tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846958283978340822.post5884660506361792821..comments2023-06-16T05:23:05.557-07:00Comments on Orin Bishop Rambles About Games: A Hardware ProblemOrin Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574769135072781097noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846958283978340822.post-90061132606028479692012-04-04T23:57:42.212-07:002012-04-04T23:57:42.212-07:00Yeah, Portal's like the greatest game ever. I&...Yeah, Portal's like the greatest game ever. I'm really looking forward to The Witness, the next game by the guy who did Braid. (You're stranded on an island...)<br /><br />Yahtzee half-heartedly tries to define "gimmicky" mechanics here<br />http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9492-Syndicate-Gets-Gimmicky<br />and basically shows that the term, applied to game mechanics, is pretty ill-defined. I definitely think it gets thrown around way too much though.<br /><br />I mean when people everywhere refer to Angry Birds as "gimmicky," the word has lost all meaning. Or rather, it means "any mechanic or game meant to appeal to non-gamers."<br /><br />I won't argue that many Wii games use motion controls in what I would call a gimmicky fashion (i.e. adding nothing), but I don't believe all motion controls are gimmicky (take Wii sports). And as you say, because a game is built on a unique mechanic rather than graphical prowess, that doesn't make it "gimmicky," that makes it "good."Orin Bishophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13574769135072781097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846958283978340822.post-15733865589305224092012-04-04T11:06:54.844-07:002012-04-04T11:06:54.844-07:00I think Portal managed to kick everyone's stor...I think Portal managed to kick everyone's storytelling in the junk. They did almost everything right. And that I think opened the doors for Braid and so forth. Simply because people ALLOWED game design to make the game.<br /><br />I am now thinking about the idea of Gimmicks. And constant comments that gimmicks don't make games. "You can't have bad graphics, and a gimmick, and expect to sell". But aren't gimmicks a good game? Is that not what portal said?silverwizardhttp://www.obscuritus.canoreply@blogger.com