Yeah, not being frank about things is really bad... I think a lot of people who might initially be interested in video games are REALLY turned off by that.

DESIGNER: Here's this fantastic world, do what you want in it.
PLAYER: Yay! I want to sit at the chair.
DESIGNER: ... except that particular thing! And that... And that.

To some extent it's about communication (telling the player what to expect), but also not trying to "pull a fast one".

Great read, it's funny that analogies with music always makes so much sense. Maybe that's how this whole project should be explained to "the public"...

Ooo I like it a lot, thanks for sharing!

Very nice read!

As a response to Michaël:

I feel a bit misunderstood after using the words learn and teach. I guess I sounded very focused on learning "useful" things, which might sound very boring and square =). But useful things are also meaningful, which kind of is the holy grail of what we do, right?
Even if you don't look for it actively I think that experiencing pretty much anything ("art" or not) makes you think about things differently (= you learn something from it). And doesn't something that helps you be more comfortable and connected to people actually help you learn to do that, in a way? Maybe the two words learn and teach are too connected to school and stuff to be usable. It just feels strange to say "I don't learn from stuff, I experience them deeply and become another kind of human". What's the difference?

Also, I don't mean that any of the games I mentioned were designed to teach me anything (I'm pretty sure they weren't). But they still did.

Compared to some books and music I agree with everyone that games are pretty lame.

After playing Braid my subconscious thought that I could rewind time. This life-threatening misconception luckily just lasted for a day or two.

As the board game fanatic I am, I have to say that Go probably is the game that has affected me and my thinking the most. It teaches some very interesting concepts about greed vs. timidity, construction, rhythm, patience and much more. Poker is also a game that I think makes you learn a lot of useful stuff.

Computer games are harder... I would actually say that FPS games have showed me a little about how it is to be a soldier, something that's hard to imagine otherwise. Not to say that it's a very realistic way of showing it, but still.

In the end I think the GTA games have had the most impact on me. Actually when I traveled to USA for the first time I felt like I recognized a lot of things from the games, which was totally cool. I'd say that GTA works very well as a kind of over the top simulator of American culture. Maybe it should be required playing for anyone who wants to move there?

Here's a pretty basic, standard review of the game: http://kotaku.com/5468585/heavy-rain-review-no-wrong-conclusion

What I find interesting is that the author touches upon a few of the things we've been discussing here, for example:

"Video game developers often have to decide whether to leave their playable protagonists as blank entities, the better for players to see themselves in the shoes of, or to make the lead characters distinct, a love it or hate it kind of persona. Three of Heavy Rain's leads are more of the blank type, which can make them bores compared to private eye Scott Shelby, who seems like an interesting and complex guy from the get-go. We all will have our favorites, and I finished Heavy Rain having enjoyed the times I felt I was more of a specific character and less of the time I felt I was controlling an avatar."

If anything I think this game will force more people to think about this things harder, which must be good!

Oh, live roleplaying! I've tried that a little... certainly has something to do with what we're talking about here.

You also made me remember watching a TV-show from Finland (like 10 years ago) about teenagers playing live roleplaying games in the forests, me and my sister thought it was the coolest

I wish I'd been there! Did you like the event? Would you go again if it happens next year?

Actually, it's humans who messed it up.

Yep, that's what I really meant. Finding a local maximum and not searching further, instead settling for "good enough". Sounds kinda human to me for sure

As games, videogames suck.

Haha, someone should write a book with quotes of you

Very interesting discussion!

One thing I've been thinking about is that the majority of board games and competitive games actually handle death in a much better way than the games that try to tell stories.

Death in games like chess or Go is very finite (both for the pawns/stones and for the players). Same thing with Starcraft or Counter Strike. That also makes them much better since it creates a really huge tension. Losing there is also more fun in a way, at least to me. I guess it's because 1) I can play again without any repetition, knowing more than last time and 2) it's more of a ritual between humans than "doing a test"

The death that story-based computer games have introduced is so washed out compared to that, it's no wonder it only frustrates people. And even when I win such a game (by beating it?) the feeling is not very strong since it lacked both tension (because of the save functions) and someone to defeat.

I guess I'm basically repeating what you're saying. My point is that death in games can work beautifully, actually that used to be the whole point of them. The computer messed it all up.

That's an interesting observation, Alphonse. I think I'd feel roughly the same way if I played the game... it's a very strange relationship. It draws very much attention to the creators of the game also. Every second they are in there: fiddling with the camera, telling me what to do or not, etc. Not a single moment on my own with the character it seems :/

WOOOW, that looks so great

Gah! I kinda understand the thinking behind making the player go through this but still... so boring. I'd so much rather take a shower and drink OJ in real life.

I think I agree with your criticism of the game. All the game parts made it a chore to play. I really should try the new version to see if they have changed anything to the better (I heard it's a lot less focused on mundane every-day things).

This Drama Princess seems very interesting, will read more about it tonight! I have missed that part of your work completely, have you hidden it on purpose? Otherwise you should make it more obvious from your front page maybe...

edit: I now see that it's there in the sidebar, just a little less eye-popping than the banners for the games