Snood makes professor rich
{embed="video-games/dpadz-ads"}The Newobserver has a story on the inventor of shareware game Snood. Apparently it has sold millions with over 30 million downloads or over 10,000 a day.
I’ve never heard of Snood but it sounds very similar to Taito’s arcade game, Puzzle Bobble which I have lost many quarters to. Hmm… anybody know which came first?
Interestingly, this story coincides with the popularity of the old arcade classic collections’ on TV plug in games. You know, the ones with the joysticks. I think what sells the TV plug ins is not just the nostalgia factor of parents introducing kids to their old favorites. What made many of the older games fun were their simple accessibility. You can pick up the concept instantly and start playing immediately.
Unlike today’s home controllers like the PS2 with 8 buttons plus 2 joysticks and a d-pad, most early arcade games only had a joystick and one or two buttons so even a child can start playing. Compare that to today’s games with multiple button functions and fight combos to memorize. Games are supposed to be fun, that just seems like too much work for people who would rather be playing than studying.
As gamers mature their time gets more precious. With less hours to play and responsibilities bearing down it becomes difficult to finish a 20 hour or even a 10 hour game. GTA San Andreas? Forgeddaboutit, that’s a 40 to 80 hour experience! Now, here’s where a key lesson of the early games come into play. By necessity 1980’s arcade games only lasts a few minutes (so game manufacturers can vacuum more quarters out of your pocket). Play as little or as much as you want and you still feel a sense of accomplishment.
Hopefully, the game publishers will start recognizing what made the early games like Pac-Man, Asteriods, Centipede and many others great was their accessibility and start producing games that are simple yet addictive. Games like Katamari Damachi are pointing the way. It’s not necessary to use all that gaming processing power to create more complexity. Sometimes less is more, way more in the fun department.
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