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Ingredients For A Great Game
There are millions of computer games out there on the market, how do you make your game best selling? What features have to be included? I have taken a look on previously best sellers trying to determine what makes a great game. Set the player in focus The player wants to be in focus in the game, he or she wants to feel that he can control the outcome of the game. It doesn't have to be easy, or it shouldn't. The harder the game is the better the player will feel when he has completed the game and won. For example in Sid Meiers Civilization the player is set in focus and can affect the outcome of the game. She knows that it's up to her if she wins or loose. This concept is seen in virtually all best sellers, Doom, Civilization, The Sims, Sim City, Warcraft, Command&Conquer to name a few. This can also be done in games that are heavily built on a story. For example in several adventure games by Lucas Arts the concept of that the player can control his or her destiny is used frequently. Developers should look out for basing the game too much on what the computer does or other factors. Simplicity Never underestimate simplicity; a gamer does not generally like to read hundreds of pages to be able to play a game. Sure advanced features could be included, but still the player should within ten minutes be able to understand what the game is about and how it is played. If the gamer doesn't the game will probably be turned into a dust collector in the basement. Here the design of the menus and the interface comes in. Avoid having strange controls, like the firing button on F for example. If you were making a 3rd person shooter you would want to use the same set of controls as other games in the sector do. The menus should be easy to understand, I have reviewed a lot of games were the menus are made out of symbols without any text. This is not recommended since the interpretation of a symbol is highly subjective; try to mix symbols with text. Action With action I don't necessarily mean violence. There should however be something happening in the game, and when it happens the player should really notice it. For example killing an enemy in a 3rd person shooter should generate blood, building a police station in Sim City should reduce crime, killing the last enemy in Warcraft should generate victory, ok I guess you got the picture. Perhaps this seems quite basic, and it is, but still some developers don't think in these terms. Story Never ever underestimate a game story. If you read any gaming magazine today you notice that there is an awful lot of focus on the graphics. The graphics are important but they mean nothing if the background story sucks. Of course this isn't true if a game is ground breaking. Doom didn't have a very well developed story but still it was ground breaking because people had never seen nothing like it before. But generally the story is important, sometimes a player wants to feel part of something bigger. To name a few examples we could start with virtually all role playing games. However don't do the mistake of writing the story too complicated. A simple story or shorter story should work fine as long as the story is good. Graphics Yes well I have to mention it. Graphics serve one purpose as I see it; they enhance the game play and all the other factors I have mentioned. They are important in the sense that they communicate the game to the player. They don't have to be stunning but they should serve a purpose. A recent example of this is Command&Conquer Generals, the graphics are good, they serve a purpose and they enhance the gaming experience. However the game in question was not that long-lived for various other reasons. There are several games with bad graphics that are still fun to play for example Warcraft 2 or Sid Meiers old classic, Pirates. Things that people can relate to A bestseller game has to include something that the player can relate to in some way. The Sims that is the world's best selling game right now have several factors that people can relate to in real life. However remember that different people relate to different things. Say that a person just saw a science fiction movie and thinks "I really want to fly a space ship like in that movie", so the person in question starts a search for such a game. This is also one of the reasons the Warcraft series become very popular, the Orcs and other characters in the game people remember from reading Tolkien's book. Developing a game about solving equations will probably not be a hit since far too few people relate to it. These are the main factors that create a good game, if these factors are followed you will probably have a pretty good game. There are of course other elements that make a difference; marketing is one of them that will be more important as the gaming scene grows. Daniel Westerstal is the editor of:http://www.uziana.com/which features many reviews and other PC gaming related content.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. Column: Palin's Nomination Good News Even For Democrats In Alaska (CBS News) So, John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Let me just say, wow. That's not exactly what I repeatedly shouted out when I first heard the news, but it's close enough for publication. Like everyone else, my astonished reaction wasn't due to the event itself being inconceivable - I've heard pundits debating the likelihood of a McCain / Palin ticket for months. Premiere CEO Is Replaced by News Corp.'s Williams (Update2) (Bloomberg.com) Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Premiere AG , the German pay- television company partly owned by News Corp., said Chief Executive Officer Michael Boernicke is being replaced by a senior News Corp. executive. News Corp exec becomes chief of Germany's Premiere (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's chief financial officer for Europe and Asia has been named chief executive of German pay television group Premiere, following the resignation of Michael Boernicke, Premiere said on Wednesday. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (Philly.com) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. News Corporation to redevelop London Wapping site (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is to redevelop its Wapping site in London, moving all its UK businesses, including News International, Harper Collins, MySpace and Dow Jones, under one roof. Tribune blames Google for damaging news story (Market Watch) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co. said Wednesday that the mistaken online publishing of an old news story that cratered UAL Corp.'s stock price earlier this week was because of a repeated technology failure at Google Inc. DeJesus, Royals sad at Sweeney news (MLB.com) DeJesus, Royals sad at Sweeney news Six-year-old story pops up on Google News, triggering United Airlines share price collapse (Tech Digest via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News) Three cheers for automated technology! The Google News "Googlebot" search routine decided last weekend that a six-year-old story regarding United Airlines filing for bankruptcy was new and exciting. Site: news - Google News Ballmer touts Windows 7 beta, new deals - CNET News
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for games Cubs-Astros games postponed because of Ike (AP via Yahoo! News) The first two games of this weekend's series between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have been postponed because of the potential impact of Hurricane Ike. Video games sales rise 9 pct in August: NPD (Reuters via Yahoo! News) U.S. video games sales rose 9 percent in August from a year earlier, marking the smallest monthly sales increase in more than two years, according to data from research firm NPD on Thursday. Models reveal 'geology of Games' (BBC News) Decades of data are turned into 3D graphics of what lies beneath the 2014 Commonwealth Games host city. Cubs-Astros games postponed due to hurricane (Fox Sports) The first two games of this weekend's series between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have been postponed because of the potential impact of Hurricane Ike. Baseball officials also were anticipating that Sunday's series finale also might be postponed. One of the scenarios under consideration was to play a doubleheader Monday, and make up the third game on Sept. 29 if it's needed to decide a ... Verizon Wireless Releases Dozens Of Games From 10 Publishers (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) It's all about games today for Verizon Wireless . The carrier released dozens of mobile games from 10 publishers. Gameloft , Glu Mobile , Konami Digital Entertainment, Mobitween, Namco Networks, RealNetworks , SkyZone Entertainment, Smashing Ideas, Capcom Interactive and Sony Pictures Television all teamed up with the carrier to launch games such as The Dark Knight and Sally's Salon. Cubs-Astros Games Postponed Because of Ike (ABC News) Cubs-Astros games Friday and Saturday postponed because of Hurricane Ike Ike threat postpones first 2 games of Cubs-'Stros (CBS Sportsline) The first two games of this weekend's series between the Cubs and Astros have been postponed because of the potential impact of Hurricane Ike. Cubs-Astros games postponed because of Ike (Chicago Tribune) Houston owner Drayton McLane is holding out hope the two Cubs-Astros games postponed because of Hurricane Ike can be played Sunday and Monday at Minute Maid Park. But Lou Piniella? "Unless this thing totally bypasses the Houston area, I don't know how you can get into Houston, or if they had to get out, how they would get out." Central update: Brewers at Phillies on Thursday RosenBlog: Cubs' ... Ike postpones two Cubs-Astros games (MLB.com) Two Cubs-Astros games postponed Can the Games Usher in New Era for China's Disabled? (Time.com via Yahoo! News) As the host nation's athletes continue to gather golds at the 2008 Paralympics, many in Beijing hope the Games will open doors for China's other 83 million disabled citizens Site: games - Google News Will OU's video-game offensive numbers add up to 1? - Dallas Morning News
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