In an article for Edge, EA lead game designer Randy Smith has listed a few of his Least Favourite Things in games design, poking fun at some of gaming’s greatest clichés. Health packs, vents, invisible walls and crates are among the long list of stereotyped design shortcuts that are preventing games from evolving into deeper interactive experiences. This is clearly the tip of the iceberg, and we’ve come up with a few more to add to the list:
Tagged ‘instruments’
Activision has partnered up with music distribution company Active Music, to have copies of Guitar Hero: World Tour sold in proper musical instrument shops across the UK. This is not (just) a desperate move to beat rival rhythm game, Rock Band 2, by sheer weight of numbers; there’s apparently some rational thought to it:
Downloading is dead, long live live music. Nokia might have their swanky ‘unlimited music downloads’ but Yamaha have proper(ish) instruments on their handsets. The “Band in my Pocket” range of concept phones, revealed at CEATEC in Japan, lets you clip your choice of instrument direct to your handset and play. Read more
Fancy yourself as the next Elton John? Then Korg’s got just the thing for you – a digital keyboard so small you’ll be able to stash it in a backpack.