Reiding…

In cinema, there are many examples of excellent movies that tell a story using a sport as the context for the events that take place. I just watched American Pastime about Japanese in an internment camp who play baseball against many of the soldiers who ran the camp. Then there’s Escape to Victory and Rocky, both starring Slyvester Stallone. Miracle is about the 1980 Olympic ice hockey underdogs that take on and beat the vastly superior Russian elite hockey team and eventually go on to win the Gold medal. It is an amazing story about determination and love for one’s country based on a true sporting event. It’s so inspiring that Michael Phelps (USA Olympic swimming sensation) said he and his teammates watched it before a big meet in the 2004 Athens games.

There a many sports videogames, Skate, Madden, Need for Speed but few have engaging storylines. Why not create a story mode for Madden and give it an engaging narrative treatment that transcends the value we currently give to sports videogames?

Rudy! How could I forget Rudy.

Ever have that question asked of you, “what do you do?” and you have a hard time answering that? I always do. A game designer is a relatively new profession and it is little understood. I end up getting very specific and technical. “I create the players experience, like if a door opens or not or creating a bunch of enemies for them to fight.” While that is technically correct, it doesn’t sound impressive and it doesn’t get at what I’m really trying to accomplish. I finally have come up with an answer I think accurately explains what I do, as a game designer.

“I engineer emotional responses in players of videogames using game mechanics and content.”

To arrive at this definition I had to realize that everything I did as a game designer was to create emotions within the player. Most of the time, it’s a sense of Fierro, but other times, I actively seek to make players feel sadness or frustration.

I think it works well. Then someone can follow up with, “and how do you do that?” Then I can explain the various elements I work with, like player abilities and obstacles.

I like it, but what about you?