We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

How do you guys feel about size of space in video games? Are there any open world games that have a tight design sense?

I don’t know of any (I haven’t even played many), but I’m optimistically thinking some games have bits and pieces of one that may some day Voltron their way into existence.

One of the Bethesda designers has given away a little bit of the secret sauce here. The ones with the transcripts are the ones especially worth reading.

Tight doesn’t really describe their games very well, of course, but I’m not sure on what that could mean besides having elements of good design. Open world games are a bit like chewing gum, in that you get through the most intense part quickly, till at some point what flavor is left in there slowly goes away... but you wouldn’t really want to just spit out the old piece right away to get a taste of the new piece, either, as there is some goodness in the chewing. then you stick it on a railing so will ferrell can eat it

[bioshock infinite]

I didn’t watch the whole thing, but the 3 minutes I did watch nailed a big thing that went wrong.

I have seen it described as being simultaneously the best game and the worst game of all time (on the face of it I have to agree), and being centered around a failed character arc (and I definitely agree with that, it’s probably the part that ringed hollowest for a lot of people). I did like the settings and the mind-twisty bits and the almost complete lack of subtlety, but you know, maybe that’s just me.

In terms of game design, I have now realized that we’ve just been remaking Half-Life over and over again for the past 15 years (and HL is just a 90s shooter with lots of set pieces and less swarmy enemies). Some games have differing qualities of weapon selections and/or stories, and some games have vending machines and other RPG elements, but on the whole, what’s new in each new game of the genre is a bit like a new salad dressing.