作者：Nadia Oxford

玩RPG游戏很耗时间，动作游戏也会容易让人玩腻，毕竟重返原来的路径确实不如初次体验那样过瘾，玩家可能也不想再次杀戮之前已经放倒的boss，而游戏中不时出现的一些故障也确实会让玩家大为扫兴。

现在的游戏变得越来越复杂，但它们的要求真的太过份了吗？如何才能重燃玩家与游戏之间的关系？还是说，是我们自己变得越来越懒了？

工作太忙，无暇游戏

我们很少通关玩完游戏的一个简单理由就是，我们需要为其他事情操心。没人愿意承认自己老了，但曾经连续数小时玩早期任天堂游戏的一代，现在再也没有这种奢侈体验了。比起听上司发号施令，上班族当然更情愿窝在沙发上玩《光晕3》，但我们不能没有工资交房租养孩子啊。

未成年人仍是游戏玩家中的重要群体，但更年长的一代也开始加入这一潮流，充分享受手持电子游戏控制器的那种惬意。美国娱乐软件协会（简称ESA）曾追踪并发布了关于不同年龄段的玩家数据，并指出当前的PC和掌机游戏粉丝平均年龄为33岁，这表明其中有相当部分个体是拥有理想收入，所以有能力购买自己的控制器设备和游戏软件的用户。

换句话说，比起80年代时的情况，现在已经没有多少人需要掏空口袋，或者求爷爷告奶奶地凑钱购买最新热门游戏。游戏已不再是一年一度的圣诞或生日奢侈品，它已经成了一种具有多种选择的大众体验。因此，现在一款游戏只要稍有差池，就有可能把自己的玩家供手让给其他竞争者。

位于纽约的游戏玩家Glenn回忆道，自己童年时很少接触游戏，但现在他可以买下自己心仪的所有游戏，并将其收藏起来——但却发现自己无法完整体验任何一款游戏，“我很少通关玩完游戏，我一般只玩一小会儿，一年内玩完的游戏实际上也就那么两三款。”

有趣的是，Glenn收集的这些昂贵但却很少接触的游戏，却成了一种新兴的游戏爱好。他称自己现在更像是一个收藏家而不是玩家，从NES平台的《Ironsword》到Xbox 360游戏《Eternal Sonata》，他的收藏品几乎应有尽有。

eternal-sonata(from play3.de)

上一代群体对复古游戏的喜好也影响了下一代玩家，那些小时候无力购买游戏的玩家多是伴随父母所喜欢的游戏而成长。任天堂在80年代游戏行业的非凡影响力，培养了一代NES系统的铁杆粉丝。现在市场上有大量的控制器设备，人们的选择更加多样化。玩Wii游戏《超级马里奥：银河》的体验可能与Xbox 360游戏《生化奇兵》截然不同，而后者的游戏体验又与PS 3游戏《瑞奇与叮当 未来：毁灭工具》差异甚大。玩家分心现象在所难免，一场让人纠结不已的boss战斗很可能决定玩家是否继续游戏冒险历程。

游戏时长设置不当（过长或过短）

今天许多游戏提供了数小时的支线任务、解琐关卡和无尽的收集任务，许多游戏的时间设置可能超过了实际需求。玩家和评论都很关注通关玩完游戏的时间，然后针对某款游戏是否超过了30个小时加以抨击。例如PS 3平台上的《Heavenly Sword》这款质量过硬的动作游戏饱受诟病的一个原因就是：游戏时间太短。

但另一方面来看，现在有些游戏内容过于庞大而累赘，要求玩家向曾经仅需快速体验就能即时获得乐趣的游戏类型中投入多个小时，让那些坚定的“完成主义者”为追求100%的完美而投入无数时间。甚至连传奇游戏设计师宫本茂也曾在2005年的媒体采访中表示，要警惕游戏时间过长的情况，他称“现在已经没有多少我想玩的游戏了，许多游戏都太耗时间了。当然，《光晕》或《侠盗猎车手》等是属于昂贵的大型游戏。但如果你无意在其中投入时间，就不会继续玩游戏。”

游戏玩家也常提到自己不玩完游戏的原因，有些是被现实琐事所阻碍，设计师无法避免这种情况，但却可以想法解决游戏本身的一些问题，至少要尽量创造机会让他们玩完游戏。

游戏故障等问题

查找游戏故障、漏洞、程序错乱等问题有时可以为玩家带来不少乐趣，让玩家在好友面前炫出自己的绝技（游戏邦注：例如让《最终幻想6》中的General Leo死而复生）。

但游戏偶然出错的现象可能就不是件好玩的事了。一些故障可能会清除玩家保存的数据，甚至让整个游戏崩溃，让玩家白费之前投入的数个小时。还有一个广为人知的程序错误案例就是《塞尔达传说：黄昏公主》接近尾声时，许多玩家悲剧地遇到了所谓的“大炮故障”。不少玩家是在无意间触发这个故障，而他们所做的只是在进入一个含有破损大炮（它对游戏故事的发极为关键）房间时保存了游戏，此时游戏角色Link就会受困，无法找到出路，其保存的文件也就无法生效。

最终幻想(from 1up)

游戏粉丝眼见自己投入的近50小时冒险历程，就要这样因保存游戏这个必须操作而付之东流时，当然会愤愤不已。这种情况出现在这样一款高端的任天堂游戏身上，尤其令人失望。而且出现这种错误确实很难说服玩家心平气和地重新开始。

硬件错误问题也会影响游戏体验，任天堂时代引进的游戏内置电池寿命有限，而CD游戏对记忆卡要求则颇为苛刻。有名来自弗吉尼亚的玩家解释了他放弃《最终幻想9》的原因，“我好几次被卡在游戏的半中间，每次遇到这种情况，都会显示保存文件已受损，我只能重新开始。我真的很喜欢那款游戏，但反反复复玩到一半的感觉真的很让人抓狂。”

即使是新一代控制器设计也难免存在一些问题。游戏和硬件故障问题的一个解决之道就是：进行更多测试。但由于游戏和系统日趋复杂，要找出每个问题实非易事。而游戏发布日程安排也非常紧凑，掐准发布时机可能会多创收成百上千万美元。但另一方面来看，如果游戏出现让玩家撞上一堵墙或令其不知所措的漏洞，那就会让游戏体验大打折扣，甚至彻底摧毁游戏。

在这个互联网时代，游戏故障问题很快就会传播出去，开发者不得不重视并解决这一问题。

结局索然无趣

许多电子游戏的结局通常都不甚理想。但这有可能与个人品味不同以及过高的期待有关，因为这两个因素也会让游戏高潮或结局看起来平淡无奇，但实话说不少游戏的尾声看似一些随机事件的大杂烩，然后让游戏草草收场，开始呈现创作人员鸣谢等字幕。当玩家看到最后一个工作人员姓名消失在屏幕顶端，最后一丝音乐也淡出耳际时，我们只感觉自己上当了。

2007年，电子游戏社区Destructoid发布了一篇专题文章论述肤浅结局听几大害处。如果游戏目标只是拯救公主，也许可以快速落幕，但那种日子已经结束了。

该文章作者Reverend Anthony总结了糟糕结局的害处：“当一名普通玩家熬到最后时，却突然发现自己的角色无故死亡，他会作何感想？玩家可能会觉得自己被耍了，他会愤怒，心生不满。”

玩家控制角色在历险途中的命运，最后却只等来一个不痛不痒的结局，这确实很让人受挫。也许正是因为这种普遍现象让许多玩家预料到游戏结局不会有何新意，所以他们就没有耐心闯到最后。

《生化奇兵》等游戏的结局确实还不赖，它与玩家玩游戏时所做决定直接相关，但也仍然存在提升空间。RPG大作《时空之轮》在此方面就富创新性，它提供了多个不同结局，玩家可以自由选择在何时何地进行最后一战。虽然并非每个结局都令人惊心动魄，但至少令人印象深刻。《时空之轮》虽然诞生已有十多年，但自它问世后鲜有其他游戏能够如此不计投入地设置结局。

时空之轮(from firsthour.net)

即使是落幕时的鸣谢名单也不可随意带过（游戏邦注：例如可添加“特别感谢Capcom所有成员，当然还有你！”需知出色的游戏结局值得玩家奋战到底。

无聊的刷任务机制

虽然多数玩家都认为当今电子游戏的结局有待改进，但有个问题自8位游戏时代以来就一直备受指责—-为升级而刷任务。刷任务机制要求玩家为升级而持续数小时打怪，这种现象在RPG游戏中最为普遍。

由于硬件设备日益强大，多数RPG都已显著提升其画面效果和音效，但为升级而刷任务的机制却鲜有什么创新发展。有许多MMORPG仍然需要玩家投入多个小时在游戏中屠龙或打怪。

虽然这种刷任务机制不失为一种打发时间的放松方式，但其重复性和枯燥性也很容易让玩家丧失兴趣（游戏邦注：当长达60小时的游戏玩法设置中有一半用于升级时，这种情况尤其明显）。要知道，当玩家已经能够驾轻就熟地玩同种类型的游戏时，他对反复升级的事情可能没有那么热心了，即便他玩的是自己最钟爱游戏的重制版本。有人表示，“我现在还是没有玩完《最终幻想4 Advance》，因为我在最后一个副本得刷数个小时的任务才有可能通关，但我已经在SNES上打通多次了，所以才感觉没那么糟。”

缺乏前情回顾等提示

因为众口难调，设计出可创新刷任务机制的替代性方法并非易事，一种解决方案满足了一名玩家需求，但同时也可能让另一种喜欢重复性操作的玩家反感。但不管怎样，有一个问题相信是许多RPG玩家都不会否认的事实：缺乏文本提示信息。

玩家将游戏搁置一旁，并不意味着他再也不会重返游戏。但如果相隔数天之后，他可能就会忘了之前投入数小时的操作、故事剧情以及游戏即时目标等内容。假如人们启动游戏后却想不起来之前进展到哪一步，只有拜访Big Tower of Magic中的人才能获知答案，那么他们后面可能就会遗弃游戏。这种情况下，玩家当然可以选择从头玩起，但并非人人都有这种耐心。设置帮忙玩家“恢复记忆”的提示性文本，很可能决定玩家是否会走到最后一步。例如，《口袋妖怪珍珠/钻石》就会在玩家每次开启游戏时自动显示一个活动日志，提醒他们之前到访过哪些城镇，抓到哪些怪物，打败了哪些训练员。

pokemon(from gamesradar.com)

并非每款游戏都要提供这种细致的信息，即使是一两句话也可能让出走的玩家重新回头。

总结

在这个游戏泛滥的年代，我们是否还能重返那种玩家划分成多个阵营，给每款游戏挑刺找碴的经历？当然我们现在未必需要像当初那样为游戏投入满腔热情，但确实得为自己突然丧失对游戏的热情而感到愧疚。

当代游戏设备质量和功能大为提升，有助于增加玩家持续体验游戏的机率，Xbox Live上的游戏评分也在鼓励玩家尝试通关玩某款游戏。不只是游戏开发者有责任找到让玩家通关玩游戏的方法，玩家自己也要有放慢脚步，享受当前游戏乐趣的意识。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

You Gonna Finish That?

by Nadia Oxford

RPGs can be too demanding. Relationships with action games can get tedious. Backtracking through a space you’ve already explored might be less than awesome. Maybe you don’t feel like fighting that boss you already killed despite the fact that now he’s purple and has a longer life bar. Some players even insist games have been letting themselves go, and the resulting glitches can put an ugly and unsatisfying stop to the fun.

Games are growing more complex, but are they asking too much? How can the bond be rekindled between gamer and game? Does it need to be, or are we just getting lazy?

Can’t Game. Working.

One of the simplest reasons we see “The End” less frequently than we used to is because it’s so easy to be distracted. Nobody likes to admit they’re getting old, but the same generation that clocked dozens of hours on early Nintendo games without save files or passwords simply can’t afford to give up that kind of time anymore. Any harassed employee would rather be sprawled on the couch with Halo 3 than put up with a supervisor spitting instructions from the entrance of a cubicle. Realistically, however, the rent has to be paid and the baby has to be changed.

Minors still occupy a significant slice of the game-playing pie chart, but an older generation is beginning to realize the benefits of relaxing in front of the television with a videogame controller in hand. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) tracks and publishes extensive statistics on gamers’ varying ages. When PC and console stats are combined, they indicate that today’s game fan is an average of 33 years old. That translates into a large percentage of individuals who earn their own income and therefore are capable of buying their own consoles and games.

In other words, compared to the ’80s, not as many gamers need to scrounge up pocket money or beg Grandma for pennies to buy the latest hit. Games have moved beyond a once-a-year treat at Christmas or birthdays that are subsequently picked apart and scoured for every second of available fun. Now, once a game loses the slightest bit of momentum, it’s not difficult for gamers to find themselves lured away by another title.

Glenn, a gamer in New York, recalls games being scarce in his youth. Now that he can afford to buy his own titles, he’s added considerably to his collection — but finds he doesn’t fully appreciate each experience. “I’ve completed very few of [my games], actually. I tend to play one or two sort of side-by-side for a while, but only actually finish two or three in a year.”

Interestingly, Glenn’s extensive and barely-touched collection represents a new direction for the gaming hobby. “I’m much more a collector than a player at this point,” he claims, revealing a collection that stretches from Ironsword on the NES to the recent Eternal Sonata on the Xbox 360.

The older generation’s obsession with retro games influences the new generation; young fans who can’t afford their own games grow up with parents who still enjoy the hobby of their youth and pass it on. Nintendo’s stranglehold on gaming in the ’80s meant a lot of kids grew up knowing only the Nintendo Entertainment System for years. Today, multiple consoles — to say nothing of multiple handheld systems — mean far more choices are available from platform to platform. Playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii yields a far different experience from playing BioShock on the Xbox 360, which in turn is very different from playing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction on the PlayStation 3. Distraction is inevitable; one frustrating boss battle can make the difference between whether or not a gamer chooses to stick with the adventure or move on.

Too Much, Too Little

Most games today offer hours and hours of side quests, unlockable levels, and endless collect-a-thons, many of which offer extra rewards beyond the game’s standard ending. Fans and critics both scrutinize the time it takes to complete games…and then proceed to fume if a title does not breach 30 hours. The collective reviews for the PlayStation 3′s Heavenly Sword, for example, portray a pretty solid action game in the spirit of God of War that’s repeatedly penalized on one factor: It’s too short.

On the other hand, games can easily become too big and cumbersome, demanding gamers to invest hours in genres that they’d previously relied upon for quick fun, unknown more hours for a determined completionist to reach that all-all important 100%. Even legendary game developer Shigeru Miyamoto warned that game length might be getting out of hand in a 2005 interview with CNN. “There’s not a lot I want to play now,” he said. “A lot of the games out there are just too long. Of course, there are games, such as Halo or Grand Theft Auto, that are big and expansive. But if you’re not interested in spending that time with them, you’re not going to play.”

Gamers are generally vocal about the reasons why they don’t finish games. Some, such as real-life interruptions, can’t be helped. Others are relatively fixable, or at least offer opportunities for compromise.

Boulevard of Broken Games

It can be a lot of fun to break a game. Not in the literal sense of taking a hammer to the software, but rather in searching for glitches, loopholes, and programming oddities. Such activities have helped gamers perform seemingly impossible stunts (and dupe their friends), such as “reviving” the deceased General Leo in Final Fantasy VI.

What’s less fun is breaking a game by accident. Glitches can erase saved data or even tank a game entirely, destroying hours of work. One of the most infamous errors to date is the “Cannon Glitch” that many unassuming gamers stumbled upon tragically close to the end of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Many players unintentionally triggered the glitch by saving in a room that contains a broken cannon that’s significant to the story. Link is subsequently trapped with no way out and the save file is rendered useless.

Zelda fans were understandably upset about having close to 50 hours of adventuring destroyed by a necessary action like saving the game. It was especially disappointing to see such an affliction in a high-end Nintendo title. And, of course, falling prey to such a trap isn’t the best motivation for starting over again.

Faulty hardware can muck up a game experience, too. The Nintendo era introduced in-game batteries that had a limited life span. CD games made finicky memory cards a necessity. One anonymous Final Fantasy fan from Virginia remembers why he gave up on Final Fantasy IX. “I got about halfway through the game almost a dozen times. Every damn time…the save file says it’s corrupted and I have to start over. I really loved that game, but playing the same half a game over and over and over just killed me.”

Even the new generation of consoles has become notorious for crapping out. Is there any rune more terrifying than the Red Ring of Death?

The solution to fixing borked games and hardware seems obvious: more testing. But as games and systems become more complex and involved, there’s just no possible way to catch every problem. Release schedules also tend to be extremely tight and a well-timed release can mean millions of extra dollars in profit. On the other hand, nothing takes you away from a game’s atmosphere like stumbling through a solid wall and falling into a black void untouched by God or programmers. At best, glitches make a game look sloppy. At worst, they can ruin it.

The one spot of light in the situation is that the Internet is a quick messenger and word of game-breaking glitches has saved countless gamers from frustration. Unfortunately it’s a poor consolation for the unwilling pioneers who must suffer the loss for all our sakes.

The Impotent End

It’s a grimly accepted fact that videogame endings usually suck. Personal taste and high expectations can make a game’s climax and denouement seem weak, but truthfully many game endings feel like a random cluster of events slapped together for the purpose of giving the credits something to roll over. When the last name reaches the top of the screen and the last strains of music fade away…we feel cheated.

In 2007, videogame community Destructoid published an extensive feature about the harmful effects of a shallow ending. It might seem silly to put so much emphasis on just one aspect of the whole, but a good game involves its player just as much as a book immerses its reader. A quick ending was acceptable when game goals didn’t go far beyond rescuing the princess, but those days are long gone.

The article’s author, Reverend Anthony, sums up the frustration of a bad ending: “How would an average gamer feel if he played a videogame to the end, and suddenly had to watch his character die without having any say in the matter? [...] The player would feel betrayed, for one. He’d feel angry. And he’d feel totally dissatisfied.”

A gamer controls a character’s destiny throughout an adventure. Having that yanked away at the end with a half-hearted declaration of “That’s that” is frustrating. It’s easy (and often correct) to assume a game’s ending isn’t going to offer anything new or mind-blowing, so many players simply don’t bother plodding through the final battle to grab the carrot at the end.

Games like BioShock do feature endings that are affected directly by the choices you make while playing the game, but there’s still room for improvement. The RPG masterpiece Chrono Trigger was revolutionary because it offered several endings that differed depending on when and where you decided to fight the final battle. Not every ending was a thrill, but at least a few remain memorable. Chrono Trigger, however, is over 12 years old and only a handful of games since then have put nearly as much effort into their conclusions. The obligatory special mention at the end of the credits (“Special thanks to Capcom all staff…and you!”) doesn’t exactly cut it. A game’s ending should be worth fighting for.

An Ax to Grind

While most gamers agree that videogame endings need to evolve, there is near-total consensus about one archaic holdover from the 8-bit era that wore out its welcome long ago: level grinding. The term refers to the hours a player must spend hacking up monsters and gaining the levels necessary for meeting the steadily increasing challenges that are typical in role-playing games.

Most RPGs were outfitted with improved graphics and sound as consoles became more powerful, but level grinding gave way very slowly to more innovative ways of powering up. But in spite of this, there are some titles, MMORPGs in particular, that still demand hours of dragon slaying.

Admittedly, level grinding can be a relaxing way to spend a rainy afternoon: Pop in some music, turn on the PlayStation, and go for it. But the tedium involved can easily drive a gamer away, especially if 30 out of 60 hours of promised gameplay go toward leveling. In particular, RPG fans who have devoted themselves to the genre since its inception might not be so enthusiastic about doing the level dance over and over again — even when playing a remake of a beloved title. “I’m still not finished [playing Final Fantasy IV Advance] because I have to grind in the last dungeon for hours before I finish it,” says Sam from Daybreak, Alberta. “But I beat it on the SNES multiple times so I don’t feel that bad.”

Oh God, Where am I?

Coming up with innovative alternatives to level grinding isn’t easy; a solution that convinces one player to stick around until the end of the adventure might turn away another player who enjoys the repetitive act. However, many RPGs have an ancient failing that guarantees the ire of hundreds: a lack of reminder text.

When a game is set aside, it doesn’t mean its owner will never return to it. But if a hiatus lasts for a while, all those hours of complex plot twists — not to mention the immediate goal — are easily lost. If someone turns on a game and has no means of remembering that they’re supposed to visit the Big Tower of Magic People, that game is begging to be orphaned. You could restart the adventure, of course, but not everyone has that kind of patience. A simple means of recollection can make a huge difference in whether or not a gamer decides to stick around until the very end. For example, Pokémon Diamond/Pearl automatically brings up an activity log if a player turns on the game after a few days of rest. This reminds the player which towns he visited, which Pokémon he caught, and which trainers he defeated.

Such detail isn’t necessary for every game. Even a reminder sentence or two can get a prodigal player back on track.

You Are a Super Player

In these days of excess games, will there ever be a return to the days when gamers devotedly picked apart and scrutinized every iota of every game? That kind of dedication may not be necessary, and indeed, it can be a little disturbing, but gamers do feel guilty about the large number of quality games they suddenly lose interest in.

The modern generation of consoles does offer some built-in reasons for audiences to stick around. Xbox Live’s gamerscores encourage players to finish a title by putting a modern twist on an old concept: bragging rights for high scores earned. Unlocking Achievements is satisfying (earning a little icon for a job well done stimulates the childish part of our brains that loved earning gold stars in school), and after unearthing one goal, we feel a definite tug to find more.

Game developers aren’t solely responsible for finding ways to keep all eyes glued to the screen, however. Gamers also need to learn how to slow down, breathe deeply, and appreciate what’s in front of them.（source:1up）