Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Maybe I'm just not the average video gamer...

I don't want to come up here and recommend just another game thats on the top-seller list (unless its well deserved of course..heh). Its what I think makes me different from the typical gamer. I like games like 'Bejeweled'. Its original, quick and addictive. From a marketing perspective, a super low budget game like this could succeed very well. The reason for that is because even some inexperienced programmer (such as me) could write a polished version in a week or so. Thats a miniscule input compared to the games we see and play today. Just compare the price of 'Bejeweled' (if you choose to install it) and any average game on the shelf at the game store. And if you say, who would pay for 'Bejeweled'? HAha. My mom would. I mean it.

Recently, I've spent a lot of time in search of bright game ideas. Mostly just asking others what their dream game would be if they could make anything (hehe...soo much easier you know). For the most part, I hear of the same already existing genres but with a different scheme/setting. I don't normally tell them, but in most of these cases, the scheme/setting mentioned have been developed before already. They just never made it big, and hence, wasn't heard by too many. Why? I think its obvious. I do, however, find it contradicting that the consumers aren't revealing a lot. Could it be because they are happy with what already exists?

Ideally, I'd love to develop something brand new or original. Haha, I have been told that thats such an 'Erik' comment. But yeah, when I say something original, I don't mean games that fall into the misc. category of games (such as Wario Ware, Katamary Daimacy, blah blah). I meant something genre breaking. Or to better put it, the birth of a genre on its own.
I don't quite have 'the idea' yet. But I do have ideas. I've already previously mentioned the potential of multiplayer, portable, wireless gaming. The birth of that realm, thanks to the PSP and DS, is screaming for ideas. Its just like the internet, not many could have envisioned Google, Blogs, Ebay, etc... Other ideas include balancing the pace of games. It can change a game significantly, an example I love is 'Counterstrike'. It remade the pacing in FPSs; through short 5-10min action packed battles, it made the player wait if they died. This in turn, glorified stats, incorporated more teamwork, made the player play safer (much more realisitic...we are shooting each other...), etc... I mean, to think about it it is where the term 'camping' originated.

Time to go. I shall continue next time, eventhough I know its most probably not going to happen.

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