Following with the innovation module, we had been asked to develop a game concept based on some random words taken from the class.
The word we choose to work with was "Daydreaming".
The idea is to have a device (namely augmented reality glasses) which be able to show the user some graphics on top of the real world, as well as some sounds.
You could allow the user to create content, upload it, rate it, watch it, download other users contents, or even modify what others did. This way you have collaborative work to create a virtual word on top of ours.
The user should also be able to interact with these objects.
The device should use a GPS, as well as a position, and orientation system so the user could use it everywhere with different features.
A game idea would be having an adventure or role playing game inside the game.
For an adventure game, we would have a game like the classic point and
click, where the player should be able to interact with the 3D
artificial environment just to get some clues or objects that could be
stored in the memory device.
A "game creator" could
create not only the environment, but also some rules so the player
cannot watch some scenes until getting some of this objects or clues. In
every scene, you have to discover something to go further.
For this, the software should allow people to create such rules and
objects, so we should allow creators to store information about clues
and collected objects as well as enabling or disabling some "scenes"
under certain conditions related to things such as:
items the player has, day and time, and more.
A more complex option could be a role playing game more... "realistic".
It could be with or without game master. Without him it would be kind of
similar to the adventure idea. With a game master, you could change the
environment according to what players do
or where they go on the fly. We could add some features like receiving
messages in your device from "ingame" people that tell you to go
somewhere to find out something.
For example, you can play a role playing game where you are a policeman
and you have to discover who the murderer is. Imagine you have been in
the morning to the city center (not playing, but with the device). When
you arrive home, your device know where you
have been (because of the GPS) so the game can send you an email from
"someone" (NPC) telling you that he has seen you in the city center and
have some information to share, so he wants you to go to X street
tonight. If you go there, and use the device, you
will be able to see the scene of the RPG and find a note where you have
some information about who the murderer is. If you don't go, the device
knows you haven't, so you can get another email saying you have lost the
chance. With a game master that could change
things more dynamically (instead of just something fixed previously)
could be much better and would improve the immersion a lot.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Friday, 19 October 2012
The innovation of the Wii
The Wii has been the first topic we have been talking about in the Innovation and Professional Development module.
The Wii caused a lot of changes in the way people used to see games and consoles.
From a marketing point of view, the demographic target changed from hardcore gamers to a family target, including women and older people, who didn't use to play so often (maybe never).
The idea of introducing channels in the menu, like in TV, was quite interesting, and you would be able to listen to the music, watching videos and other things, although Xbox 360 took this much further.
From a hardware point of view, one of the keys for the success of Wii was the controllers, which included accelerometers, allowing the Wii to recognize people's movements with the remote controller.
This allowed some innovation in the games.
Pro evolution soccer was the first soccer game where you actually were able to choose the point where you wanted to pass the ball, instead of just facing and press the button hoping that the game would make what you wanted.
Mario games are always innovative in one way or another, and in this case, Super Mario Galaxy had a very good point with the local gravity system, depending on which planet you were standing on. This game also made use of the Wii mote to control things like mini games, where you needed to put the controller in a specific way to success, or point at the screen for some other thing.
Other games were just upgraded thanks to the options the controller offered. That's the case of Trauma Center: Second Opinion, where the player would assume the role of a surgeon, using both controllers of the Wii (Wii mote and Nunchuk) to perform the operation. The game was previously been released for Nintendo DS, but the controls were pretty different.
Another games upgraded were shooters on rails, or just shooters. A lot of these games used to require a plastic gun (sometimes it was just an improvement, not a requirement) in order to play. Wii was the first platform where you didn't need a plastic gun, because the controller was actually the gun, all in one. You were able to point at the screen and have all the buttons in the same place.
The same happens with racing games. The player could use the Wii mote as a wheel, instead of having to buy a wheel, although a plastic wheel was sold, so people could feel the steering wheel in their hands instead of the controller.
Maybe the most successful games were sword games. Red Steel, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, Dragon Quest Swords... In these games, the player could do the movements of the sword just as if he was in the game, just holding the controllers while doing them.
The innovation of the Wii is now less significant, since people have got used to it, but when it came out, Nintendo showed a very good future vision and started a revolution in the market (followed by Play Station Move or Kinect).
In my opinion, Nintendo is not usually oriented to hardcore gamers, and because of this most third companies don't want to make games for them. The hardware is usually quite weak compared to Microsoft's or Sony's. But, in the end, Nintendo is the one who is always trying to innovate as it always does.
We will have to see if Wii U is as successful as Wii.
The Wii caused a lot of changes in the way people used to see games and consoles.
From a marketing point of view, the demographic target changed from hardcore gamers to a family target, including women and older people, who didn't use to play so often (maybe never).
The idea of introducing channels in the menu, like in TV, was quite interesting, and you would be able to listen to the music, watching videos and other things, although Xbox 360 took this much further.
From a hardware point of view, one of the keys for the success of Wii was the controllers, which included accelerometers, allowing the Wii to recognize people's movements with the remote controller.
This allowed some innovation in the games.
Pro evolution soccer was the first soccer game where you actually were able to choose the point where you wanted to pass the ball, instead of just facing and press the button hoping that the game would make what you wanted.
Mario games are always innovative in one way or another, and in this case, Super Mario Galaxy had a very good point with the local gravity system, depending on which planet you were standing on. This game also made use of the Wii mote to control things like mini games, where you needed to put the controller in a specific way to success, or point at the screen for some other thing.
Other games were just upgraded thanks to the options the controller offered. That's the case of Trauma Center: Second Opinion, where the player would assume the role of a surgeon, using both controllers of the Wii (Wii mote and Nunchuk) to perform the operation. The game was previously been released for Nintendo DS, but the controls were pretty different.
Another games upgraded were shooters on rails, or just shooters. A lot of these games used to require a plastic gun (sometimes it was just an improvement, not a requirement) in order to play. Wii was the first platform where you didn't need a plastic gun, because the controller was actually the gun, all in one. You were able to point at the screen and have all the buttons in the same place.
The same happens with racing games. The player could use the Wii mote as a wheel, instead of having to buy a wheel, although a plastic wheel was sold, so people could feel the steering wheel in their hands instead of the controller.
Maybe the most successful games were sword games. Red Steel, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, Dragon Quest Swords... In these games, the player could do the movements of the sword just as if he was in the game, just holding the controllers while doing them.
The innovation of the Wii is now less significant, since people have got used to it, but when it came out, Nintendo showed a very good future vision and started a revolution in the market (followed by Play Station Move or Kinect).
In my opinion, Nintendo is not usually oriented to hardcore gamers, and because of this most third companies don't want to make games for them. The hardware is usually quite weak compared to Microsoft's or Sony's. But, in the end, Nintendo is the one who is always trying to innovate as it always does.
We will have to see if Wii U is as successful as Wii.
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