Gaming Blog

SUMMARY:

James Lewis is an author of a various books of a project management, considers the game concept as finding a solution to a problem. He suggests that a game concept that starts by asking a question will lead to a problem to be resolved. For instance, would it be fun to play cowboys and Indians in space? What would it be like to race idea cars? After having made a firm decision of the game concept by the manager’s studio or the publisher, the game is successfully passed to the development team as to solve a problem. (Chandler, 2014, p. 6).

 The start of many ideas is usually unclear, and these ideas are simplified by the development team so that everyone including potential players  can easily understand  and recognize the aims of the product and what major gameplay elements are needed to support and strengthen it. (Chandler, 2014, p. 6).

Nintendo, (2017). Super Mario Odyssey.

Game requirements features include the basic art, design and engineering, and these features must be supported along with any restrictions on the project, and basic technical and design documentation. The features must merge all within the established idea and mission statement. It is important that the team members demonstrate ownership of the game by getting involved in defining the core features set and prioritizing the other features. The feature set should provide some unique elements that set it separately from other games. This can be done by having the team brainstorm “must have,” “want to have,” and “would be nice to have” features, also having a discussion with the game developer, and finally produce a final prioritized feature set. The milestones and deliverables for each milestone are described after the feature set is well-defined and fits within the restrictions. (Chandler, 2014, p. 7).

REFLECTION:

I agree with Mr. Lewis that expressing a concept of a game is a complicated task because many game concept designs starts  with unclear ideas by asking a question which leads to find a problem to be resolved, however I disagree with him that the final problem will be solved by the development team, because I believe if at this very early stage the potential game players are involved by taking their opinions and ideas on how they want the game to look like will help the development team to understand better the needs of the clients . In my opinion this can be done by creating a script and storyboard and share it with the potential players for their feedback.

If I were in the development team I would have involved the potential players or clients in the testing stage as well because I believe this will help to improve the game before the game’s release date. Also, this will support the marketing team of the game because some players have already tested the game and enjoyed it. In my opinion the involvement of the potential players and their feedback throughout the game process is very vital.

REFERENCES:

Chandler, H. M. (2014). The Game Production Handbook (3rd ed., pp. 6-8). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Berg, R. (2018, August 13). Mario Odyssey concept art shows Peach in different yukata, just in time for summer. Retrieved September 8, 2018, from https://nintendowire.com/news/2018/08/13/mario-odyssey-concept-art-shows-peach-in-different-yukata-just-in-time-for-summer/