BA/BSc design for interactive media
Marc Healy
When we entered the games area of UCI cinema Cardiff my eyes where immediately drawn in by both sound and lighting. Both where very loud and up beat and made each game look inviting to the user. There was a wide variety of different games from 'shoot em ups' - which require the use of a hand held weapon of some sort, 'GRAN PRIX' type games which had the use of a car interior or a motorbike of some sort. Other games where gambling type games that required vast amounts of games to win a prize.
From my observations of others around me I noticed that shoot em ups where frequently used more than anything else due to their intense game play and visual graphics. The older machines didn’t seem to attract as many users as the more advanced game interfaces yet the older machines had better displays such as flashing lights and L.E.D's. I had come to the conclusion that the newer games attracted users to actually play the game rather than observe and move on, as the much older machines seemed to do. The slightly older machines tended to draw people in by the exterior of the machine but the visual aspect of the interface wasn’t as good enough to make the user want to pay to use the interface.
The game I chose to critique was a 'shoot em up' called 'House of the dead 4'The game play of The House of the Dead 4 differs somewhat from prior instalments, in that a submachine gun (based on a cross between a Mac-10 and an Uzi) is used instead of the handguns of the first two games, and the shotgun of the third. Unlike the gun types used previously throughout the franchise, the submachine gun allows for continuous fire simply by holding down the gun's trigger. Ammo is reloaded by shaking the gun itself (unlike 1 and 2's "shoot off-screen" tactic, or 3's "Hand-pump" reload). The game also features the use of grenades (three received at the start of each stage) that can be thrown to destroy large numbers of enemies. Additional grenades can be earned by completing certain tasks or by shooting crates.
In some points in the game, players are required to actually shake the gun vigorously in order to escape certain situations such as being grabbed by a zombie. Unlike The House of the Dead III, it has a wide variety of branching paths reminiscent of the system found in The House of the Dead 2; different paths can be taken that eventually lead to the same point in the game's story.
The most common enemies have three attacks. A "normal attack," a "grab," and a "push." The foremost inflicts one point of damage, while the second forces a shaking sequence that, if successful, pushes back attackers for easier disposal. Multiple zombies may also pile overtop both players in an attempt to stomp on them.
As with The House of the Dead III, there is an end-of-stage bonus where players can receive lives (one for A/B rank, two for S rank) depending on critical shots (continuous weak-point shots), accuracy, and score.
The weapon itself is the centre point of the game as it allows the user to feel in control unaware to the fact that interface is in full control. During the game the user will have to kill enemies that appear on screen, There is no other type of interaction in the aspect of navigating, its simply a point and shoot type game the user is led by the interface making usability a lot easier leaving no room for overload with memory, like memorising routes etc. The game makes up for this by adding continuous enemies to the screen at a fast pace increasing tension and game play solely because the user is being led to uncertainty.
The Design of the interface is only metaphorical in the respect of having a hand held gun, which instantly registers with the user as being the main controller to interact with the game. Other than the gun the console is very contempory in design and simplistic, as with a lot of new games The game is projected onto a large flat screen which has two surrounds indicating the name of the game with various pictures and illustrations of both game play and characters.
Usability is fairly simple and doesn’t leave much to memory; my use of the game uses cognitive memories from playing games similar to this in regards to the mapping of the interface design.
With the new controller (gun) having extra features it allows the user to enjoy the game more as there is a slower chance of the game becoming tedious, like other models.
The way in which the exhibits at mega bowl differed from the one's at techniquest in terms of interaction where that the game type exhibits at techniquest had a far larger demand for user interaction in a wide variety of aspects such as, sight, memory, trial and error, Whereas the game type exhibits at mega bowl eliminate the use for memory and are based solely on interaction and enjoy ability, The main purpose of the game is to bring real life experience or knowledge and put it on screen for the user to interact with in a very addictive way so that the user is constantly returning to use the machines. In techniquest the exhibits had a very low playability in the way that they looked and the process in which the user had to undertake to use the exhibits. I noticed 8 out of 10 children aged 11-15 knew exactly how to use all of the games consoles because of the way in which they are designed and what they are designed for, its this type of interface that is recognisable to any user where as the exhibits in techniquest proved very tedious to younger users and didn’t really show much interest.
To view the interface Design - http://www.flickr.com/photos/76116961@N00/272133582/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/76116961@N00/272135682/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/76116961@N00/272133584/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/76116961@N00/272133583/in/photostream/
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