Zoso Fan
06-02-2006, 01:24 AM
Below is an article by Cliffy:
"2006-05-30 | coinage
So I've been tearing through New Super Mario Bros. on the DS lately. I'm enjoying it; it's... well, the game I've wanted for a while. It goes back to the roots of what Mario is/was.
(Although truth be told I miss the ****ing racoon suit.)
Anyways, I started thinking about most of the times I die in a Mario game. It's almost always when I'm going for that one last ... coin.
Fear of death is what the Mario games are really all about. Preventing death. Having insurance (do I really need 25 lives by the time I'm at world 6?) so that I can...continue?
I mean, if a game does a good job of checkpointing as I've *****ed about in the past then does the entire life thing remain critical to the game's design?
The fear of having to Replay **** drove game design for years. And players ate it up. The fear of death.
But what happens when you remove that fear?
In Mario, you collect ... coins. To get... 1ups. Or you get... 1ups. Or mushrooms which help you stave off...death. (Same thing with the fire flower, thank you very much.)
Sure, you get to explore new worlds. That's cool. But what are you collecting there? What are you doing? You're trying not to die...so you can collect...more coins...which will give you more lives. (To explore!)
The cycle continues.
I digress. I love this game, stomping with my butt is truly a joy. It reminds me of designing Jazz Jackrabbit levels back in the day. But at the same time I have to think about the other tools that we as game designers can use to motivate gamers to explore or continue. Things like social peer pressure (achievements/gamer score) and narrative.
Until then, time for more buttstomping action! "
I thought this would fit in with Gears discussion since he is designing the game and has an influence on checkpoints etc.
"2006-05-30 | coinage
So I've been tearing through New Super Mario Bros. on the DS lately. I'm enjoying it; it's... well, the game I've wanted for a while. It goes back to the roots of what Mario is/was.
(Although truth be told I miss the ****ing racoon suit.)
Anyways, I started thinking about most of the times I die in a Mario game. It's almost always when I'm going for that one last ... coin.
Fear of death is what the Mario games are really all about. Preventing death. Having insurance (do I really need 25 lives by the time I'm at world 6?) so that I can...continue?
I mean, if a game does a good job of checkpointing as I've *****ed about in the past then does the entire life thing remain critical to the game's design?
The fear of having to Replay **** drove game design for years. And players ate it up. The fear of death.
But what happens when you remove that fear?
In Mario, you collect ... coins. To get... 1ups. Or you get... 1ups. Or mushrooms which help you stave off...death. (Same thing with the fire flower, thank you very much.)
Sure, you get to explore new worlds. That's cool. But what are you collecting there? What are you doing? You're trying not to die...so you can collect...more coins...which will give you more lives. (To explore!)
The cycle continues.
I digress. I love this game, stomping with my butt is truly a joy. It reminds me of designing Jazz Jackrabbit levels back in the day. But at the same time I have to think about the other tools that we as game designers can use to motivate gamers to explore or continue. Things like social peer pressure (achievements/gamer score) and narrative.
Until then, time for more buttstomping action! "
I thought this would fit in with Gears discussion since he is designing the game and has an influence on checkpoints etc.