{"id":1108,"date":"2010-10-08T10:22:59","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T09:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:45:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T16:45:01","slug":"pong-playability-heuristics-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Pong – Playability Heuristics Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

The playability heuristics<\/a> (guidelines) by Desurvire provide a quick and easy guide to the \u2018playability\u2019 of a game, as we\u2019ve seen before<\/a>. Today, we look at what they tell us about the user experience, and usability, through applying them to a classic game \u2013 Pong.\u00a0 For brevity, we\u2019re only looking at the game play, and story (other heuristics are available from all good stores).<\/p>\n

For those of you who are interested in game usability, and yet inexplicably are unaware of Pong, it\u2019s the classic (stolen)<\/a> 1970\u2019s table tennis simulator. It makes a sound like \u2018plink\u2019, and looks like this:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Pong

but… more interactive<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And on with the show.
\n<\/p>\n

Game Play<\/h4>\n

Due to the lack of anti-aliasing technology, Pong had to stand on its game-play alone. However, as we\u2019ll see, there is only mixed success in this area.<\/p>\n

Successes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Provide clear goals, present overriding goal early as well as short-term goals throughout play.<\/em><\/p>\n

Get the ball past the other player. Ten times. That\u2019s a pretty clear goal (although it loses points for not actually explaining this goal in game \u2013 I have to assume it was written on the cabinet).<\/p>\n

The first player action is painfully obvious and should result in immediate positive feedback.<\/em><\/p>\n

My first action was to miss the ball. The digit on the other side of the screen went up. I assume that\u2019s bad. My second action was to return the ball. The digit didn\u2019t increment. Better\u2026<\/p>\n

Pace the game to apply pressure but not frustrate the player. Vary the difficulty level so that the player has greater challenge as they develop mastery. Easy to learn, hard to master.<\/em><\/p>\n

So the ball gets faster when I successfully return it. I suppose that is \u2018incremental difficulty\u2019. Wouldn\u2019t really say \u201chard to master though\u201d<\/p>\n

Game play should be balanced with multiple ways to win.<\/em><\/p>\n

Knock the ball up above the other bat. Knock the ball down below the other bat. The Konami code. Ok, so there\u2019s not that many way\u2019s to win.<\/p>\n

Failures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Player\u2019s fatigue is minimized by varying activities and pacing during game play.<\/em><\/p>\n

Return the ball. Return the ball. Return the ball. Miss the ball. Return the ball. Return the ball. Return the ball. Return the ball. Return th\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Provide consistency between the game elements and the overarching setting and story to suspend disbelief.<\/em><\/p>\n

The ball is square. The bats are disembodied. The ball doesn\u2019t bounce. No-one makes me play in shorts (doesn\u2019t stop me). It\u2019s not really like table tennis is it.<\/p>\n

There is an interesting and absorbing tutorial that mimics game play.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is only a tutorial in the sense that \u2018a computer defeats you at virtual table tennis\u2019 teaches you that you\u2019ve achieved nothing.<\/p>\n

Player is taught skills early that you expect the players to use later, or right before the new skill is needed.<\/em><\/p>\n

10. Return the ball<\/p>\n

20. Go to 10.<\/p>\n

Players discover the story as part of game play.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t even aware there was a story, until I purchased Pong: The Novel (sold separately)<\/p>\n

Player should not experience being penalized repetitively for the same failure.<\/em><\/p>\n

The game only has one type of failure \u2013 missing the ball. It\u2019s hard not to be repetitive.<\/p>\n

Player\u2019s should perceive a sense of control and impact onto the game world. The game world reacts to the player and remembers their passage through it. Changes the player makes in the game world are persistent and noticeable if they back-track to where they\u2019ve been before.<\/em><\/p>\n

Player 1 had trained for this moment. His sensei had honed his reactions until they had become automatic, felt in his heart instead of his hand. His tutor had gone through the maths behind each shot again and again, until Player 1 no-longer saw a ball, he saw a formula. His parents had bound his body throughout childhood, distorting his body into an unrecognisable mass, yet formed perfectly for table tennis.<\/p>\n

And it had all been for this.<\/p>\n

The game had been hard so far. His opponent, the notorious \u2018CPU\u2019, was his equal in every way \u2013 not only matching him in skills, but, due to a freak accident of nature, being his exact double in looks. His opponent\u2019s cool demeanour betrayed no hint of the rivalry between the two of them. Ever since that day back in playschool, with the shark and the peanut butter.<\/p>\n

But it was no time for reminiscing. Player 1 had strived too long and come too far to lose now. And with the seconds ticking by, and their volley reaching lightning speeds, now was the time to strike.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t conscious. It barely even registered to Player 1 that a mistake had been made, but when CPU passed the ball back dead straight, instinct took over. He moved very slightly upward, bringing his lower half in line with the square ball. This was it. Inching ever so slightly upwards, until just a sliver remaining in the firing line. Then\u2026 bang! Contact! The ball had grazed his side, and was on its way back, spiralling off to the top of the screen. His opponent scrambled to get in line. The ball drew ever closer, crossing the dotted centre line. It was out of Player 1\u2019s hands \u2013 only the gods could intervene now. But no deity was watching, or if they were, they were smiling on Player A.<\/p>\n

The square ball squeezed effortlessly passed CPU. That was it! It was a goal! Player 1\u2019s ghostly white face gave no hint of the jubilant celebration going on inside.<\/p>\n

Hanging silently above the field, it\u2019s radiant light illuminating the entire stage, the score digit increased by one.<\/p>\n

Player 1 had made his mark.<\/p>\n

The game should give rewards that immerse the player more deeply in the game by increasing their capabilities (power-up), and expanding their ability to customize.<\/em><\/p>\n

No blue shell, no cardboard box, and no Odd-job. No customisation.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Pong\"

I like big bats, and I cannot lie<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Game Story<\/h4>\n

So, the game play wasn\u2019t fantastic. What about the story though?<\/p>\n

Successes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Player has a sense of control over their character and is able to use tactics and strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be fair, there is just as much strategy as in the game of table tennis. \u2018trick\u2019 the computer player, by knocking the ball at extreme angles. And you definitely control the character. A success!<\/p>\n

Player experiences fairness of outcomes.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a battle of skill, with the computer constrained to the same rules as you. It\u2019s definitely fair.<\/p>\n

Player understands the story line as a single consistent vision.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a game of table tennis. It\u2019s never golf, and hence provides a consistent vision.<\/p>\n

Failures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Player is interested in the story line. The story experience relates to their real life and grabs their interest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bored of this now. Nope.<\/p>\n

The Player spends time thinking about possible story outcomes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nope.<\/p>\n

The Player feels as though the world is going on whether their character is there or not.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nope.<\/p>\n

The game transports the player into a level of personal involvement emotionally (e.g., scare, threat, thrill, reward, punishment) and viscerally (e.g., sounds of environment).<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes! I mean\u2026 nope.<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Terrible game, will never catch on.<\/p>\n

Despite this, if you want to try it yourself the closest recreation of classic pong I could find is here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The playability heuristics (guidelines) by Desurvire provide a quick and easy guide to the \u2018playability\u2019 of a game, as we\u2019ve seen before. Today, we look at what they tell us about the user experience, and usability, through applying them to a classic game \u2013 Pong.\u00a0 For brevity, we\u2019re only looking at the game play, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games-user-research","grve-entry-item","grve-blog-item"],"yoast_head":"\nPong - Playability Heuristics Review - Steve Bromley - User Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pong - Playability Heuristics Review - Steve Bromley - User Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The playability heuristics (guidelines) by Desurvire provide a quick and easy guide to the \u2018playability\u2019 of a game, as we\u2019ve seen before. Today, we look at what they tell us about the user experience, and usability, through applying them to a classic game \u2013 Pong.\u00a0 For brevity, we\u2019re only looking at the game play, and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steve Bromley - User Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-08T09:22:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/pongbox.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Steve Bromley - User Research\",\"description\":\"Usability and User Research for Websites, Software and Games\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/pongbox.png\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\",\"name\":\"Pong - Playability Heuristics Review - Steve Bromley - User Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-08T09:22:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/\",\"name\":\"Pong – Playability Heuristics Review\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"headline\":\"Pong – Playability Heuristics Review\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-08T09:22:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-06T16:45:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#webpage\"},\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Games User Research\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/08\/pong-playability-heuristics-review\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c0be0bbd079c086677d422d1fd9c8c7\",\"name\":\"Steve Bromley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dfbbfc5a00187fd6f5fd405361347b2698a65a866f49de07f9486895b6c7029?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bromley\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/#personlogo\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/2363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}