Full Title: The Quest for the Pleasurably Complex: The Rise of Assistance Systems in the History of Video Games
July 12, 2011
https://baychi.org/calendar/20110712/
As Henry Lowood pointed out in his recent contribution on the history of early arcade machines, the phenomenal success of Pong (Atari, 1972) can be attributed in great part to the simplicity of the events simulated and of the operational rules, summed up by the famous directive "Avoid missing ball for high-score." By contrast, the lukewarm reception of Computer Space (Nutting Associates, 1971) is largely attributed to its complexity for the time.
As video games evolved, game designers have longed to create more complex experiences. The quest for immediacy is a well-known driving force in the evolution of media. The video game community is fascinated with more realistic audiovisual output, complex simulation algorithms, and gesture-based interfaces.
Yet reproducing the complexity of our daily interactions with the world has not always been a very fruitful design strategy. As new aspects of this relationship are simulated by interactive devices, it appears that another layer of mediation has been necessary to maintain the gratification associated with playful experiences. Carl will explore the various systems that have been developed by game designers to assist the performance of players in these simulated worlds. A paradox emerges: As video games evolve towards immediacy, the quest for the pleasurably complex has forced game developers to integrate many assistance functions—new layers of mediation that constantly assist the user in the course of the interactive experience.