Playing for Keeps :

- Nelsormensch

In response to 'read any Good Games Lately" from The Escapist Forum: I'm one of the other 5 that enjoyed Hudson Hawk! Although last time I watched the DVD, I began noticing more of its shortcomings..

- Lord Twilight

In response to "The Addiciton of Purpose" from The Escapist Daily: Somehow it does not surprise me that fun is an "irrelevant" motivational factor for gamers. We are in the age of leaderboards, leveling, and achievements. Having fun and reveling in good gameplay is somehow not enough for gamers today. I enjoy competition as much as the next guy, but posting up superior numbers does not seem like a very rewarding experience to me. I want my rewards to come in the from enjoyable gameplay moments.

Maybe this is the reason innovation in game design is so slow to develop. If giving us these little "carrots" taps into some universal psychological process that keeps us playing, despite not having any fun, when will enjoyable, complex, and interesting gameplay ever take center stage in game design? Why waste the time and money when you can just tack on some stat tracking, achievements, and a leaderboard?

Maybe the games industry needs more hippies and less nerds. Every developer, at least, should have someone to constantly repeat the mantra, "it is not whether you win or lose, it is how you play the game that matters!"

- heavyfeul

In response to "Skateboarding is not a Trial" from The Escapist Daily: I don't think I could disagree with you more.

Extreme sports titles have always been boring except for the challenges that they set you.

It's simply matter of the fact that pushing buttons on a controller is not nearly as challenging, or as interesting as doing the actual activity itself. There is no adrenaline rush and no sense of achievement for doing something crazy and coming out unscathed. No risk. If, however, you are introduced with a challenge to, say, perform a difficult trick over a large gap then you find yourself striving to complete to goal and the more you fail, the better the feeling of satisfaction when you finally get it. I reckon I probably spent 100 hours playing THPS3 just to have completed every task with every character. Had they simply thrown me into a game with no goals and said skate, I would have barely given it an hour before getting bored and never going back.

- Goofonian

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