4. Jargon
It's not until you sit
down with people who don't have the same gaming history as yourself that you
realize how much jargon you use.
This was as true for our explanations of how
to play as it was for the games themselves. "D-Pad" is a good example,
and we had to think for a while before we remembered this was an acronym for "directional
pad".
But then what is a "pad" in the real world? Our players
found some of this language quite excluding and at times drew frustrated
reactions. "Why can't they just use everyday English, for heaven's sake?"
"Leveling up"
was another point of confusion. "What am I leveling? Sounds like I need a
spirit level? And how do I make it go up?" This admittedly combative (but
very justifiable) comment came from one of our grandparents.
5. Variety of Subjects
As we worked our way
through the stack of test games on the table, more than one of our subjects raised
their confusion at the sheer volume of games. "Why do we need another
driving game? Isn't it the same as the last one?"
And once the point had
been raised, it was hard to defend the overlap between some of the games.
Spiderwick Chronicles and Harry Potter on Wii are essentially very similar
games when you get down to it.
This duplication in
some areas was problematic for them, when so many other types of game were
ignored. "I'd love to play a game about swimming, or how about property
restoration? That would make a great subject."
Although we struggled
to suggest games that involved grandparent-grandchild relationships in anything
more than a passing reference, there were some recent Nintendo titles that
started to broaden their subjects.
Clubhouse
Games, for example, was able to come to our rescue and provide some of the
more obscure card games they wanted to play. Deca Sports on Wii was also appreciated for its unusual selection
of sports - ice skating and curling were both big hits.
6. Play Across Generations
Although we had
collected together people of a similar age, many of them wanted to reflect upon
how this experience would help them play games with their families. They were
particularly interested in games that could be played by people of differing
ages and abilities.
"I feel like this is something I could really have in
common with my nephews," said one participant. Another agreed by saying "I'm
really enjoying some of these games. I can't wait to share this with my
granddaughter".
Games that enabled
players of different abilities to play together were really popular. At times
we felt like we were training our gamers up to be able to go off and play with
their families.
The idea of dynamic handicapping that arose in the Family
Gamers session
was well received here, too. But for our Silver Gamers the emphasis was as much
on playing with different ages as it was on different abilities.
Smarty Pants on the Wii (again) did well here as it provided questions for different
age groups. This enabled a family of players to play against in each other.
They found the Wii-mote inspired dancing a little daunting at first, but once
they realized it meant more points for their answer, they were soon happily hopping
around with the best of them.
7. Posture
One aspect of control
that caused a bit of a hiccup for some was the expectation that the player would
be standing up to play for an entire session.
On that note, general crowd
pleaser Wii Sports didn't score too
well here, as its motions were problematic when seated. "I spend all day
on my feet! I don't want to do it all evening as well," remarked Joan, who
works as a nurse. "I don't want to stand up to watch a film, so I don't
see why I should have to do it to play a game. This is supposed to be relaxing,
isn't it?"
EA's Tiger Woods came to our rescue, as it
provided a really popular seated control feature. This sit down swing option
can be adjusted for each player, so a group of players can decide how they want
to control the game individually. The seated option translates the swing from
the usual vertical motion to a horizontal action. This enables gamers to opt
for a sitting posture if they want to avoid getting up for each shot.
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This is a tricky line to stand on. At one point, I welcome more players to join in on this new evolution of media and entertainment, but at the same time, I fear the video games industry will go the way of Hollywood and start creating WAY too many stupid mass appeal content. Lets hope not...
A New York Times article from September 11, 2007, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/technology/12social.html?ex=1347249600&en=437b
4c69f257fa39&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) made some related points about what older people bring to online usage:
* According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34.
* Venture capitalist Paul Kedrosky observed that older people tend to be "stickier" than younger people. Once they subscribe to a service, they tend to retain that service longer.
* Consultant Susan Ayers Walker noted that older people have more money, and suggested that they are more attentive to advertising.
From these points, and from the observations in Andy Robertson's article, a casual persistent world game that offered features appealing to older people could be particularly effective. A MMORPG designed to be playable in short sessions over a long time, and that was wrapped around some enjoyable activity (i.e., probably something other than slaughtering hordes of NPCs for their loot and XP) might be worth exploring.
BTW: We're looking for venture capital; - contact me for business plan.
A.
A.
This is what I'd like to see in an MMO hunting game... It's incomplete, but I'm sure you'll get the idea
Here's a few of the basics of "My Mountain" MMO hunting game.
It's an economic hunting game.
"My Mountain" is an individual mountain that can be purchased in-game by hunters where they can privately hunt, guide, live, and make a living. ( would best be played in scrolling first person views.)
Players can eventually hunt their way to buying a "My Mountain" and build it from a simple hunting campsite to a full blown hunting lodge. Making an enormous fortune and earn the fame and respect of trying to become one of the best and reliable hunting lodges for hunting everything from rats to world record size trophies.
Only players with permission from the mountain owner are allowed to hunt on someone elses mountain. (Finding the owner can be a task until he/she establishes a certain level of reknown)
Other hunters may get permission from the "My Mountain owner" to hunt freely on that owners mountain without being guided, but may or may not be required to pay an in-game fee to do so. (That's up to the owner of the mountain.)
To guide other hunters, the owner of the mountain must have traversed all area's of the mountain first. And can only guide hunts of animals they have taken "5" or more of. (A map will reveal the area/s that have been traversed and those that have not and a list of animals that can be guide hunted will be displayed)... Players may also obtain permission to guide their own hunts on anothers mountain.
To be guided on a "My Mountain" hunt by either a mountain owner or a player who has permission to guide a hunt on that particular mountain, other hunters must obtain permission from the mountains owner. The guide of the mountain can only guide hunts they are skilled enough to lead. For a guide to be eligible to guide species specific hunts on anothers mountain, they must have harvested at least half the required species specific animals that the owner of the mountain is required to have harvested to guide. The required amount of species may have been harvested elsewhere.
"My Mountain" has all the animals and evironmental elements needed to support the animals for it's region. Such as rivers lakes, dense forest, sparse locations, caves etc.
The more the owner feeds the animals on "My Mountain" the larger they can get. Making each players mountain unique in how much they put into it... If a player decides they want to make their hawgs bigger, they must use hawg feed, same goes with all the other animals, each species has their own feed.
"My Mountain" owners will have to buy feeders and feed to feed the animals on their mountain. The feeders need to be placed by hand... The owner can set the feeders and fill them themselves, or hire players to do it... or hire an NPC to do it. Owners may also trade a day or weekend of hunting on their mountain for filling and/or placing the feeders, remote camera's and area informational devices that send valuable information about each feeder, the amount of feed in the feeder, digital camera's and photo's or video of each area that has a camera installed and operational, and the weather in that particular area.... If a player wants to trade items or weapons or services for the right to hunt on a specific mountain owners land, that can be done too..
Lodgeing, once it's built to a certain degree or level of lodge can be decorated and offer various items and services for buying, selling, renting and trading. Lodges start out a simple campsite and eventually are built into a full fledged multi faceted and beautiful hunting lodges, if so desired.
Different levels of lodges will afford the mountain owners the abilty to hold various types of hunts with vehicles that eventually leads to hunting from helicopters. (Not necessary, but very very cool)
Players earn enough money via hunts and guideing hunts before they can afford to purchase a mountain.
"My Mountain" owners can earn money with all the ways mentioned above, and possible in-game magazine, television contracts, and high brow hunters searching for the ultimate treatment in hunting.
Lodges and guides can be rated by in-game NPC's, in-game websites, tv, magazines and other players. Only players who have actually hunted on the property may rate that property. (If a customer of the owner get's a trophy animal, the player cannot rate the experience less than a 5 of 10. This will cut down on other players wrongfully rating the experience to drive up their own rankings. )
All players stats are recorded in real life via leaderboards, websites, etc.
Players may communicate, advertise services, and hunt with each other via MMO, in-game message boards etc.
It may be possible to form hunting lodge partnerships between real players and NPC's, and real players with real players if the "My Mountain Owner" wants to.
Players will not be able to fire weapons on a mountain they do not have permission to hunt on. (If animal attacks are part of the game, the hunter/s seeking the Mountain owner may protect themselves.)
If a player kills an animal they do not have permission to take, they have to pay the owner of the mountain 10X's it's worth and do not get to keep the animal (does not apply to attacking animals)... After a third wrongful kill, the player is is expelled from the property and must wait a designated amount of real time before they are allowed to return, provided the mountain owner approves. The mountain owner will know before approving any permissions if any hunter hunting their mountain has taken the wrong animals on their mountain and others mountains and which animals and the specs of each of those animals.
Animals will reproduce at a set amount but can be influenced to reproduce slower or faster depending on how the owner of the mountain controls the population of each individual species... The owner of the mountain is not in total control of the population, they can only influence it a little at a time.
Has lot's of potential for real world hunting gear developers, manufacturers, and distributors in-game advertising. (Sponsors)
That's it in a nutshell, the rest would need a greenlight for future development. (As if you couldn't figure the rest out...LOL)
Many thanks