作者：Brandon Sheffield

Reisuke Ishida是Taito的首席游戏设计师，且是公司热门作品《Space Invaders Infinity Gene》和《Groove Coaster》游戏构思的创造者。日前在GDC座无虚席的演讲中，Ishida shared分享自身的5点经验总结，谈论如何创造吸引玩家眼球的作品。

space-invaders-infinity-gene（from gamrreview.vgchartz.com)

1. 将自己的核心构思转变成广告词

确保核心构思通俗易懂。将自己的核心构思归纳成一个词组，看看这是否能够引起他人的注意。他表示，“如今玩家可选择的游戏种类繁多，你定希望自己的目标用户能够立即获悉产品的真正诉求。不妨将构思转变成朗朗上口的词组。”

2. 将构思具体化，确保核心构思得到强化

他表示，若你的内容别具一格，“这定能够吸引见多识广的玩家，但这更多会是昙花一现，很难长久存在。”公众希望获得面面俱到的作品。但也不要因此将自己的构思变得黯然失色，“要尽量避免出现这种情况”。

例如，在《Space Invaders Infinity Gene》中，进化是其主要特色。菜单充当游戏核心特色的展示橱窗。我们很多时候都在游戏外单独设计菜单内容，但旨在强化核心构思。“我模拟树木生长情况（游戏邦注：树木看起来仿佛真的有在生长）来制作菜单。你从某处起步，随着游戏的进行，树枝会冒出新枝，让人觉得自己真的处在持续发展中，从而产生继续体验的积极性。”

《Groove Coaster》也是如此——团队运用固定模式的过山车轨道充当游戏菜单，且还融入你最终在游戏中创造的轨迹路线。整个游戏，包括菜单和音效，都应体现游戏的核心构思。

3.采用 直观的控制方式和夸张反应

Ishida鼓励大家考虑让玩家角色通过遥控装置引导机器人。他表示，“玩家所要做的就是控制另一角色，然后由角色控制机器人。虽然这适合某些体验风格，但存在明显的取舍关系。在多数情况下，让玩家尽可能贴近操作方式非常重要。”

他补充表示，基于直觉和间接方式存在取舍关系，“就连屏幕上的虚拟控制器也是间接控制的一种，因为玩家首先需要把握屏幕按键和游戏操作之间的关系，这和前面提到的遥控机器人例子没有什么分别。”

在《Infinity Gene》中，你只需要触摸屏幕，滑动你的手指，武器就会自动进行发射。放弃单独设计的控制装置能够创造更多的直观元素。看看自己能否以更直接的方式创造同样的趣味性，如果可以，不妨大胆进行尝试。Ishida表示，“你所希望的就是创造能让玩家凭直觉进行操作的内容，你无需逐步引导他们，告诉他们如何进行操作。对我来说，没什么比看到控制方式很糟糕的优秀游戏更令人沮丧的了。”

4. 创造些许奇特或不协调性元素

Ishida表示，“无论游戏构思多么杰出，若表现方式不当，也会把潜在用户拒之门外。视觉冲击非常重要，这样应该是所有设计师都要追求的目标之一。”

在《Infinity Gene》中，他有意避开丰富多彩的风格。他表示，“Taito成员担心游戏的视觉画面过于乏味”，所以他们尝试更富有色彩的选择，“但最终结果是，尽管角色变得更光鲜多彩，但却越发显得不起眼。”

“我有谈到自己觉得《Space Invaders Infinity Gene》的视觉画面过于拘谨，所以在《Groove Coaster》，我尝试融入些许光亮的画面，希望游戏能够变得更明亮些。”

开发者可以通过奇特的不协调元素激发用户的好奇心。这会让用户忍不住好奇为什么内容会出乎自己的预料。他补充表示，也就是说，“你要避免融入过多这类奇特或不协调元素。只要足以激发玩家的好奇心就可以。”

5. 呈现游戏之外的价值

有特色的呈现方式会让游戏不仅趣味横生，还变成一种地位象征。Ishida表示，“这些游戏多少存在着地位象征意义，是玩家想向好友炫耀的东西。大家都希望得到富有价值的东西，这样我们就能够向好友炫耀。”自豪感和自我影射能够创造粘性，促进游戏的传播（游戏邦注：口头传播是Taito的推广秘诀）。

Ishida表示，“除创造吸引眼球的娱乐活动外，我始终坚持的是创造能让玩家生活方式受益的内容。我们不仅要考虑玩家的内在品质，还要兼顾他/她所处的环境。他们置身何处体验游戏？会体验多长时间？和谁一起体验？所有这些元素都要考虑在内。这也可以看作是对电子游戏文化和价值的评估。我觉得这也是我们参加此次大会的原因所在。所以我会继续挑战极限。”（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）

GDC 2012: Infinity Gene creator’s five tips for making an unforgettable game

by Brandon Sheffield

Reisuke Ishida is chief game designer at Taito, and drove the vision behind the company’s critically lauded titles Space Invaders Infinity Gene and Groove Coaster. Speaking to a full house at GDC, Ishida shared his five ideas for making a game that will stick with players.

1: Turn your core idea into ad copy.

Make the core idea easy to understand. Boil your concept down into a single phrase and see if it appeals to others. “With so many games to choose from, you want to make sure your target audience knows immediately what you’re trying to appeal to with your products,” he says. “Turn it into a quick catch phrase that is easily recognizable and memorable.”

2: Flesh out your idea in such a way that the core concept is reinforced.

If you have something very niche, “it might be enough to attract the most informed and discriminating gamers, but it could become more of a flash in the pan than something that lasts in the long run,” he cautions. The general public wants a well-rounded idea. But you shouldn’t let your idea become obscured or overshadowed, either. “Avoid that as much as possible.”

In Space Invaders Infinity Gene, for example, evolution is the main feature. Menus can act as showcases for the game’s primary appeal. Many times menus are designed separately from the game itself, but to reinforce the core idea, “I modeled the menu after an actual tree that looks like it’s evolving,” he said. “You start from one point, and as you play, the branches branch out, giving the sense of moving forward, providing motivation to the player.”

It’s the same with Groove Coaster – there, the team used a stylized roller coaster track as the game’s menu, that also uses lines you eventually trace in the game. The entire game – including menus and sound – should all promote the core idea.

3: Strive for intuitive controls and exaggerated reactions.

Ishida encouraged the audience to think about a player character guiding a robot via remote control. “What you’re doing as a player is controlling another character, which then controls the robots,” he says. “While this may be appropriate for some play styles, this is a significant trade-off. In many cases it’s important to keep the player as close to the action as possible.”

There’s a trade-off between intuitiveness and indirectness, he adds. “Even something like an on-screen virtual controller can be seen as an example of indirect control. Because the player first needs to understand the relationship between the onscreen button and the actions in the game. … This isn’t so different from the remote controlled robot example described earlier.”

In Infinity Gene, you just touch the screen, and move and slide your fingers. The weapons fire automatically. Abandoning separate shooting controls resulted in greater intuitiveness. See if you can provide the same entertainment more directly, and if so, go for it. “What you want to do is strive for a game players can pick up and play, without having to walk them through and explain how to play the game,” says Ishida. “Nothing is more disappointing to me than a good game that has clunky controls.”

4: Aim for a little quirkiness or disharmony.

“No matter how great the idea, if your presentation is uninspiring it’s going to turn off potential customers,” Ishida notes. “Visual impact is key, and it is and should be one of the common goals every developer strives for.”

With Infinity Gene, he purposefully didn’t go with a high res colorful style. “There was some concern within Taito that the visuals were too drab and uninspiring,” he said, so the team tried out more colorful options. “But what happened was the brighter and more colorful the characters got, the less they stood out.”

“Having said that I think that the graphics in Space Invaders Infinity Gene was maybe too stoic, so in Groove Coaster I incorporated some of these lighter designs or motifs to give it a lighter feel.”

Inspire curiosity in your audience through quirky, disharmonious elements. This leaves the audience wondering why things are other than expected. That said, “you want to avoid putting in too many of those quirky or disharmonious elements,” he added. “Piquing that curiosity in the players’ minds is enough.”

5: Add some value beyond the game.

Stylish presentation makes the game not just fun, but also a status symbol. “Owning these games meant they were some sort of stylish status symbol, something players would want to show off to their friends,” Ishida said. “Everyone wants something of value to them that they can show off to their friends.” Pride and self projection lead to attachment, creating buzz for your game. Word of mouth was Taito’s promotions arm.

“In addition to providing an intriguing and fun piece of entertainment, what I always keep in mind is to create something that will benefit the players’ lifestyle,” said Ishida. “It’s necessary to consider not just the player’s internal qualities, but his or her environment. Where do they play? How long do they play? Who do they play with? All these elements need to be considered,” he says. “This can be thought of as elevating the culture and value of video games as well. I think that’s why we’re all here at this conference. So I want to continue trying to push that envelope.”（Source：gamasutra）