Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction creative director Brian Allgeier

When we're conducting an interview with a developer, the bulk of our time is generally spent discussing their current project. But after the voice recorder is turned off and the liquor is flowing, the conversation almost inevitably shifts to videogames made by other teams working in the same genre as that developer. For us, it's always fascinating to look at games through the eyes of those who make them, because they sometimes see things differently than does the typical gamer; the same can be said of reviewers who are very knowledgeable about a certain genre, or people who have become experts at a particular game or genre.

As part of our ongoing quest to take the best conversations that are occurring in the shadows and bring them to light, we offer you the new occasional series Make or Break, which asks prominent developers, reviewers and expert gamers to share with us via email the five key features, details, techniques or flaws that they look for in games in the same genre. First up: Brian Allgeier, a 15-year veteran of the videogame industry creative director who's led the design for the Ratchet & Clank series since its inception. Fresh off the just-released Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Allgeier explains what he looks for in an action/adventure game.

Sometimes being a game designer can take all the fun out of a game. When I play, I often find myself in research mode, taking mental notes on how it was put together and the choices the developers made. I think about the game's overall structure, the moment-to-moment gameplay, and where the developers focused their efforts. Looking at all the strengths and weaknesses, I apply this knowledge to each game I work on with the hope that it will push the envelope, be competitive, and become, well, "fun." I typically look for the following five things that can make or break an action/adventure game:

1. A Beginning with a Bang

Why it Matters: Nowadays more and more games are starting off with a heart pounding opening that gets players on the edge of their seats and keeps them there. Other forms of entertainment like movies, books, and theatre have been doing this for years. A classic example is the typical James Bond movie. They start off with a high intensity action sequence that sets the tone for the film before going into the slow expository scenes that set up the bigger story. Players want to jump into the action immediately rather than getting a series of tutorials in a non-confrontational setting like a boot camp or training facility. While tutorials are necessary to get players started with the basic moves, it does not have to feel like eating peas and carrots before getting dessert. A great opening level can both teach and "wow" players at the same time.

The first level can also serve as a technical showpiece for the game. I find it funny that even back in 1929, films would show off new technology to get the audience excited from the start. For instance the Academy Award winner, "The Broadway Musical," was the first best picture film with sound. It opened with multiple bands in a studio performing a cacophony of different musical styles that showed the audio intensity of what a "talkie" could deliver. In games, many people are motivated to buy them based on graphics and new technology. Why not kick it off with a showcase of amazing graphics, physics, sound, and special effects?

 

As any print journalist can attest to, there's often a good deal of interesting reporting, analysis or opinion that gets cut, left out or simply doesn't fit. For those occasions, we offer you Expansion Pack, an occasional feature that will bring you some of those cutting floor nuggets from the stories that we write for print publications. In the first installment of our "American Geek" column in the issue of Newsweek dated November 5th, 2007, we looked at why so few people properly back up their data. For today's Expansion Pack, we use our column as a jumping off point to explore the ramifications of that same issue within the world of videogames--and to help you figure out exactly how much your save files are worth. An excerpt: 

Returning to the question that we posed earlier--which is more valuable to you: A $60 console game, or the save file associated with that title after you've made it halfway through the game?--we're guessing that most of you would immediately choose the game over the save file. After all, the game has a clearly defined value--if you lose it, you'll have to spend $60 to replace it--while the save file simply represents the amount of time you've sunk into playing the game and the frustration of replaying it in order to catch up to where you left off. But is that the best way to look at this? As the cliché saying goes: time is money. So let's try to figure out the real value of your saved file in order to prod all of us to start rethinking our cavalier attitudes towards backing up our save files.

As of July of this year, the minimum wage was set at $5.85 an hour. So if the $60 game in question is an action-adventure game with 10 hours of playtime and you've played five hours into it, that lost saved game file would be worth $29.25 to a minimum wage earner, making the game itself more valuable. If this were a Grand Theft Auto game or a Japanese RPG, with 20 hours of gameplay and you'd played 10 hours into it, the saved game's value jumps to $58.50--it's a push.

Most of us, however, earn more than minimum wage. So let's run this thought experiment with the median hourly salary for 2007, which is $14.70 an hour. The five hours you've played of the action adventure game is now worth $73.50, and the 10 hours you've put into the GTA/RPG comes in at $147.00. Clearly, the median American should wise up and back up his or her saved game files on a regular basis.

Still, we're not convinced that this is precisely the best way to look at this issue. After all, the median salary covers a wide range of wage earners, from teens to seniors, and different age groups have different amounts of free time. So let's crunch the numbers one more time; this time, using the median U.S. salary as provided by PayScale in a series of age brackets.

Intrigued? To read the rest of our Videogame Save File Value Analysis, click on the link below.

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