Console wars have always been vicious, as competing companies vie for the attention of the gaming public. The weapons are great exclusive games, the battlefield toy and electronics stores, the spoils a majority share of the market and the adoration of millions of die-hard fans. Every generation of consoles sees its own battles, but none have seemed quite so fierce as the era of the NES and the Genesis.
Nintendo led the pack with the Nintendo Entertainment System, known as the Famicom in Japan. They established an enormously strong presence with games like Super Mario Bros and the Legend of Zelda. When they hit the scene, they had plenty of ground to make up - the disasters that Atari had unleashed on the industry nearly crippled it. Nintendo managed to salvage the industry and even thrive by recognizing that a system survives on the strength of its games. While their strict licensing scheme with publishers earned them ire - being allowed only five games a year on the NES was suffocating - it prevented the system from being flooded with mediocre games.The Nintendo brand was strong.
They also had a wealth of talent on their side. Shigeru Miyamoto, easily one of the greatest designers of all time, gave them hit after hit. Gunpei Yokoi masterminded the launch of the Game Boy, still the most successful system of all time. Realizing the quality that Konami and Acclaim could put out, they gave them a workaround for additional licenses to keep great games on the NES.
Sega's greatest success was establishing a strong, unique brand. Tom Kalinske recognized that they needed to get out from Nintendo's shadow. They created edgier marketing, attacking the competition directly. Sonic emerged as a cooler alternative to Mario, attracting an older audience. Where Nintendo refused to allow adult content on the NES, Sega eagerly kept the uncensored violence of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap on the Genesis. Nintendo was the family company, so Sega became the cool kids' club.
Atari's attempt to re-enter the market was too little, too late. While the 7800 had the advantage of backwards compatibility, it couldn't attract developers. Too many had already signed exclusive contracts with Nintendo or jumped ship to Sega.
Who won that war? Nintendo dominated the overall international market, particularly Japan. Sega may not have been able to topple Nintendo, but they beat them in specific regions such as Europe. Atari still made profits off of the 7800, even if their share of the market was extremely low. In the end, not everyone won, but none of them truly lost.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Tutorials, Please
If I could write the Laws of Game Design, rule number one would be that you have to have a good tutorial before you can even think about letting anyone touch your game. Regardless of how well everything else has been developed, if you don't have a tutorial, you don't have a game.
Recently, I downloaded the beta for Mechwarrior Online, and not so recently I tried to play Dota 2. Neither has a tutorial, and, unsurprisingly, both are incredibly hard to jump into. Their mechanics are extremely complicated; Mechwarrior strives for realism (well, as much realism can be achieved in a game about giant robots), with intricate details like heat sink placement having important effects on performance, while Dota 2 carries over all of the mechanics from the original, many of which exist due to limitations of the original engine. They need a great deal of explanation before the player can grasp even the basics, and they provide none at all.
(An aside: the justification I received for both games was that they were in beta, so it was okay that they didn't have a full tutorial yet. I view that on the same level as claiming beta status means you don't have to have controls.)
League of Legends has an excellent tutorial. It teaches the essentials for successfully playing the game, and it also teaches some of the lingo and etiquette. The abbreviations for the names of lanes, the terminology used for calling out events, all explained in the tutorial. It's not perfect, but it's one of the closest I've ever seen.
The perfect tutorial is, without question, Portal. At least 80% of the game is tutorial, explaining the mechanics of portals and pushing players to find new and clever uses for them. It's paced so that just as the player learns a new skill, they're forced to use that skill in a way that introduces new skills. Every designer should be required to play Portal before designing anything.
Wow, this was kind of an angry blog. I'm really passionate about teaching players through gameplay, and so many games do it so wrong. Next time will be more pleasant, I promise.
Recently, I downloaded the beta for Mechwarrior Online, and not so recently I tried to play Dota 2. Neither has a tutorial, and, unsurprisingly, both are incredibly hard to jump into. Their mechanics are extremely complicated; Mechwarrior strives for realism (well, as much realism can be achieved in a game about giant robots), with intricate details like heat sink placement having important effects on performance, while Dota 2 carries over all of the mechanics from the original, many of which exist due to limitations of the original engine. They need a great deal of explanation before the player can grasp even the basics, and they provide none at all.
(An aside: the justification I received for both games was that they were in beta, so it was okay that they didn't have a full tutorial yet. I view that on the same level as claiming beta status means you don't have to have controls.)
League of Legends has an excellent tutorial. It teaches the essentials for successfully playing the game, and it also teaches some of the lingo and etiquette. The abbreviations for the names of lanes, the terminology used for calling out events, all explained in the tutorial. It's not perfect, but it's one of the closest I've ever seen.
The perfect tutorial is, without question, Portal. At least 80% of the game is tutorial, explaining the mechanics of portals and pushing players to find new and clever uses for them. It's paced so that just as the player learns a new skill, they're forced to use that skill in a way that introduces new skills. Every designer should be required to play Portal before designing anything.
Wow, this was kind of an angry blog. I'm really passionate about teaching players through gameplay, and so many games do it so wrong. Next time will be more pleasant, I promise.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Games I Love: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
When it comes to the Legend of Zelda series, most fans say their favorite is one of three: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, or Wind Waker. I do like all three; heck, I've never played a Zelda game that I didn't like (disclaimer - I've never played the CDi abominations).
But my favorite is still Majora's Mask. It's arguably the dark horse of the series (aside from aforesaid CDi disgraces and Zelda II); it didn't include Ganon, or the Triforce, or even Zelda, outside of a small flashback. There's no Master Sword, no Hyrule... outside of keeping Link as the playable character, it almost doesn't seem like a Zelda game at all. But it still keeps the proper feel of a Zelda game, and it has its own flavor and flow that distinguishes it from the rest.
One of the elements of Majora's Mask that makes it strange from the perspective of the rest of the series is its dungeon count: it only has four. Considering it comes on the heels of Ocarina of Time, which had eight (not including mini-dungeons like the Ice Cavern or Ganon's Tower), this would seem like a travesty. And yet it works for a very unique reason - the overworld works as a series of dungeons as well. In order to enter the Woodfall Temple, the player has to explore a number of interesting locations, solve puzzles, and obtain items in the same fashion as the dungeons of a normal Zelda.
The areas of the overworld often have as much or more personality than other Zelda dungeons. Ikana
Canyon, the area that leads to the fourth dungeon, is my favorite section of any Zelda game. Ocarina of Time's overworld segments had charm, but they can't compete with those from Majora's Mask. I'd attribute this to the emphasis on character that MM had over any other game.
Majora's Mask is also easily the darkest of any Zelda title. While Zelda games have always had dark elements to them - in Ocarina, Ganondorf conquers the entire world and turns it into a desolate wasteland - none have had quite the desperation that MM does. It manages to combine hard-hitting writing, soulful music, and bleak visuals into a world that not only tells you that it's on the brink of collapse, it shoves it in your face. One sidequest, in which star-crossed lovers Anju and Kafei are cursed and must be brought back together, has a mournful quality few other games have managed to accomplish. Another, in which a girl is abducted by ghost-like aliens and has her mind broken, shows the player exactly what will happen if they fail.
I'm not sure that I would call Majora's Mask the best in the series. It certainly has its problems - the dungeons aren't quite as strong as those from other titles, some of the sidequests are incredibly obtuse unless you use a guide - but it still sticks with me stronger than any of the others.
But my favorite is still Majora's Mask. It's arguably the dark horse of the series (aside from aforesaid CDi disgraces and Zelda II); it didn't include Ganon, or the Triforce, or even Zelda, outside of a small flashback. There's no Master Sword, no Hyrule... outside of keeping Link as the playable character, it almost doesn't seem like a Zelda game at all. But it still keeps the proper feel of a Zelda game, and it has its own flavor and flow that distinguishes it from the rest.
One of the elements of Majora's Mask that makes it strange from the perspective of the rest of the series is its dungeon count: it only has four. Considering it comes on the heels of Ocarina of Time, which had eight (not including mini-dungeons like the Ice Cavern or Ganon's Tower), this would seem like a travesty. And yet it works for a very unique reason - the overworld works as a series of dungeons as well. In order to enter the Woodfall Temple, the player has to explore a number of interesting locations, solve puzzles, and obtain items in the same fashion as the dungeons of a normal Zelda.
The areas of the overworld often have as much or more personality than other Zelda dungeons. Ikana
Canyon, the area that leads to the fourth dungeon, is my favorite section of any Zelda game. Ocarina of Time's overworld segments had charm, but they can't compete with those from Majora's Mask. I'd attribute this to the emphasis on character that MM had over any other game.
Majora's Mask is also easily the darkest of any Zelda title. While Zelda games have always had dark elements to them - in Ocarina, Ganondorf conquers the entire world and turns it into a desolate wasteland - none have had quite the desperation that MM does. It manages to combine hard-hitting writing, soulful music, and bleak visuals into a world that not only tells you that it's on the brink of collapse, it shoves it in your face. One sidequest, in which star-crossed lovers Anju and Kafei are cursed and must be brought back together, has a mournful quality few other games have managed to accomplish. Another, in which a girl is abducted by ghost-like aliens and has her mind broken, shows the player exactly what will happen if they fail.
I'm not sure that I would call Majora's Mask the best in the series. It certainly has its problems - the dungeons aren't quite as strong as those from other titles, some of the sidequests are incredibly obtuse unless you use a guide - but it still sticks with me stronger than any of the others.
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