Charm

So I remembered - and have kicked myself for only just - Gameswipe from satirical broadcaster Charlie Brooker. The show was a one off of his Screenwipe series and focused specifically on video games, influences and impacts through a short look of it's commercial and documented history, reviews, scandals, short discussions of video game genres and outsider input and opinions on specific games or aspects of games.
Upon rounding up his review of 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand for the Xbox 360, for example, Brooker said;

"...it's charmless; that's the main problem and games never used to be short of charm..."

Then proceeding to introduce Rab and Ryan to discuss their emotional connections with British homebrew video gaming growing up, in what they refer to as the "real retro".

Gameswipe: Rab and Ryan of Consolevania

The video snippet is a reflection of yesterday's talk with my course tutor, in which we discussed my current position within the project, and then threw around some ideas to help expand it into an actual prototype or product.

Throughout our brainstorming we discussed the concept of expanding on my previous project - Lima - if only for prototype's sake, of which nostalgic and satirical advertisement mockery could be placed within to form something to strive towards in the near future.

With the wonderfully emotion-evoking and nostalgia-driven new-age pixel-perfect game Sword and Sworcery EP at our midst, we used the themes and novelty within it to capture potential scenarios within my own prototype.

We knew that, in the centre of this whole prototype conundrum was the game itself, and spanning off where nostalgia-influenced outsider comments such as, '..OH, I like this, feels a bit like something, but not sure what...' and '...the way it plays, reminds me of...' as supportive reasoning and drive to include MAINLY these elements within the player's experience.

Charm is a key aspect that's often lost within big-budget, action-packed and quick-time event-filled videos games. Most of which, have become a staple for other mimicking releases, creating almost zombified, soulless experiences that offer dumbed down gameplay, 'hold your hand' pacing and extremely shoddy level design, wrapped around endless cut scenes and cinematics.

No, charm MUST be used as a staple, as a key for it's own independent statement, setting it apart from the packs of mindless clones and derogative narratives already out there.

I think that's what's lost - as Rab and Ryan discuss in the video above - the element of charm within games is often nonexistent. Yet, the growth and boom of the indie market, and the flourishing of non-publisher-needing teams and companies means talent is becoming a bigger thing than money, and it's exceptionally expressed through releases that cater towards their own personal visions and design.

'A camel is a horse designed by committee.'

- Sir Alec Issigonis