Feature: 'Designer's Notebook: The Bill Of Players' Rights'

In today's main Gamasutra feature and this month's Designer's Notebook, Ernest makes a stand for video game players everywhere as he introduces his Bill of Players' Rights detailing the rights that all video game players should have regardless of age, race, gender, etc. The Right to Win. If a game's marketing, manual, mission briefings, or other introductory material tells the player that a game is possible to win, the game must be possible to win. It doesn't have to be easy, but it does have to be possible. Anything else is cheating the player. This right doesn't guarantee that every player will win, only that every player can win. The Right to Instructions. Absolutely required. Games that dump you into a situation and force you to figure it out by trial and error—even down to which button does what on the controller—are bad games, period. A tiny minority of players might like this sort of thing, but the rest find it frustrating and no fun. The instructions don't have to reveal everything about the game, but they must tell the player which buttons, commands, or menu items do what. If you don't feel like writing it all down, give the player a tutorial. You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).