He taught me about video games for 50 hours in Astro’s playroom.

I’m a weirdo With most accounts, you can beat Astro’s Playroom (PlayStation 5’s glorious pack-in tech demo) in about four hours. I’ve played for 50 hours and haven’t finished yet. This is because instead of finishing the last level, I spent an absurd amount of time chasing faster time in the game’s network speedrun mode. In this mode, you can post the fastest time on the leaderboard over eight stages. This has become a fierce competition between GamesBeat Review Editor Mike Minotti and my own GamesBeat Speed ​​Running Champion Jeff Grubb. And while it’s important to realize that I’m one of the greatest gamers I’ve ever had, it has also led to realization.everyone is

Return to my bullshit pic.twitter.com/l80WuVHmcN

— Jeff Grab (@JeffGrubb) December 19, 2020

As players, we can decide what we want from the game. People can go to music, movies and books for their own individual reasons, but the interactivity of the game means it’s like a collaboration between a player and a designer. This is something that other media creators usually don’t have to worry about.

Astro’s playroom didn’t need a dedicated speed running mode. Millions of people will play the game when they first set up the PS5, and most will play to the end and finish the game without spending extra time fighting on the leaderboard. Probably. However, a few players like me want to compete with friends and enemies rather than looking through the critical path.

The important thing here is that it brought a competitive tendency to the game to love the platform, and Astro’s Playroom met me along the way in anticipation of that style of play. It’s a better game because the developers knew they could rely on collaboration with their audience’s slivers. This shows that the game and its designers respect the player as an active participant in finding fun, which is a good feeling.

This is why it’s so difficult to make a game

When developers understand and respect their relationships with players, the results of the game tend to improve. Crusader Kings III and Fallout: New Vegas are examples of that extreme philosophy. H Bomberguy’s excellent video essay on New Vegas Learn more about the myriad ways developer Obsidian designed an open world adventure to react to different types of players.

I’m not envious of this position for developers. Astro’s playroom was successful because the developer’s Asobi team predicted that they would prefer side mode to the main quest. But it’s also an overwhelming concept. Where do you stop when you start shaping your game to suit different playstyles?

And you’ll see why developers want to take a strong and authoritative position in the face of difficult possibilities. However, it puts the game developer’s vision at the center and carries the risk of moving the player. Both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 are guilty of this. These games are obsessed with presenting a unique experience to give players a say (beyond a predetermined branch path).

That doesn’t mean we need to eradicate linear and static games. Red Dead Redemption 2 may argue that it’s bad, but it has helped a large audience that clearly seems happy with it. A good-selling game justifies its existence. And I think many people still want to collaborate with Red Dead Redemption 2 under very strict conditions.

My point is not that developers should only make games in a deeply responsive world. Astro’s Playroom is, after all, a standard 3D platformer. The point is that you want to play a compassionate game.

You can see when the game respects me

Obviously if the game has an affinity for the player. It can look like Fallout: New Vegas, or it can look like Astro’s Playroom’s speed running mode.

While at Astro, I wanted to be proud of not playing games like everyone else. But that’s nothing special. We bring our own side to every medium we consume, but only games can do anything about it.

What’s special is when the studio creates a game that makes me feel like I’m in a personal relationship. I think it’s weird all the time, but I’m sure developers will continue to make games that promote and promote that weird thing.