Designing Videogames For The Wage Slave

Thanks to Ron Gilbert's weblog for pointing out a GameDev.net article discussing the topic of "Designing Games for the Wage Slave" . The author explains: "We balance on the knife's edge between our glorious time-squandered youth, and the commitments of inevitable middle age... If games can adapt to the needs of the working gamer, they can find a lucrative niche." He goes on suggest practical tips for game developers, including 'Don't Waste My Time' ("Make every moment count. I don't play games to punish myself. I play them to be entertained, rewarded, and challenged"), 'Curiosity Killed The Cat...' ("Constant death was a necessity in the days of video arcades... Now, in the comfort of our lounges or offices, what reason is there to keep dumping us out of the game we bought with our hard earned cash?"), and 'I Need Help' ("Make any necessary information available from within the game.")

Comments

Oh PLEASE.

[Sevn]

"Now, in the comfort of our lounges or offices, what reason is there to keep dumping us out of the game we bought with our hard earned cash?"

Yes, because we are all fucking pathetic pussyfags now. We can't handle the most mundane of puzzles or difficulty so dumb shit down for us because we PAID GOOD MONAY for it. Yes. Please satisfy our pathetic-ness and make games easier because we are older, lamer, pussies with money. Thank you.

hey loser

[muyuubyou]

For the record I'm a 27 soon 28 CS and EE who's been quite busy studying and now working. The point was there are genres NOT MEANT to be played in 30 minute intervals. Try clearing a 1000-hour RPG in 30 minute interval. Multiply that with your community college math and you get 2000 sessions or way over 5 years if you play daily. You wouldn't even remember the beginning of the game.

I've experienced this situation for years and the conclusion is you shouldn't play those genres during busy periods or you'll get your ass fired/failed (which you probably know already) or very frustrated.

Since you've obviously read just two parragraphs (and you're not the only one) my guess is your attention span is way too short. Stick to tic-tac-toe.

Re:MMORPG's not a good example

[nadadogg]

Protip: Don't use leetspeak, it's not 1999.