Comments on: Sell the adventure http://www.head-first.co.uk/headblog/2009/09/sell-the-adventure/ Read this, laugh, then ask us to pitch Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:41:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rob Mortimer http://www.head-first.co.uk/headblog/2009/09/sell-the-adventure/comment-page-1/#comment-176 Rob Mortimer Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:30:23 +0000 http://www.head-first.co.uk/headblog/?p=534#comment-176 Deus Ex is still a benchmark for me in a game involving you within the storyline and your actions and decisions were part of the development of your character and the plot. This felt far more immersive and imaginative than other FPS games. There was something good about the imagination needed back in the days of 1mhz processors and 4 colour screens. Would I trade back though? Not a chance. Deus Ex is still a benchmark for me in a game involving you within the storyline and your actions and decisions were part of the development of your character and the plot. This felt far more immersive and imaginative than other FPS games.

There was something good about the imagination needed back in the days of 1mhz processors and 4 colour screens. Would I trade back though? Not a chance.

]]> By: Dave Mortimer http://www.head-first.co.uk/headblog/2009/09/sell-the-adventure/comment-page-1/#comment-171 Dave Mortimer Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:33:21 +0000 http://www.head-first.co.uk/headblog/?p=534#comment-171 Nice post. Hulk was a bit before my time, but I used to love the covers for the first two Monkey Islands. When you look at them, they seem at odds with the games themselves, with a vary serious and realistic style, but I think having the image of such a creepy, tough pirate world on the front of the box made my little mind project some of that scale and epic feel onto the simple backgrounds and text only dialogue. Looking to the future of adventure games and RPGs, I think the continuing trend for character customisation and multiple narrative paths will require a bigger focus on dramatising the locations and settings/themes in the game. As an example, I’ve recently been playing Mass Effect, which is a great game of space based adventuring and comes in a case with a picture of the hero looking suitable heroic in front of robots and planets etc. The trouble was, when I finished the story, I looked back at the box, and suddenly I felt like the image didn’t represent the game I had just played. In theory it makes perfect sense to focus on the noble hero of the piece, in fact most games do this, but what bugged me was that this wasn’t the character I had spent time with. The box was telling me I should have been a noble, dark haired symbol of justice, when really I was a blond renegade who punched reporters in the face for asking difficult questions. Now, it could be argued that I had already bought the game, so the box’s work was done, but in this age of downloadable content and yearly sequels, having a box on your consumer’s shelf that reminds them of their exciting times in space is surely the cheapest and easiest way to keep them interested in the story until the next batch of content arrives. So, I guess the point I’ve danced around is this, when the player now expects to have the power to shape and change the main character beyond all recognition, is it the themes, the settings and the tasks that they can use their character in that’s the biggest draw? In this age of Avatars, Miis and customisation, is promotional material that expresses the personality of the main character merely limiting the imagination of the gamer, rather than fueling their excitement? I remember reading an article about Nintendo looking to license the Island from Wii Sports Resort, like they would with Mario and Zelda. They obviously feel a landscape can have as much commercial appeal as a set and scripted character, so it’ll be interesting to watch how these initiatives develop in the next few years. Nice post. Hulk was a bit before my time, but I used to love the covers for the first two Monkey Islands. When you look at them, they seem at odds with the games themselves, with a vary serious and realistic style, but I think having the image of such a creepy, tough pirate world on the front of the box made my little mind project some of that scale and epic feel onto the simple backgrounds and text only dialogue.

Looking to the future of adventure games and RPGs, I think the continuing trend for character customisation and multiple narrative paths will require a bigger focus on dramatising the locations and settings/themes in the game.

As an example, I’ve recently been playing Mass Effect, which is a great game of space based adventuring and comes in a case with a picture of the hero looking suitable heroic in front of robots and planets etc.

The trouble was, when I finished the story, I looked back at the box, and suddenly I felt like the image didn’t represent the game I had just played. In theory it makes perfect sense to focus on the noble hero of the piece, in fact most games do this, but what bugged me was that this wasn’t the character I had spent time with. The box was telling me I should have been a noble, dark haired symbol of justice, when really I was a blond renegade who punched reporters in the face for asking difficult questions.

Now, it could be argued that I had already bought the game, so the box’s work was done, but in this age of downloadable content and yearly sequels, having a box on your consumer’s shelf that reminds them of their exciting times in space is surely the cheapest and easiest way to keep them interested in the story until the next batch of content arrives.

So, I guess the point I’ve danced around is this, when the player now expects to have the power to shape and change the main character beyond all recognition, is it the themes, the settings and the tasks that they can use their character in that’s the biggest draw? In this age of Avatars, Miis and customisation, is promotional material that expresses the personality of the main character merely limiting the imagination of the gamer, rather than fueling their excitement?

I remember reading an article about Nintendo looking to license the Island from Wii Sports Resort, like they would with Mario and Zelda. They obviously feel a landscape can have as much commercial appeal as a set and scripted character, so it’ll be interesting to watch how these initiatives develop in the next few years.

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