Weekly Links #171

If I had a dollar from everyone who assured me that this time virtual reality will really take off, unlike the previous several occasions, because "now the technology is better", I'd... probably have a few more games in my library, to be honest. Not the VR kind, though. According to Le Monde (article in French), all those tech companies that jumped enthusiastically on the bandwagon just a year or two ago are now quietly pulling out, despite decent hardware sales. Turns out, adoption isn't use, as the stats from Steam seem to indicate. And while the article tries to shift the blame onto the nausea many people experience from those goggles, I still say the real reason is being a solution in search of a problem. Wish reality had proven me wrong; friends who play e.g. Elite: Dangerous in VR certainly seem to love it.

In other news, we have an article on RuneScape's enduring appeal, another on how fighting games have evolved with the market (via Gamasutra), and also from Gamasutra a write-up on the Japanese approach to story in games. Note how much it talks about theme: it's the same advice I give aspiring writers: figure out what your story is all about. This is so important it can't be stressed enough. I disagree about building the world first, but then games have somewhat different requirements.

On a different note, it was enlightening to read about the challenges of running an abuse-free server for children with autism, and that it's getting easier to make games for blind people. For a different kinds of accessibility, Mark Johnson writes about the basics of game literacy. And you know... while games can be obscure (Nightwrath just bought me a copy of Eador: Genesis and I can't make heads or tails of it), I must give this one to the commenter who pointed out that gauges have been everywhere in the real world ever since the thermometer. The issue isn't teaching new players to recognize a gauge for what it is, but to notice it in the first place. Situational awareness is a learned skill, and people who haven't played games before, or at least driven a car, generally aren't trained to direct their attention all around.

Last but not least, from a roguelike developer we have some thoughts on slow application development. I've written before about games that took over a decade to make, some hobbyist, others more professional, not to mention the still ongoing Ultima Ratio Regum (since I just mentioned Mark Johnson). My readers can probably think of more mainstream examples.

But for now, see you next week. Have fun in the mean time.