Mimetic interface games-Juul Ch 5

In chapter 5 Juul talks about casual games and their mimetic interfaces. Juul talks about how games like Wii Sports and Guitar Hero use physical interfaces that have the players performing an action that is very similar to what their avatar on screen is doing. (Ex. Players swinging the remote like they really are playing tennis on Wii Sports tennis) With interfaces like these it makes games more easy and simpler for people to pick up and play without having to learn complex button controls. Juul even shows us how the controller has evolved from the simple 1 button and 1 stick Atari controller to the complicated 6 buttons and 2 sticks Xbox 360 controller.

Next Juul talks about how mimetic interface games work. What makes these games work so well is that they have a high degree of compatibility between the actions the player takes and the actions his or her character takes. So your strumming the guitar controller is a very similar action to the one your character is doing in Guitar Hero. You don’t need to have played the game before to know how to hold the controller or play because odds are you have seen your favorite music artist play guitar before or something similar in the media.

Juul also talks about the Magic Crayon, which is a term from game designer Chaim Gingold, that describes how taking away possibilities from the player will make it a more enjoyable experience. For example you could make the Guitar Hero games almost exactly like what playing a real guitar is with close to 100 buttons but that would only satisfy people who already are experts at the guitar. If you make it simpler by taking away possibilities you can make something that is enjoyable to many more people.

I really enjoyed the quote that “ Mimetic games are magic crayons, taking away possibilities from players in order to give a feeling of competence”. I think this really sums up why casual games like Guitar Hero and Wii Sports are so popular. They allow complex things, like playing an instrument, to be simplified and become something we all can enjoy and have fun playing. It is mimetic games like these that will bridge the gap between the casual and hardcore gamer because it is something that allows them to have a fun, level playing field to interact on. 

With all video-game consoles now coming out with ways to have mimetic interfaces( PlayStation Move, Xbox Kinect) Do you think that games with mimetic interfaces will become the new standard for gaming or will it all just be a fad?