Posts Tagged ‘user experience’
The effect of collectables on the player experience in games
I’ve recently been enjoying Alan Wake, the story-driven survival horror game. However it does suffer from an overabundance of collectable items and tasks, which are used to earn achievement points. This has a significant effect on the player experience, and unfortunately often not for the reason intended. Today, I’ll consider why collectables are used in games, the problems inherent with their use, and potential ways to fix them!
Finally, the fun of stamp collecting on your console!
Driver: San Francisco Usability Review (Part 2)
Following up from my recent review of the top positive user experience elements in Driver: San Francisco, this week I’ll be looking at the top 5 usability and user experience issues that cause a negative player experience.
For each issue, I’ll also discuss potential fixes that could be implemented in order to create a more positive game playing experience.
Image by wiiloveit (Flickr)
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....
