The game that really merits critical review is Dance Dance Revolution. By creating a video game with the health benefits of a sport, the designers have made an unambiguously positive contribution to society. Playing FF7 may make you a better person inside, but it's hard to convince people of that if they have preconceptions against games. DDR's benefits are tangible and easy to persuade with.
The responses to this thread seem to be about tactical AI, but I thought of something quite different after reading the question. My main concern in game design is conversational AI, NPCs who can talk like real people. In most RPGs I've played, conversation seems to be limited to walking up to people and reading bits of scripted dialogue. If you're lucky, maybe you get a menu of three choices.
NPCs on the level I'd like to see are feasible: they have been done, by Emily Short. If a major publishing house produced a full-length RPG populated with Shortian NPCs, the result would be as significant as Doom, The Sims, or GTA.
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The game that really merits critical review is Dance Dance Revolution. By creating a video game with the health benefits of a sport, the designers have made an unambiguously positive contribution to society. Playing FF7 may make you a better person inside, but it's hard to convince people of that if they have preconceptions against games. DDR's benefits are tangible and easy to persuade with.
Seriously, when was the latest "new idea" you saw with regards to gameplay?
2000. _Galatea_.
The responses to this thread seem to be about tactical AI, but I thought of something quite different after reading the question. My main concern in game design is conversational AI, NPCs who can talk like real people. In most RPGs I've played, conversation seems to be limited to walking up to people and reading bits of scripted dialogue. If you're lucky, maybe you get a menu of three choices.
NPCs on the level I'd like to see are feasible: they have been done, by Emily Short. If a major publishing house produced a full-length RPG populated with Shortian NPCs, the result would be as significant as Doom, The Sims, or GTA.