Gamethink

This article sums up the contribution that the Final Fantasy games made the the RPG genre and gaming in general. In the last part, we talk about how the production of FFVII changed the rules of the industry.

An analysis of Killer7, of its many innovations and the reasons of its lack of success.

A recurring problem with modern videogames is that they don’t handle failure well. The player has to complete level after level, mission after mission... and don’t have the possibility of being less than perfect. The flipside is that to beat such games, the player imagination is not challenged, and winning is not as significant than in games that require the players to be creative thinkers, like the Mortville Manor we are discussing here. Beyond that, we’ll see how allowing the player to fail can in fact add value to games.

A comparative look at much anticipated but very disappointing games: Daikatana, Enter the Matrix, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, Devil May Cry 2 and Bad Day L.A.

Videogames are one of the most marvelous mediums when it comes to creating a fancy layer around the intellectual challenges posed by abstract puzzles. Game designers work very hard to create new, innovative representations and interfaces ("gameplay") around ageless logical recreations, puzzles. In the old gamethink tradition, let’s take a few steps back to analyse what different kind of puzzles we are talking about and hopefully draw some interesting conclusions for budding puzzle/game (...)

Last year, the direction in which the industry was heading seemed uncertain. What has changed since then?

Over the last 30 years, the price of creating the various game assets has increased at a mind-boggling rate. Except one: story. Still, considering how much impact a good story has on a game, game developers are not spending enough on this essential component.

In previous articles we have mentioned the existence of game genres. The main issue with genres is that a handful of game creators are reckognized as geniuses because they have invented a new genre. Ever since, it seems that every publisher either sticks to a definite genre or tries to persuade the world that their newest game is the first of a new kind.
This highlights the true nature of the game genres: while the boundaries between the existing categories don’t mean much to game (...)

A comparison between open-ended games and closed games (with a beginning and an end).

In this analysis of this Nintendo instant-classic, we’ll focus on:
 how the game addresses casual and expert players,
 game design choices that ensure that the game is always fair,
 and finally, can there be a newer Super Mario Bros?

Shadow of the Colossus was arguably the best 2005 game, judging by the quantity and diversity of awards it got, from the prestigious GDC Game of the Year title to the Special Rookie Awards (?) from Famitsu. As often with games of that caliber, pretty much everything has been said about their flawless execution, intricate story, audacious artistic direction and all of these things that journalists love. That’s why at gamethink, we’d like to cover different areas of the game that haven’t (...)

Following the upgrade to SPIP 1.9.0, I have done some minor changes in my templates. The most significant improvement is the addition of forums. According to the site statistics, there are up to 50 people who visit gamethink.net each day, from just about everywhere on earth - from Tokyo to Johannesburg, from Helsinki to Bengalore. Now is the chance to speak up! you can comment each article you read here.
The second most interesting upgrade is the RSS file. There has been an RSS thread on (...)

Should the ideal game designed to be played forever, again and again? Choosing replayability as a game design objective means according less attention than necessary to the game ending, which is a unique opportunity to give the player a lasting impression of the game.

On the 1st of July, SPIP 1.9.0 was released. SPIP is the CMS system that powers gamethink. The new version brings a number of improvements... from a backoffice point of view! But I saw that as a good opportunity to tidy up my templates and my CSS sheets. If you are interested, you can see what they look like here.

What, exactly, is at the very origin of a game project? This article review six categories of ideas that can trigger a concept - game genre, theme, graphical style, activity, interface and technique.

The use of random and trial-and-error gameplay are among the design choices that can make games unfair. It is still ok to use them, but only in specific situations and in any case, the player must be aware of that and not be taken by surprise.

Players interact with your game and are rightly entitled to feedback, which is why interfaces are necessary. They do not dispell immersion or consume valuable screen real estate.

How to make cutscenes that work? this articles provide a few guidelines. Cutscenes should have subtitles, the player should be able to skip them and the game should be playable without them.

After the articles on Resident Evil 4 and the Grand Theft Auto saga, let’s go back to another 2005 title, Mercenaries. Why this comparison? It’s fair to say that the game borrows a lot to the GTA format. As such, I imagine that many design choices were inspired by, or decided in reaction to GTA3 and Vice City. And, like Resident Evil 4, Mercenaries attempted to reform the action/adventure style. Let’s begin with an overview of the game, then we’ll compare it with San Andreas and RE4, and (...)

woohoo! I finally got my Google Analytics invitation. It’s really a fantastic tool!