April NPD or Everyone Drinks except Nintendo

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Renwood

Not really an accurate delineation; I use the term non-game to describe the new wave since it seems to be what everyone has adopted, but its a bit dumb.

I personally hate the term "non-game"
I also hate the use of casual vs hardcore but that's another topic.

Brain Age has a number activities that you must perform to unlock more activities. Each day, your goal is to test yourself and see if you have risen or lowered on the brain age scale. Something similar can be found in Wii Sports with charting your physical age. Unlocking things through play, time trials, a number of different activities; its very much a game. Its wrapped in this strange aesthetic thats foreign, so its given this non-game distinction to separate it, but looking at the actual mechanics of the game, its not a radical departure.

I own and to some extent enjoy Brain Age, but the game itself has no real goals. If you get a Brain Age of 20 it isn't an end really. Just means you are sharp that day or know how to cheat the system well.

Most people declare it a non-game because there really isn't any reward for playing other than personal satisfication.
Sort of like the Sims.

As to "just playing," I think thats a flimsy differentiator when games exist with such radical differences in difficulty. If I pop into "very easy" mode in Metal Gear Solid, I "just play" and watch some movies. I think I actually am more engaged by Brain Age in that instance.

Another arguement for another day. Level of difficulty in a game.

I consider non-games to be a lazy term that the enthusiast press picked up and ran with because it was easier than melding these games into the categories that already exist and which they only refine, not revolutionize. It would be harder and take longer to take a moment and analyze these games that seem different to see the underlying mechanics, and its very easy to say "oh, that doesn't look like anything I've ever done. No marines, no elves, no violence? Some mini-games? Non-game!"

Wow i agree.

Not as good as my other games and made me feel bad to have in my possession when other better games went unplayed. That has been seen to.

No More Heroes is fun. And enjoyable but its one of those games even I know you have to take the really bad to enjoy it. While the main action segments are fun, the game around it is hit or miss.

But that comment was directed at Aladuf who is so quick to post about Wii's shovelware, but hardly touches the notable games.

[Renwood]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

I own and to some extent enjoy Brain Age, but the game itself has no real goals. If you get a Brain Age of 20 it isn't an end really. Just means you are sharp that day or know how to cheat the system well.

Brain Age does have a goal when I play it. I play it to achieve or to maintain the lowest possible age. That's the goal I give to myself within the framework of the game. It does not explicitly encourage me to that specific style of play, but it is set up to allow it. My mom plays Brain Age for specific portions, and rarely if ever tests her age day-to-day. She plays free form, and sets up her own goal of wanting to do math problems faster that day. The game isn't directing her. She's directing her.

So this becomes hazy when we look at other games with the same mentality. What is the long-term goal in Halo 3 multiplayer? If its ranking, then what happens when I've achieved the highest possible rank? Is my goal then not to maintain that? What if I wasn't playing for rank to begin with? My goal was to win each game I entered. That's my soft goal. But there's no hard limit on "winning"; each time is like the first time. There's no progression outside that ranking that I might or might not care about. I'm not forced into anything. I have set up my own goal again.

More generally, isn't my ever present goal with a game to enjoy myself? That's what I consider a game; something I do for derived enjoyment. Games give me that enjoyment in different ways. Some have fun mechanics, some make me think, and some are just aesthetically pleasing (or sometimes, displeasing like in Silent Hill), and I like being transplanted into the world they're pushing.

"Sort of like the Sims"; do you consider the Sims to be a non-game? Similar to Brain Age, there are arbitrary goals in place, but I rarely followed them. I liked to wall off the Sims and make my own goals for the day. Its similar with Grand Theft Auto. The story is there with its linear progression and set of developer-set goals, but I spend the bulk of my time on free play, where the only goal is to see what I can and cannot do within the game world. There is no goal or "reward" in that for me beyond "personal satisfaction"

Originally Posted by BreakABone

No More Heroes is fun. And enjoyable but its one of those games even I know you have to take the really bad to enjoy it. While the main action segments are fun, the game around it is hit or miss.

It's not good in the same way it is not bad. Its average and adequate, but not remarkable, and when its peers are, it becomes unnecessary. Until such time as it is the only game left unplayed from my library.