Guernican returns with part two of his article exploring the nature of play.
Noby Noby Boy, then, is an extreme example. But what about Flower? Created by superbly-named developer thatgamecompany, it’s a whimsical PSN title that casts you as the wind blowing a delicate string of petals around a rural landscape. Breeze past a flower and it will bloom, adding more petals to your tail. What’s the point? Well, some might say it’s just pretty. Others – and I’m inclined to agree – would suggest that it tries to reshape what we as gamers perceive to be “progress” or “achievement”.
For someone who spends much of their gaming life racking up a body count of which even the most psychotic of dictators could be proud, I find this more than just a welcome change of pace. It carries a carefree, open spirit which even the most flexible sandbox games can’t hope to match. It’s not that it’s not linear – there are objectives to complete, after all – but it plays into a different part of the brain than the one I normally use. My target-oriented synapses may be tuned to a reasonably high-pitch in the heat of a close Call of Duty marathon, but there are times when another bit of the cranial blancmange needs tending to.
And there’s the kicker. We live in credit-crispy times. If you work, you’ve probably found that people around have lost their jobs and you’re doing more slog with less time. Creatively, the brain needs to be nourished. The value of play - the simple, unadulterated joy of doing something because it’s pleasing, because it makes you feel good – can’t be underestimated.
As children, we learn through play: we test our limits; we use our initiative; we take risks; we dare to fail. As adults, though, play is just as important. Think of fearless creator Google, whose offices are famously crammed with “soft areas”, games, and other ideas and devices to stimulate creative thought. Or design consultancy Ideo, the consultancy who specialise in radical solutions to design problems. They understand that the brain needs new experiences to keep it fizzing with ideas… and that those experiences can’t always plug into the logic-based part of your head. Sometimes you need to… well… just play.
If the (press-dubbed) “PSP2″ console is fitted with a motion acceleration sensor, then titles like “Flower” & “Flow” (or even “Mercury Meltdown”) would be ideally suited to that platform instead of the larger PlayStation family member.
As I mentioned in the previous part to this blog entry article [ http://threespeech.com/blog/2009/02/what-is-play-part-one/ ], I’m very keen to experience new directions of game-play for the benefit of not only the industry but the individual game player, but titles such as these, although perhaps favourable on the original PlayStation with the “Net Yaroze” development projtect, or even during the Linux (”homebrew”, in the true sense of the term) community for the PS2, seem to me, at least, to be somewhat more biased towards the offerings usually available on Nintendo platforms.
Or perhaps that is the point. If you can’t beat ‘em… join ‘em.
I welcome Sony & the associated development teams trying new approaches and, not least, trying to capture the imagination of a different cross-section of the general public. It makes the PS3 console a more-rounded & more attractive proposition to take pride of place in a living room environment rather than stuck in a back bedroom where Dad is dismissed when there are Soap Operas on the TV.
But I don’t really understand the attraction.
Feel free to enlighten me though…
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Feb 26, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Not sure what it is about Flower…it isn’t any “single” thing but the combination of the bright and vivid colour palette, ssimple and serence gameplay design and control mechanics and the peaceful chill-out style soundtrack really do make you feel like going outside and throwing a frisbee or having a picnic.
Inspires that “feel good” feeling.
Comment by JohnSketch — Feb 26, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
This is the first game where I feel compelled to try and get all the trophies… and I’m really not sure why, but it is a good thing
Comment by Rob — Feb 26, 2009 @ 1:16 pm
well done
Comment by Duke3250 — Feb 26, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
@JohnSketch: LOL! Flower is an outdoors simulator!
Comment by nemo — Feb 26, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
Finnally I beat the last trophy on flower today
whoever put that stupid Pure trophy into this as a bronze is beyond me
Comment by BENNE77 — Feb 26, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
I loved thhis game it was a very refreshing experience or maybe i was just to tired of Killing people in games.
Comment by Mezzo — Mar 2, 2009 @ 5:21 am
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment