F.E.A.R?,,,next gen?

1. review some of these links on Game Design
2. write your blog entry, and consider the following questions:

What is meant by Gameplay?

game play is a term many people use to fill the gap where other words fail to fill. something that can be tagged as the games soul or reason for being...failing that it can be described as a games longevity or the players experience of a game other than a bit of eye candy and catchy line or two. for most people a game is played for fun and excitment and this is generally the way game play is merited upon. "does this game lack game play?" yes? many people would pull apart a games defining points in an attempt to rid it of its so called "game play" and miss the point entirly. for example i played a game called Condemned: criminal origins recently and found it to be overly satisfying and enjoyable to smash the skull of a crazed lunatic in the desperate attempt to....what? i just realy liked beating people up! The lighting also reflected the dark diranged esscence of the game. some may say this game lacked game play if all i remembered about it was crushing my foes in increasingly more violent ways, but i played the game and enjoyed every last second to the point in which i could wait to catch my next victim unawares and feel my 2x4 connect with human flesh. game play is more than how the game realed me in and kept me playing, it is better described as a feeling of satisfication weather it be violence, pleasure or pain, in the end "each to his own".

Who are the leading lights in Game Design? games designers come from all backgrounds, genres and skills thus there are hundreds if not thousands that deserve the title of leading lights
Eugene Evans, VP, Marketing & Business Development, Mythic Entertainment,Inc.
Montgomery Singman, Chief Professor, Shanghai Theatre Academy
Lan Hai Wen, CEO, Link China Entertainment
John Needham, CFO, Sony Online Entertainment
Joshua Hong, CEO, K2 Networks

games design is a fundimental part of the economic structure in teh computer age that we live in and will continue to develope through the imagination of the next game enthusiast. Games design takes place in all walks of life and in many areas of the world, such as Russia, America, Japan and little old England but the design process is created in the same place it always has, the minds of games enthusiasts all over the world, hidden away somewhere in dark computer rooms in the attempt to make millions of people happy.

Is it a single person's responsibility?

Over the years games design has gotten more complicated and technical with many people taking part using their indevidual skills such as texture mappers and level designers to artists and sound designers. from the first games to the most rescent, games have had increasing nubers of staff required to get to the finished product, sometimes as much as 150 or more people (Doom3). however games design has to have a beginning and that can be found at one persons idea or conscept wich is annalysed and split up into design stages. the first doom game was designed by non other than John Romero along with other games such as wolfenstein3d and the first quake. some people assume that games are developed and set on a path that is layed exactly how it started but many things change throughout the process. such as zelda: the ocarina of time. some of the locations of objects and creatures were changed even after the strategy guide was published. in short, games design is the sole job of everybody working on the game, after all, thats why they call it a design team.

Do different genres require different design principles? different genres of games are required to go through a similar process, every time. the games pipline requires research into a particular genre that may give the game its starting point and could effect its overall outcome but in terms of genre, if a game was to be an FPS for example then one would have to cinsider violence and game structure (psychology?) compared to an RPG that may entail more than just killing the next thing you see with a fully loaded hand cannon, what if an RPG needed more of an intelectual approach (myst or atlantis) as to find objects, solve puzzles or say the right thing to the right person to get you where you want to go. design of everything else depends on teh genre of teh game and above all the audience that likes this genre. games such as atlantis would be more suitible for an older more mature person that lacks teh hand eye cordination of a next generation FPS addict. the design principles of every game doesnt always go according to plan and may inherrit a class that was not originally intended such as GTA. it was first designed as a game for any body to play but as it grew so did the violence and the lastes versions are certificate 18+. the principles of game design cmay be able to go off at tangents depending on teh genre but the main structure is still there. http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Andy/Games/DesignPrinciples.html

What's important for you, when you play?

when i play a game i want to almost always see somthing new that may not have been done or used in that way before or maybe some new graphics technology, such as crysis (not F.E.A.R.). game play is assential but when a game is given to me i expect a certain amount of realism. im not just a guy that wants a game to look good i want it to feel good. designing a game that has great shaders and real time shadows is one thing but lacking game play and or quality is a no no. i recently played Baldurs Gste1 again and i loved it as much as when i first played it. this being an iscometic 3rd person rpg that has next to no graphical need what so ever. It has immersive game play and i am not forced to go along a set path to complete the story, the game allows me to go where ever want to and complete as many sub missions untill i totaly forget about the storyline.