Going Beyond Normal
I was talking with Greg from Crossbeam Studios tonight, and we got into the discussion of the Revo specs announcement from IGN. The topic was enough to motivate Greg to write a little article about the matter. It is always interesting to get the perspective of someone that is working inside the game industry. Big thanks to Greg for putting the piece together.
Going Beyond Normal
This article is the opinion of Greg Szemiot and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of CSE.
There was an announcement yesterday, the new Nintendo system is not up to par with the competitions. Everyone is yelling and people are getting pissed off, and Im just relaxing by typing the some more storyline for a game I hope to make.
Fast forward five years to today, and once again, yesterday, IGN uncovered new specs for the new Nintendo system, Revolution. Once again, Im working on that game (albeit an extremely advanced phase compare to a simple storyline). It strikes me how every few years we need to be reminded about games, why they are our passion, why we stay up late playing the latest and the greatest ones.
I will say that I love a good peep show, I like good graphics, we all do, we like to see beautiful things, things that take our breath away. Those moments will still exist, but now were going to get new moments, where parts of our brain scream That was amazing! And you know whats going to trigger that? Its not going to be the graphics on your screen, its going to be your connection to the games characters and how you interact with them. Its going to be swinging your sword from left to right to block an enemy weapon. Its going to be shining the flashlight around like you are really there, and jumping when something lunges at you from the shadows. Its going to be a fast paced action sequence that has you sitting on the edge of your seat, your hands clammy from the tension, and you pay attention to every little detail you see on the screen, and hear from the speakers, in an attempt to survive this battle. And its not going to come from moving a little stick on a hunk of plastic, thats just one more thing between you and enjoying your games. Its going to be realistic motions and deep gameplay.
One of the things we say at CSE is that normal is boring, its something everyone has done, something everyone has seen, and something everyone has experienced. If it has a new coat of glossy paint or not isnt the point. What matters is that you feel connected to a game like you never have before. You cant wait to get back to it, you have to play it, not because you want to see the next cutscene, not because you want to go blow heads off, youre going to come back to it because you want that experience. You want to see and hear things like you never have before, you want to feel things like you never have before. Normal consoles arent going to do that, neither are normal developers.
However, the Revolution isnt normal. Nintendo isnt normal. CSE, Nibris, and Lifespark, they arent normal either, they exist to bring a passion to life. You guys, the ones who come here and read the news, waiting for the next hint of Zelda, the next chance to explore Hyrule, youre not normal. Those of you who love Mario and Peach, who can say yoshi! in perfect pitch and tempo, youre not normal either. How about your family, some of them arent gamers, they arent normal to the industry, they are outsiders. Many of us are here because were sick of normality, and we dare to yell and pitch a fit when someone doesnt follow the status quo. Go beyond normal, and see the world outside what youve known before. We dont need the best graphics here, but itll be enough for me to say it will realize my dream with getting Orb to you guys the way I see it in my mind. The guys at Retro arent concerned, nor Pandemic, or Ubisoft. Gameplay is more than graphics and technology, its new experiences, new adventures, and new feelings, all combined with just enough familiarity to really let you know whats missing from the normal games.