[casual_games] Trim Your Messages!

[Elliot Curtis]

I'm not a casual gamer. I've grown up playing games since I had a spectrum.
I don't generally play many PC games- I prefer consoles. I still think of
myself as a gamer though, and even I would prefer to play a game with a
mouse. A mouse is the USP of the PC. You have to play to a systems
strengths- and using the mouse to make game control simple is, in my
opinion, essential with a PC game. Cursor keys with the left hand and mouse
and button on the right is NOT comfortable. Unless you grew up playing Quake
I don't see how ASDW is comfy either. QAOPspace IS comfy, but you need two
hands! Casual games, whether clones of existing stuff or completely original
ground breaking designs, need to be simple. If you need buttons and a mouse
it probably isn't simple enough.

 

I agree I was wrong to describe "NO KEYBOARD CONTROL" as a rule. It's not.
Obviously some games need the keyboard. BUT, making the player use the
keyboard when a cleverly designed alternative could have been put onto the
mouse is a mistake. Not using the mouse is a waste of a mouse. I wouldn't
design a game for the DS that didn't use the stylus or a Wii game with no
motion control.

 

No-one should be forced to do this though, because there are exceptions to
every rule (although it's not a rule!). Microsoft would like every game on
XBLA to be in 3D with ninja lighting, but there have been successful games
in 2D to prove them wrong.

 

Maybe someone will design a killer casual game with no mouse control and
prove me wrong. I hope so. 

 

Elliot 

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