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Opening Keynote At GDC 2005 34
RobotWisdom writes "Alice of the Wonderland weblog has managed to transcribe and post the opening keynote address by Raph Koster from the Game Developers' Conference. It was based on his book, 'A Theory of Fun'. My favorite quotes: 'Fun is the feedback the brain gives while successfully absorbing a pattern.' and
'The differences between Cheers, Friends, and a medieval morality play are NOT THAT BIG.' Very upbeat, thought-provoking and inspiring." As an FYI: I'll be leaving for the sunny western coast in less than 8 hours. Expect coverage all week starting as soon as I get over jet lag tomorrow.
Re:Why San Francisco...? (Score:1)
Actually, Atari was my last company. I left at the end of June last year after being there for six years. I think the only reason why they won't let me return -- I did inquire last month -- is because I have an active social life that interferes with the long hours.
My initial comment was a joke off the opening comment made at the keynote address. But I am looking for a job in software testing, programming and/or networking, but not necessarily in t
Re:Why San Francisco...? (Score:3, Informative)
Have you ever been to the Moscone Center?
1. Sony Metreon - geek play-land, including the horribly named new "Walk of Game," a Warhammer store, a Playstation Store, a "gadgets" store, an anime/comics shop, and free wireless. In a cool, if already slightly dated techno-utopian piece of boom-era architecture.
2. Yerba Buena Gardens.
3. SF Museum of Modern Art.
4. The best restaurants in the US.
5. Culture.
6. It's San Francisco. Even when it smells
Re:Why San Francisco...? (Score:1)
You forgot to mention Pier 39, which smelled a whole lot worse than pee when I was up there a few weeks ago. I wonder if EA is taking their people on the Alcatraz tour to prove to them that there working environment is not that bad in comparison.
San Jose is so... south bay.
Uh, huh. While San Francisco is so... leftish... that Bill Clint
San Francisco (Score:1)
I was kinda upset at frist about the change becuase it completely surprised me( I guess I should of planned ahead). There have already been a few advantages for me anyway.
Cheaper Flight (I got a real good deal out of the blue).
More Hotels within Walking Distance. (If you look at a map, and not the distance off the GDC website).
Now I welcome the change, and hopefully I will get to see some of the stuff in the area. There is just so much to see at GDC, You just dont have enough time to see it all.
San Jose is hosting Cinequest 15 right now. (Score:1)
Review of his book (Score:4, Informative)
Slashdot recently reviewed his book, and after reading the excerpt in TFA, I'm even more interested in checking his book out.
Review here [slashdot.org]What he said definitely rings true with me. I enjoy playing games, but once I can read the patterns, it becomes monkey work to implement them - hence not fun. Similarly I find the same is true at work. I enjoy work that involves problem solving or analysis, however if the patterns seem too easy - I see it as monkey work and am turned off.
Main point I took away: Fun lies between too easy and too hard, at the point where you "get" the patterns.
Being stupid = fun? (Score:2)
Thus, a mentally disabled person could forever perform a simple pattern, like throwing a ball or watching a flock of bird take off, without ever understanding it, and having fun every time?
Ignorance is bliss.
I was about to write something about EQ players, but I will sure be modded as Troll
Not the Keynote to GDC (Score:5, Informative)
Gaming's future (Score:3, Interesting)
The real question, now, is who can be trusted to make fun games that are not work (i.e. EQ). Is there any game designer or publisher willing to put out a truly innovative and fun game, something that doesn't rehash the same basic game design points that we have been playing the past 6 years? FPS frag-a-thons with improved graphics, MMORPG's better graphics and more delivery quests, RTS clickfests, turn-based strategy games...nothing new has come out in a long time that was also fun.
On Marketplace today they discussed the GDC and the growing interest of Hollywood. With the growing dominance of EA and the interest of Hollywood, are we looking at the beginning of the decline (so far as quality, innovation, and "fun" are concerned) and the introduction of a new phase of "gaming" as pre-packaged entertainment for the masses?
Does anyone else fear that when gaming no longer has the "I'm MrWa. I'm a gamer" connotation and becomes mainstream that the development stage - and the fun with it - has ended?
Re:Gaming's future (Score:2)
Re:Gaming's future (Score:1)
Sounds like Daikatana to me...
Re:Gaming's future (Score:2)
And stay tuned for Psychonauts, when we finally push that bad boy out the door.
Re:Gaming's future (Score:2)
I had great fun playing the demo last night, but I can't decide whether to get the full game or not. The demo seemed a bit glitchy, and it felt more like an incredibly polished, atmospheric shareware game than a 30-quid one. Still, it really reminded me of when I first discovered computers, where the bugs in games could be overlooked thanks to the s
Re:Gaming's future (Score:2)
On another note ; I find the Wario Ware inc. games also very 'new' amd 'fun'.
Re:Gaming's future (Score:1)
Re:Gaming's future (Score:3, Interesting)
mmoarrrrpg [puzzlepirates.com]
Everything is done by puzzles (e.g., advanced tetris-style games). A ship sails because the navigator plays the Navigation puzzle, using movement points created by people playing the Sailing puzzle, in ship vs ship battle people play the Gunnery puzzles to load guns, ships can grapple after which everyone fights each other hand to hand in Swordfighting puzzle games. That's different from yet another graphical MUD!
Re:Gaming's future (Score:3, Interesting)
Not really, no.
I mean, we've had books for--how many centuries, now? We burn through entire forests printing drivel that should never have been scrawled to a page in the first place, yet we still have brilliant authors producing everything from fun, entertaining stories to landmark works of literature.
One can argue that games re
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Gaming's future (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think there is a decline in any of those aspects. "Fun" is different for different people, the introduction of new segments of society to gaming have also changed the kind of games being played.
Madden football is definately "fun", but the reasons are different than what traditional gamers like. Madden football is more of a social e
Predicting patterns (Score:2)
about Raph Koster and others... (Score:2)
UO was very amazing when it came out. It was also very buggy and had some serious lag issues. Jokes of "step, step... lag... lag... lag" were common. Rollbacks and server downtimes were considered common events. Yet ha
Re:about Raph Koster and others... (Score:3, Interesting)
Essentially what we have here is a virtual sand
Re:about Raph Koster and others... (Score:2)