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分析儿童游戏市场未出现热门FPS的原因

发布时间:2012-03-13 09:00:18 Tags:,,,

作者:Jorge Diaz

你是否能够想象出一款专门针对儿童的第一人称射击游戏(FPS)?对于我来说这种类型的游戏就像“大脚怪”的照片一样难以琢磨,它们也许会在某一年中出现1,2次,但是却没有人能够真正明确它们的存在。针对儿童的FPS从未像针对于成熟玩家的游戏那样大受欢迎。我常常在琢磨这个问题,并且思考这是否是应该把握的重要机遇。

Cryptoludology(游戏邦注:希腊语中的kryptos,“隐藏”;+拉丁语中的ludus,“游戏”;+希腊语中的logos,“知识”)是我们在思考这些隐藏或模糊的游戏时最合适的一个术语。

虽然这一模糊的游戏理念存在有一段时间了,但是却一直遭到整个产业的忽视。不过偶尔也会出现一位开发者围绕这一理念创造出简单且具有创造性的游戏。如《块魂》,《模拟城市》,《传送门》以及《涂鸦冒险家》都是属于这类型优秀游戏的典例。

我很少玩FPS,但是很多帮助我测试游戏的儿童测试者却很喜欢并经常玩FPS。并且他们似乎也很擅长《侠盗猎车手4》,《战神》以及《战争机器》这些游戏——不过因为内容的关系,这些游戏更加适合较年长的玩家。

FPS的特征:

是否FPS这种类型的游戏不适合儿童玩家?

根据维基百科,FPS游戏是指玩家从第一人的视角,围绕着枪支/射弹进行战斗。这是坏事吗?

作为开发者我们也经常忽视这种游戏类型的机制和动态对儿童的吸引和。尽管FPS机制经常被用于一些小型游戏或者各种儿童游戏中的小范围互动内容中,但是它们却很少被当成游戏的核心玩法。

我总结了行业对其认知的3大误区:

1)首先,对于年龄较小的儿童来说,这种类型的游戏机制过于复杂。

根据我的经验,那些能够玩我的《史瑞克》游戏的儿童也告诉我,他们也能够玩《光晕》。即使我不能保证他们的游戏技巧,但是既然他们将这类型游戏当成是自己最喜欢游戏,我敢肯定他们一定曾在游戏过程中享受到成功的乐趣。

2)其次,FPS属于暴力型游戏,所以不适合儿童。

我们都知道这是个错误的想法,因为暴力是基于不同环境而言。就像拿着狙击枪向水面发射以熄灭火堆与对准普通平民爆头这两种情况是完全不同的。

在集体主义社会中,我们常将某种游戏类型归为成人专属的内容,这好比是将任何裸体都当成色情一样,孰不知在我们神圣的教堂天花板以及欧洲海滩上都随处都能看到裸体的场景。所以FPS并不是一种“伤风败俗”的游戏类型。

3)向儿童销售FPS游戏赚不了钱。

这是我们最应该克服的一大误区。《挖矿争霸》以及Double Fine在Kickstarter平台成功融资的游戏项目都可证明,游戏的收益性/市场性并不局限于传统的方法。

FPS的吸引力

每个人都有自己的偏见,所以我们很难明确每个玩家是因为何种要素喜欢一款特定的电子游戏。说到FPS,让我们围绕我之前所观察的儿童,做出如下假设:

1)伪装成人是一件让人激动并自豪的事。回想起来我们在成长过程中总是想要尝试一些长辈会做且能够做的事。就像一些儿童看恐怖电影或熬夜都是出于好奇,或者将其当成是一种成人的标志。而对他们来说,玩《侠盗猎车手4》就与偷偷观看PG-13电影(游戏邦注:指13岁以下儿童宜在家长指导下观看的电影)一样刺激。

2)成熟的FPS游戏质量更高——我认为现代FPS的高质量,现实性,叙述性以及严谨性都是其吸引人的关键。质量非常重要,很多儿童之所以喜欢这种成熟游戏就是因为它们具有较高的质量标准。

3)FPS机制本身就具有吸引力——有些儿童选择这类型游戏只是单纯地因为喜欢FPS机制。他们发现在第一人称视角中移动并瞄准标线比驾驶赛车或者控制第三人称平台更直白。我们同样也需要清楚FPS机制是各类游戏模式(单人模式,对抗模式以及协作模式)的起源,并且这些模式也吸引了各种特定的玩家。

例子:

论据1:

最近的《玩具枪大战》便是EA与孩之宝合作开发的一款游戏,它将游戏与玩具抢结合在一起并强调了射击类游戏玩法。这款游戏便明确表明我们完全可以克服情境式暴力障碍(即让玩家使用孩之宝飞镖去射击机器人)。但是有些家长仍然觉得使用枪支的游戏太过暴力。

玩具枪大战(from geek.com)

玩具枪大战(from geek.com)

论据2:

还记得《Pokemon Snap》吗?这款游戏玩法中不会出现任何射弹,但却有瞄准机制和“射击”画面,并且玩家能够朝任何对象投射食物或“Pester Ball”。所以这仍然是一款射击游戏。

POKEMON_SNAP_GAMEPLAY(from gamasutra)

POKEMON_SNAP_GAMEPLAY(from gamasutra)

论据3:在《传送门2》的多人模式中玩家不会为此而受伤。通过这款游戏我们知道,瞄准机制并不只是为了置人于死地。但是我们也需要注意,该游戏的谜题属性不一定能够吸引那些喜欢受动作或反应驱使的FPS游戏玩家。

传送门2(from gamasutra)

传送门2(from gamasutra)

论据4:大受欢迎的游戏《上古卷轴5:天际》表明,第一人称机制在奇幻和角色扮演游戏也颇为常见。FPS是一种适用面较广的跨题材机制。

上古卷轴5:天际(from flickr)

上古卷轴5:天际(from flickr)

总结

我们不应该在针对少儿玩家制作游戏时忽略FPS。甚至是教育类游戏也可以考虑融入FPS机制,如此既能够提高游戏的吸引力也能够帮助玩家更好地理解FPS。发行商在面向儿童市场时经常遗漏了这一点。

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

Cryptoludology: Why not a successful FPS for little children?

by Jorge Diaz

Can you think of a first-person shooter game (FPS) that is developed for little kids to enjoy?  I often feel these types of games are like a blurry Sasquatch photograph. They may be spotted once or twice in a given year but none of them seem to assert their existence. FPS’s games developed for children never reach the popular appeal of their mature-rated counterparts. I often wondered why this was, and if it was not an opportunity not capitalized on.

Cryptoludology (from Greek, kryptos, “hidden” + from Latin, ludus, “game”; + from Greek, logos, “knowledge) is the funny term use when musing about these hidden or obscure games.

Cryptid game conepts are out there but are often overlooked by the scope of the industry. Every once in a while, however, a developer executes on an idea that shines on its originality and simplicity. Katamari Damacy, Sim City, Portal and Scribblenauts are good examples of this.

I don’t play FPS’s but many of the kid testers that test my games do and they are very good at them (by their account). Apparently they are also very good at Grand Theft Auto 4, God of War and Gears of War. Not surprisingly, most of these games are rated for much older demographics because of their content.

The FPS Stigma:

Is an FPS a genre not suitable for children?

By Wikipedia’s understanding, an FPS is a game genre that centers on gun/projectile based combat through a first-person camera view. Is that a bad thing?

I think as developers we’ve under appreciated how enticing the mechanics and dynamics of this genre are for kids.  While the FPS mechanics are often applied to mini-games or the localized interactions inside various kids games these mechanics are seldom used as the core game play.

To this I’ve concluded on three stigmas.

1)First, that the genre mechanics are too complicated for little children

To this I say that in my experience, little children seem to be as capable of playing my Shrek game as they inform me they can play Halo. Even if I can’t attest to their skill, their consistence in listing this genre as a top favorite indicates that they have enough proficiency to enjoy some success during play.

2)Second, that the FPS is a violent genre and thus not suitable for children

This we know to be incorrect since the violence is really dependent on the context. Shooting water to put out fires is not the same as shooting civilians in the head with a sniper gun.

I would even go as far to say that as a collective society we tend to categorize the genre as an exclusively adult subject much like any type of nudity is considered pornography. And yet naked people still find their place in the ceilings of churches and European beaches. The FPS is not an immoral genre.

3)That FPS games marketed to children are not profitable

This is perhaps a big stigma to overcome. Games like Minecraft or the Double Fine’s Kickstarter project show us that the profitability/marketability of a game is not restricted to traditional methods.

The FPS Appeal:

Every person is subject to their own bias and so it is hard to pinpoint the source of any one individuals appeal to a specific video game. In the matter of the FPS, as it regards to the children I’ve observed, I can devise various hypotheses.

1)Pretending to be a grown up is both exiting and a point of pride – Growing up I do recall wanting to do things that my elders did for both it was empowering and exciting. Kids watch scary movies and stay up late because these are things inspire curiosity and act as a rite of passage. Playing Grand Theft Auto 4 may have the same appeal to a kid as sneaking into a PG-13 movie.

2)Quality is a big draw in mature rated FPS– I believe the level of quality, realism, narrative and the serious approach to the subject in modern FPS’s is very appealing. Quality is important and Kids are drawn into these mature games if anything because they are held to a very high standard of quality.

3)FPS mechanics have built in appeal – Some kids are just more engaged by FPS mechanics. They may find that moving in first person and aiming a reticule is more intuitive than driving a go-cart or plat-forming in third person. We should remember that the FPS mechanics give rise to various game-play modes (single player, versus and cooperative) and that these too are geared for very specific audiences.

Case Samples:

Exhibit A:

The recent Nerf-N-Strike game featured the collaboration between Electronic Arts and Hasbro to develop a game & toy gun bundle that featured shooting gallery style game play. This game is a prime example of how straightforward the contextual violence barriers can be overcome (you shooot robots with nerf darts). And yet some parents may find this to be too violent because it uses guns.

Nerf-N-Strike (Electronic Arts)

Exhibit B:

Do you remember Pokemon Snap? There was no projectile based game play (so to speak) but there was the mechanic of aiming, “shooting” pictures, throwing food or a Pester Ball at the elusive subjects. This game was also a rail shooter.

Pokemon Snap (Nintendo)

Exhibit C:

No humans were harmed during Portal 2 coop multiplayer mode (just their egos).  The game is another example reinforcing that aiming and traversing is not just for killing. Note that the puzzle nature of the game play may not appeal to fans of more action and reaction driven FPS games.

Portal 2 (Valve)

Exhibit D:

The very popular Skyrim game shows that fantasy and role playing are proven genres implemented using first person mechanics. FPS mechanics are very portable across themes.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesta Softworks)

THE FUTURE:

We should not overlook the FPS genre and its mechanics when considering games for younger demographics. Even educational games should consider accessing the built in appeal and widespread understanding of the FPS. Publishers have often overlooked this approach when targeting the kids market. Developers should not overestimate the player’s ability to understand something that is closest to the way they experience the world.

I am sure in the future I will ask a kid(probably a boy) what they play at home they will tell me they just finished Halo 4. I will then proceed to boot up my game and see if any of those skills help them play through my cartoon licensed platformer.

Would your kid buy an FPS made for them? If you could make one what would you do?(source:GAMASUTRA)


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