Lecture 4: Pain and Pleasure

When we were given this lecture we discovered that there were 3 main theorys about play. These were; reward, flow and iteration. Since I don't have enough space here to write about all 3 of these, I have chosen to look at just one and that is iteration. When I think of iteration, the first game that comes to mind is Fable, a truly iterative game where you can change the outcome of events directly by your own actions, the storyline is not completely preset, and yiou can change it and set it along new paths as you choose. You could choose to be saintly or devil-like, and the storyline and reactions of the people will change accordingly. Everyone starts the game as the same character with the same backgrond, but from ther it continuously diverges according to the choices and decisions you make. You could actually go from one save point in the game and continue the adventure in several different ways, each with a completely different result.

Another game that is similar to this yet not quite so open-plan is Tales of Symphonia. Throughout the game you are given chances to change the final outcome of the game, and depending on several factors, mainly your relationship with the other characters, and your actions in some events. As a result several different endings for the game are available, each one affected by your earlier decisions. This is very different to how games used to be when they first started out, games your to be very linear and clearly defined, with one storyline and a definitive, complete ending with only one way to get there. Today games developers have realised that diverging storylines and sprawling stories are the way to go to further involve the gamers in their products.

I have played many games and with all of them have experienced both pain and pleasure. Pleasure when you complete a particular goal or quest, or simply after beating a difficult boss, it's the excitement of achievement. Similarly I have also experienced frustration upon encountering and absoloutely impossible enemy, or a puzzle that I can't figure out and I end up throwing the controller across the room in frustration. At other times a game has simply become so repetitive, cliched and predictable that I have simply given up out of boredom. That is why today people are demanding more and more depth and interaction in digital games, in fact, I think it may actually be a reflection of what these people want in real life, to be able to see all the possible decisions they could have made, and all the results of each possible decision.