The way in which people are interacting with video games is the driving factor on what keeps them coming back for more. Games that mimic the actions of real life instruments or objects give players a sense of skill that they may or may not have in real life. Even though I know how to play guitar in real life, playing Guitar Hero is still extremely entertaining and addicting. On the other hand, I have never played drums seriously, but they are probably my favorite instruments to play in Rock Band.
Jesper Juul argues that these games that mimic sports and musicians are so popular because they focus on what happens in the player space, or how the player physically interacts with the game. Games are transforming to include these mimetic interfaces, however, traditional interfaces will probably never complexly disappear. I hope they don’t anyway, but with Microsoft Kinect, Playstation Move, and the already popular Nintendo Wii, that looks like it is the direction the gaming industry is heading towards. Personally, I only own an Xbox 360, and I really don’t plan on spending $150 for the Kinect. However, if Microsoft started releasing “hardcore” AAA titles with Kinect capabilities sometime in the near future, I might think twice.
I do agree that the game industry is moving toward mimetic interfaces. Your example of Microsoft Kinect and Playstation Move was something that I never knew. The fact that major game console companies are developing mimetic interface game console support our views that mimetic interface will become mainstream in near future.
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