This is the first single player role playing game I've ever gotten into. It's been incredibly user friendly. I usually avoid RPG because they look overly complicated. However the graphics are incredibly simple with a Monet style back drop. It's actually quite cool with out being overwhelming. The first level is all about understanding what the game wants from you. After that the characters and their abilities evolve based on what you're doing in the game. It's been a lot of fun playing. It's among the games I've downloaded onto my Wii. For ten bucks ... worth every penny.
I figured once I beat this I can go on to the new Paper Mario designed for the Wii. Unfortunately I heard it was a real time game like the original. Which is kind of a bummer, since I really like the ability to step away from the screen for a moment to get a soda, or use the bathroom.
I figured once I beat this I can go on to the new Paper Mario designed for the Wii. Unfortunately I heard it was a real time game like the original. Which is kind of a bummer, since I really like the ability to step away from the screen for a moment to get a soda, or use the bathroom.
Heh, RTS (Real-Time Strategy) games destroy me for the very reasons you mentioned, and I have ADHD, oh look a butterfly......
oh right I was doing something...
Yes, right, before I got distracted, games like StarCraft/WarCraft always blow me away, I take way too long goofing with crap and generally dorking around.
I remember PaperMario64 was a game that came out for the 64 after the next generation of systems had been released and I thought to myself, wth are you doing, you have already released the Cube, why are you still releasing new titles and projects for the older system??
PaperMario64 is a great reason!!
Starcraft / warcraft is sweet - it is fun just to adventure around and explore, even without the goal of taking over the world, destroying the evil empire, or saving the princess, though that is all good fun too.
When I played Bards Tale I never bothered to finish the game, I just ended up making my team so awesome that they would win every battle, they racked up tons of money and experience. I guess that's why I burned myself out on video games for so many years.
Haha yeah, grinding/farming is the death of fun as we know it. I mean it is fun at first but...
I find my tolerance for the grind is less and less with every game I play.
Testing is still fun, because you never really know what you'll get! Basically I play every game from the persepctive of a tester to see what I can screw with and that's fun for me.
I'd love to get into game testing if only I could afford it! 3-6 months of half-pay with no benefits just isn't appealing to me while I try to finish a BS in Comp Sci. In fact it simply isn't even doable.
You kids out there about to graduate high school, that live with your parents still. GO NOW to the nearest game developing studio and stick your foot up the crack of that door to opportunity and get in there.
They will want you to work crazy long hours, but in the end it may be worth it. Either way, you're working on video games, you can't go wrong. Beats the crap out of office temping crap!
Testing is absolutely fun - isn't it great when your job is to break stuff and point out flaws? Can't beat that, well you can, that is the point.
Anyway, I've done a bunch of usability testing and that is really fun, because as a software developer you take someone who is new to a piece of software you've been working on and am completely familiar with and see how differently the see it. While you "know" the login button is there on the right hand side, they might spend 20 minutes looking around for it.
For gaming, usability is an entirely different challenge, because you do indeed have to make it challenging, and fun to figure out. Heh that is kind of funny, for games you kind of have to make the interface "unusable".
One of my major interests (and rae - its part of the "master plan") is to develop adaptive interfaces, which evolve throughout the relationship of the game or application. It starts out being simple and straightforward, then streamlines for expert efficiency.