Gameplay

Gameplay is what make the game playable in the context of the games core theme. This sometimes boils down to the control methods used for certain genres of video games, i.e. RTS games like Command & Conquer are mainly mouse and keyboard interfaces for the controls there as fighting games may require a joystick or control pad. This is important for how the game is supposed to be played and how the player is supposed to conduct their playing experience. Mindless button mashing and combo’s are the bread and butter of Beat’um up’s but would not suit an RTS because there are usually lots of thing going on the screen at any one time and too much to take into account when trying to play, although the image of someone going insane at an arcade RTS does make me chuckle. I do think that these divisions of control style between different gaming genres is important as some games just would never work and it keeps the playable experience for different games varied. I doubt anybody would like to keep buying new games only to find the same controls being used on every title again and again. With the advent of the Nintendo Wii we are seeing for the first time on a large scale how the control methods used actually are actually designed specifically for each game. The Wii mote gives us for the first time the real ability to manipulate what we see and do on screen in real time without it just being a set of commands to go left, right, up or down. This new way of playing I’m sure is going to influence other consoles and hardware and the way we play games in the future.