236 - Game Playing Malaise

Developer diaries about creating Neverending Nightmares.
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matt
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236 - Game Playing Malaise

Post by matt »

Sometimes, the idea of playing video games makes me anxious, so I'd rather do pretty much anything else. Maybe this just happens to me, but in this video, I talk about why I might get that feeling and how it may stem from design decisions in the games I'm playing.

-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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evilkinggumby
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Re: 236 - Game Playing Malaise

Post by evilkinggumby »

I don't think it is JUST YOU, i get that too for varying reasons. Some of what you said applies, I have a hard time sitting down choosing to play certain games because I want to relax and have fun and despite wanting to play "x" game, i know it is not easy or relaxing, so I put it off.

at the same time I avoid games where i hit a 'rough patch' and feel stuck or frustrated with the game and don't know how to proceed. Those games get shelved for what can become YEARS.

when looking to play games there can be a lot of things that pop into your head.. sort of like an evil voice.

is this game going to be fun?
do i really have the time to sit and play a significant bit of the game successfully?
will the game frustrate or stress me out?
Am I ignoring my family playing this game?
Shouldn't I be doing chores or other work instead?
Is there something else I'd like to play?
Wouldn't it be more fun to replay a game I know I enjoyed instead of playing this game?
Am I ready to deal with the learning curve long enough to enjoy the game?
Am I in the mood for this type of game?

When you have all those questions (and more) bouncing in your head, it can be impossible to settle on a particular game. One problem, being an adult and with a significant collection/backlog of games is that it is easy to look at a game and ask all those questions and then consider " of all my games do I really want to play this? Why not something else?" and so step away for a while. As a kid you have a very finite collection and so you have to play every game you have to DEATH since it was so infrequent you'd see another one(at least back-in-the-day it was like that LOL). As an adult I have hundreds of game son steam, a dozen or so on origin, a few dozen on humble bundle, a few dozen on GOG.com and a pile from indiebox.com and physical games on the queue. and then there's physical copies of games for every system I own PLUS games for my tablet and my phone... lol.. Do I kill an hour messing with a action packed (but stressful) FPS or do i just bang out 10 minutes on a casual match 3 game and then go do something else?

I've gotten REAL good at stupid match 3 games.. if that says anything.

I also often choose games that are not as action oriented and so turn based or strategic, as in my older years I find 'twitch' games a lot harder and more punishing on my hands. I still try to do it, but when I start asking " do I have the speed/reaction time to do this or should I go slower and methodic" a lot of the time methodic wins out.

I'm glad I finished NeN when I did, if I let my frustrations get the best of me and put the game away, then tried to ask a lot of these questions I think it would end up shelved for a long time.

There is also the malaise of realizing a game is subpar or 'more of the same ol same ol" where the characters are archetypes or cookie cutter, the story is crap, the dialogue is terrible, the gameplay is competant but uninspiring and the level design/environments are fairly uninteresting. Essentially you have seen so much better that it is hard to feel like the game is worth your time anymore. But people say it is a great game...eventually. Or it grows on you. or the ending makes it all worth it. People have also said this about some terrible games/tv shows/movies and so it is hard to just take them for their word.

It might be time to think of why you got into gaming in the first place. and why you became a game designer. What was it that really entranced you, gave you passion, fascinated you to no end. Where was the draw towards it? And once you pick up on that.. why has that faded..or. HAS it faded? Have you lost sight of those roots?

Actually that may be a good topic for a weekly dev diary. Why did you get into this industry, and what drove you to play video games as a passionate youth?

Early on gaming was a very social activity. I loved to partake of the experience WITH friends or family and being able to share in the excitement, success, failures, and story. It is like sitting through a movie alone in a theater, vs being with a few friends and a packed house. Being with people while playing is electric, because a certain energy gets into the air as everyone really gets int it. Playing alone, you can't do that. you can't turn to someone and go " Ha did you see that?!". It sounds like you game next to your wife, but how about WITH her? do you have game nights with yer friends where ya'll kick back and mess with a game together and enjoy each others company and the sharing of a common experience?

for a long time that was what gaming was.. the centerpiece of my friends and I's world. Spending 6 hours to beat a level is SO MUCH easier to endure with friends. Doing the 50th battle in a fighting game is that much more satisfying.

I am generally empathetic though so maybe that's just me, as feeling those around me having fun and excitement has it's own special fuzzy for me.
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[I am Evilkinggumby on DeviantArt and Steam if you want to looks me up!]
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matt
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Re: 236 - Game Playing Malaise

Post by matt »

I'm glad you finished Neverending Nightmares as well. :) Fortunately, my malaise has been cured because I DID pick up Sunset Overdrive, and it got really awesome. As you said though, it's tough to resume games once you put them down and get frustrated. Joe had a lot of praise for Neverending Nightmares, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Some games I feel obligated to play for research purposes, so I'll probably keep playing The Evil Within... at some point. If I weren't making a horror game, I would have given up on it hours ago. Joe gave up on it, and I think he may have given up on Alien: Isolation before finishing it as well.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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