BioWare - Making an Emotional Investment

Jos Hendriks writes for the BioBlog about making an emotional connection with games:

Perhaps this only grew on me recently, or perhaps it has been present ever since I started playing videogames. Quite possibly this is different for each and every person out there who enjoys to pick up the occasional game, but I recently became consciously aware that games have slowly become harder for me to enjoy.
Part of this is because I make games for a living. Being busy working on stuff at the various companies I’ve worked at made me go from playing a game to analyzing it more than anything. Instead of seeing that huge spaceship disintegrate with an awesome explosion I see particle effects, interpolation (better known as keyframing), and animation tracks come together well*. But with good games that immerse me and that I want to play that is not the main reason for me to find real enjoyment in games.

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More information.

Only read the summary.

I have noticed that I got harder to please as well. Part of that is that as time passes, I've seen more and more cool stuff implemented in games. As a really obvious example: the first time I played Doom, I was amazed at the way you could walk through a 3D space. The camera bobbed up and down as you walked and even the floors and ceilings were textured! Of course, nowadays those little things don't blow me away so much anymore. Another good example was Grand Theft Auto III: an entire city you can explore! That's so cool! Well, now I've been spoiled after open world after another.

That's just the technical standpoint, though. But maybe it works the same with game mechanics, to a lesser degree. Are adventure games as cool as when I played Leisure Suit Larry and Space Quest with friends after school? Definitely not. Let's be careful here, though. Nostalgia can make everything look better than it really was.

I have to agree, as well. I used to be a ludologist (the gameplay is all that counts) but as I get older, I need a strong narrative to keep me interested.

Perhaps this only grew on me recently, or perhaps it has been present ever since I started playing videogames.

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He needed quite a long time to see this.

I theorized this in 2005.

I called it "emotional bonding", then, if I remember correctly.

I'm sure at least someone in marketing headquarters must've seen this much, much erlier, too. Because that's what marketing is partly about.

I find I need to identify in some way with a game and have more than a mechanical connection. That's probably why I like RPGs much more than an FPS or strategy game. Even within the RPG genre, I'm very picky. Love Gothic 1 & 2; G3 was OK. Morrowind held me all the way through, but Oblivion was a yawner.
It isn't all about flash and bang for me. As a wannabe novelist, I need a good story, well-written. Some character has to draw me in and the story must hold my interest.

Dhruin said:

I have to agree, as well. I used to be a ludologist (the gameplay is all that counts) but as I get older, I need a strong narrative to keep me interested.

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And a good story might be the one thing that never gets old. Look at the adventure genre, still capable of satisfying a niche market with indie games in 320x200 resolution as long as the story is good. Sadly, good stories eventually get retold and retold as well, perhaps blunting even the enjoyment of that.