For as long as there have been games there have been two
types of people, alone against the vast number of people who don’t get it or
don’t bother. The current player is the
person holding the active controller.
The next player is the player looking over his or her shoulder at the
arcade, or waiting patiently for Player 1 to die so that he/she may have a
turn. This is the future player. I’m getting melodramatic here, but there’s a
point, I promise. StreetPass isn’t about
Player 1 or Player 2, or the sometimes weird power imbalance between them. StreetPass is so phenomenal a new invention
to gaming because it explores and enriches the life of the passersby.
Player 1 is already in the zone, playing a game, stimulating
his or her mind in ways daily drudgery just can’t. He or she is enjoying the game, or (we hope)
asking intelligent questions about why he/she isn’t enjoying the game. If the game has two players, or four, if the
player has attracted a following at the arcade or even if there are dozens of
players playing together in a persistent online world, they are each all
exploring this same experience, and game designers, by default, focus on this
interaction most of all. Game balance is
a discipline in getting the game to treat all of these Player 1s equally,
Moderation is a discipline in getting all of these Player 1s to treat each
other equally. Each is a Player 1 in his
or her own mind, playing for his or her own reasons, telling their own stories
to themselves, through play.
Player 2 is bored, or stuck in the waiting list. Sometimes Player 2 can live vicariously
through Player 1’s achievements, sometimes he or she is motivated to comment
playfully, and sometimes Player 1 has uploaded video of his or her game for the
world to become Player 2 to it. The role
is strangely cathartic, to watch a game rather than play a game, to see someone
else feel his or her way through blind rather than try it oneself. Games in the Sony or MS vein go Hollywood,
trying to look for all of the world like movies for players to watch and
play. Nintendo adds more controllers and
tries to make everyone Player 1. And
strangely, gaming’s growth as a medium is limited, as though we are only
selling to the same types of people.
The passerby is not a player or a gamer. If he or she stopped to play, then he or she
might become one, but they have to get the kids to school or soccer practice,
or pick up groceries; there is always too much to do for games. Now games that are smaller, more impactful
and better fitting to a hurried schedule, those games our passerby might find
time for. And so he or she leaves, and
the game, which changes greatly depending on who is playing, is not always
waiting for them when they do find time to come back.
StreetPass is a mechanic boiled right into the 3DS; it can
be copied in software on its rivals, the PS Vita and the iOS machines, but to
the best of my knowledge it is not. As a
mechanic, it makes it easier to be the Passerby, to walk past the games and
players and not have the fun we desire, but still participate. StreetPass leaves the players a calling card,
and when designed well, can greatly enhance the game for those two players on
the street. It also adds subtle content
to the Passerby, as their StreetPass collection subtly grows.
In a strange sort of way, it is like the game is growing
beyond the bounds of the game, and that sounds cool. It doesn’t really compare cleanly with online
multiplayer, or HD visuals, or motion controls, or anything else new and
exciting to gaming these days. But it is
so much bigger. It’s like, this is the
first time since adding a second controller, heck the first time since Pong,
that gaming started playing with its own preconceptions of play.
There is just one catch that undercuts it: to be the
Passerby, one, by hardware necessity, must already be a Player in another
game. Or, more accurately, in that same
game somewhere else. It really does mean
a lot for changing the nature of gaming, or play, but it has still got a ways
to go to break from the now corporate and computing restrictions that bind it.
Thanks for reading this ramble, Passersby. I hope it leaves you a little richer for
something to share.
No comments:
Post a Comment