Last weekend some friends came to visit for a couple of days. On the second night of their visit I stepped out to grab some pizza, and when I got back two of the ladies had found and turned on Kirby's Epic Yarn on my Wii. After scrounging for a second wii remote and making sure it was charged, I set them up with two players and they instantly squealed with how adorable Prince Fluff was with his big eyebrows and little crown (which they both thought put Fluff at a disadvantage since they thought the crown counted as a hit-area. They didn't understand the concept of hit-boxes). Being an avid gamer, I had an initial instinct to start helping them out with treasures I saw they were missing and difficulties they were having with controls. As I opened my mouth to let them know where a hidden chest was, they laughed in unison as one of them hauled a string on a fabric castle and it tugged aside. I then decided to keep my mouth shut. They were already having fun, why should I interrupt?
As I watched them play I saw a noticeable difference in play-style from my own. Not only because they were non-gamers who were being enchanted by Epic Yarn's charming graphics, but because of what their goals for fun were. I am personally not that far into Epic Yarn (part way through world 3) and I was not exactly enjoying myself to date. My co-op partner and I were playing the game like we do any other game, as serious gamers. We experimented with controls and how they interacted with the environment every couple of steps, we obsessively searched for hidden treasures and gems and we criticized the game and it's design choices as we went on. Most of all though, we got in one anothers way and got frustrated while it happened. The term co-op should mean that we are doing just that. Co-operating. In Epic Yarn it's a bit closer to contra-operating. One of us would swing out our piece of yarn to unravel an enemy and instead grab the other player,or we would both dash into our car form, which let us move faster, but often resulted in slower overall movement since we'd bump one another into holes or into enemies more often than smoothly coasting ahead. We had similar problems with New Super Mario Bros Wii. We were constantly in each others way, using one anothers heads as stepping stones and making the screen jerk back and forth while both of us tried to act independently. My criticism of NSBM Wii was harsh and I never beat the game, leaving Mario and Luigi stranded somewhere in World 5. It's the first main-title Mario game I've never completed and never plan on completing. I've now realized that it's not because it's a bad game, it's because I was playing it wrong.
Rewind back to my friends playing Epic Yarn. As they played they rarely got frustrated with one another, even though I saw them get in eachothers way twice as often as my partner or I ever did. They would coast through levels enjoying the cute details and giggling almost constantly, especially when they got a piece of magic yarn after defeating a boss. I can't say I was quite as excited at receiving something that was the equivalent of dozens of other games end-of-world-item-get. For them it was a real achievement
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the key difference in the way that they were enjoying this game is that they were playing together, not working together. They were enjoying what the game offered rather than trying to defeat the game and dissect its inner workings like experienced gamers often do. There is nothing wrong with playing either way, but with this game and some of Nintendo's other offerings, it's clear that some games are meant for one, and some for the other.
I think you raise an interesting point with the whole notiont of playing a game like it should be played. Maybe that's the danger associated with being a jaded experienced game player. It's hard to let go of all the baggage and to just play the game that's offered to us. Instead we jump into it with a million preconceived notions as to what the game should be, and feel disappointed and annoyed when things don't go our way. At least the newer gamers don't have this, and are able to just have fun.
ReplyDeleteNow, should we older gamers expect less, or just play other games?
Look Maegen, we're famous!
ReplyDeleteIt's clearly a winning tactic; why make games for people who steal games? I'm not saying that all hardcore gamers do, but it's certainly more prevalent in that demographic.
ReplyDeleteI actually hugely enjoyed the new Super Mario Bros, and four players even! True, I could only play it with select friends who understood that it wasn't actually about beating the game. Interestingly, a unique game mode emerged: Where the more hardcore gamers would constantly try to kill each other (while getting through the level), thereby increasing the difficulty to a good level, but leave the non-gamers unmolested. The ability to go into a bubble is key to making that game fun: that way, if someone messes up, they just tap the panic button and float around without slowing it down. If I'm tossed towards lava by a "teammate", I just tap A and am freed at the next possibility. If a part is too hard for one of the n00bs playing, they just bubble through it for ten seconds and then get out. It takes a certain set of unwritten rules to enjoy the game at its most chaotic state, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.