A kid changes being a kid at 10. d''uh !
I think (no offense) this is utter bullsh!t. The fact is, you only stop playing because of your environment, because of the opinion of the peers. There are 21 years old guys that go out with 16 years old girls, because that''s the age they are in their head, and there are 10 years old kids that spend there time talking with 16 years old (me...)
Fact is, we would never stop playing if we could, because just like sex, it''s a pleasurable activity, one that for some strange reason, Nature decided to reward with endomorphine (well, at least for sex, it''s a fact).
As for reinventing the wheel, I must say that''s exactly the question I am asking. Are we creating better games by putting them on a computer, by adding 3D graphics, 3D sound, an involving storyline... things that we automatically create in our brains when we are kids ! What I am wondering is, whatkid game haven''t we recreated yet ? I won''t talk about RPG, because our only limit so far is purely technological, and maybe because of the totally biased way programmers see RPG (AD&D ...). But look at FPS, they are damn recent, and yet, what do they recreate ? All the hunting games kids play. Same for the RTS, if they are so succesfull, you can bet it''s because they are a simple re-creation of sandbox battles of little plastic soldiers, and jsut like in your younger days, the main tactic is to grab some soldiers, declare them "super death soldiers!" and samck them at your opponents base ... ahem...
Now one thing I am noticing, and that might be a hint to why we have so few women players, is the lack of girl games ... I would question the interest of a housewife simulator, but fact is, most little girls I know would die for that
As well, you might notice that as adults, it''s usually really hard to say "yeah, I am playing with my kids toys", but rather it would be something "oh dear, we *have* to buy these toys, the kid''s gonna love them" ... yeah, right
Something I observed as well : when I was 9 years old, I discovered in a book of Geometry, a little game of Formula 1, based on simple geometric rules. I learnt, taught it to the rest of the class, and soon every guy in my class was playing. I taught this game to most of my fellow classmates almost every year (I changed school quite a number of times in the following years). And every time, the thrill and excitement of my classmates was the same than when I first played it with 10 years old kids. 12 years later, while doing my Degree in Computing, I would sit down at the back of the classroom, and play relentlessly with three other fellows ... OMG, just like little kids. The game was played on a grided piece of paper, with a pencil for every player, that''s it.
My point ? The mechanics of the game were all it needed to provide pleasure (fun). At the same period, with the same persons, we would play hours of Quake and have the same fun (actually even more).
Another little thing I am thinking about, whatever fancy graphics, excellent sounds, etc, I noticed that most kids would compensate the features they saw as missing by simply imagining them, and this of course work with adults, and is clearly illustrated by the success of Roguelike games.
I am actually thinking that the success of Diablo is quite obvious, once you see it from my point of view : it''s simply a nice action figure game.
"Behold!! This is Zoltharan the Mighty Barbarian, with his mighty two handed sword Deathbringer, his Helmet of Death protects him from your attacks, now prepare to die !"
click click click *epic action scene*
"Nooo, you can''t kill me, I am Morganna the GReat Enchantress, and with my Golden Amulet of Metamorphosis I turn you into a mere toad !"
click click click...
d''uh ! Does it sound very different from the games you would play between your GI Joe guys and the Barbie of your sister ? ... I didn''t think so
So my question, what kid games didn''t we recreate so far ? And what does the addition of more than gameplay bring to the experience ? By bringing in a plot, don''t we limit the imagination of the player ? By limiting his ability to create stories, aren''t we defeating the purpose of the game ?
questions, questions ...
anyone got an answer ?
youpla :-P
-----------------------------Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !
