Comments on: Fun vs Reality: How Real Do You Want It?

By: Wade

Wade — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:58:06 +0000

One thing that always bugged me was the way many games leave health / ammo in completely absurd places. Yea, it makes sense from a game play stand point, but what army fights against a lone hero by leaving first aid kits all over for him to use?

But of course, games – like theater – requires the willing suspension of disbelief. You know its not realistic, but you ignore that because otherwise it would be no fun.

By: greeneggsnsam

greeneggsnsam — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:10:55 +0000

Thing is, the only games that can be truly realistic are driving games. Controllers can never emulate the real thing, but the steering wheel peripherals may develop and be able to.

By: John Landis

John Landis — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:03:54 +0000

I agree with greeneggsnsam that the level of realism in a game to a achieve a balance really depends on the genre and even the target audience of that particular game. Even Gran Turismo has a certain amount of unrealism, I mean, I’ve slammed into walls time and time again without it effecting my car at all, but that may have changed, I stopped playing that after GT2. I don’t think a game like CoD can afford to be too realistic with regard to weapons functions and ballistic characteristics and the like, but that’s not to say that if someone did make a game that took the things you mentioned in your article wouldn’t be fun. It might not be fun to the same people that like CoD, just like CoD might not be fun to people who prefer a Halo or Unreal style shooter, which is even further removed from reality.

Even fantastical games can have realism in there too. Mechwarrior games of the past were sims and took a lot of things into consideration with regard to heat, power, and systems damage. Some people like more reality in their games, others don’t.

As far as Warcrafting goes, it’s the same thing. Some people hate the grind that’s involved in getting the higher level epic lootz, others can’t stand it. WoW, though, is mid level when it comes to reality in MMOs. In EVE Online, if you die, you potentially lose all your stuff. Pirating is a real thing players can partake in if that’s what they want to do, making money by killing other players and taking their stuff. In a game like WoW, that just wouldn’t fly. Imagine getting ganked by some bullshit ass rogue and them being able to steal all the shit you happened to be carrying with you. To some, that sounds more interesting than the super safe World of Warcraft. Just look at the different servers for WoW. There are some people that enjoy the idea that they can be attacked by another player at any time, and others… not so much; so they have different servers with different PvP rules.

Even CoD has a more realistic mode that takes away the HUD and other things to make the game more realistic, so you know there are people out there that want ultra realism… to them, that’s more fun than the fun that comes from “balance.”

Of course, making games for niche audiences doesn’t make money these days, and I think that’s one of the biggest problems with the gaming industry these days… but that’s another complaint for another time.

By: greeneggsnsam

greeneggsnsam — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:55:06 +0000

I think realism is best suited to certain genres of gaming. Gran Turismo, for example, is very realistic, and praised for it, because the realism there doesn’t particularly affect the experience. Sports sims sometimes do realism well, too.

Still, games are about escapism and this is reflected in just about every top-rated game there is. Half-Life, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto. Besides the fact that they all involve killing, they are games to escape the real world in.

By: Dan Landis

Dan Landis — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:52:20 +0000

I want it to be so real that I can feel blue alien boobs in Mass Effect, but I don’t want any of the associated danger of world-saving and heat stroke.