作者：Jay Bedeau

为何人们应成为游戏设计师？

有些望子成龙的父母并不理解孩子的做法，有些人则获得某些专业人士的指点，有些对报纸诋毁游戏这一现象嗤之以鼻。无论你是否经历过上述事件，都不得不承认游戏并未获得所有人的尊重与赞赏。

作为独立开发者，我从11岁开始接触《Blitz Basic》，算得上这一行业的元老级人物。我必须为自己所选择的行业辩护，解释为何它值得我的付出。

blitz basic(from spielenutzen.de)

然而形势正在发生变化。随着游戏行业获得大众的认可，我想，现在我们可以稍稍放下防卫心理。最近我鲜少为自己的行业辩护。而整个世界也见识到游戏领域的发展前景。

尽管如此，为何人们应成为游戏设计师呢？我们常听到别人将我们定义为故事叙述者、娱乐人士，而有些则讨论我们是否算是艺术家、设计师或工程师。

我不认为我们仅是故事叙述者。我认为自己的身份存在多层含义。因此，以下我列举了游戏开发者很重要的三个原因：

1.游戏是艺术与科学的结合体

无人知晓游戏的发展趋势。我们只清楚游戏具有逻辑性与代理功能需求；游戏开发者的范围。这些系统和逻辑包括物理学、逻辑学；而代理行为属于心理学和社会科学范畴。

从几世纪以前的木雕时代，到如今的增强现实技术——游戏设计师仍会继续探索尖端科技，将其转化并实现我们的设想，从而为用户制作出富有魅力的游戏体验。

2.游戏可以改变和治愈人类

游戏能够以简单而有效的方式让人们通过移情作用理解他人的想法。

游戏能够加强你同游戏伙伴的关系。这是代理机制强大性能的转变，让处于孤立的社会成员能够通过玩游戏，感受到自己属于某个社区以及更大社会中的一员。

此外，游戏还能让人产生追求胜利的干劲，却不会产生现实生活中的失败结果。游戏赋予人们不断尝试，直至取胜的能力，激发人们产生骄傲感这种自然冲动。如果把这种方法运用到治疗领域可能会产生惊人效果。

3.游戏激发学习本能

玩是一种天性，它有助于我们为未来事件做好准备，同时我们也能借此尝试制定出相关的策略及战略。作为游戏开发者，我们是在创造一种发泄工具。

相较于纯粹的看与听，人们可以通过艰难的游戏体验动态地掌握某些学习方法，我们已经看到这运用于学习方面的无限功能。（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）

Why should anyone be a game designer?

by Jay Bedeau

Why should anyone be a game designer?

Some have the pushy parents who don’t understand, some have been patronised by other professionals, some have thrown the newspaper as it denigrates the medium. Whether you have experienced one or all of these things, games don’t always get the respect and praise they deserve by everyone.

As an indie developer, cutting his teeth on Blitz Basic at the age of 11, my marriage to the medium has been a long one. I’ve had to stand up for my choice to choose this artform and why it worthy of my time and effort.

How things are changing.

As the industry gains respect from the public and press, I think now, we can let our guard down slightly. Now I find myself rarely needing to defend my choice of occupation. The world is beginning to see just what it is games can achieve.

Nevertheless, why should anyone become a game designer? We often hear that we are storytellers, entertainers, some debate wages over whether we are artists, designers or engineers.

I don’t believe we are just storytellers. I feel we are more. So, I have listed the three research-backed reasons why game developers are important:

1. Games marry art and science

No one really knows where games are headed. What we do know is that they require logic and agents to function; the realm of the game developer. These systems and logic incorporate physics, logic, in addition to the behaviour of agents; the latter is psychology and social science.

From wooden effigies centuries ago, to augmented reality — it will be continue to be game artists who exploit cutting edge tech and transform them to realise our imagination and deliver captivating experiences for the consumer.

2. Games can change and rehabillitate people

Games can very easily put is in an empathic state by being in someone elses shoes in a simple, easy but effective way.

Play strengthens bonds between you and the people you are playing with. This is a powerful agent of change, the estranged and lonely members of society can feel part of a community and wider society through the games they play.

Additionally, the impulse to complete an activity successfully with no real-life consequences for failure; the ability to try (with encouragement and feedback) until victory is achieved is an incredibly powerful factor to motivate people which delivers a natural rush called fiero. When applied to occupational therapy the results can be transforming.

3. Games can help us learn and play is instinctive

Play is a natural instinct which can prepare us for future events and also enables us to experiment to create tactics and strategies As game developers we are enabling an outlet of play.

Via serious games people are able to approach learning kinaesthetically (through practice) as opposed to simple sight and sound – as we are seeing already, the applications for this are incredibly vast.(source:gamasutra)