free variable

I’m not remotely “up on the ludology literature,” nor am I an expert reader of contemporary art criticism in general. (Indeed, when I was an undergraduate I took a break from studying music history to read the Journal of Popular Music and almost gave myself a sports hernia laughing at a woefully pretentious paper analyzing the chord progression and music video of Madonna’s “Cherish.”) However, Chaim Gingold’s analysis of Nintendo’s WarioWare appears coherent, insightful, and fairly on-target: one major point is that WarioWare decomposes the traditional elements of video game play and isolates each in individual micro-games. The game then is able to parody and exploit genre conventions while remaining accessible and fun.

(The game itself is notable for being one of the few that carries Andrea’s imprimatur.)

Perhaps games like WarioWare are a workshop for the stripped-down, low-learning-curve, gameplay-focused emphasis of recent (and purported future) Nintendo products. The WarioWare formula distills a common Nintendo theme: remove all inessential features. Apparently, this dynamic works well in Nintendo’s upcoming soccer game, as per Vladimir Cole’s note on Joystiq today:

I’ve always felt that there was something missing with the FIFA line of soccer games. In their attempts at verisimilitude, they succeeded in reminding me of bygone misery playing the position of “defender” …. It’s not that the other games suck: they do a great job at depicting a game that is itself perhaps a little slow and boring…. [Super Mario] Strikers takes all the boring stuff out and gives more of what makes soccer fun: goals, tackles, and acrobatics.

Cole cites the game’s simple controls; accelerated, non-stop gameplay; and fast rhythm as key factors as to why it’s fun. I think this approach to designing games (whether for computers or for real-life play) is basically right; the interesting question is whether Nintendo will be able to make money at it during the next iteration of video game systems.

I’m currently listening to Blick’ ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise from the album “Tannhäuser” by Richard Wagner