Finally, I did it...

07/01/2009

After two years doing conferences at GDC and saying to myself I should start a blog to at least post my slides, I finally did it. It is pretty sad to realize it would have taken me a few minutes to achieve that... Anyway, this blog is a beginning and we will see soon enough if I can maintain a good post rate...

So welcome on the Game Design Cave and for those who wonder where the name comes from, here's an animated short to answer that question.

I really like this animated short interpretation of Plato's Cave. The frustration generated from this inability to share thoughts based on radical differences in perception is beautifully illustrated and I think is a very accurate image of what game designers have to face every day. I feel it is essential for creators of any kind to be in peace with the fact that others perception cannot be controlled. At least, I always feel better facing a design problem when I remind myself of that.

But while player's perception can't be controlled, I like to think it can be manipulated as hinted in Dan Ariely's talk... I like to believe our job is to find ways to manipulate perception in order to make sure player's gets into a game experience they will enjoy and call their own. But we are not there to aim at a precise point that everyone will get to, we are there to provide a certain spectrum of possible experiences within a desired range. Pretending to be able to achieve perfect precision for everyone is the equivalent of lying to ourselves. I personally don't feel this is why video games are there for...

Knowing me, there will be more post on player's perception in the near future.

Cheers

Jonathan