlock: To gain access to an area when quota is met
Ability unlock: To gain access to a new ability when set quota is met
Event unlock: To have an event cue upon meeting a specified quota
Bonus area unlock: To open a Bonus area upon meeting a set quota
New level unlock: To open a new game level upon meeting a set quota
Character unlock: To unlock use of a new character upon sufficient quota
Bonus game unlock: To unlock additional bonus games
Sub-Quota token: A token or item which is part of a sub-set. Once this set is complete, a reward in the form of a Quota Token is received.
A Beat:
A word describing an on-rails navigational route that an enemy or
platform takes – when you see an enemy walking back and forth on a
platform for instance.
Current generation games: Games on PS2, GC, Xbox and Dreamcast.
Static plant-life.
Location and era revealing statue ornaments.
Tropical jungle.
2D overhead on rails with vertical scroll.
2D Flat panning with horizontal scroll.
128 bit
3D
45% - 55%
Varies with camera.
Animated plant-life. Animated Wildlife.
Far distant animated environment.
Far-reaching ocean.
Clean, modern city with Tropical land-scapes.
3D intelligent camera with occasional fixed angles.
128 bit
3D
25% - 75%
When controllable, Zoom Out = a fifth of the screen, Zoom In = 3/4 of the screen.
Otherwise, adapts to area.
Animated wildlife.
Animated backdrops. Far distant animated environment.
Far-reaching ocean.
Tropical Island.
3D player controlled with occasional fixed angles.
128 bit
3D
40% - 60%
Zoom Out = a thirteenth of the screen.
Zoom In = a fifth of the screen.
Gameplay-relevant organic plant-life.
Far distant animated environment.
Far-reaching ocean.
Tropical Island.
3D player controlled camera, with context dependent effects.
64 bit 3D
40%-60%
Mario is a sixth of the screen high.
Static cutouts.
Various plant life.
Platforms.
Red bricks.
A Palace with animatedfeatures.
Scrolling Clouds.
Hills.
Pipes.
Abstract green area overlooking a palace at daytime.
2D flat pan.
2 axes of movement.
Horizontal scroll possible through L and R controls.
Spec
Aka - the
graphical muscle that the artists can stretch. The results show that 2D
graphics have clothed the top three best selling platform games. They
also show that comparatively speaking; the lesser the graphical muscle
on the platform, the bigger the head.
Head to Body Ratio
The
data shows that through the ages, lead character’s heads have gotten
smaller. In the lo-tech days, big heads were necessary so that
distinctive features could be present in the characters – much like
Mario’s moustache or Sonic’s spikes.
Both Shigeru
Miyamoto, Mario’s creator and Jason Rubin, Crash’s creator, have
revealed in interviews how the use of a large head on their characters,
was merely to give more distinction to them on machines capable of
lesser levels of detail. Of course, nowadays the method is no longer
required, due to the amount of graphical creation power available.
Co-incidentally
enough, Disney’s technologically-unrestricted Mickey Mouse, owns a head
proportionally large in relation to his body – similar to Mario and
Sonic head to body ratios - so perhaps big-head-to-body-ratio is a key
factor in character distinction throughout all medias and not just
low-spec games?
Screen Space
This
is an important issue, as you need your character to be visible - but
you also need to see what’s ahead. The results conclude that a good
balance of both these factors lies in having the player character’s
height take up between a fifth or sixth of the screen.
The
two most extreme cases however, are Super Mario Sunshine and Jak and
Daxter; Super Mario Sunshine’s zoom-out function stops when Mario
becomes a 13th of the screen high and its zoom-in stops, when Mario’s a
fifth high.
Jak and Daxter seems to prefer the
up-close approach - possibly due to the fact that its movement skill
sections are very much within a close-range proximity and far simpler
than those found in Mario Sunshine.
On-Screen Decor
This is merely
eye-candy. Sure enough, as technology has developed, so has the amount
of background decor. This may seem a superficial area to explore, but
when someone looks on the back of a box in a supermarket, your
screenshots need to entice.
Oddly enough, the
best seller of them all – Super Mario Bros 3 – didn’t opt for the
colourful approach. This is possibly due to the limited 8-bit hardware
it was on at the time. It compensated by using large chunks of the same
colour that harshly contrasted with another. For instance, the boss
castle standard scheme involves medium grey brickwork; whilst deep
orange lava pits bubble affront a jet-black backdrop.
First Level
Obviously
this is the first part of the game and thus needs to stimulate as many
senses as possible and impress. Tropical / nature-filled environments
are a popular choice across the board, possibly due to the immense
wealth and composition of colours that are present in such areas. Also
the potential for background clutter and animated wildlife in a
tropical environment is considerably large and hence can stimulate a
prospective player even more so.
Camera
An issue amongst 3D games mainly, as 2D games seem to stick with only
two axes of camera movement. Mario Sunshine’s in-game camera was
recently the subject of heavy criticism throughout the specialist
media, as was Sonic’s upon Sonic Adventure’s release. Jak and Daxter’s
camera is also problematic – especially during times requiring the
player to judge and perform long jumps from the corner of a room.
What
this suggests is that developers could perhaps take provisions to
improve this, by increasing the priority that camera-software has in
game development.
Other solutions, which would cost less R+D time and improve players’ abilities in their jump-nav judgements include:
Adding
strong or angled shadows by way of effective lighting on nearby walls,
or a shadow emitter/emulator attached to the character
Or having a unique lock-on jump system
2006 addition:
The second recommendation would be a unique mechanic and one that I
wouldn’t personally desire, but it is something to consider. Toby
Gard’s Galleon, which was a Tomb Raider-esqe pirate adventure, saw a
control system using an automated system that received praise from
those whom experienced it. Sadly, the game did not sell well, though
many would point reasoning at the long development timeline leaving
little money left for marketing the game.
Also note
that camera software has not improved much over the years, though many
– Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights for example - are starting to see it
as a more urgent problem, promising to provide the player with a system
good enough that they never have to think about controlling it.
Some
have speculated that the Wii controller’s unique design will help
remove the camera system problem that has plagued games for over ten
years now. Others are simply looking at being more conservative with
their environments, though this can also be castrating to the visual
potential of a game.
2: Controls
If you can’t control the game, you’re watching an animation.
Movements possible pre-power up…
…across how many buttons?
Control tutorial?
Broken or seamless flow between actions?
Input sensitive actions?
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
Accelerating run.
Break environment.
Slide.
Climb ladders.
Pick-up enemy.
Bounce – off enemies only.
Kick enemy.
Throw enemy.
Enter Pipe.
2
No
Seamless
Yes
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
Aerial spin attack.
Charged spin attack.
Break containers and rocks.
Spin bounce – off containers and enemies only.
1
No
Seamless
Yes
Jump.
Crawl.
2 (later becomes 4)
No
Seamless
Yes
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
Spin attack. Bounce – off containers and enemies only.
Break containers.
2
No
Seamless
Yes
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
Aerial direct attack.
Aerial spin attack.
Charged spin attack.
Run.
Bounce – off containers and enemies only.
Break containers and marked objects.
Pick-up object. Throw.
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
Sidestep.
Spin-jump.
Side-ways jump.
Downward squash attack.
Upward travelling wall-bounce.
Dive.
Slide.
Pick-up object. Throw.
Back-flip.
3-stage sequential height increasing jumps.
Bounce – off containers and enemies only.
Break containers and marked objects.
Hang.
Climb.
Talk.
3
Yes
Seamless – bar the stomp attack which has slight recovery time
Yes
Jump – which doubles as an attack during descent.
3-stage sequential height increasing jumps.
Landing squash attack.
Wall bounce.
Accelerating run.
Break environment.
Slide.
Duck.
Climb ladders.
Pick-up enemy.
Bounce – off enemies only.
Throw enemy.
2
No
Seamless – bar the stomp attack which has slight recovery time
Yes
Movements Possible Pre-Power Up
2006 addition: this section contains numerous edits.
This
factor determines how much movement a player can enjoy without power-up
items or upgrades. More movement equals more freedom and potentially
more ways to interact with the environment.
Grand
Theft Auto – one of the best selling games ever – has freedom as its
backbone. Remember, that we humans like to express ourselves – see the
success of MySpace and W.O.W as prime tools of self-expression in an
interactive environments. The more opportunities we/players have to
express themselves, the more immersed in the experience we’re/they’re
likely to be.
You’ll notice that even in the 8-bit
era – more than 12 years ago - Mario allowed you plenty of movement and
self-expression, allowing no less than nine actions before power-ups,
within the constraints of two buttons.
One
commonality throughout Crash and all Sonic and Mario games analysed, is
the ability to bounce off enemies - and in Crash and Sonic’s cases,
containers. This often allows the player to use the momentum gained
from the bounce, to reach otherwise unreachable areas. Otherwise, the
player can bounce onto another enemy or container, possibly in a
sequence of bouncing on enemies/objects exclusively to reach a very HTR
area or score bonus.
On a side note, 2D Sonic
grants players the ability to scroll the camera and thus gain extra
visibility for areas above or beneath Sonic’s default visibility – a
rare feature in 2D games.
Including camera control
– now removed - as a character’s moveset seemed valid at time of
writing, but I would not consider it as such in the present unless it
impacted gameplay more dramatically – like the visors in Metroid Prime
or the binoculars in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
...Across How Many Buttons?
This feature is an important one to consider in regards to a game’s
accessibility; the less a player has to learn mentally and physically, the more accessible the game becomes – challenges of the game world permitting.
Super
Monkey ball is a perfect example of this, as the entire game is
controlled by the d-pad/analogue stick alone and is immediately
understandable from the start, yet it’s scope for mastery is huge and
very much relies on the level designs and their increase in challenge
to keep the game challenging.
Thankfully, we have a
commonality that shows and as you can see, most of the games studied
use two buttons (excluding camera control). This is especially
prominent amongst the top sellers. Of course in Crash’s most recent
games, Crash has a third movement button and of course Mario does too,
but the difference between the two, is that Mario can perform a dozen
moves with the three buttons, and Crash only manages around half that.
2006 Addition: New
Super Mario Bros has now reverted action controls back to two buttons;
with some simplistic implementation of moves from the 3D games using
simple d-pad presses at certain times. It also manages to cram in a
dozen moves too, which is an achievement with only two buttons and a
d-pad.
Sonic 2D commendably only uses one button
for all actions, with intuitively designed use of the D-pad required to
perform additional movements.
Control Tutorials?
Coincidentally enough, the all-time best sellers do not use tutorials and the newer, more hi-tech titles do.
SMB3
perhaps assumes you’ve read the manual and introduces challenges and
ideas, gradually increasing their complexity as time goes on.
Rayman does the same, as does Crash and 2D Sonic.
Jak and Daxter, Super Mario Sunshine and Sonic Adventure however, all use unavoidable tutorials at the very beginning of the game.
This clearly shows a desire has arisen in recent years to make things more accessible for prospective players.
2006 Addition:
NSMB seems to grant accessibility by rewarding you almost constantly.
So instead of making the game easy by the in-game obstacles, it sets up
a safety buffer for lesser-skilled players by giving them regular
rewards, access to power-ups and alternative routes should they get
stuck. At least that’s my theory on it.
Broken or Seamless Flow Between Actions?
Do the characters’ different actions tween together when performed in a
random sequence? Is there recovery time and hence, broken visual and
physical flow between actions?
Clearly, in all
cases, seamless physical flow is favoured - except for the odd move
which requires the character focus all their weight, energy and
intention toward one target for a power attack. Even then, those kinds
of move - in all the games containing them - tend to have a minor
recovery time, which isn’t significant enough to feel like you’ve had
the wind taken out of you.
Input Sensitive Action?
If the player presses down on the button for different lengths of time,
does the action activated react relative to this?
This
is an important factor, as it’s an intuitively brain-wired action by
complete non-gamesplayers to hold down a button to make the action last
longer. This means it forms a substantial part of a new gamer’s first
subconscious judging of whether the game conforms to their idea of what
is and isn’t coherent. It makes perfect sense to cater for this and all
games - even since SMB3’s days - provide for this.
Additionally,
Sonic Adventure, Super Mario Sunshine and Jak and Daxter’s movement
mechanics are context dependent to a higher degree, using the analogue
controller to range between many more subtle ranges of slow and fast
movements than the 2D games, where a button or an acceleration mechanic
were used for speed.
3 - Reward elements
A
traditional game is essentially an event where goals are achieved and
rewards received – mechanical, visual, sonic or otherwise. Rewards are
often granted upon completion of a goal and are considered widely as
*the* incentive to play through an entire game, through a
well-structured goal and reward system.
Pick up types
Power-up types
Permanent upgrade types
Location of first power-up
Power-ups per level
Ending rewards
Finance.
Extra life.
Environmental
Deformer.
Power-up + Hit point up.
World map navigation items
Flying ability. Hiding ability. Bouncing projectile ability. Smash over head blocks.
None.
Beginning of first stage.
3 or more on average, every level.
End sequence, plus 28 power up items when you start a new game.
Finance + Hit point up + Quota key.
Multi finance.
Extra life
Power up.
Quota token: ability unlock, combined with event unlock.
Quota token: Bonus area unlock.
Speed up.
Invincibility.
Underwater / 1 hit protection.
Super character ability - allows temporary - relative to finance level – invincibility, including higher jumping ability + faster movement.
Beginning of first stage.
Between 3 and 5 on average, every level.
Standard end sequence, or special ending if all bonus-Quota tokens are collected.
Finance.
Extra life.
Heath quota.
Hit point up. Power-up.
Quota token:
area unlock.
Quota token: Bonus area unlock.
Quota token: event unlock.
Shrink size.
Restore size.
Stronger attack.
Punch.
Long distance punch.
Hang.
Swing.
Slow descent. Dash.
After first two sub levels.
Around 5 per level.
Standard end sequence.
Finance.
Multi finance. Extra life.
Hit point up.
Environmental
deformer.
Quota token:
area unlock.
Health up. Invincibility.
None.
Beginning of first stage.
Between 3 and 5 on average.
Standard
ending for defeating final boss. Special ending if 26 Quota items are
collected. Special Bonus area if 26 Quota tokens are collected.
Finance.
Multi finance.
Random finance.
Health up.
Power up.
Extra life.
Quota token: area unlock.
Quota token: event unlock.
Hit point up.
Organic sub game avatar.
1-hit protection.
Finance magnet.
Speed power up.
Additional attack.
Halve charge time for Speed power.
Middle of second stage.
3 on average.
Standard end sequence.
Additional gameplay if all character missions are 100% complete.
Special end sequence if additional gameplay is complete. Special
message if all Quota tokens are collected.
Finance.
Multi finance.
Hit point up.
Hit point finance.
Power-up.
Quota token: area unlock.
Quota token: event unlock.
Attack up. Projectile ability. Speed up.
Only for vehicle.
Mid-way through training level.
Ranges between 3 and 15 relative to size or type of stage.
Complete the game with 100 or more Quota tokens to get an extra ending.
Finance.
Hit point up.
Multi finance. Power up.
Ammo.
Quota token: area unlock.
Quota token: ability unlock.
Quota token: unlock event.
Quota token: power up unlock.
Extra life.
Launch upward.
Hover.
Jet forward. Special vehicle.
Water cannon.
Beginning of first stage.
Between 1 and 3.
Standard end sequence. Additional gameplay. Extra ending if all Quota token collected.
Finance.
Extra life.
Secret revealer.
Power up + Hit point up.
Bonus game enabler.
Unlock level enabler.
Invincibility within bonus game ability.
Invincibility that allows instant enemy kills.
Invincibility that spawns finance behind your movements.
Bouncing projectile ability. Smash blocks from above and below ability.
Shrinking + high agility ability.
High speed + armour + vertical block breaking ability.
None
Beginning of first stage.
Between 3 and 4 for easily available power ups.
Between 1 and 3 for power ups rewarded by skill-mini games.
Game map also offers free power-ups between levels.
Standard end sequence. Additional character unlocking code.
Newly unlocked in-game decoration rewards.
Additional status markings if all game completion conditions are met.
Pick-Up Types
This simply shows the resources a player has at their disposal. The majority of games show that they contain the following:
A finance icon – coins, fruits, rings, etc…
Extra Life – an extra chance to nav past whatever hazard killed you.
Power-up – an item that grants new powers allowing you to solve certain problems and reach otherwise HTR areas.
Hit-point-up – an item that re-fills your hit-point quota.
Oddly
enough, Crash and SMB 3 are the only two games to use environmental
deformers – objects, which when activated, change something in the
environment into something else.
In
SMB3, there are “P” blocks which when activated, turn finance into
blocks you can stand on for a short time to reach otherwise unreachable
areas
In Crash, you have “!” blocks, which fill
and otherwise uselessbox-shaped outlines, into containers you can
break open for finance, or use to nav over and across a kill zone
Another recurring feature of note is the use of combiningpick-up properties.
In Sonic, holding any amount of finance gives you a hit point. When you
get hit, your finance explodes from you in a dramatic shower of gold,
and you have to react quickly enough, to regain it – or at least some
of it. This also gives you back your hit point.
In SMB3, power-ups give you an extra hit point and some give you two. When hit, you lose the power-up and the hit point that came with it.
Crash
has a fresh take on this, where upon acquiring two hit-points, the next
one you collect will make you temporarily invincible. When your
invincibility wears off, the next hit point will reactivate it and so
on until you lose one of the two hit-points.
3D
Mario and both 2D and 3D Sonic, use dual-property pick-ups as before,
but with Mario making the dramatic change from using power-ups as a way
of gaining hit-points, to using finance as a way of restoring hit-points.
Also,
overall results show that as time has passed, pick-up types like
Quota-token: area unlock, ability unlock, event unlock and
Multi-finance pickups have *massively* increased in popularity –
possibly a reflection of the industry’s desire to instil replay value
into a game, albeit a little crudely.
2006 Addition:
NSMB not only increases the amount of duality in moves and power-ups –
kicking a turtle shell onto some coins now adds those coins to your
stock for instance… - it also increases the amount of bonus schemes
present and accessible at one time. Now multi-coin blocks reward you
with a power-up mushroom if you hit them fast enough (or use a
skilfully aimed stomp on top of them and hold the button down). A super
power-up now gives you the ability to exchange your ability to destroy
for Extra lives and hidden invincibility stars are commonplace in the
majority of early levels. If that wasn’t enough, random item boxes can
appear at the beginning of a level, hitting the level’s end goal on a
double digit – 11, 22, 33, etc… grants you a free power-up or Extra
life and collecting the level’s key quota tokens allows you to unlock
paths on the map you otherwise.
Super
Mario Brothers 3 urged replayability by simply hiding lots of bonuses
within the game - like special ships that would appear on the map if
you met certain score conditions. Hidden shops were also expertly
cloaked in the standard game levels, amongst many other bonuses and
hidden pick-ups of every kind, that only the most dedicated of players
could completely discover.
In Sonic Adventure, some
of the bonuses are unlocked when certain plot points are cued and the
rest are available to discover in HTR areas, when you backtrack after
gaining specific skills and abilities later in the game.
In
Jak and Daxter, you can activate ability enhancing spore emitters that
grant you skills to go where you once could not. You also get upgrades
for the vehicle you use in the vehicle-based levels. Only other bonuses
includes an extra ending scene once a token quota is met.
In
Mario Sunshine, bonuses are unlocked after you’ve met a token quota, or
after performing a story relevant action. Again further bonuses can be
found by backtracking after gaining additional skills.
Power-Up Types
Lists the types of improvement and enhancement a player’s character can experience.
Asides
from the as-standard temporary invincibility found in all games, SMB3
has a bouncing projectile power-up, a flight ability which grants an
additional close-range frontal strike attack, a stealth ability which
grants a quick-fall and a suit which improves Mario’s swimming ability.
In short, there is no obvious attempt at going for
a specific theme, bar maybe enhancing Mario’s abilities – jumping to
flying, attacking to projectile throwing, etc… - with abstract
imagination.
2D Sonic sticks to basic speed up,
temporary invincibility and a one-hit shield, which also protects Sonic
from drowning underwater. Also, once collection of a set of seven bonus
Quota tokens is complete, you gain access to the Super Sonic ability,
which is activated every time your finance reaches 50 and diminishes
when your finance – now acting as a second by second timer – counts
down to zero. You can add to the timer by collecting more rings, which
adds another interesting sub-property to the finance tokens.
3D
Sonic also has the same set of power-ups as 2D Sonic, only due to the
extra dimensions involved in finance collection, he now has a second
shield with magnetic properties. This means that nearby finance is
vacuumed and collected by simply being within a certain radius - as
Sonic’s finance is made of metal.
3D Sonic can also
achieve the Super Sonic ability, but instead of earning it through the
collection of seven Quota tokens, 3D Sonic gains it through full 100%
completion of all sub-character quests. Upon fulfilling this task, a
new sub character quest is revealed and it stars Super Sonic.
Rayman’s
world contains attack-based power-ups and a shrink/grow mechanic for
specific in-level puzzles. His other power-ups are skill upgrades,
which add a holistic range of new nav-skills. These include a dash, a
ledge hang, a hover ability and a punch which – if charged – increases
in distance and power.
Crash has only the one
power-up, which a re-activatable temporary invincibility power-up. This
is granted by collecting three hit-points in succession – without being
hit mid-way through. It can be reactivated indefinitely, provided you
have two hit-points already and collect a third.
Jak
and Daxter’s power-up system seems based around combat game power-ups,
where speed, power or overall ability is upgraded. Upon finding a
specifically coloured emitter, Jak can be gifted with a speed-up, which
includes the ability to open special doors, platforms, jump-pads and
other movers carrying a special symbol. Jak can also receive a
projectile ability and improved power and range for his attack moves.
All these power-ups come with a time limit, which can be added to
sequentially by finding more emitters of the same colour. Mixing
colours merely resets the timer and makes a new one for the last
power-up collected.
Mario Sunshine’s power-up
system is arguably the most original. Within the first five minutes
into the game you gain a support tool, which amongst adding to Mario’s
offensive repertoire, has an interchangeable navigational option:
Each power-up fits within a theme of directional advantage:
One presents a speedy advance in any directed horizontal direction
Another gives a considerable boost in a vertical direction
The third grants a hover ability, which is designed for navigating wide gaps between platforms.
Either
of these options remains in Mario’s skill set until the player changes
it by way of opening the infinitely re-usable power-up boxes.
2006 Addition: NSMB
Mario has some unusual power-ups. Being able to turn into a shell
allows you to move horizontally at speed and break blocks from the
side, though a ricocheting duality means only twitch gamers will master
this for long-term level navigation as it causes easy falling into
killzones. It seems mostly useful for uncovering specific, otherwise
unreachable secrets and moving more nimbly in the underwater levels.
Mini
Mario is vulnerable to instant death, but can perform higher and long
jumps. He can also run across the top of a body of water, overall
making him incredibly nimble and sprite-like and also a joy to control.
He can enter exclusive secret areas in this form and is thus mandatory
to find certain quota tokens in some levels.
Super
Mario and Fire Mario remain the same as they’ve always been, with a new
duality added onto Fire Mario’s projectiles, whereby killed enemies are
turned into a unit of finance.
Standard Invincibility is the same, but now two other forms of invincibility:
Giant Mario:
Activates a mini-game whereby you must destroy as much onscreen stuff
as possible to build up a green bar. The more units the bar fills, the
more Extra lives will be rewarded to you when time runs out. If things
onscreen run out, you can butt-stomp the floor and more will appear.
Silver Invincibility:
Works the same as the standard invincibility, but finance spawns in
your path of movement, meaning running and jumping at speed and length
fills the screen with potentially hundreds of coins. It occurs rarely,
whereas Giant Mario can be found quite regularly and Gold Invincibility
tends to be hidden in an invisible block on almost every stage.
Power-up
repertoires are clearly where the games show differences between each
other. There are hardly any similarities between them, bar titles from
the same series. The one common theme throughout the majority of these
titles however, is that when all the power-ups in the one game are
looked at holistically, they tend to be geared toward deforming or
enhancing the full range of a character’s default powers and
navigational skills.
2006 Addition:
NSMB’s power-ups seem more abstract and have more crudely designed
exclusive secrets than previously found in most games. It’s probably
the only game that contains three types of invincibility, with one
allowing you to deform the level using your destructive size and power
in a freely integrated bonus-mini-game. Overall, the amount of
power-ups is large and again, possibly indicative of a current design
trend to reward players as much as possible. As we all know, being
empowered in a game is a very rewarding feeling. New powers and
abilities also help to keep the experience fresh.
Permanenet Upgrade Types
Some
characters are improved indefinitely. Rayman and Sonic – both 2D and 3D
versions – are the only characters that receive indefinitely altering
power-ups. Of note, Sonic 2 (2D) only grants its permanent upgrade as a
reward for collecting seven bonus tokens, which take over half the
game’s play time to secure.
Mario Sunshine has
one permanently affecting power-up, but you receive it in the first
five minutes of gameplay. It’s occasionally removed when playing the
stages known as ‘challenge levels’. It also acts as the core hub for
all other power-ups. All in-game power-ups are permanent until swapped
over – bar the first - and then those power-ups are interchangeable
indefinitely.
Sonic Adventure’s upgrades happen as part of the story and only one or two are hidden.
Using
indefinitely affecting power-ups is not a dominant idea throughout the
titles analysed herein, but it is an idea that could be explored with
breaking new ground in mind.
Location of First Power-Up
Six
of the seven games chose to have the first power-ups located almost
immediately – possibly to allow to the player to get used to the game
world and it’s rules before the truly intended range of challenges are
introduced.
Rayman, which has its
first power-up located far later than all the other games,
coincidentally received the lowest review score, although inversely
sold 4 million copies worldwide and has gone on to become a successful
13million+ selling franchise.
This could be due
to journalists only judging the first 30 minutes of the game, as it is
well known that journalistic accuracy can fall victim to lack of time
resources when approaching strict publishing deadlines.
Another
factor lending weight to this idea, is that within the first 10-15
minutes, you can’t defend yourself against any enemies and have to use
avoidance tactics rather than confrontation. The first power-up
available is Rayman’s attack action and is located a few sub-stages
into the game.
This can give off a negative first
impression to anyone. To feel defenceless from the first instant can be
displeasing and frustrating - unless you know that you’ll be gifted
with attack ability at some point in the near future. Unfortunately,
this is never eluded to, or suggested unless one reads the instruction
manual.
Power-Ups Per Level
The data
shows an average of between 3 and 5 per level for each game. The only
extreme case here is Jak and Daxter’s levels, which contain a range of
between 3 and 15 power-up emitters per stage. This could possibly be
attributed to the fact that Jak and Daxter is a heavily
action-orientated platform game and thus needs to keep the action
constant to keep the experience exciting throughout. Also the power-ups
are time-restricted and so several of the same kind of power-up are
often lined up on a route – possibly in a subtle attempt to have the
player conform to a route leading to a special door, platform, boss or
otherwise.
Ending (Game Completion) Rewards
Here,
results show that extra bonuses upon completion of the game are
favourable, with Sonic and Mario leading the way in the amount of total
bonuses on offer.
In particular, Sonic Adventure
and Mario Sunshine have additional gameplay in the form of drastically
altered versions of previously played areas and newly accessible levels
and sections of levels. In 3D Sonic’s case, an additional climatic
story CG is gifted, following with granted use of an additional ‘super’
character to get the game’s ‘real’ ending.
All games bar SMB3 grant rewards for collecting a full set of Quota tokens, as SMB3 has none to collect.
Unfortunately
– at least in this writer’s opinion - Jak and Daxter’s reward is
somewhat anti-climatic and unsatisfactory, with the player merely
receiving a three second clip of a door opening to reveal bright light
for their dedication and effort.
Best seller Super
Mario Bros 3 delivers a replay incentive upon the game’s completion,
granting the player 28 “P-wings” – an item granting the player infinite
flight ability for a whole level – for use in the player’s next play of
the game.
2006 Addition: NSMB
delivers a very standard ending – nothing spectacular – and reveals a
code so players play as Luigi, though his abilities are exactly the
same. There’s also an added bonus in the way of wallpapers you can
collect and a proof-of-skill marking in star icons that appear next to
your save file. Finding all the game’s hidden exits, levels and quota
tokens bestows the file with three stars, showing you have beaten the
game as thoroughly as the design allows.
4 – Challenge and Reward Design
The factors below will reveal further detail differences and similarities between the chosen games.
100 finance grants you Extra life.
80,000 score grants you a bonus mini-game.
Transform map-hazards into bonus-levels, providing specific score
conditions on levels of an even number are met.
Meeting finance conditions in certain levels makes an additional bonus item container (shop) appear.
Throughout the game:
Level warp item.
Hidden stages.
Portals that lead to bonus rooms.
Environment deformers that grant access to HTR areas or reveal secret portals.
Hidden area with additional pick-ups.
In first minutes of play:
Roulette block – once three roulette blocks have been hit, you get a prize! + Time related score bonus. Later levels:
Unlocker items for later sections in level.
Unlocker items for sections in world map.
Floor-based enemies shooting diagonal projectiles.
Treetop enemies throwing projectiles.
Kill-zones.
Touch-kill hazards.
Hazards that surprise pop-up from the floor.
Floor, wall and ceiling mounted touch-hurt hazards.
Inertia guiding you against your will.
Time limit.
100 finance grants you Extra life.
50 finance grants you bonus level entry.
Every 50,000 score grants you Extra life.
Throughout the game:
Non-hostile pick-up area.
Bonus level entrance/checkpoint.
All game:
100 finance or more at end of level grants an extra continue.
Touch-hurt hazards.
Kill pits.
Tall horizontally moving hazards on a beat.
Short horizontally moving hazards on a beat.
Front protected horizontally moving floor hazard on a beat.
Leaping horizontal moving floor hazards.
Projectile.
Vertical upward travelling airborne hazards.
If context-set finance quota upon finding hidden character is met – you’re teleported to bonus level.
Throughout the game:
Non-hostile pick-up area.
Portal to bonus pick-up sub-game.
Prisoner cages.
Nav-objects to reach further HTR areas.
Trigger usability and visibility of hidden prisoners, platforms or pick-ups.
In first minutes of play:
Ability to save.
Access to new level.
Later in game:
Occasional upgrade.
X+Y axis moving floor hazard on a beat.
Overhead-attack protected diagonal ricochet moving floor hazard with limited movement area.
100 finance gives you an Extra life.
3 health-up gives you invincibility.
In first minutes of play:
Trigger usability of hidden platforms or pick-ups
Finance containers. Later in game:
Bonus level-Unlock/Quota items.
Super bonus Unlock/Quota item.
Extra level Unlock/Quota item.
In first minutes of play:
If all containers in a level are smashed and no-lives are lost, you
activate a platform to appear in the next area. Later in game:
Path is built to one-off bonus section using Quota-unlock items as platforms.
Inertia.
Walking enemy along X + Y-axis throwing projectiles.
Projectile launching boss-hazard with disappear ability.
Front-protected floor-based player-targeting, aggressive enemy.
Hurt-touch mover moving up and down repeatedly.
Kill-Zone.
Selected parts of water area as kill-zone.
100 finance grants you Extra life.
Throughout the game: Hidden shortcut(s) to level end.
Hidden non-hostile pick-up area(s).
All game:
New character, Access to main game world.
Score bonus.
Rating bonus.
Quota Token bonus.
Sub-game relevant avatars collected in-level appear in designated area.
Kill-hazard in water area.
Static floor based hurt-hazard
50 health tokens give you a hit point. Context dependent amount of unlock tokens grant you access to a new area.
100 unlock tokens give you a second ending
In first minutes of play:
Finance. Later in game:
World Quota tokens, sub Quota tokens and finance.
100 finance grants you Extra life.
8 super-finance type A grants you a Quota-token.
10 super-finance type B grants you Quota-token.
In first minutes of play:
Only finance. Later in game: Unlock/Quota tokens, sub-Quota tokens and all kinds of finance and super-finance.
All game:
Access to main game world.
Kill-zones.
Kill-touch enemies.
Pop-up enemies.
Horizontal moving enemies.
Inertia from rocking platforms.
Seesaw platforms dropping you.
Enemies bouncing in arc path.
Time limit.
100 finance grants you Extra life.
10 sequential hits on a special coin-block gives you a power-up.
Hitting the end goal on a certain time grants you a free bonus on the game map.
Smash through x number of items when super-powered for an Extra life.
Start a level when a red block flies on it for a free power-up.
Jump through an icon and collect 8 quota tokens before the time runs out for an Extra life.
Search within unique block formations to find secret power-ups and Extra lives.
Find Unlock level token to unlock later levels and game map paths.
Throughout the game:
Level warp.
Hidden stages.
Portals that lead to bonus rooms.
Environment deformers that grant access to HTR areas or reveal secret portals.
Hidden area with additional pick-ups.
Hidden area only accessible with special power-up.
Bonus destruction mini-game power-up in a specifically designed environment.
Secret power-ups.
Additional level exits.
Quota tokens that unlock later levels.
In first minutes of play:
Hit the end marker at the highest point for an Extra life.
Hitting the end marker at points beneath the peak give you points
bonuses relative to how high you hit it.
Access to hidden levels if you find the correct exit.
Hitting the end marker at a certain time – matching end digits – unlocks a bonus in the game map. Later levels:
Unlocking of major junction in game map path.
Hazards
A commonality throughout, is that all games begin with floor-based simplistic enemies.
The
2D games have a range of sentry, airborne, high-mounted,
projectile-based, projectile throwing and vertically travelling enemies
in the very first levels, and evolve and add to this throughout the
game.
Crash, Mario Sunshine, Jak and Daxter and Sonic Adventure, tend to keep things *much* safer
to begin with, restricting enemy types to those who are floor based
with only Sonic Adventure going so far as to add a projectile throwing
enemy and a few aggressive attackers in its first few minutes of
gameplay.
All games also have static environmental
hazards – spikes, blades, etc… - and bottomless pit Kill-zones as
standard, with the occasional game having a hazard that ‘contains’ and
surrounds the gameplay area – like a bottomless pit or an ocean you can
drown in or get eaten in.
Sonic is unique in that
it contains hazards related to the way the character interacts with the
environment’s shape. For instance, jumping on a sloped area – when in
the confines of inertia/momentum - could send you flying into a nearby
hazard - being as the angle of the slope relative to your speed alters
your trajectory and jump range significantly.
Mario
Sunshine and Jak and Daxter’s kill-zones don’t come in till later in
the game and it’s fair to say the majority of hazards in both titles –
at least within the first parts of the game - are enemy based, as
opposed to environmental and very minor in threat.
2006 Addition:
NSMB sticks to the simple enemy formula, even so far as simplifying it
slightly to have only shelled, bouncing and horizontally walking
enemies – no spiked ones. It now uses platforms as hazards too, with
some see-saw platforms causing you to fall to your death if stood on
for too long.
Score and Pick-Up Bonuses
Score
bonuses also seem to have declined in popularity over time with Mario
Sunshine, Crash and Jak and Daxter replacing score with finance and
Quota Token count.
Sonic Adventure however, has decided to keep a score feature, using it as a way to grade a player’s game-play performances.
Games
which don’t use a score system for unlocking areas or granting bonus
Quota tokens, tend to hide Quota tokens in HTR areas, or simply place a
sub-series of Quota tokens within a combination of standard, hidden and
HTR areas for the player to collect.
In simpler terms:
Older
systems choose to reward overall skill – using a score function to
reward theplayer with lives and extra pick-ups every time x points are
added to the total. In SMB’s case, other rewards are activated, based
on score performance – like secret bonus stages appearing for instance
Newer
systems choose to reward inquisitiveness, preferring to measure Quota
Token collection as a way of judging skill. This system relies heavily
on the player’s desire to find HTR areas and giving them unlockable
bonuses or extra lives/finance as a reward
2006 Addition:
NSMB combines both a quota token system and a skill system, with
exploration, experimentation and skilful gameplay all rewarded with
either a score bonus, Extra life or power-up
Mario
Sunshine used the new system in an arguably crude fashion, using three
different types of finance - merely different in colour, Quota amount
and in ease of discovery – as ways of unlocking further Unlock/Quota
tokens, which would then grant you access to later levels and game
events.
Exploration Bonuses Found in Hard to Reach Areas
This
field shows that as time has gone on, use of exploration bonuses have
increased and performance recorders like score systems are being
removed altogether. This is also evident when looking at the results on
page 30.
Results show that HTR area bonuses mainly consist of:
Extra lives
Quota tokens
Or Bonus areas that grant you access to either of the above, garnished with extra finance bonuses
This
shows that developers understand the importance of rewarding a player
relative to their efforts. Now of course, the choice of what to reward
has changed, with developers focusing more on exploration bonuses, as
opposed to skill and efficiency bonuses present in Sonic Adventure’s
tough – but ultimately rewarding replay missions.
2006 Addition:
NSMB decides to reward both skills and exploration, with later sections
requiring either skill, the desire to explore and abstract thinking –
matching up a navigational problem with a power-up you collect outside
the level containing it to collect certain quota tokens.
Area Finish - Level End Bonuses
Extra
lives and continues were popular area finish bonuses in days of old,
although there’s not enough recurrence in this idea to brand it as
popular.
Particularly interesting is the feature in
Super Mario Bros 3, which hasn’t been replicated since in any form
whatsoever. The end marker is a mini-game in itself -a slot machine
block.
Hitting the slot machine block at the end
of a level fills one of three sequentially filled spaces with a symbol
card. If all blocks are filled after three levels with the same symbol
card, you are granted a bonus related to the symbol, meaning you could
earn a number of extra-lives depending on your timing in hitting the
roulette block.
Additionally, SMB3 has a reward
where a special bonus level will appear on the level map if a set of
very specific and difficult-to-meet score conditions are met. It’s a
reward aimed at the very skilful or very lucky, with enough randomness
to allow lesser players to activate it by accident.
2006 Addition:
NSMB end level rewards are very simple and focused on either setting
yourself to be able to hit the top of the end goal pole and receive a
1up or high score bonus. Also timing the jump to hit the end goal when
the timer has two matching end digits – 22, 33, 44, etc… - grants the
player an additional reward on the map. This can be an Extra life
mini-game, a power-up roulette block mini-game or a free Giant Mushroom
power-up.
Sonic 2 grants lives and continues depending on your finance quota and score.
Crash
Bandicoot rewards you for destroying all the containers in a level
within one life, by granting you a special platform in the following
level.
Sonic Adventure, Mario Sunshine and Jak and
Daxter grant you further access to later levels, as well as additional
Quota tokens. Sonic Adventure has a unique reward where you unlock
usable characters as you meet them. There is also a bonus where the
last eight creatures you freed in a completed level become available to
feed your A-life sub-character – which you can later play with in a
VMU*.
Rayman is the only game that provides no end of level bonus – other than being able to access the next level.
*VMU
was a memory card with control keys and a visual display, so that
players could play unlocked mini-games in an outdoor environment.
5 - Short-Term Challenge Design
In
crude definition, a game level designed for a traditional gaming
audience is a series of many small challenges strung together to form a
sequence or set of sequences.
How closely they’re
packed together obviously determines how much immediate variety is
presented to the player and the breadth of choices available to them at
any one time. The best successful example of this is the multi-million
success; Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on PS2.
GTA:VC’s
backbone is freedom of choice, which in turn presents the player with a
variety of things they can choose to do. Anything from taking on the
game’s main crime missions, to ignoring them completely and becoming a
fireman, putting out fires in the city, or becoming a taxi driver.
Additionally,
the aforementioned game is in a completely different genre from the one
we’re exploring, but it’s core is the same; a fully realized game world
with characters, goals to achieve and places to explore. The only
‘real’ differences are the scale, narrative spirit and world structure,
though those are significant differences.
The list
below shows how many different types of mini-challenge are present
within the first five to ten minutes of gameplay. Bear in mind that the
number of times a listed challenge is available within those minutes is
not counted. Variety of gameplay is what we’re looking for here.
Task types present in first five to ten minutes – optional and mandatory
32 types:
Collect finance
Hit un-marked containers to find finance or pick-ups.
Smash breakable areas of environment – brick material - for hidden bonuses and addition to score.
Blitz through enemies with invincibility power-up.
Pick-up and throw enemy onto multiple enemies in succession.
Hit marked containers for pick-ups/finance.
Skilfully throw an enemy shell into the side of a marked container for pick-up.
Bounce-kill a succession of enemies before landing for score bonus.
Jump over Kill-Zone.
Jump over horizontally moving floor hazard.
Jump on, then kick an enemy shell.
Jump on, then pick up an enemy shell.
Jump-kill hazard by a jumping on top of it.
Jump-hit base of container for pick-up.
Avoid pop-up sentry projectile and get past.
Avoid being hit by a ricocheting enemy shell.
Secretly drop behind in-game backdrop.
Kill sentry with power-up, without getting hit by projectile.
Aim and throw enemy shell into side of container for pick-up reveal.
Close-range attack hazards with power-up.
Close-range attack enemies with power-up mid-inertia.
Clear area of hazards to make a safe path for long run-up.
Accelerate and meet speed quota then fly to hidden area.
Explore for hidden areas in HTR areas out of plain site
Navigate under and past hazards descending from above in an arc formation.
Take cover from sentry hazard projectiles from behind object.
Find hidden environment deformer.
Aim and throw shell into destructible area until it ricochets through enough blocks to reveal path to secret.
Collect finance within deformer’s time limit.
Accelerate enough to be able to duck and slide off your inertia to the other side of a low ceiling.
Hit roulette bonus container at right time to receive bonus Quota token for Extra life.
Catch power-up that runs away.
28 types:
Collect finance.
Blitz through enemies with invincibility power-up.
Bounce of container and jump attack enemy hazard without landing.
Smash containers for pick-ups/finance.
Avoid projectile attack.
Smash pick-up container hidden behind backdrop.
Jump over horizontally moving floor hazard.
Bounce-kill enemies in succession without landing.
Use power-up to reach checkpoint/Bonus area.
Enter subtly hidden area for finance bonus.
Collect finance for check-point/Bonus area entry.
Navigate and jump to HTR area for Extra life.
Spring-jump to HTR area for finance and checkpoint/bonus entry.
Break inertia to reach moving platform to access HTR area.
Jump over Kill-Zone.
Keep momentum going to collect all finance on loops and twists.
Break inertia from speeding along slope and control jump within the
altered trajectory to reach vertical moving platform on a beat.
Skill-jump over object forcing your movement direction while at speed.
Jump over object forcing your movement direction to avoid being pushed in undesired direction.
Navigate from one object forcing your movement direction to another to keep momentum going.
Add inertia to object forcing your movement direction to a spring to jump over and land past a hazard.
Use object forcing your movement upward to spring and land on moving horizontal platform.
Navigate across moving horizontal platforms to checkpoint/Bonus area.
Kill enemies mid-momentum and mid-inertia.
Guide supporting avatar to extra finance/health when hurt.
Bonus level: Learn new mechanics for new area.
Avoid hazards that come toward you.
Guide supporting avatar to finance and safety.
Collect finance to meet round-end quota to earn Token Quota.
21 types:
Learn behaviour of unusual platform.
Navigate across three vines for pick-up.
Meet finance quota to enter bonus level.
Bonus level: Collect finance quota before time-out.
Navigate up and across platforms.
Jump from the edge of a platform at the last second to reach a HTR area.
Jump over Kill-zones.
Jump navigate along platforms in an upward direction.
Navigate off unusual platform to reach high-vine.
Navigate vines in a horizontal direction over Kill-Zone.
Navigate vine and wait for horizontal-moving floor hazard to pass before landing.
Use new power up to free Quota Token from container at a distance.
Jump over horizontally moving enemies on a beat.
Use new power-up to free special bouncing platform and jump off special platform to reach HTR area.
Avoid airborne horizontally moving hazards coming from static enemy.
Hit airborne hazard launching enemy during vulnerable frames.
Navigate on special platform onto enemy head and use as a platform to gain power-up from HTR area.
Navigate special platform into water and ride special platform to Quota Token.
Navigate special platform over Kill-zones to reach bonus.
Charge attack to kill HTR enemy.
Navigate special platform over kill-zone and jump to acquire power-up.
13 types:
Collect finance.
Smash containers for pick-ups.
Jump over Kill-Zone.
Jump on top of enemy.
Bonus token quota navigate.
Blitz through enemies by moving into them when invincible.
Bonus area: Smash all containers.
Navigate between two containers to bounce between them and maximise your financial income.
Jump up platform-rich wall in non-hostile area.
Bounce across a row of containers over a Kill-Zone.
Meet container smash quotient.
Meet token collect quotient to reach bonus level.
Skill-hit enemy into another enemy
17 types:
Finance collect.
Run from boss hazard’s attacks.
Avoid projectile line of fire.
Jump-hit enemy in vulnerable spot.
Jump away from targeted charging floor-based enemy.
Navigate up a sequence of springs to a high level.
Jump attack succession of enemies without landing.
Keep momentum going when running a loop-the-loop.
Build up momentum on curved wall to reach hidden shortcut.
Run up curved wall whilst still in speed-up power-up time limit to reach hidden short-cut area.
Deviate from standard route to find hidden area.
Deviate from standard route to find bonus finance.
Use special object forcing your movement direction to progress to next part of level.
Break-off halfway through object forcing your movement direction to enter a transport network to access Bonus area.
Jump-attack to bonus item platform over Kill-zone.
Move PC onto object forcing your movement direction to jump over Kill-zone.
Navigate entire level in fast time to gain three Quota tokens.
10 types:
Reach destination within power-up time limit to activate special object.
Reach next power-up within power-up time limit for more power-up.
Double-jump to higher area.
Jump across horizontally placed platforms.
Break containers for hit-point finance.
Collect finance.
Collect quota token.
Collect seven sub-Quota tokens.
Attack static décor.
Jump-attack static décor.
20 types:
Jump past floor hazard whilst avoiding the hurt-hazard at the centre.
Collect permanent upgrade.
Skill spray hazard marks on floor to avoid slipping.
Refill ammo in Water-Zones.
Wall bounce to higher area.
Skill spray hazard marks on wall.
Skill spray marked character for story hint.
Spray villagers for comedy reaction.
Bounce off canopies.
Bounce off one enemy onto another in succession.
Bounce off tight ropes.
Spray special graphics for finance bonuses.
Jump-kill enemies emerging from floor hazard.
Smash containers for practice.
Climb poles/trees for practice.
Kick fruit.
Reveal boss through skill-spraying hurt hazard at centre of floor hazard.
Kill boss before time limit or he’ll disappear and you have to reveal him again.
Avoid hazard marks on floor – hurt zone – while trying to achieve goal of killing boss.
Collect Quota Token.
39 types:
Collect finance.
Hit un-marked containers to find finance or pick-ups.
Smash breakable areas of environment – brick material - for hidden bonuses and addition to score.
Hit block directly under floating finance to collect floating finance.
Hit block directly under enemy to kill enemy.
Search for hidden/invisible pick-up/finance containers by jumping in random or suspicious areas.
Blitz through enemies with invincibility power-up for score bonus and Extra lives if enough are killed in succession.
Blitz through as many enemies and objects as possible within bonus mini-game power-up for Extra lives.
Pick-up and throw enemy onto multiple enemies in succession for score
bonus and Extra life if enough are killed in succession.
Bounce-kill a succession of enemies before landing for multiplied score bonus and Extra life if enough are killed.
Jump over Kill-Zones.
Aim and throw enemy into floating finance to collect it.
Kill enemy hazard by jumping on top of it.
Avoid falling off seesaw platforms by standing on one side for too long.
Use seesaw platform to reach HTR area.
Explore for hidden areas.
Use power-ups from external levels to enter hidden areas in others.
Kill enemy hazards with projectiles for finance and score.
Kill x enemy hazards in a row for an Extra life.
Jump on, then kick an enemy hazard.
Jump on, then pick up an enemy hazard.
Avoid being hit by a ricocheting enemy shell.
Skilfully throw an enemy shell into the side of a marked container for pick-up.
Skilfully throw an enemy shell into the side of an unmarked container for pick-up.
Navigate through unconventional HTR areas – somewhat out of sight – to find hidden bonuses/exits
Break through bricks using specialised downward attack to reach hidden
areas and coins (can only be done while powered-up).
Aim specialised downward attack to kill enemy.
Catch finance while floating down from upon high.
Collect finance at speed while diving from special float move.
Catch power-up that runs away.
Find level-unlocking Quota Tokens hidden in the level.
Clear area of hazards to clear path for triple jump combo.
Find hidden ‘easy route’ to beat level.
Aim for high points on end level goal for score and Extra life bonuses
Accelerate enough to be able to duck and slide off your inertia to the other side of a low ceiling.
Upon activated bonus icon, collect x quota tokens before time runs out to earn Extra life.
Skilfully double jump between walls to escape death in a kill-zone.
Skilfully double jump between walls to reach high sections.
Task Types Present in First Five to Ten Minutes - Optional and Mandatory
This term represents what varieties of gameplay skill are required to achieve goals in the level – mandatory or otherwise.
Mandatory = actions that are required to complete the level.
Optional = actions that are not required to achieve progress in the game.
These actions could be anything from getting to a HTR area to grab some
finance, or simply exploring the environment around you - climbing a
tree for the sake of it, or kicking some fruit around for fun.
Results show that Sonic 2 and Super Mario Brothers 3 contain the most gameplay. They both contain approximately 27 types of challenge within their first 5-10 minutes of play – and in their particular instances, that’s the very first stage.
[2006 Addition: I went through these again and realised that SMB had 34 types of gameplay and NSMB had 39.
Also the greater majority of these tasks are rewarded upon completion.
Results also show that in the first few minutes of play in a game, the most popular task types are:
Collect finance
Find Power-Up
Jump over kill-zone
Smash containers
Earn bonus Quota Token – through bonus sections or HTR areas
Jump over horizontally moving floor hazard
Followed by:
Getting to a HTR area for a bonus pick-up
Collecting enough finance to be granted bonus stage entry
Bouncing off containers and enemies and successively onto others without touching the floor
Killing floor-based enemy by jumping on it or attacking it head on
Using a power-up to reach an otherwise inaccessible area, bonus or otherwise
Hitting an enemy when it reveals its vulnerability
Killing enemies mid-inertia
Least
occurring were predictably the title unique actions. Sonic 2 and Sonic
Adventure have a large number of momentum and inertia based
navigational puzzles, which no other game uses.
SMB3
has a range of actions specific to it’s enemy types and power-ups –
like flying with the racoon suit, using the fallen shell enemies as
projectiles to attack other enemies, or for breaking the bricks in the
level.
2006 Addition: Same goes for NSMB with it’s Giant Mario power-up and traditional Mario staples.
Another
observation is that current generation platformers have a smaller
variety of actions within their first moments, with Mario Sunshine
presenting the most at 20 and Jak the least at 10.
The
first 5-10 minutes in Mario Sunshine and Jak and Daxter are essentially
tutorial levels and a majority of Mario’s initially permitted actions
are unrewarding – like climbing up trees to find nothing, breaking
boxes to find nothing and navigating structures to find – you guessed –
nothing.
Sonic Adventure has the most exciting
first moments of the next-gens - being that it contains 17 types of
action and the majority of these are rewarding, as opposed to being
ungifted actions.
Conclusion
The results of the analysed data are summarised as follows:
A
big head-to-body ratio on a character is likely to increase the
probability of it becoming memorable to a large audience.
Giving
the player a power-up almost immediately is likely to increase
immediate player enjoyment and perhaps your review scores.
A
tropical environment, jungle or any other excuse to display lush, rich
colour compositions is a popular choice for any first level.
To
allow players to see their character – and a good amount of what lies
ahead - you need to make the character between a 5th or 6th of the
screen high if in a 2D game or side-on scrolling view. If your game is
full 3D, it is advisable to add a look-around button and the ability to
zoom out as far as possible with the default camera angle set so the
character’s height fills a 6th of the screen.
3D
software cameras in platform games are still largely imperfect when the
player changes direction quickly or jumps from room corners - thus this
feature could benefit from more R+D time in all cases.
Constant
flow and smooth transitions between and throughout all moves is a
popular design choice throughout all games.
The majority of the critically acclaimed titles and
the most successful ones choose to use as few buttons as possible for
movement and action. Median average of maximum buttons used was three.
The
current generation of games choose the newer reward system of token
quotient activated bonuses. They also tend to favour rewarding the
desire to explore over a player’s overall gameplay skill and
performance.
In
terms of gameplay variety within the first ten minutes, the 2D games
were the most varied in gameplay types. Being as they are the all-time
best sellers, that may be a clue as to how we can recapture the
astronomical sales figures of past. Most of the varied gameplay in the
2D games also grants reward, whereas in the newer game, there is less
reward – with none in some cases – per minor task accomplished.
Control
tutorials are non-existent in the early generation games analysed. Only
the latest games – 3D ones - contain them.
*All* platform games have input-sensitive control – even the ones that were released with digital controls.
Most popular pick-up types are: Finance, Extra Life, Power-up and Hit-point-up.
A unique power-up system is a great way to add further distinction to your game.
Average
power-ups per level for puzzle-based platform games, was four. Jak and
Daxter is the only action-based platform game and contains between 4
and 15 per stage.
Game ending rewards that promote replayability in any shape or form are a popular choice throughout.
Permanent
upgrades are used in many varied ways throughout the analysed titles,
and when used, they have proved successful in their execution.
In
most of the games, Hazards early on regularly consist of floor
touch/kill hazards, a few Kill-zones and enemies that have a part of
their body protected. Hurt-hazards are also common and in the current
generation of platform games a surrounding area of water or empty space
where your character can be drowned or instantly killed is the common
choice.
Scores
are being weeded out in favour of Token collection. This has also
introduced unlockable bonuses relative to your total collected
quotient. Exploration and patience rewards are now being favoured over
skill based rewards.
Re-occurring
HTR area exploration bonuses consist of Quota tokens, Extra lives,
large chunks of Finance, Portals to a bonus level and Platform
visibility triggers.
Most
recurring pick-up bonus is the granting of an Extra life for every 100
finance tokens collected. Interestingly, a lot of the games use finance
as a dual-property pick-up – mainly having finance double up as a
hit-point-up or as a Quota Token to grant entry into a Bonus area.
The
most popular bonus for completing levels is an Extra life. This is
often subject to meeting a certain score or quota condition. The other
popular reward, which is standard throughout all games, is gifted
access to newer levels in the game. The games explored herein, do not
show any other similarities in regards to level-end rewards, but their
individual takes are very interesting – particularly SMB3’s roulette
block, Sonic Adventure’s A-Life feature and Crash Bandicoot’s immensely
tough to achieve box-smash bonus.
Task
types present in the first ten minutes are often rewarded with finance
or token bonuses upon completion – at least in the best sellers. The
only exception where around 40% of tasks are without financial or token
reward is Mario Sunshine.
All
games analysed contain the following: Finance collection, Jumping over
Kill-zones - aka bottomless pits - Breaking open containers and jumping
over moving floor hazards.
A
majority of the games contained HTR areas that contained rewards
relative to the level of player skill required to reach the area.
Some
games use finance as a key to enter bonus rounds. The key is often a
set quotient requirement, Example: Sonic 2 requires 50 rings are in
player possession to enter the bonus round and Rayman’s bonus entry
quotient requirement changes as the game progresses.
Action-based
gameplay is favoured over puzzle-based gameplay in initial stages, with
puzzles only appearing later in the game, or exclusively in bonus levels
Closing Opinion
The information
above leads me to believe that nowadays, we as developers have fallen
into a habit of spoon-feeding the player with tutorials and far fewer
things to do or play within the initial stages of the game.
The
goal of any developer conforming to this trend is clearly to make their
game accessible to as many players as possible. This “widening the
market” style of design can indeed make a game easier to get into, but
at the same time, it can feel patronising and also put a player off
playing any more. Although the aim ‘widen the market’ is a valid one,
the solution of making things easier to meet this aim, is perhaps
misfocused.
This brings me back to the argument
that the newer games – even in light of the fact that there is a far
larger installed base of consoles than there was is the 8 and 16-bit
days – will not match the astronomical sales of their older
counterparts, because decision makers have simply fooled themselves –
and others - into believing that older consoles weren’t mass market and
that market trends and lessons learnt from this era serve little
validity in our current market.
Let’s put this in
perspective. Super Mario Brothers 3 has sold more than Grand Theft Auto
3 and Vice City. Both these games are available on the most culturally
accepted platform there has ever been. The game itself is a massive
critical and commercial success, with celebrities even making jokes
related to the game in passing comment on popular television programmes.
This
alone tells me that games have been mass market since the NES days – a
machine which enjoyed a long and dominant life on the market, sold 75
million consoles worldwide, and lay resident within one in three
American households.
It is my belief that
Playstation’s cool factor allowed gamesplayers to come out of the
proverbial closet and thus, the Sony console was credited for
conceiving the gaming mass market, with PS2 having achieved almost as
many sales as the NES in half the time within a three-brand, 100-mil
consoles sold market.
Since then, a gradual but
highly visible change in game design styles has meant losing the
popular confident progression style of past, to a new style that treats
the player as if they’ve never seen a game before. Added player
responsibility to control imperfect cameras obviously doesn’t help.
Part
of the joy of a game is discovering your abilities, your limits and
being able to master them within an engaging environment, yet the
current mass-design philosophy replaces these joyful moments of playful
discovery into a ‘Simon says’-style of grammar-school-obedience and
restriction.
Don’t the young and old play games
to get away and forget the pressures brought on from those ‘do as I
say’ school teachers, bosses and parents? Don’t you find yourself
picking up your most simple, arcade-style games when in times of
stress, as opposed to the more linear and hoop-through games that take
time to get fun?
Going back to a point of previous, Grand Theft Auto 3 does
have a tutorial in the form of pop-up messages and certain missions,
but it and they appear in a subtle and non-obtrusive manner and can be
completely ignored. You can also enjoy the game at multiple levels of
difficulty from the off, by taking on gradually taxing Taxi missions,
Fire Engine missions, wiping out gangs and so on… Of course, GTA’s
concept is also a bastion of the freedom the digital world can give,
but the point remains.
We trusted the market before to
handle Mario’s eight or nine moves and his outlandish power-ups,
without a tutorial. His game sold more than GTA3.
We
trusted the market to pick-up and play Sonic’s loop-the-loop filled
world without patronising them with a relatively hazardless first
level. His game helped briefly propel Genesis sales to make the NES
passe at its peak.
Why we don’t trust the player to
pick-up and enjoy our games nowadays without nervously showering them
with in-game instruction, or greeting them with relatively eventless,
sterile and stupidly easy first moments? Yes, there are camera controls
and three dimensions to worry about now. Perhaps our focus needs to
address these problems that are not yet fixed; effective cameras in 3D
games and simpler control?
It is my belief that
if we free ourselves from the fallacy that mass market = inability to
figure out how to move a character along a screen, we will focus on
making accessible, intuitively designed, innovative, solid, consistent,
powerful, enjoyable, culturally relevant game content and not rehash
old ideas within a proverbial new set of clothes.
If
you feel that tutorials or mindless opening moments are still a
necessity, you could always do what GTA3 did and provide your players
with a tutorial that can be completely ignored.
Of
course, this is only an opinion and one that I’ve drawn from the
information in the previous factual conclusions. There is enough
information for you to form your own opinions and hopefully help
yourself make your games better.
When I
wrote this, it was because I was annoyed with games become easier and
easier, meaning players like me who wanted challenge were getting fed
up.
I wanted to prove that people being perceived
as stupid on the whole was not the problem; rather designers being
arrogant or just poor at designing games that were simple to understand
mechanically, as well as conceptually, was. I also figured having this
data in an organised format would help sell in ideas based on
mechanical fun; games like Katamari (not out at the time, but it’s a
good example) or Monkey Ball.
The seed of the idea
originated from when I worked at SCEE ten years ago and paper in-house
pitches without tech were the way things were done. The problem – or so
I believed – was that all ideas would be run through marketing folk who
were not game savvy.
The real problem was the
language barrier and a lack of understanding each other’s creative
goals. When I would pitch say, a ‘platform shooter with racing bits
inbetween levels, set in space’, they told me it was unmarketable.
There was no hook for them. For me, I was imagining the potential fun
aspect, but for them, it was about trying to find something sexy or
‘MTV” within the concept they could sell to a shop. Fair enough.
Meanwhile,
it got me thinking that maybe if I provided them a list of the game’s
USPs, at the highest and lowest levels, matched with ones that were in
successful selling games, they’d see how it could be a success and
actually try and figure out how to sell the product.
Eventually,
I came up with this. Since then, I’ve worked on improving the language
side and coming up with terms that encompass a range of ideas across
genres, without being too specific or vague. In short, it’s a pain.
I’ve
also learnt that my personal favourite games often provide a range of
play types and challenge levels from a very early stage, if not the
beginning. Funnily enough, games containing this sort of thing tend to
consistently sell well. GTA, Super Mario Bros and Burnout spring to
mind.
I figure it’s a similar factor like Joseph
Campbell discovered: satisfying a larger number of archetypes in a
story allows more viewers to relate to it. I believe the same principle
applies in gaming, in that satisfying a large number of related ‘player
archetypes’ or player personalities competently, will grant you more
players in regard to their suitability in that game.
Through
understanding the needs of each individual player archetype /
personality, developers will learn how best to target and develop their
games and bring more success to their games, as well as more new genres
and play experiences to market.
For instance, a
game designed with a ‘Sim’s’ player in mind may not work well with a
Virtua Fighter style combat engine when a lover’s tiff occurs, however
comical it may be. However, with enough imagination and consideration,
such combinations shouldn’t be entirely ruled out; know the rules
before breaking them as the old adage goes.
Since I
wrote this report, I’ve used tables such as the ones enclosed to
monitor games from genres I’ve worked within to explore what shared
commonalities made those games fun or otherwise. It’s taught me a lot
thus far and I plan on releasing the lot at some point in the near
future. I’ve also learnt that the problem wasn’t that games were
necessarily becoming easier, it was merely a by-product of decision
makers not understanding their audience and having an unrealtistic
creative attitude toward courting a perceived ‘mass market gamer’ game.
Till then, if you’re interested in other games
research, you could try Chris Bateman’s research into gaming audiences
(great stuff) at Ihobo.com, or gameinnovation.org’s list of game
innovations throughout time. There’s more out there, but the sad
reality is, it’s just not that popular and doesn’t make much money, so
it’s not that easy to find.
