Jim, we need our next game to be hip and exciting. Something…how do the kids say, realistic?
Once upon a time games were an escape from reality, but it’s questionable if that is still true today. First off, there are many ways to make a game feel real. The game mechanics can work like in the real world, physics can become an essential gameplay element to draw in a, even the methods of controling a character or series of characters could entice our minds into an essence of “real”. However, the easy way to feel real seems to be the simple color reduction/contrast raising gloomy atmosphere that we’ve seen time and time again.
I can’t hide my love for fallout. Everything about it was great except for the art direction. I left the Vault for the first time with the highest of expectations only to see a musky plain of brown desert stretched out before me. Don’t get me wrong I truly understand what the developers were aiming for during the production of the game. I felt alone and that was the point, I got it, but I didn’t feel captivated. It was up to the rest of the game to prove to me that it was good again because the graphic design failed me.
The article “i miss color” makes a good point.
If a game is supposed to be fun, isn’t it ok for developers to make it look fun? (1 smakus).
Smakus is trying to point out that most modern games with the “realistic” art style don’t make you feel “light-hearted” or uplifting and I totally agree.
There are quite a few games that could use a little lesson in the use of color. I easily grow bored of the graphics in some of these games because it feels like I’ve seen the same place a million times no matter the geometry of the map.
Games can be fun while performing other purposes as well. How about something that is educational, surreal, expressive, and more? You can gain much more from a game than fun as I’ve expressed in my article about the “Desensitization by Mass Media”.
I found the Zeno Clash (image above) to be a highly successful game with a nice color pallet. At the same time, however, I feel it could have been just as successful without the vibrant surreal colors. Left 4 Dead 2 is bringing a new collection of colors which is nice but the original Left 4 Dead did very well without it.
Some developers should choose a broader variety of colors for their color palette than they use in their games. Games such as Bioshock and Fallout 3 have a limited variety of colors consisting mainly of variants of grey and brown, which can become eye straining after long periods of play. Then there are games such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which have beautiful and vibrant color palettes which provide beautiful scenery to enjoy at all periods of gameplay. Even though Fallout 3 and Bioshock have theme’s that require the darker, more ruin-like palettes, there are probably better choices for colors that could have been used. (2 Lewis).
Color in games should be treated with care because it is a big mood setter. It’s becoming uncommon that a video game finds the perfect balance of color vibrancy without missing the target audience. There’s difference between a consistent color pallet and a bad color pallet.
Citation:
Smakus i miss color
Lewis, Trevor “Some developers…”
Years ago it was an abomination to see women show too much of their naked legs on television, which is quite a difference between today’s standards. On modern television you can witness foul language, group bashing, barely clothed individuals, and many other questionable influences. This change can be seen in television, music, magazines, newspapers, and especially the internet. The issue at hand is whether improper exposure to bad influences in media can desensitize; but is being desensitized really such a bad thing in our modern times?
Surveys and other research have been discussing desensitization all over the world. It becomes obvious that the media has a strong influence on how we view our world and form our lives. Children, due to television, are less likely to be shocked when seeing or even committing crimes for example. Video games have been a recent focus for the attention of researchers trying to correlate them to reckless and even violent behavior outside of the games people play.
There is a lot of debate around how media influences our decisions in life, however many fail to question whether becoming desensitized is as bad as it sounds. There are thousands of jobs in our modern world that needs a mentally strong individual to accomplish. Surgeons, police, lawyers, vets, and actors are just some of the general fields of work that require employees to be mentally strong enough to cope with the day-to-day job. When a surgeon performs their first major surgery there isn’t as large of a shock factor involved when doing the operation as if the individual was not desensitized.
In some ways it can even be argued that there is some indirect mental experience that can be gained from witnessing violence and sex performed by others through media. While some may be intrigued by seeing others perform these things it doesn’t always mean that the viewer will want to follow in their footsteps. In fact many would be satisfied simply watching crimes on television rather than wanting to commit any. The same is true for video games, which take this concept to the next level allowing you to virtually disperse any raw urges to commit a crime without harm to anyone. By using media as a way to experience improper behavior we feel less of a need to perform these behaviors in the real world.
In these modern times there are benefits and downfalls to becoming desensitized. Some place the blame for their criminal acts on the media while others credit the media for helping them through some tough situations. When used in moderation there is definitely a place for desensitization from media in our world.
June 15, 09
Recently I have read an article showing the success of Call to Action buttons used in our Web 2.0 world today. It’s often subtle features that make the biggest difference in our perception of an overall product or action.
One of the fundamental concepts of good design is eye movement. You know you’re on your way to a successful design when you can direct the majorities eye where you want them to go. When designing a Call to Action the task to me usually became an afterthought. It wasn’t until I started importing my old blog entries at SSS that I made a link for Downloads.
The process to make such a button in my eyes was simple.
- Examine existing theme.
- Create a small button following the theme with replaceable text to represent the action.
I paid so little attention to such a thing that I would just whip up a button in five seconds just so that it would be finished and I may move on with life. Now while browsing a website, then moving my cursor to click on a ‘download’ or a ‘join us’ link I pause to think about all the times I mindlessly wandered to click on this link in the past. If I know that I could would have normally found this link with my hands tied behind my back and a patch over my eye then I know they had made a successful Call to Action button. Good design is often invisible.
The influence a successful button has becomes a great deal more than I once imagined. I sometimes wonder if some of the websites I’ve signed up for I did simply because it felt easy. Perhaps it’s more than a coincidence that every major browser (aside from IE) has a similar large Download Now button smack on it’s main page. Because it works. The next time we all design a website or a button in our applications perhaps we should wonder how that button will influence our user’s decision to click it. Until then, I really need to redesign my download button…
