I am giving a talk at Georgia Tech this Thursday at 4:30Pm, in the Skiles building, room 010.
Talk title: “A Game in the Hands of a Player. Or: This Game is just like that Other Game.”
In this talk, I will look at the space between the game and the player. What happens when a player picks up a game, and how can game design influence the player’s actions and experiences?
I see this as an open field between basic two observations: 1) Different players may play the same game differently, and experience the same game differently. 2) Different games yield give different kinds of pleasures.
Is curious… Isnt it the same thing that happens with books, films or other media? I mean I?d like to know -and sorry I?ll miss your talk because Georgia is a bit so far from my home ;)- if, maybe, we can find the ways to promove the same feeling -not different- in huge masses by game design. I think this point can show us if we are mastering game design. Anyway, i am sure will be a nice talk. Two Thumbs up! :)
Any chance you’ll be posting the talk or some notes after the presentation? My current research focuses quite centrally on this very issue, and I’m interested in reading your thoughts.
Oberon – you are right, the same thing happens with other media. It’s just that there is a bit of back and forth in game studies about games and players, so I am trying to stake the sensible middle ground.
Bryan – I touch briefly on the discussion in Half-Real, but I have a paper on matching tile games coming (I will post about it) that goes into a bit more detail.