Gamer Grow

I've noticed that people are having a hard time calling WiiFit a game. This problem seems to be affecting game enthusiasts, bloggers, message board posters, and TV personalities alike. Perhaps these confused individuals only need to be reminded of the definition of a game to realize that WiiFit is as much of a game as any other. Does WiiFit have goals? Yes. Players are encouraged to set their own personal weight/BMI goals over time. Does WiiFit have a way of measuring whether or not the player achieves their goals? Yes. By measuring the player's weight and determining their BMI progress can be tracked. Does WiiFit have a scoring system? Yes. The majority of exercises have a 100 point scoring system, while the majority of the balance games support a high score system. Does WiiFit have a primary mechanic? Utilizing the WiiBalanceBoard and the Wiimote, the primary mechanic of WiiFit is "move your body." The fact that WiiFit is about exercise and maintaining good health i...

Wario Ware had the right idea. This game, in its own quirky way, took a look at games and stripped the established formulas and conventions down to their bare essence: simple forms, simple functions, and simple goals. To keep things fresh throughout the franchise history, Wario Ware games have embraced the power of a governing gimmick. After the first Wario Ware game was released on the GBA, the following Wario Ware used gimmicks of twisting (tilt-pack), touching (DS), motion controls (Wiimote), and,if you include Rhythm Tengoku, music. Not only are the Wario Ware games a smorgasbord of quick fire micro games, but they are also jam packed with creative additions that range from arcade games to what can only be described as "doodads," "toys," and "other." To give an example of what can be found in the "other" section, there is a "game" where players squeeze water out of an old wash towel that has been conveniently dipped in water. It ...

Following in the footsteps of Gears of War and becoming an honorary member of the "If One Is Good" club, Resident Evil 5 will feature a co-op "campaign" so that two people can get in on the action at any time. The screens and video of RE5 so far look very similar to RE4. I have always felt that the team had possibly run out of ideas, and they were just making a prettier version of RE4 on the 360 and PS3. Now, the new features of RE5 are simply what every other shooter is doing or has done. Along with co-op, players can snap to cover and shoot around walls. Sound familiar? To be fair, the RE5 team is also adding a dodging system from a game they had previously released on the PS2 called God Hand. We'll have to wait and see how much these new mechanics changes the gameplay. In the long run, if RE5 comes out and it's basically RE4 times two, don't look so surprised. Do the math. (Even if it is RE4 x2, it'll still be amazing). On a completely unrelated ...

Everyone seems to be sharing their WiiFit stories. So, I figured I'd contribute one of my own. It all began last summer, when I was trying to design a fighting engine that would allow for the player to use their whole body to simulate actual martial art moves like the ones found in Avatar: The Last Air Bender . I figured that the motion controls in the Wiimotes could handle the arms and upper body movements, but I could never find an adequate way to translate the motions of the feet, lower body, and balance through Wiimotes. I didn't want to resort to tying Wiimotes to my feet. Little did I know that my design thoughts were on the same train of thought that lead to the creation of the now famous Wii Balance Board. The moment my eyes saw WiiFit being unveiled by Miyamoto during the E3 of last summer, everything fell into place. WiiFit, more specifically the Wii Balance Board, fills in the design gap concerning full body motion controls. Once again, Nintendo had created a device ...

I thought I would be able to purchase WiiFit today, but I can't because the 19th is the release date and not the street date. So for the next two days, I will be slightly more irritable, forlorn, and energetic as I count down the hours. As you may know, WiiFit is my most anticipated gaming purchase of the year next to Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I am just glad that WiiFit isn't going through a tripple-delay like Brawl did. I've started working on a series of small gaming projects that focuses small gameplay innovations using the Wiimote and the Wii Balance Board. I'll have more details soon.

When I first started playing The World Ends With You (TWEWY), I couldn't believe Square Enix made such a convoluted game for the Nintendo DS. It is as if they went out of their way to ignore the progress that games like Kirby: Canvas Curse, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and even Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword have made. But then I thought about the kinds of games Square Enix makes, and everything became clear. Square Enix has always had a very difficult time incorporating action elements into their games. They've been trying for years, but, like with so many of their games, the few concrete mechanics they get right are drowned in a deluge of abstract RPG mechanics. TWEWY is no exception. The World Ends With You is an action RPG. Action RPGs are typically designed with fourth tier mechanics in their base level, concrete combat mechanics before abstract mechanics are added on top. TWEWY is no different. Playing TWEWY makes me realize how shallow and laborious abstract mech...

Now that we have talked about mechanics and abstractions and ranked the various levels of mechanics by their design , I want to discuss specific games. Many are willing to admit that concrete mechanics are superior to abstract mechanics for a variety of reasons the most important of which being that concrete mechanics tend to evolve into emergent gameplay and encourage self expression while abstract mechanics tend to reduce gameplay to trail-and-error and simple optimization. But, at the same time these gamers might not be aware of just how much they dislike abstract mechanics. When given a choice of playing with a soccer ball or memorizing a computer data/coding system, my preference is the soccer ball. With a little gravity and other physics interactions, I can experience an infinite number of outcomes. To help shed some light on this situation, I'll use an example. Though we may be gamers of different ages and backgrounds, I personally believe that we should all play and beat S...

Yesterday, I made a post about the different kinds of mechanics a game can feature and what kinds of effects these mechanics could have on the gameplay. Now it is time to analyze mechanics through a set of criteria consisting of the player input, the form of the mechanic, and the range of effects the mechanic has on the game world. I've simplified things into a few factors. Individual: Does the input yield the same action every time? Or can the input result in a variety of different actions. Intuitive : A measure of the degree to which input method matches the form of the game. If there's a green button on the screen, and a green button on your game controller, the form of the game is liked to the input of pressing the green button on the controller. Direct: A measure of how the changes in the method of input are paralleled with the action in the game according to the form of the mechanic. If you quickly press the green button on your controller, does the game quickly press t...

Here at Critical-Gaming gameplay mechanics are very important. Because videogames are an interactive medium, what we do and how the games responds is key. Even with the same mechanic or action, each game finds a different way to generate their results. A kick in Super Mario Strikers (a soccer game) is very different from a kick in Super Mario World, which is very different from a kick in Super Smash Brothers. Whether a game is defined by an action or a group of actions, a small set of mechanics rests at the core of every game. This mechanic is the primary function. Identifying the mechanics in games is relatively simple. Just about anything the player can do is a mechanic. The resulting effects from using a mechanic are its properties. For example, in Super Mario Brothers, jump is the primary function, and squashing enemies is a property of that function. Being able to clearly identify a mechanic and its effect in a game takes a critical-eye. Mario games have always presented clear gam...

"Mario Kart has always teetered on the line of feeling somewhat orchestrated, as the racers in the lead receive items of little to no value while those in the back get items that will quickly jet them to the front. It adds to the chaotic "any race could be my race" feel..." IGN- Mario Kart Wii ".... and "everyone's a winner" feeling you get when random items show up and completely turn the game upside down in an instant. Granted that's [Mario] Kart, but it's also a way to water down competition, which is exactly how Super Mario Kart got its start." IGN - Mario Kart Wii "Normal shots and even one-timers are highly unlikely against the spot-on goalie A.I., so players have to clear some space and sneak in a charged shot. Toss in a few shells, bomb drops and giant plumbers, and Charged becomes an incomprehensible riot. A hilarious riot, but an incomprehensible riot nonetheless." Game Revolution - Mario Strikers Charged "Th...

It has been a good week since Mario Kart Wii was released, and the game has won me over. Though some of the design choices do disappoint me, especially considering that they have taken a few steps back in the area of form fits function, the game is still Mario Kart in the same way that Brawl is still Smash Brothers. And that is a very good thing. The graphics either grew on me, or I've learned to ignore how bad they are. Some levels look great while others feature geometry that is pathetically jagged. I know the Wii can handle more. My theory is, they were planning on releasing Mario Kart for WiiWare before they invented the Wii Wheel and decided to package it in all together. On the positive side, I've almost completely gotten used to the Wii Wheel controls. The degree of analog control is very high. For those of us who find the D-pad insufficient, and have problems playing on a tiny analog stick, then the Wii Wheel should be the perfect solution. Turning by a hair in the gam...

Memory Speedometers I don't remember exactly how I met Carl Pinard (a.k.a.NJzFinest) a Karter from New Jersey age 19. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I've never met him in person. It was on the tracks that I met this racer via Mario Kart DS online play. Back then I considered him to be my rival. Needless to say, we were both pretty good at the game. And for us, in the world of Mario Kart, 1st place was expected. They say for members of a band, it all comes out on the road. This is a phrase that takes on new meaning in a Mario Kart race. So when we both sat there at the starting line with out engines humming, waiting for the Lakitu to start us off, I knew it would soon be all behind us. I kept Carl in my contacts long after I stopped playing Mario Kart DS competitively and after Carl's copy of Mario Kart DS was stolen. In my interview I found out that he has a lot of experience with the Mario Kart series. Here's what he had to say. ----------------------------------...

First read this. I must have been somewhere close to 15 or 16 when I first met Shane. I was told about his 1000$ Mario Kart challenge and instantly knew what kind of person he was. Through a series of unfortunate events, a game called Super Mario Kart was released in a time when internet play didn't exist for console games. In times like these, some players will continue to get better at a game until they have exhausted all the local competition. When this happens, some of these players are driven to put their skills to the test by taking on the world, enticing challengers with a risk free chance to win big. I told Shane's story whenever I heard the words Mario Kart and "I was pretty good" in the same sentence. Everyone thinks they were "pretty good" at one game or another. If not, everyone has a friend or a friend of a friend who "can't be beat." Well, Shane Kukiattikoon now 25 years old, is the guy I know. He couldn't be beat. And unlike...

Over the years the Mario Kart formula has been tweaked ever so slightly with every iteration. Five games after Super Mario Kart comes Mario Kart Wii. Though the latest version is played with wheel instead of a controller, features 3D graphics instead of 2D mode 7 graphics, and supports up to 12 players online play instead of 2 players offline play, these differences aren’t want makes Mario Kart Wii so different from the original. In my previous essay, I described how Super Mario Kart is structurally similar in design to Super Mario Bros. The elements in both of these games are so tightly woven together, changing one thing by a minute degree can throw everything off. So now we have Mario Kart Wii. And it appears that, compared to the original, everything was changed by a significant degree. The result, a game that is cluttered with design choices that detract from the whole by stretching the game abnormally in a particular direction. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the current...