Tech Shorts and Game on the Street joint podcast #2
This podcast is the second part in a series of joint podcasts by Game on the Street and Tech Shorts.
This part talks about gaming peripherals.
If you missed the first part, please make sure to subscribe to the Game on the Street podcast to pick it up, and to get the next part.
Enjoy.
TS_GOTS_2005-02-20_jointcast2.mp3
So is that neuro helmet going to include a motion sensor for head bangers music rhythm games? : P
Let’s say we have this technology. What do we want to do with it? The most immediate idea is to convert an existing game to use this interface; let’s say a racing game. So we wire steering, throttle, and brakes in to the brain. As we test drive this set up around the track, we are looking ahead and choosing the best line around the corners. But wait, now we have the technology read those decisions from the user.
If we implement a racing game to be controlled by the user’s choice of line and car control choices, does it make for a better driving game? Better driving experience? One is for sure, we can present car movement feedback to the user with unprecedented fidelity. The next question is, what do we want to do with it? Do we want a game that is controlled by thinking the driving line? A more fundamental question is, what is a game?
I think interface designers will gain value when the technology arrives. After all it’s a new interface right? We won’t have a shortage of range of user inputs. What is difficult is telling what inputs the game does not allow, whether by production limitations or by design. We won’t have enough man power to deal with all possible user inputs. The purpose of a game isn’t so much about solving a problem that has befuddled all humans, but rather having a fun solving an artificial challenge.
Neuro interface makes realistic games expensive and difficult to produce and also a little bit tough to imagine. So you’re presented with locked doors. But unloading 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition won’t budge it, but you knew, from the lessons you’ve learned all the way back since Sierra’s Quest series, that game right now wants you to find a key card from one the dead guards.
I remember playing a skiing game about ten years ago that has two sensors, one for each hand. The the user is supposed to think left or right to control it. I totally did not (and still don’t) know how to think left or right. In the end it totally didn’t work for me.
Comment by Yu — February 22, 2005 @ 9:34 pm
You make an interesting point.
To make this type of interface work well it probably depends not just on reading from your mind but being able to input instead of your normal senses as well. If the interface is sophisticated enough that you can feel/see/smell/hear any given input then it really opens the opportunity for the user to experience whatever the game designer desires.
Imagine a horror game where you feel bugs climbing up your leg…
To me there are many different aspects that can make something a game:
Competition
Escape from reality
A thrill
Risk / Reward
But probably most of all it has to bring the player enjoyment in some form.
Comment by Richard — February 24, 2005 @ 11:53 pm
Bugs are as creepy as I will accept in such a game. I’m turning off the smell option if I anticipate dead bodies. I can only imagine the disclaimer in the game and on the packaging.
Alright alright, I found a way to tell users what inputs are not accepted by a game. You simple zap the user with mild electricity.Bzzz, ouch, bzzz, ouch. Simpson style. : )
Without the tech specs it hard to design the game experience, but we’re having fun imagining it right? Taking a step toward the broader level, instead of a game like we know it today, it can be an experience stream complete with all five senses plus more (emotions and such). A racing game experience can be thrill of speed, feel of g-force, sense of danger, and satisfaction of controlling the vehicle faster than the CPU. All this may not need to be “played” by the user. We might be able to just feed it without interaction with the user, all the while the user still feels the involvement.
Add time acceleration to that, and it’ll make for very efficient entertainment. One hour of gaming in just five minutes.
Can memory ever be as satisfying as experiencing it first hand? I.e. just load memory that says you’ve played and finished Final Fantasy or been to a freezing cold Antartica expedition.
Comment by Yu — February 25, 2005 @ 12:24 am