Cross Pollination

A few months ago I blogged about what I thought the future of gaming would be, specifically how it would expand away from just one platform to include console, PC, and even mobile phones in one mass audience.


And it's started already.


In the recent weeks, Cryptic Studios announced that their new MMO, Champions Online, will be for a simultaneous release on the PC and Xbox 360. Additionally,other companies are jumping into the mix platform wave with Sony announcing its new PC/PS3 MMO titles The Agency and DC Online. And with the announcement of EA Games new MMO Knights of the Old Republic, a retread of a great game put out by Bioware, there's even more on the way.


What makes this both a challenge and an interest is the User Interface that has to be built. Until now, a game was released for one platform, then after sales has dropped it was re-tooled for another platform to generate more income. A classic example of this is a recent Bioware release, Mass Effect. The critically acclaimed game was first released for the Xbox 360, and after some time its user interface was rebuilt for the demands of the PC. But there was time between releases, and the games never crossed over. So, from a design standpoint, you never had to worry how game play was affected by the use of a gamepad controller or a keyboard.


But, with simultaneous release for an online game, that is a consideration. How complex with the controls be? At what point is the players experienced diminished by having to manage the buttons on the controller? At what point do the controls become too simple for a keyboard and mouse interface that immersion no longer occurs? At first this doesn't seem like a large issue, but the more a player has to pay attention to what their hands are doing the less they are focused on the game.


And less focus means less immersion and less immersion means less fun.


It will be interesting to see how the design challenges, the obvious ones of raw code and the less obvious game design factors, are discovered and overcome. We are leaving a golden age of games and entering into a new era where it is less important what type of gaming system you own but if it can get on line and what titles you buy.