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« on: September 06, 2008, 03:31:04 am »
Thanks guys!
chriskot - I actually agree with in theory, and I think in the first Prime game the scanner was actually used reasonably well some of the time! I think overall it still hurts the game though, at least for me. I am slowly realizing that I really, really loved inventing my own backstory and details and biology for the creatures. I don't think that the scanner itself is necessarily a detrimental gimmick, but when its full of descriptive sci-fi fluff I feel like it is just totally wasted. I'm gonna try and come up with a couple of examples to maybe illustrate where I'm coming from. Let's say you are in Metroid Prime and you scan a spikey creature with some odd behavior, and you want to know more about it:
Option #1:
"A spike-bearing Calinthrops, from planet Exelon VII. Scientists have observed it moving in circles for no reason. Dangerous to touch, recommend shooting from a distance."
Option #2:
"Calinthrops, from Exelon VII. Scientists are unsure why they evolved spikes, was it to defend their territory, or to attract mates? Cross-reference with species Zaximon."
Now, I have a beef with "scan percentage" being tracked, but I'm willing to admit that its my own OCD tendencies that make that particular design trait annoying. However, all the Prime games do a LOT of Option #1. And what does option #1 really tell you? Nothing you couldn't learn on your own by watching and interacting with the creature yourself, or using simple deduction by GLANCING at the creature.
Option #2, while providing information and backstory (and thus not being abstract anymore) is I think a more attractive option, because it encourages you to interact with the game in a way other than deciding what to kill next. You can go look up the other species, compare its behavior to the Calinthrops, then decide if it is maybe a Defense thing or a Mating thing, or MAYBE you think they use their spikes for something else entirely.
I dunno, I don't want to get ranty about it. I guess it all boils down to I feel like there is a layer of interactivity that has slowly disappeared from games over the last 5 or 10 years, for better or for worse. Between gameFAQs and forced tutorials and higher-res graphics there is no room to inject your own ideas and preconceptions into the play experience (at least there is much less). I think the scanner is a remarkably specific or apt example of this gradual change.
Another way to think about this process (because its a very real process, regardless of whether my opinions about video game evolution are accurate or useful) is when you think about reading a novel. Novels are not really interactive - you can't change or manipulate the content in any direct way. But the content is very much colored by your perception and life experience when you actually take it in. Novels succeed amazingly at this (the well-written ones anyways) because they are almost as abstract as you can get. They're just words! So again, for anecdotal comparison:
"The bartender was nervous because two large men were approaching the bar."
"The bartender fidgeted with the glass as the two large men approached the bar."
The second sentence to me is much more interesting or pleasant to read because rather than spoonfeed me the character's emotions, I can infer them by "observing" his actions.
Ok I better stop now, this is getting to be a mighty long post! Basically, I am in love with the idea of letting the player infer their own beautiful things when they play games, and I tried to let them do that with this game. That's all!
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it was going to be a lot of work, so I opted for something simpler, and frankly less good.