Junction Point founder and industry veteran Warren Spector believes the industry has made a mistake by constantly targeting better visuals. He says that game design is lacking due to a misplaced focus on improving graphics and making combat more intense. Spector has simply become “bored” by all of the bombastic visuals. In fact, he argues that games would be better served if developers started to focus on storytelling and non-hostile AI.
"I'm disappointed by the fact that we still focus solely on combat mechanics and rendering techniques, at the expense of other things we could be devoting energy and effort to," admits Epic Mickey's creative director. "We could be focusing on non-combat AI and making conversation as compelling as fighting for a change. Wouldn't that be great? We could be focusing on making storytelling truly interactive.”
"We just focus on prettier pictures and flashier graphics attached to more impressive combat scenarios, and honestly, that just bores me."
[Thanks Develop]
7 Comments
January 7, 2011
Hmm. Looks like someone hasn't played Mass Effect 2 yet. . .
January 7, 2011
Hey, Mr Specter! If you don't like action games or so much combat in your games maybe you should try your old hands on Heavy Rain. Their you can undress Madison Paige and give her a refreshing shower. Hell, you can even make her do it with Nathan Mars if you choose to.
January 8, 2011
Hmm. Looks like someone hasn't played Uncharted 2 yet. . .
January 8, 2011
Warren is the creator of Deus Ex along with a few others so he knows a bit about marrying action and story into a compelling game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex
Deus Ex is a cyberpunk-themed action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in the year 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role playing games. The game received almost worldwide critical and industry acclaim, including being named "Best PC Game of All Time" in PC Gamer's Top 100 PC Games[1] and in a poll carried out by UK gaming magazine PC Zone.[2] It was a frequent candidate for and winner of Game of the Year awards,[3][4][5][6] drawing praise for its pioneering designs in player choice and multiple narrative paths.[7][8] It has sold more than 1 million copies, as of April 23, 2009.
Set in a dystopian world during the 2050s, the central plot follows rookie United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition agent JC Denton, as he sets out to combat terrorist forces, which have become increasingly prevalent in a world slipping ever further into chaos. As the plot unfolds, Denton becomes entangled in a deep and ancient conspiracy, encountering fictional versions of organizations such as Majestic 12, the Illuminati, and the Hong Kong Triads throughout his journey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Spector
Warren Spector is a role-playing game designer and a video game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, fantasy writer Caroline L. Spector. He is best known for the cyberpunk video games System Shock and Deus Ex.
I think he has the credentials to comment.
January 8, 2011
I have a lot of respect for his previous work, including Epic Mickey (which is a great game, despite some really amateurish issues with the camera and game progression), but while these comments he's making are fairly applied to a lot of the shooters out there, there are plenty of games, both by him and by others, that defy the trend as well. Given that, I don't think those comments hold a lot of merit.
January 10, 2011
This is from a GDC Europe talk from last summer? Slow news flow today?
January 10, 2011
@Marque, it's from a new interview, although it's certainly possible Spector's expressed these sentiments before, such as at GDC Europe.