“We can’t shut out sound automatically” (pg. 111).
Like the quote above states, McLuhan talks about sound and how it’s coming at us from everywhere and we do not have the ability to shut it out. However, with our eyes we do have the ability to shut them or look away. That is why making games look aesthetically pleasing is very important. Having a successful interface that engages an audience is what keeps them playing your game. In the article Is it really about theme or mechanics? the author Hardin talks about themes and the two important roles it plays in games. One, it creates a sense of immersion and two, it makes a game easier to play. Both of these very visual aspects of game play are important, not only in keeping a gamer gaming, but keeping them from walking away all together. The design of a game is meant to help others comprehend and interact with it.
Design is important because it can also distinguish how professional your game seems. If it is poorly rendered a person might associate the quality of the design with the quality of the game itself. It’s like judging a book by its cover. We all do it and I have passed up many books because the cover looked bad.
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In my opinion one of these covers is more persuasive than the other. The first set would not make me pick up the book if I had no idea what it was about. I would be more likely to go for the second set of books. You might have a different opinion because design depends on the audience. The second set looks like it’s geared towards younger people with the cartoon illustrations while the first set looks more professional. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
“Since the Renaissance the Western artists perceived his environment primarily in terms of the visual. Everything was dominated by the eye of the beholder” (pg. 57).
As I mentioned when talking about the book covers, another important aspect of creating a game is knowing your target audience. The Brief Crash Course on Game Design talks about being able to know who your target audience is to help you test your game and make it better. You have to think about the interaction between players and what types of people are going to be playing your game. Children? Adults? Mystery lovers? Word puzzle solvers? McLuhan is constantly talking about our world in terms of a global village because of how technology has connected all of us. We have all been turned into a mass audience. The trick is just knowing how to target certain members of that audience effectively and design is one way to do that.
“We have now become aware of the possibility of arranging the entire human environment as a work of art, as a teaching machine designed to maximize perception and to make every day learning a process of discovery.” (pg. 68)
Further Thoughts:
- McLuhan states that “At the high speeds of electric communication, purely visual means of apprehending the world are no longer possible; they are just too slow to be relevant or effective.” (pg 63) Do you find this to be true?
- Have you ever played an interesting game with a bad interface or design that made you stop playing?
- I think that this comic points out something very interesting about technology by comparing it with board games. How do you interpret it?/ What do you take away?
(click to enlarge)
My Comments:
http://kthompsonsschoolblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-extension-of-memory-dtc-375-blog-3.html
Language, Texts, and Technology 375 