Courtesy of the GDC Vault is another free lecture from the Game Developers Conference 2011.
Far Cry 2 and Splinter Cell designer Clint Hocking offers here his answer to the question SpyParty creator Chris Hecker posed at a 2009 GDC lecture: "How do games mean?" That is, "How does meaning happen in our art form?"
Hocking says that games "mean via their dynamics." He goes on to explore the mechanics and dynamics of various games, starting with using the whip in Spelunky. In comparing Guitar Hero to antiquated player pianos, he also explores the complicated definition of what it means to "play" video games. He then examines the narrative of Tetris and the dynamics of competitive pressure found in player-versus-player games such as Street Fighter II.
Session Name: Dynamics: The State of the Art
Speaker(s): Clint Hocking
Company Name(s): then LucasArts, now Valve
Track / Format: Game Design
Video: Clint Hocking discusses dynamics in games
In this free GDC Vault lecture, Far Cry 2 and Splinter Cell designer Clint Hocking explores the meaning of dynamics in games.