Posts Tagged ‘games’
This week’s gaming usability roundup – Portal 2, Deus Ex, Driver San Francisco.
It’s amazing how many of the top current generation games have major usability issues. I’ve taken a look at some of the biggest releases out now, and have highlighted a few of the usability and user experience issues that came up!
now that's just silly
Some great articles on games usability and player experience
A short update this week, as I’ve been focused on a number of other projects, most importantly polishing off “Beyond Trash Talk – Understanding player motivation through analysis of social interaction in collocated multiplayer gaming” (of which, more soon!).
Today, I’d like to share some articles on usability and user experience in games that I’ve enjoyed recently, in case you missed them. I’d also be interested to hear recommendations of things I should be reading, feel free to leave a comment! Click to continue…
Valve’s philosophy with User Research in Games (Gabe Newell & Mike Ambinder)
Gabe Newell at Valve is infamous for replying to emails. Having previously featured articles on this blog from developers such as Mainly About Games, and NimbleBit on their ethos with user research in games, and the practicalities of implementing it, I thought I’d have nothing to lose from emailing Gabe for Valve’s unique perspective.
Remember to be polite....
[Prototype] – Some UX and Usability thoughts.
[Prototype] is an open-world superhero action game, released in 2009 which has striking similarities to the game Infamous. As part of my commitment to being a cheap gamer, I recentely picked it up second hand, and have just finished the story mode (aside from the comprehensive list of side missions, but I can never bring myself to go back to them after the story’s completion). Today I’ll share my thoughts on the usability and user experience aspects of the game that worked, and those which didn’t.
Blammo!
Ian Marsh, creator of Tiny Tower, on user research, play-testing and F2P
Tiny Tower is the hit iPhone game which allows players to build and manage a towerblock and its residents (or ‘bitizens’!). Despite being free, Tiny Tower is continually in the top-grossing apps list due to it’s effective use of free-to-play mechanics.
I spoke to Ian Marsh, one half of Nimblebit, who have had numerous iPhone hits beyond their success with Tiny Tower, including Scoops, Pocket Frogs, Textropolis and more. Ian shared his insight into how understanding player behaviour affects the development of a popular iOS game, and the idiosyncracies of testing with free-to-play mechanics.
A small tower
