Supression Effect

[Skitrel]

Originally Posted by Vancha

I just realized this entire thread is an example of rampant bad game design. People have become incredulous at a game being able to evoke instinctual reactions.

If a game has to give a visual representation of what your character's feeling because you aren't, then it's already failed. It's like having emotional cue cards in a movie. "Feel sad here", "this is a happy moment", "this person's in danger, feel anxious!".


How can anyone be scared of anything in Amnesia? Penumbra? Dead Space? I haven't played any of these, but I know of them because they're infamous for scaring people. Granted, PS2 isn't a horror game, they just happen to be the best examples of games evoking emotional/instinctual responses.

This is the importance of immersion. This is why people fight for the inclusion of boarding animations and holstered weapons. It's subtle psychological things that help suck you into a world, whether it's movies, books or games. If you're detached and have no emotional investment, then everything is meaningless.

As always, Extra Credits manages to explain what I'm trying so hard to...

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/the-skinner-box

Games are somewhat fortunate in that there's two ways to enjoy them. There's the engagement aspect (narrative, story, emotional investment etc.) and then the reward systems like the skinner box. Levelling up, unlocking things, gaining achievements...

I'm not saying that the latter shouldn't be there. It's a good thing, but if you want people to be afraid of dying and averse to exposing themselves to a wall of bullets, it's the former that needs to be improved upon. You need to trigger people's sense of self-preservation, which can't be done if immersion is non-existent.

You've not played Amnesia but you're going to cite it in support of your argument?

Those games don't support your argument, they support the exact opposite. They make liberal use of visual effects to stun, startle, trick, unease, and generally mess with the player. They do it MORE than any other game out there in fact. They do absolutely everything, exceptionally well and it completely supports the concept of giving the player a visual representation of how scared they should be, because it works. If it works, it's a good thing. And it Amnesia is the best example of just how well it all works, absolutely terrifying.

It's usually best to cite games that support your points, rather than the opposite.