GameblurgKids Talking About the Future

Do you remember your teenage years where that one guy seemed to be a natural at dating women? Do you also remember when the same guy would hook you up with the bottom of his tier list? You know, the girl that pretty girls keep around to boost their self esteem. This is the same reminiscent feeling I get when my friends start recommending Japanese games for me to play.

The situations between a blind date and a stereotypical Japanese title are extraordinarily similar: It’s a blind date, but you have her number so you take the time to know the girl over the phone (previews). You trust your friend’s judgment as he hypes her up (promotional videos).

“She’s great man. She’s got a car and a big….heart,” your friend says. Naturally, you get excited after previewing her and hearing good things, only to find out things aren’t what they seem.

Finally, the date arrives (release date) and you lay your eyes on a stumbling disaster. She can fill two seats with relative ease (loading times), her teeth have gaps (unspoken dialog) and her face brings Shrek to mind (choppy visuals).

You’ve invested so much time learning about her favorite colors and why she doesn’t like the toilet seat up, only to find out that she sucks, and you could care less about her or her toilet seat preferences.

The main problem is, you never received what you were promised after enduring promotional video after promotional video. These antics have carried on for years (Konami, Square Enix) and have plagued fans of their franchises when they discover that the final product doesn’t hold a candle to the promotional material that they’ve been watching years before. All of the cute computer generated movies mean nothing when you find yourself monotonously grinding level after level while trying to become the “one” and save the damsel in distress.

With titles like White Knight Chronicles and Yakuza 3, we’ve been set up for disaster before the second quarter of the year, but we’ve learned from out past mistakes, Japan: find another sucker, because you won’t fool us again.

When an artist grabs a paintbrush, whatever hits the blank canvas afterward is his responsibility. If he is suddenly crippled in the middle of a project from a lack of inspiration and begins to “think instead of paint”, the painting may become a disaster.

An artist can’t let uncertainty and fear stifle him during in the middle of a project. An artist must continue to explore his mind and fill creative space with the results of his daydreaming.

Videogame designers go through a similar creative process. In fact, it’s an exact replica of what any designer in any medium goes through.

I think what I learned from Mr. Miyamoto is kind of the methodical, calm, creative approach. It’s not just willy-nilly ad-hoc creative approach – just closing your eyes and swirling the paintbrush.

He was very methodical in his approach to the process and highly iterative, and I think it was the secret to his success.

In the September 2009 edition of Game Informer, Howard Phillips recalls specific qualities that one must have during the creative process in order to create a successful product.

An important factor in creating art is losing fear. Don’t fear the results of a vague and blurry experiment. Stop being so afraid to daydream at work. Lose fear in blotching your paintings. If anything will benefit from just “swirling the paintbrush”, your work will. Give yourself to your dreams, calm down and start doing whatever the hell you want.

All I want is a pretty world to excite my imagination. Ideally, if I can dive into a game and forget what time of the day it is when I come back to reality, I’m a happy camper.

A lot of times, people think they want realism when what they really crave is internal consistency within a given universe.

In the January edition of Game Developer, Zen of Design author Damion Schubert subtly but swiftly dissects what gamers really want in their games.

A beautifully crafted game will envelope you in a culture of its own. Just as long as you aren’t peeking around the corners at work looking for zombies, you should be fine.