ChienAboyeur
SasqWatch
- Joined
- March 29, 2011
- Messages
- 6,265
With the release of the next gen consoles, gaming is once again marching toward the future. And gaming is undergoing a deep change process for various causes, one being the broad access to the internet and the networking that came with it.
So far, gaming was always understood and conceived as an activity and the game designs were thought under that constraint. The game was meant for the player to be an active part of it, an actor in full part. Players were active toward the resolution of a game. The qualities of a game were determined by the satisfaction a player got by being an active agent in the game.
The networking that came with the Internet made way to a new type of players, players who make money being watched playing video games. They can be professional players whose tournaments are broacasted, streamers whose play sessions are broadcasted etc
Economically speaking, as they collect money by playing video games, they are mechanically given a greater importance than players who simply buy and play video games. As such, their demand weigh more than the demand by an ordinary player.
And as such, their specific demand is changing the perspective on gaming and the way gaming is understood.
Up to now, gaming was exclusively a matter of players as actors of the game.
More and more, gaming turns as a matter of a director (the player who makes money being watched) and auditors (the audience that pay to watch the player plays)
The resulting demand of the interaction between the director and the auditors is a game that is easy on the eyes. And games in the future are going to be balanced toward that end to meet the demand of players who want to be director or auditors rather than actors.
Ryse: son of Rome, the RPG exclusive to the Xbox one, was poorly received by the reviewers. As often with reviewers whose work is to validate the past, it might be the sign that Ryse: son of Rome is in fact a game ahead of its time.
By older standards, Ryse is a poor game, with little depth. The game, as a RPG must be, is mostly about combat and what most, about melee combat.
Actual melee combat comes with certain rules that is better not to ignore like getting your opponents to work to surround you since they will want to surround you anyway, dont let yourself drop on the ground because it means immediate crippling or death...
Games that thought players as actors took up those rules as a framework to anchor their gameplay and in this regard, Ryse makes a poor job. There is so to speak no fight over preferential positioning, no strategical thinking to control the crowd of the enemies etc
2d classics like Renegade, Double Dragon, final fight, vigilante etc still provide a much better experience.
When assessed by the new demand that emerges from the interaction between the director and the auditors, it is a totally different story. Ryse rises to a new level and is an excellent game.
Ryse gives the player the opportunity to stage cinematographic combat scenes the way a director does. With little training, it is possible to produce a smooth sequence, as chained up movements flow perfectly and never awkwardly.The IA no longer controls NPCs that are enemies trying to curb the effort to prevail, but controls stunts that help to stage the scenes. Just as in a movie, their purpose is to be at the right place at the right moment to receive the blows that makes the PC look cool.
Games like Devil May cry worked also on the cool thing, despatching enemies with style and the rest but that was an attitude the player had to gain as an actor
For example, the key rule about getting surrounded still exists in a game like Devil May Cry. In Ryse, it is null. On the contrary, the player tries to be surrounded, as it allows to stage scenes worth watching.
When meeting a wave of enemies, the question to be answered as a player is no longer "how can I get out of this mess?" but rather "how can I make this getting out of the mess thing look good?"
Jumping in the middle of a set of three enemies allows to chain up movements right, left and center, all of them coming with a perfectly smooth transition.
It can translate like beating out three partners, grabbing one's head with a arm lock while sliding the blade in the heart of another, then severing the throat of the grabbed one, walk slowly toward the last victim, knock him back with a shield bash to finally kick him down the cliff (that you've skillfully attracted him to), screaming "this is Spartaaaaaa"
Assessed by older standards, Ryse is a poor game. But assessed by the new standards that are imposed by the alchemy existing between a director and the auditors, the game is a precursor.
Gaming is changing. Games are going to be balanced toward providing material for players to stage their gaming session. Coupled with the pressure from players who insist that games should be about story first, gaming is going to be moved from the activity side to the passivity side.
The player, as a director, will stage the most pleasuring way possible, the resolution of a game scene so that the audience can enjoy watching someone else playing the game and delivering them the story they expect.
From activity to passivity.
So far, gaming was always understood and conceived as an activity and the game designs were thought under that constraint. The game was meant for the player to be an active part of it, an actor in full part. Players were active toward the resolution of a game. The qualities of a game were determined by the satisfaction a player got by being an active agent in the game.
The networking that came with the Internet made way to a new type of players, players who make money being watched playing video games. They can be professional players whose tournaments are broacasted, streamers whose play sessions are broadcasted etc
Economically speaking, as they collect money by playing video games, they are mechanically given a greater importance than players who simply buy and play video games. As such, their demand weigh more than the demand by an ordinary player.
And as such, their specific demand is changing the perspective on gaming and the way gaming is understood.
Up to now, gaming was exclusively a matter of players as actors of the game.
More and more, gaming turns as a matter of a director (the player who makes money being watched) and auditors (the audience that pay to watch the player plays)
The resulting demand of the interaction between the director and the auditors is a game that is easy on the eyes. And games in the future are going to be balanced toward that end to meet the demand of players who want to be director or auditors rather than actors.
Ryse: son of Rome, the RPG exclusive to the Xbox one, was poorly received by the reviewers. As often with reviewers whose work is to validate the past, it might be the sign that Ryse: son of Rome is in fact a game ahead of its time.
By older standards, Ryse is a poor game, with little depth. The game, as a RPG must be, is mostly about combat and what most, about melee combat.
Actual melee combat comes with certain rules that is better not to ignore like getting your opponents to work to surround you since they will want to surround you anyway, dont let yourself drop on the ground because it means immediate crippling or death...
Games that thought players as actors took up those rules as a framework to anchor their gameplay and in this regard, Ryse makes a poor job. There is so to speak no fight over preferential positioning, no strategical thinking to control the crowd of the enemies etc
2d classics like Renegade, Double Dragon, final fight, vigilante etc still provide a much better experience.
When assessed by the new demand that emerges from the interaction between the director and the auditors, it is a totally different story. Ryse rises to a new level and is an excellent game.
Ryse gives the player the opportunity to stage cinematographic combat scenes the way a director does. With little training, it is possible to produce a smooth sequence, as chained up movements flow perfectly and never awkwardly.The IA no longer controls NPCs that are enemies trying to curb the effort to prevail, but controls stunts that help to stage the scenes. Just as in a movie, their purpose is to be at the right place at the right moment to receive the blows that makes the PC look cool.
Games like Devil May cry worked also on the cool thing, despatching enemies with style and the rest but that was an attitude the player had to gain as an actor
For example, the key rule about getting surrounded still exists in a game like Devil May Cry. In Ryse, it is null. On the contrary, the player tries to be surrounded, as it allows to stage scenes worth watching.
When meeting a wave of enemies, the question to be answered as a player is no longer "how can I get out of this mess?" but rather "how can I make this getting out of the mess thing look good?"
Jumping in the middle of a set of three enemies allows to chain up movements right, left and center, all of them coming with a perfectly smooth transition.
It can translate like beating out three partners, grabbing one's head with a arm lock while sliding the blade in the heart of another, then severing the throat of the grabbed one, walk slowly toward the last victim, knock him back with a shield bash to finally kick him down the cliff (that you've skillfully attracted him to), screaming "this is Spartaaaaaa"
Assessed by older standards, Ryse is a poor game. But assessed by the new standards that are imposed by the alchemy existing between a director and the auditors, the game is a precursor.
Gaming is changing. Games are going to be balanced toward providing material for players to stage their gaming session. Coupled with the pressure from players who insist that games should be about story first, gaming is going to be moved from the activity side to the passivity side.
The player, as a director, will stage the most pleasuring way possible, the resolution of a game scene so that the audience can enjoy watching someone else playing the game and delivering them the story they expect.
From activity to passivity.
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2011
- Messages
- 6,265