Re: Will we ever see the “perfect” Video Game?
Could've been Spore, alas...
Could've been Spore, alas...
Will we ever see the “perfect” Video Game?
- Thread starter PKerr
- Start date
Yup, and there are also cultural considerations. Traditional and modern Japanese game design places the 'save point' as a gameplay objective - the process of saving is often embedded into the overall game experience.
S
Stone_Cold_Sisko
Guest
Super Mario Bros. 3, and Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) are probably as close as I've ever seen. I'd also put Shadow of the Colossus up there but thats not an opinion likely to be shared by many
It's shared by me. Shadow of the Colossus is remarkable, and I reckon infinitely better than the samey dreck Nintendo peddles time and time again. Now that's an opinion not likely to be shared by many
It's shared by me. Shadow of the Colossus is remarkable, and I reckon infinitely better than the samey dreck Nintendo peddles time and time again. Now that's an opinion not likely to be shared by many
I have to admit... it's probably runner up for me. The sheer imagination, epic scope, controls, and a simple, yet elegant story really make it something special.
M
Meat Tenderizer
Guest
Wasteland, Claw, Blood, Doom, Hexen I & II, Heretic I & II, and all King's Quest. Perfect games every one.
I don't expect a perfect game every time around. However, I do expect that developers avoid some of the most basic mistakes of the medium. To use books as an example, writers may not write a masterpiece with every book, but they should at least follow the basic rules of grammar and spelling, barring specific stylistic choices of course.
I don't believe that every game lends itself to being able to save at any point. Quite often, the difficulty level of a game would be severely diminished. Anyone who does any emulator gaming knows how easy save states can make a game. I've even heard people advocate making it a feature of sports games, saying they "don't have time" to play a football game or whatever, and I say BS. They've already shortened the length of the game to like 20 minutes, how short do you want it? And isn't the challenge of a game like that to bring your game, at that place and that time under a certain set of rules for a certain continuous period? Or in a platformer, should you be able to save before every jump? Part of the challenge, I believe, is to be able to perform a long sequence of actions without fail. Saving constantly can eliminate that. Once at a time is for pussies. 
But saving shouldn't be frustratingly infrequent, and annoying interludes between the restart and the action should be avoided if possible. Wiping a mission in GTA and having to get your ammo and drive half-way across the city to restart the mission is a good example of an annoyance, but what I really hate is cut-scenes. Ones you can't skip. Force me to watch them once, that's fine, but remember I've already seen it! I hate wiping on a boss, having to run all the way back up some staircase for 30 seconds just to watch the same two minute long movie before fighting. Let me skip it for the love of Pete.
But saving shouldn't be frustratingly infrequent, and annoying interludes between the restart and the action should be avoided if possible. Wiping a mission in GTA and having to get your ammo and drive half-way across the city to restart the mission is a good example of an annoyance, but what I really hate is cut-scenes. Ones you can't skip. Force me to watch them once, that's fine, but remember I've already seen it! I hate wiping on a boss, having to run all the way back up some staircase for 30 seconds just to watch the same two minute long movie before fighting. Let me skip it for the love of Pete.
Seeing one of the threads on the first page now, reminds me of another perfect game: Portal. Honestly, who can say anything bad about that game?
^ Yes, I can. I knew as soon as the game began that the designers were pretty soon going to run out of ideas and resort to making things shoot at me. And I was right. The minute I encountered those stupid turret things, I put it away...and I don't regret it for a second.
To FordSVT: I don't think games are defined by 'challenge.' In most cases, I'm less interested in being challenged than I am in being entertained, and the challenging games I do enjoy (and there are many, don't get me wrong) are those that don't punish me for screwing up by erasing an hour or more of progress.
To FordSVT: I don't think games are defined by 'challenge.' In most cases, I'm less interested in being challenged than I am in being entertained, and the challenging games I do enjoy (and there are many, don't get me wrong) are those that don't punish me for screwing up by erasing an hour or more of progress.
I'm going to be blunt. That's one of the stupidest criticisms of a game I have ever heard. Things shooting at you is a weakness in a game? Wow. That must mean that a large majority of the games I play that I thought were great, are actually pieces of crap.
How about ya drop the tone, sunshine?
You know I wasn't saying that any game where something shoots at me is a piece of crap. That'd be a preposterous thing to say, so don't put words in my mouth.
To me, Portal was pegged as a puzzler (hee). I figured that the ideas presented in the first 11 or so levels could not be sustained for long without the addition of certain hazards - in this case, things shooting at me. Whether you agree or not is a matter of complete indifference to me - it's how I feel about it. I'm open to being convinced that I'm absolutely wrong, but until then I don't care if you think it's stupid. I don't care if it is stupid. Ok?
I agree.
To not play a fantastic game over something shooting at you is just silly.
My only criticism of Portal was it was too short!
I had so much fun with that game I wanted more!!
You may have missed the part where I said "not all" and "some". Just saying that you can't make a blanket statement that all games should let you save any time you want, it would be incorrect.
And I mentioned timing of saves, that would be the part where they don't erase and hour of your progress when you screw up. In general, I agree with you.
The perfect video game.....i don't think that's can question can ever be answered.
Personally, I think we've already had it - Half-Life 2.
The gameplay is perfect, every single possible problem has been ironed out to the point where there's nothing in the game that isn't fun.
The graphics were great for its time, even now it holds up for me when compared to, say, Unreal 3 Engine games (UT3, Gears of War etc) where all of the male characters look like they're on steroids and all of the female ones have gigantic breasts that even a comic book artist would be ashamed to draw.
The gameplay is perfect, every single possible problem has been ironed out to the point where there's nothing in the game that isn't fun.
The graphics were great for its time, even now it holds up for me when compared to, say, Unreal 3 Engine games (UT3, Gears of War etc) where all of the male characters look like they're on steroids and all of the female ones have gigantic breasts that even a comic book artist would be ashamed to draw.
Thespeckledkiwi
Vice Admiral
There will never be a perfect game simply because there is so much out there. Sports? MMO? Fantasy? First person shooter? RTS? Role-Playing? Turned Based?
I liked a lot of different games. And while it is overrated I still find it uniquely beautiful is the Final Fantasy series.
I liked a lot of different games. And while it is overrated I still find it uniquely beautiful is the Final Fantasy series.
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